"Unaffected"

Crowd at unnamed American football stadium

There are times one reaches a conclusion and makes a hypothesis that is at once disconcerting, yet seems unmistakable and that is: People in America generally don't want to face reality as it truly is, particularly when it comes to their government's malevolent policies and actions. They'll feel too disturbed, made to feel uncomfortable and feel badly. So for them it's better to avoid unpleasant reality. It's easier that way.

I came to this conclusion after reading George Eliason's OPEDNEWS article, "Ukraine: Notes from the Southeast".

Eliason is of course a writer and citizen living in Ukraine and reports from the scene, talks with the people and offers their take on what is happening in Ukraine, particularly Southeastern Ukraine where the Kiev government is conducting military operations against opponents of the regime who feel it doesn't represent them and is hostile to them.

It was one particular segment of Eliason's essay that resounded with this reader; a description of one of his neighbors thoughts after what happened last month in Odessa-after the intentional massacre of protesters perpetrated by Right Sector thugs setting fire to the Trade Unions Building trapping people within it-that struck home with this reader.

Eliason wrote of his neighbor, "He doesn't understand what this form of Nationalism is, and he doesn't want to know. He wants to be left alone on his little piece of land. He disagrees with Kiev and is angry about the murder of people around him. He wants someone 'a super hero maybe Batman' to stand up and fix this. He is too old, recently retired at almost fifty. He wants his wife, children, grandchildren to be safe, but helping them is beyond his grasp. If Kiev wins over the Southeast I have no doubt I might see the red and black UPN/OUN Pravy Sector flag in front of his house. Not because he is a nationalist, but just to be left alone-unaffected. His failure to understand what is going on gives him the only piece of mind he has-or had".

It was the "unaffected" part that was stunning and caused this reader to broaden the ideas of Eliason's neighbor, consider them in a broader sense and come to my hypothetical conclusion.

To wit; regarding America's wars, occupations, drone strikes, torture are at least familiar to most Americans but I hypothesize they just don't want America in those wars-particularly now in Iraq-and they too, like Eliason's neighbor just "don't want to know" and "they want their wife, children, grandchildren to be safe" so they can be left alone-"unaffected".

"Unaffected""that resonated with me. Just look around-not in cities like Camden, New Jersey or rural depressed areas where private industry pulled up stakes and left their former employees working in the local McDonald's-if they can find any work at all-no benefits and no future-in the middle and upper middle class suburban areas throughout the country, at the malls and corporate owned restaurants or the gentrified inner cities of Baltimore and Washington D.C. and tell me the people you see, enraptured with their cell phones texting away-such people are "affected" by America's wars, occupations, torture and the killing of innocents that has been going on for over a decade. It sure doesn't look to this observer they're "affected".

And if people are "unaffected" by the sinister policies and actions of its government, their government essentially receives a free pass to do anything it wants because it knows it won't be held accountable. And if questions do arise everything the government does is classified for reasons of national security.

Ah"sorry I have to run. I'm meeting someone ASAP at Starbucks for my usual double latte espresso with extra cream. Ugh.