Maher pleaded with the American people to do some well needed self-reflection on their own warmongering. After two centuries of perpetual war, it’s time Americans realized “We’re the gun country. Come on, we’re the war people.”
After breaking down the history and concluding the problem lies with America itself, Maher went on to say “America needs to start defining peace as strength. Do you know who the role model for every president should be? Jimmy Carter. He was the one out of all of them who figured out how to sit in office for four years and never fire a shot. And every president’s negative example,” he concluded, “should be Dick Cheney, who even shot his friends in the face.”
I cannot express how thrilled I was to hear these words on an influential US show. When a population of 313 million people – most of whom are surrounded by strife and a crumbling infrastructure – look to their sputtering economy, more and more people need to actively point out the giant elephant in the room.
Right now, America’s military industrial complex devours half of its government’s spending. It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to see that drastic cuts in military spending would likely yield equally drastic improvements for American families across the land.
But, for the most part, politicians and mainstream media sources remain chillingly silent. This is, as you may well know, due to the entrenched talons of the Military Industrial Complex itself. With billions of dollars to throw around, the war machine can buy both political parties and align all the major news channels, effectively keeping enough anti-war rhetoric from the ears (and off the lips) of the American public.
So, as with all great movements, the struggle to rid our world of war falls on the shoulders of those outside the established seats of power. While it’s great when the Bill Maher’s and John Stewart’s of the world finally vocalize some anti-war sentiments, until there are millions and millions of us doing this every single day, the war machine will keep on rolling.
Fortunately, uniting against war is exactly what we are doing. All it will take is the right spark, the right catalyst, and a Occupy-esque movement can rise against the Military Industrial Complex, and the struggle towards peace will become the latest trendy battle for the masses, maybe even earning the privilege of being trivialized by the mainstream media.
However, in a recent vote of 303-113, US Congress decided to prolong the occupation of Afghanistan through 2014. If the United States is supposed to be a representative republic, who the hell is Congress trying to represent? Certainly not the people.
Instead, Congress, much like the rest of America’s two-party dictatorship, caters to whoever holds the most sway. Which in this case are corporations entrenched within the war industry, flourishing off the massive military endeavors they pay Congress to authorize.
This charade cannot continue for much longer. The American people, much like the world’s people, are awakening to a new reality.
Corporations may be able to buy most of the US’ political spectrum, but there is still something money cannot buy: the power that comes from millions of pissed off humans coordinated into action.
We saw it in Egypt. We see it with Occupy. And, at this very moment, it is happening in Quebec. Regular people are the new power, all we need is an effective way to work together in large numbers.
Soon, enough Americans will realize that wars are killing their own country and they’ll accept that their government has failed them. Using the same tools as those in Egypt and Montreal, they will rise up in opposition the Military Industrial Complex, growing in size and strength until peace ultimately prevails.
When it comes to the Euro zone economic crisis, the mainstream media is quick to highlight the ongoing protests, especially those in Greece, Spain and Italy where riots and clashes with police make for great headlines. And the only solutions they mention bounced between austerity for the people and bailouts for domestic banks by even bigger international banks.
But there is another alternative, one which the media seems to consistently overlook: bailout the people instead of the banks.
Iceland’s solution to the economic crisis is being hailed as one of the world’s best recovery stories. Yet this victory is mostly ignored, many believe, because those who run the media simply don’t want us to know about it.
They’d rather we think our only options are to take on the debt burdens created by the big banks’ poor choices. They’d rather we just enslave ourselves for generations to global loan sharks like the IMF. They don’t want us to be empowered and free from the shackles of a tyrannical economic system.
But that’s just too bad. The world’s people are awakening. We are rising up. Together we will be redistributing wealth and power by preventing big money’s long-standing predatory practices. We are co-creating a far more just global civilization.
One person, one voice can make all the difference. If you see wrongdoings, injustice or atrocities, don’t hesitate to speak out. As soon as you do, chances are others will rally behind your cause.
If you are a frequent visitor to my blog, you’ll have noted that I’m quick to hop on the soapbox to decry corporatism whenever I can. Your probably like… ‘there goes Rick again, lambasting the very institutions our modern societies depend upon to survive. Doesn’t he know we’d die off without them?’
Well, yes, dear reader, I know that corporations are not without their merit, and I am aware that competition and innovation in the business world are great things. So, just to be clear, know that I am not anti-capitalism nor am I anti-business. Instead, understand that I am anti-corporatism, and therein lies the distinction. (more…)
Wow! Did you see the footage coming out of Montreal this week? Hundreds of thousands of protesters came out against proposed tuition hikes, flooding the streets and bringing the city to a standstill.
Amazing. Apparently Canadians can be mobilized to march. All it takes is the right catalyst, like a tax hike or a Tim Hortons coffee shortage.
I’m truly inspired to know that a whole new generation are experiencing firsthand how to exercise their political voice, and just how incredible it feels to do so.
Imagine if cops had to wear cameras where the video is streamed to a public database. How would they act with an unblinking and unbiased witness forever leaving them open to the people’s scrutiny?
Here’s my prediction: there would be less abuse of power. Police misconduct happens when they know they can get away with it. But under and ever-present eye to watch them, they’ll find it much harder to abuse the authority they’ve been entrusted with. (more…)
