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Slow,
agonizing death by asphyxiation is sweeping America. Covert assassins
are in our midst, and many are blissfully unaware of their
presence. These murderers rob their victims of their defenses
by lulling them into complacency. Like the Sirens of mythology, they seductively
lure their prey to its demise.
Something
wicked this way comes....
Fear
and ignorance are slowly choking the life out of reason and
intellectualism in the United States. For years, the ruling Plutocracy
has perpetuated social forces which obliterate the critical thinking
capacities of the citizenry of the United States. Churches, schools, and
corporations employ propaganda and offer immediate gratification through
various means to crush the desire for independent thought. Four textbook
manufacturers (which own 75% of the market), the entertainment
industry, and the mainstream media, are the three most powerful
propaganda channels for the Plutocrats. The casualties in this
figurative genocide are the minds and souls of many Americans. I am not
arguing that we are a brainless nation, because there are many Americans
who possess high degrees of business and technological savvy. Many
of the Plutocrats' victims are more intelligent than those of us who
have escaped their clutches. However, the Plutocracy has worked
tirelessly to smother mental endeavors such as introspection, deep
philosophical contemplation and the study of the humanities.
"Forbidden knowledge" includes the darker side of US history,
such as the extreme brutality of slavery and the genocide committed
against Native Americans. Awareness of the atrocities
committed by our rulers undermines the "Norman Rockwell
concept" of America used to manipulate the masses into
believing we live in a morally superior nation. America's Oligarchs have
created a population which is very heavily loaded with people who
possess the mental acuity to man the military industrial complex, but
who lack the intellectual capacity to challenge their bondage. Those who
are incapable or unwilling to think critically are unlikely to reject
the manacles of economic and psychological servitude. Reason is dying
slowly, and there are still significant numbers who resist the alluring
package offered by our rulers. However, emotionally driven, shallow
means of existence are slowly suffocating rigorous study, debate, and
thoughtful deliberation in the United States. While the victim is an
abstract, the Plutocrats are still committing a heinous act.
America,
the Superficial (compliments of our Plutocracy)
Hostility
against intellectualism is a hallmark of the United States. A nation run
by imperialists and profiteers does not have time for pursuits that do
not result in increased power or wealth. Why waste time studying Islam
or learning the cultures of the people of the Middle East when we can
employ our vast resources to underwrite brutal dictators (i.e. the Shah
of Iran) or launch an outright invasion (i.e. in Iraq) to ensure that we
maintain an iron grip on their precious oil? Rape, pillage, plunder,
manipulation, and ignorance represent a much easier path than the
rigors of diplomacy, reason, study, and compromise. From birth, the
media inculcates us into a culture obsessed with being number one,
dominating, winning, youth, physical beauty, and money. Why bother
reading something deep and meaningful when cable offers 300 channels of
eye and brain candy in which to immerse oneself? Why attempt to discern
what is really going on in the world when Fox News is there to
spoon-feed the information in a "fair and balanced" way?
Over
the last several years, a group of rabid pit-bulls have emerged to
virtually guarantee that "Yankee imperialism" will continue
advancing the cause of the continued enrichment of the Plutocrats ruling
our fictitious republic. Karl Rove, Bush's master propagandist whom Bush
affectionately refers to as "Turd Blossom", rivals the genius
of Joseph Goebbels in his ability to manipulate the masses. Preying on
the average American's relative ignorance about other cultures and
societies, Rove whipped the US populace into a frenzy of fear and lust
for revenge after 9/11. Drawing on the momentum of anti-Muslim and
Middle East sentiment, Rove, Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush wove a web of
intricate lies to convince the American public to become complicit in
the invasion of a sovereign nation (which had no involvement in 9/11 and possessed
no weapons of mass destruction). Thousands of lives and billions of
dollars later, Iraq is in chaos and on the verge of a civil war. For the
Plutocrats and Neocons, it has been a small price to pay for furthering
their version of capitalism, which Bush calls "freedom and
liberty". The reality is that America's version of "freedom
and liberty" enslaves people and ensures that the vast majority of
the wealth remains in the hands of the few.
Make
them pariahs before they expose us!
Americans
who do have the misfortune to delight in intellectual pursuits that do
not result in technological advance, increased military might,
perpetuation of the "immediate gratification" entertainment
industry, or financial gain are viewed as pariahs. In the US, there
is little or no virtue in attaining knowledge of the humanities. In
fact, awareness of history (beyond the white-washed version provided by
textbooks), other cultures, literature, world events, and
philosophy actually poses a grave threat to the Plutocrats and Neocons.
A critical thinking person with knowledge of the dark history of the
United States government, and awareness of the fact that not all
Muslims are American-hating terrorists, might actually question the
wisdom of the war in Iraq, thus jeopardizing the prosperity of the
military industrial complex. Money flows to the coffers of those who
marginalize and ridicule "fuzzy-minded liberal eggheads"
like Adlai Stevenson or Jimmy Carter.
As
evidenced by the example of Adlai Stevenson, a noted intellectual who lost
the Electoral College vote 442 to 89 in the 1952 presidential election,
many citizens of the United States view those noted for critical
thinking with suspicion and disdain. As an individual who thirsts for
knowledge on many subjects, reads voraciously, articulates relatively
well in two languages, thinks critically, and has a respectable IQ, I
grew up feeling like a pariah. Lacking athletic ability, mechanical
aptitude, or the desire to be involved with the "in crowd", I
spent most of my time studying and interacting with my circle of friends
who shared my common interests. Throughout most of my childhood and teen
years, I felt shunned. I endured mockery and exclusion because of
my qualities and pursuits. Keeping my nose to the grindstone, I achieved
Valedictorian of my high school class of 320 and three relatively
successful years of liberal arts study at a state university. After
years of existential angst stemming from my "flawed nature", I
quit school and intentionally attempted to extinguish the intellectual
aspects of my being. For six years, I chose to work in menial,
low-paying jobs which required little or no education. I intentionally
watered down my vocabulary. I stopped reading and studying for pleasure.
I adopted ignorant, close-minded viewpoints that included racial,
gender, and sexual orientation discrimination. In the process, I reached
rock bottom spiritually, intellectually, and financially, and lived on
the under-belly of society for two years. While I take responsibility
for making these choices, I am using myself as an illustration to
demonstrate how powerful the anti-intellectual forces are in American
society. About twelve years ago, a serendipitous encounter with the
most important mentor in my life started me on my steady journey to once
again embrace my true nature. I have returned to valuing critical
thinking, the search for knowledge, compassion, the pursuit of social
justice, non-violent means of resolving conflict, intellectual freedom,
and openness to change. While rejecting my true self was emotionally
agonizing, it was a beneficial journey. Along that path, I learned a
healthy humility, an understanding of my strengths and limitations, an
appreciation for those with different strengths and limitations, and an
appreciation for the spiritual side of my existence. Best of all, I have become
the antithesis of what our Plutocrat and Neocon rulers desire
in their obedient subjects, and I have devoted a great deal of my time
and energy to encourage and inspire others to break their psychological
and economic chains.
In
the Eye of the Storm
Living
in Kansas, the epicenter of America's rapid acceleration toward social
conservatism and fundamentalism (which reject intellectual endeavors as
a threat to their dogma), gives me a first-hand perspective of the depth
of the problem. While conducting Bush's self-proclaimed
"crusade" (note his ignorant and highly inflammatory choice of
words) against the fundamentalist Islamic world, the Neocons are
facilitating the intensification of anti-intellectualism here in the
United States. Various factions within the Religious Right have worked
their tentacles into the highest levels of our government. Bill Frist,
Tom Delay, and Sam Brownback are but a few of our leaders who faithfully
execute the Religious Right's agenda, which includes a dangerous
nationalism analogous to that which emerged in Germany in the 1930's, government-sponsored
discrimination against homosexuals, a potentially never-ending war
on "terrorism", destruction of the wall of separation between
church and state, and an attack on science and reason (which threatens
to plunge the United States into a pre-Enlightenment
theocracy).
Yes,
Kansas is at the heart of this maelstrom threatening to swallow
reason and intellect like helpless dinghies on a tempestuous sea.
Phill Kline, our attorney general, believes he has the right to view
private medical records of 90 women who had abortions.
Numerous members of the socially conservative dominated Kansas State
Legislature openly challenged the authority of the Kansas Supreme Court
recently when justices unanimously ordered the legislature to
provide more funding for public schools. Social conservatives on the
Kansas State School Board are rewriting state science standards in a way
that will open the door for introduction of Intelligent Design (a
disguised version of Creationism) into the public school curriculum.
After wasting $17,000.00 of taxpayers' money on farcical hearings to
determine the validity of Evolution, the board is determined to bring
religion into the classroom while attacking a theory which has withstood
years of scientific scrutiny and is supported by significant
amounts of evidence. In a newsletter to constituents, paid for by
taxpayers, board member Connie Morris went so far as to write:
"It
is our goal to write the standards in such a way that clearly gives
educators the right AND responsibility to present the criticism of
Darwinism alongside the age-old fairy tale of evolution,"
Yes,
the United States has the moral and intellectual superiority to
enlighten the "backward" denizens of the Middle East. How long
will it be before Bush appoints Morris as a science advisor in the
reconstruction of Iraq's educational system?
Things
were simply not progressing quickly enough to suit the Neocons
While
the United States has a history of covert suppression of
intellectual freedom through various means, the Bush administration has
accelerated the process and heightened the intensity. While America
produces 25% of greenhouse gasses, the Bush administration has used
pseudo-science to "disprove" the commonly accepted scientific
notion of the Greenhouse Effect, thus enabling them to protect "Big
Oil's" business interests by keeping the US out of the Kyoto
Treaty. Refusing to provide a reasonable level of federal funding for
embryonic stem cell research has significantly stifled American advances
in this critical area of medical research. As a result of social
conservatives' blind allegiance to the "preservation of life at all
costs", hundreds of thousands of unused embryos at fertility
clinics will be discarded rather than used for research with incredible
potential to alleviate human suffering from diseases like Parkinson's
and Alzheimer's. No Child Left Behind has left teachers behind as
they have little recourse but to teach their students with the goal of
succeeding on a standardized test, which represents a very shallow
educational goal. It leaves little room for nurturing innate curiosity
and fostering independent thinking. Perhaps the sickest joke behind this
piece of legislation was over-burdening the teachers with requirements
without providing them the necessary funding to fulfill the demands. For
those who still believe the United States holds the edge in technology,
consider that China graduated 325,000 engineers last year. The
US graduated about a fifth that number. India graduated 40,000 computer
science majors last year. While American citizens argue over Evolution,
embryos destined for destruction anyway, and sustaining lives of those
who have no hope of recovering quality of life, the rest of the world
will pass us by like we are standing still. Plutocrat and Neocon
behaviors such as continued consumption of the world's resources like
obscene gluttons, willfully poisoning the environment, perpetuating
an imperialistic agenda, and choosing profound ignorance about
the rest of the world will continue to breed hatred and terrorism
against the United States.
With
the advent of television, America's rulers found a near perfect
medium to purvey their mind-numbing messages, and further demonize
intellectualism. Advertisers bombard the minds of Americans with
seductive images and false claims. Mainstream news provides a corporate-
censored, watered-down view of domestic and world events. Judge Judy and
Jerry Springer celebrate and promote the vulgar in human relations and
interactions. Sex, sensationalism, and violence captivate the
masses to stay glued to their televisions, giving the Plutocrats a
direct pipeline to the minds of their subjects. Thankfully, their recent
bid to pull the plug on public television appears to have failed. Big
Bird and Front Line have survived the chopping block, for now.
What
can we do?
What
can one do in the face of the immense wealth and power of the
Plutocrats? How can one subvert their intense effort to convert
Americans into servile, obedient subjects willing to perpetuate the
Neocons' avaricious, hateful agenda (which threatens the very
survival of the human race)? Each person needs to find their own means
of joining the non-violent movement to reject the Plutocrat and Neocon
rule. My wife and I boycott Wal-Mart and other corporate entities that
are destroying the American economy. We live frugally, and do not incur
debt beyond what is necessary. We recycle. We teach our child together,
and my two children, to think critically and to question authority to a
healthy degree. I have chosen to join and participate with Amnesty
International, the ACLU, and Americans United for the Separation of
Church and State. When I am not working or parenting, I write
informative, persuasive essays. I maintain my blog, Thomas Paine's
Corner, at http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/, which
promotes intellectual freedom, human rights, and civil liberties. I
work with a project called Worldwide Renaissance (http://www.worldwiderenaissance.
com/mainstuff/mainportalpage.asp?Level=Main)
which promotes social justice. I am fully prepared to engage in civil
disobedience when the time comes. If our corrupt leaders ask me to
participate directly in one of their imperialistic endeavors, I will
refuse. If the flag desecration amendment passes, I intend to publicly
burn a flag, not as an affront to the heroic efforts of genuine American
heroes or sincerely decent Americans, but as a stand for the First
Amendment, and as a symbolic destruction of the twisted nationalism
which the Neocons have brought the Stars and Stripes to represent.
I
hope you find your non-violent means to subvert the Neocons and
Plutocrats. The cause of social justice needs you!
Jason
Miller is a 38 year old free-lance activist writer with a degree in
liberal arts. He is a husband and a father to three boys. He earns his living
as an account representative for a finance company. His
affiliations include Amnesty International, the ACLU and the Americans
United for Separation of Church and State. He welcomes responses at willpowerful@hotmail.com.
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