Psychic numbing

an oldie but a goodie...

carol wolman, writing in counterpunch, 8 december 2003...

AMERICANS tend to identify with America's nuclear weapons, thinking that they meant to defend our country. We plebes don't realize that their real function is to defend the interests of a small group of corporations, the military-aerospace-oil complex. Our role is to be HOSTAGES. The people in power have bunkers and bomb shelters in which to ride out a nuclear war. There is no civil defense for the rest of us. Not only are we targeted, but we pay for the privilege, with our taxes. (The actual price tag for US military spending in fiscal 2004 will be $486 billion, or 56 percent of all federal discretionary spending.) Our DENIAL OF THIS SHATTERING TRUTH IS HEAVILY FOSTERED by the warmongers. We are told by the media, over and over, that we have an enemy, and we need nuclear weapons to protect us. When the Cold War ended, a new threat called terrorism was quickly produced.

As if thought control by the media weren't enough, our culture is geared toward violence and exploitation. Our children are raised on sadistic cartoons and video games. We are taught to channel our aggression into team sports- mostly as spectators- and to always root for the home team. "Us against them" thinking is ingrained, and of course we are always the good guys.

We are also trained to be passive. We are fed all sorts of drugs, legal and illegal, that sedate us or make us crazy. The education system trains our children to sit still and give the right answers. Our diet and lifestyle makes us fat and lazy.

We are also terrorized. Protestors are given harsh sentences these days. Sane leaders who advocate love and peace have been systematically assassinated or killed in mysterious accidents- both Kennedys (3 with John Jr.), ML King, Jr., Mel Carnahan and Paul Wellstone to name a few.

We are socially fragmented. We are encouraged to focus on ourselves and personal success, rather to face our common problems and seek solutions together. The divorce rate is high and children are neglected or abused. The social service system breaks up our families. As we are socially atomized, we feel more and more powerless to deal with the threat of nuclear holocaust.

We are out of touch with our bodies. We sit in cars, in front of TVs and computers, at desks, but we don't experience our physical reality and that of the world around us. No wonder we don't take care of the environment!

We worship money and goods instead of the God of love and truth. After 9-11, the president told us to keep shopping. Our health as a nation is measured by the stock market rather than by the number of people in prison.

this ought to be required reading for everyone in the united states at least once a week...

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