Posted by Tony from dsc04.lai-ca-4-196.rasserver.net (206.217.12.196) on Sunday, September 29, 2002 at 1:19PM :
America, its people–silent, subservient, no voice, no will
By Ken Hillman
Online Journal Contributing Writer
September 26, 2002—Watching America today, I can hardly believe what I see. I see a nation, a society and its people, that appear to be in a state of paralysis. In the past 18 months this nation has been completely transformed. This current, totally misguided administration has turned our nation a full 180 degrees in the wrong direction and is running roughshod over the entire world—the American people have watched all this happen and have reacted with complete silence, subservience and submissiveness. No great concern, no voice, no will.
In this critical, dangerous challenge to the future of our great country and the entire world, Americans should be totally outraged by what they see and hear. Yet America passively watches while our new-style unilateralist, belligerent government cancels important treaties such as the ABM, walks away from global warming; we watch as environmental controls are rescinded to let corporate polluters make greater profits as they poison our air and water. Where is the outrage, where is our voice?
Corporate criminals are running loose—Enron, Anderson, WorldCom, many others. Millions of Americans have lost most of their 401Ks' value, their stocks have crashed, and in many cases their savings are gone. Many thousands of employees in many companies are being dismissed at the same time that the unconscionable CEOs are pocketing multi-millions of unearned dollars. We are in an economic crisis, a rapid downward spiral. This administration has given huge tax relief to the wealthy, has squandered a gigantic surplus and is in the process of creating huge deficits. And it now wants war, badly!
And how is the typical American reacting? With total outrage and disgust, screaming that enough is enough and "we aren't going to take it anymore?" Absolutely not. There is not even a whimper, not even a sigh coming from Americans. No, we Americans are now so completely conditioned that we understand that we must stay completely silent. We have been told that we better not speak out; if we do, we will be considered traitors. We should remember Patrick Henry who said "Give me liberty or give me death."
Has the 9/11 tragedy caused this complete silence and acceptance of the most outrageous and irresponsible directions by any government in the entire history of our nation? Maybe, and maybe not. I am not able, so far, to figure it out. Nor do I read any great analyses by writers, including those with psychology backgrounds, who might be able to explain this phenomenon.
Speaking of 9/11, we Americans are passively watching this administration beat the drums of war against Iraq and Saddam, the acknowledged dictator. But when we hear that 15 of the 19 WTC terrorists were Saudi Arabians, and we also know that the Saudis have been the biggest contributors to Osama bin Laden and his terrorists, do we even start to wonder what the hell is going on? Do we simply accept the fact that about 10 members of the Saudi bin Laden family left America on a chartered jet soon after the WTC, that flight hastily initiated and allowed by our current administration?
I repeat, I cannot believe what is happening in America, especially what I hear or do not hear. Actually, I hear nothing whatsoever. In my daily contacts with many people, I hear no opinions, nothing either pro or con, just nothing, just blind indifference and acceptance of all that is going on. I guess most Americans are hooked on more important things like watching the Sopranos, Six Feet Under and other mind-stimulating shows.
Watching the TV news or reading US newspapers, we see Bush and company preaching a doctrine of eliminating Saddam day in and day out. Does anyone remember bin Laden? He was supposed to be the "Evil One."
There is no reason to read what the corporate-controlled media write, for their pitiful message is meaningless. This may be one of the main reasons for the silence and submission of Americans. It may be that when the supposed messengers of truth and facts have no outrage and have no inclination to deliver honest, patriotic dissenting messages, or constructive criticism, the American people blindly follow them. We can, therefore, conclude that the corporate-controlled media now controls the American mind.
If this nation of 280 million people can be cowed into total silence and submission by its inability to cope with 9/11, or by its total acceptance of the clever manipulation of that tragic event by this administration, then I fear that there is no hope for our future. We can continue to remain silent, continue to act like the human equivalent of sheep and cattle and follow our totally misguided "shepherds." If so we will give up every constitutional right and important patriotic principle that our founders fought to get in their 1776 Declaration of Independence.
Writing a conclusion to this article is very difficult. I wonder if America can be awakened by anyone, express its outrage and demand that this nation once again lead this world in honesty, integrity and true democratic principles. I know one thing; that if we continue on our totally misguided course of alienating the entire world, that if Americans do not demand a reversal of our current disastrous course, then we are on a collision course with the rest of the world—billions of peoples, the majority of which are opposed to our unilateralist directions. Even our closest allies look at this administration in complete disbelief and refuse to support it.
If we think that we have the military power to control the entire world and we can refuse to acknowledge the thinking and objectives of others by dominating them, we only need to remember the massive destructive power of the corrupt, misguided Roman Empire and its silent, submissive and subservient citizens. That empire collapsed when its citizens fell in love with their material possessions and lost their moral foundations. That corrupt, misguided empire collapsed from within, from the silence and subservience of its own people, not from without. Does this sound frightfully familiar?
-- Tony
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