[Powderworks] All this political infighting! (whatever happened to NMOC?)
GrnVillageGirl@aol.com
GrnVillageGirl@aol.com
Tue, 13 Aug 2002 02:44:46 EDT
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Gee, I came here to talk about Midnight Oil with like-minded folk.
Having said that, I will add these two cents and then be done with it:
Some Americans (maybe many) are aware of covert actions the government has
undertaken without the populace's prior knowledge or approval.
What, exactly, are we supposed to do about it?
We have a system whereby we can vote in, or out, people who are allegedly
there to represent their constituents. I know, I know, you can stop laughing
now. That was the original idea, and we still don't have another option.
We have freedom of speech, to criticize actions with which we don't agree, in
print or other media, and we can also amass and protest -- hopefully, without
another Kent State taking place (you young'uns can look that up).
Sure, a lot of Americans are a bunch of ignorant yahoos/racist bastards. So
are some Australians (I believe they're called "ockers"). And so are some
Brits. And a lot of the French...don't get me started on them.
The thing is, America is the biggest mother on the block, so when the States
sneeze the rest of the world catches the flu whether they (or we) want them
to, or not. We're a young country, relative to the rest of the world, and
sometimes I think of "us" as a gangly, awkward teenager whose body has grown
faster than its mental powers -- knocking over china plates left and right.
There's an enormous amount of jealousy, along with self-righteous anger,
directed at the world's biggest superpower. Our government, and sometimes our
people, can behave in a manner that comes across as arrogant, but that's
another result of ignorance and a lack of understanding. Not all of us go
around like bozos, asking "how much is this in real money?" when we leave our
home country.
When "our" government, or rogue agents therein, do things that hurt, offend,
anger, adversely affect and/or even kill other peoples, I do wonder just what
responsibility the entire citizenry is supposed to take for those actions.
We could, I guess, withhold our taxes and go to jail, whereupon our
effectiveness in the community (never mind our responsibilities to our
nearest and dearest) would be severely curtailed.
Even if we DO know, and utterly despise, some of the things that have been
done "in our name" -- outside of protesting, criticizing, keeping ourselves
aware (by getting our news from sources outside the States, for starters) and
doing good things wherever and whenever we can -- I personally don't have a
clue how to prevent the U.S. at large from doing stupid stuff.
I wish someone would tell me.
As far as I can tell, the people in the World Trade Center, on those planes
and on the ground, were ordinary folks just trying to get by and pay their
bills. (The people in the Pentagon, while working in part of the 'war
machine,' were also -- at the very least -- civilians, not armed combatants.)
Nobody deserves that kind of payback for actions that were out of their
control, just as no destitute Afghani just trying to get by and feed his
family should get smashed to smithereens because Mullah Omar once lived next
door.
But hey, what do I know? I'm just a fan of this great band that rages against
unfairness, destruction and duplicity via fantastic songs.
Can we get back to that band now?
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<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2>Gee, I came here to talk about Midnight Oil with like-minded folk.<BR>
Having said that, I will add these two cents and then be done with it:<BR>
Some Americans (maybe many) are aware of covert actions the government has undertaken without the populace's prior knowledge or approval. <BR>
What, exactly, are we supposed to do about it? <BR>
We have a system whereby we can vote in, or out, people who are allegedly there to represent their constituents. I know, I know, you can stop laughing now. That was the original idea, and we still don't have another option.<BR>
We have freedom of speech, to criticize actions with which we don't agree, in print or other media, and we can also amass and protest -- hopefully, without another Kent State taking place (you young'uns can look that up).<BR>
Sure, a lot of Americans are a bunch of ignorant yahoos/racist bastards. So are some Australians (I believe they're called "ockers"). And so are some Brits. And a lot of the French...don't get me started on <I>them.</I><BR>
The thing is, America is the biggest mother on the block, so when the States sneeze the rest of the world catches the flu whether they (or we) want them to, or not. We're a young country, relative to the rest of the world, and sometimes I think of "us" as a gangly, awkward teenager whose body has grown faster than its mental powers -- knocking over china plates left and right.<BR>
There's an enormous amount of jealousy, along with self-righteous anger, directed at the world's biggest superpower. Our government, and sometimes our people, can behave in a manner that comes across as arrogant, but that's another result of ignorance and a lack of understanding. Not all of us go around like bozos, asking "how much is this in real money?" when we leave our home country.<BR>
When "our" government, or rogue agents therein, do things that hurt, offend, anger, adversely affect and/or even kill other peoples, I do wonder just what responsibility the entire citizenry is supposed to take for those actions.<BR>
We could, I guess, withhold our taxes and go to jail, whereupon our effectiveness in the community (never mind our responsibilities to our nearest and dearest) would be severely curtailed.<BR>
Even if we DO know, and utterly despise, some of the things that have been done "in our name" -- outside of protesting, criticizing, keeping ourselves aware (by getting our news from sources outside the States, for starters) and doing good things wherever and whenever we can -- I personally don't have a clue how to prevent the U.S. at large from doing stupid stuff. <BR>
I wish someone would tell me.<BR>
As far as I can tell, the people in the World Trade Center, on those planes and on the ground, were ordinary folks just trying to get by and pay their bills. (The people in the Pentagon, while working in part of the 'war machine,' were also -- at the very least -- civilians, not armed combatants.) <BR>
Nobody deserves that kind of payback for actions that were out of their control, just as no destitute Afghani just trying to get by and feed his family should get smashed to smithereens because Mullah Omar once lived next door.<BR>
But hey, what do I know? I'm just a fan of this great band that rages against unfairness, destruction and duplicity via fantastic songs.<BR>
Can we get back to that band now?<BR>
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