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And, yes, I DO take it personally: "Illusions of hope rather than the real possibility of justice and change"
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Monday, January 01, 2007

"Illusions of hope rather than the real possibility of justice and change"

i was going to post this last night and decided against it because, in keeping with the spirit of welcoming the new year, it seemed a bit dark... however, after reading maryscott o'conner's and one pissed off liberal's latest rants, i've changed my mind...
In their silence and acquiescence Americans have voted –- even if by abstention –- to stand on the shoulders of all drowning peoples in the vain hope that they will somehow be saved from a paradigm which they support and empower by obeying it; by endorsing it with their silence or knowingly impotent protests; by refusing to throw themselves against the gears of the machine. In this world, a protest which is allowed and encouraged, corralled into free-speech areas, and then policed by the ruling government only to be ignored by the media is, by definition, meaningless.

The US is a nation where the “non-negotiable” and unsustainable “American” way of life is propped up by global conflict, out-of-control military spending, massive and unsustainable debt, and an increasingly-aggressive fascist police state. It is a nation where all US citizens who do not resist and disconnect from this paradigm enjoy their ever-diminishing privileges with the guilty knowledge that somewhere else, hopefully in some “other” country, others are paying the price for it.

[...]

With the passage of time, the degree of corporate oppression, the outrageousness of the cruelty, and the absurdity of the lies can only increase as dwindling resources diminish and desperation erupts. Ironically, the disappearing American middle class will still cheer at each new millionaire success story, even if they quietly understand that a hundred or a thousand of their kind had to disappear to create it. They chase illusions of hope rather than the real possibility of justice and change like lottery players with a one-in-a-billion chance of winning. They prefer that to hard work and sacrifice with much better odds where almost everybody can win something.

i don't think things NEED to look quite this bad, but, i'm afraid that, given our current circumstances, we're looking at no better than 50-50... i know that things always seem darkest just before the dawn, and i console myself with that aphorism... and it is, after all, a new year...

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