Sat 22 Aug, 2009
by Robert Kroker
( I wrote this in response to an arrogant, inflammatory email regarding a sitting government employee / elected official of the united states )
The united states was founded by a bunch if independent thinkers with a strong desire to limit the amount of government that is needed to administer a group of people to the smallest and least intrusive governing body. The founding fathers were all wealthy successful people that shared a common view that people can govern themselves if given the tools of enlightenment (aka: an education)
Skip forward a hundred years, to the 1860s, the self governing system has gone awry, the people in the south utilize a system of slavery to achieve their ends and thus denying a group of people enlightenment (pursuit of happiness) and liberty. This did not sit well with the independent crowd to the north. The two groups divided the states nearly along the slave borders with the five border slave states aligning with the north. Now with the Federated north and the Confederated south (Con means against or opposing,) we as a nation face our greatest challenge, a fight amongst our selves.
From across the waters the south began getting aid from the international community who would likely enjoy a great boon from the internal strife of this fledgling nation torn apart. The north did what they could to blockade the river access routs to the south thus quelling the outside distractions caused by the aid from abroad.
Jump almost one hundred more years and we are at it again, but this time the blood flows from mobs of terrorists in the Separate but Equal camp and in the Halls of Hatred under the pointed white hats. The oppressed people in this conflict learned some interesting tactics to help them carry on their war. 1) Literature and the ability to print it is a point of power. 2) People have a need to feel connected and empowered. 3) The more a person has, the stronger he or she will cling to an ideal. This knowledge brought on many distractions for the American people. The people most strongly affected in this situation had no say in the government that ran the system so instead of using the system to overthrow the government, which is exactly what our system is designed to do. The protagonists had to rely on other means to accomplish their goals. Mostly they used protest and civil disobedience. In addition they gathered forces from a more stable and committed stock, the children of the well to do, and the rich. They use the news media through demonstrations of civil disruption to carry their message. And through the dissemination of propaganda, and rhetoric, this war was all but over in only 15 years. All by simply distracting the American people from complacency by introducing a little unpleasant reality. However, the momentum was not lost when the war came to a close. The tools and tactics were redirected by the willful and charismatic leaders of the day to focus on the US involvement in Viet Nam’s civil war.
Skip forward a dozen years and these same tactics and their related momentum are adopted by retail manufactures and businesses to create a new culture of consumers from the over abundant population of followers without a cause. all the while priming the population to drive the country into overwhelming prosperity. Thanks to the retail corporate machine and general apathy and laziness in society, today we have a culture that lives for and responds predictably to sound bites and ad slogans.
In the modern political landscape, we are inundated with rhetoric provided by this or that right or left wing guru that we mistakenly take for information. All the while, we stand about parroting the words of the media without questioning the source, and neglecting our duty to participate in the voting process by ignoring the facts about the issues presented in the documents submitted in city and county counsel, and in the house of representatives, and in congress. In addition we, fail to regularly review fully the performance of our elected employees from the mayor to the president of the united states. All the documents are there to be read, all are public property, all are accessible. So when was the last time you read a bill before it went to congress? When was the last time you contacted your congressman or your governor or representative or the President? If we sit in closed bitch sessions and keep locked up to our own thoughts, we give up out rights through silence.
I cannot, nor would I want to support disrespect of our government and our elected officials. It was the will of the people that put them there. It was the voice of Americans, through votes, that got us where we are today. Whether we agree with the choice, or not, we only have four years until the next revolution. If we desire change, if we demand accountability, if we insist upon liberty, we need to make our points heard through votes. If we lack confidence in the people, we need to educate them with the truth, and empower them with personal enlightenment. The world keeps getting smaller and access to information easier, yet Americans are getting lazier. The media has a voice. The media has bias. You have a rational mind. Let the media talk. Make your mind think. Gather the documents to support your case. Know your goal so that truth may guide you through the wasteful distractions of the masses.
