The famous quote by Martin Niemöller is more relevant after Ferguson than ever:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
The ignorance of our country's history has become so widespread that some might scoff at the parallel. Read on below the break and face what we are as a Nation.
It started early with the Native People Genocides in history
Authors, such as David Cesarani, argued that United States government policies in furtherance of its so-called Manifest Destiny constituted genocide.
Statistics regarding deaths due to armed conflict between Native Americans and Europeans are sparse, as in many cases there were no records kept. A study by Gregory Michno concluded that of 21,586 tabulated casualties in a selected 672 battles and skirmishes, military personnel and settlers accounted for 6,596 (31%), while indigenous casualties totaled about 14,990 (69%) for the period 1850–90. Michno's study almost exclusively uses Army estimates. His follow-up book "Forgotten Battles and Skirmishes" covers over 300 additional fights not included in these statistics. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census (1894), "The Indian wars under the government of the United States have been more than 40 in number. They have cost the lives of about 19,000 white men, women and children, including those killed in individual combats, and the lives of about 30,000 Indians. The actual number of killed and wounded Indians must be very much higher than the given... Fifty percent additional would be a safe estimate..."
Chalk and Jonassohn claimed that the deportation of the Cherokee tribe along the Trail of Tears would almost certainly be considered an act of genocide today. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 led to the exodus. About 17,000 Cherokees—along with approximately 2,000 Cherokee-owned black slaves—were removed from their homes.[ The number of people who died as a result of the Trail of Tears has been variously estimated. American doctor and missionary Elizur Butler, who made the journey with one party, estimated 4,000 deaths.
The native population of the United States has been difficult to pin down due to the lack of reliable source materials. Historian and Information Scientist, Dr. David Henige asserts that the modern trend of high population estimates is "pseudo-scientific number-crunching." While he does not advocate a low population estimates, he argues that the scarce and uncomprehensive nature of the evidence renders broad estimates(eg.as high as the entire population of the US at the onset of World War I) to be somewhat suspect, saying "Examining the methodologies used by "high counters" have been particularly flagrant in their misuse of sources."
Contemporaneous accounts of the effects of smallpox, among the native population suggest an 80% to 95% mortality rate of the entire population effected. Governor William Bradford wrote, in 1633, about the second reported outbreak (e.g. 1617, 1633) in New England: "... for it pleased God to visit these Indians with a great sickness, and such a mortality that of a 1000. above 900.and a half of them died, and many of them did rot above ground for want of burial,
History of union busting in the United States
The history of union busting in the United States dates back to the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century which produced a rapid expansion in factories and manufacturing capabilities. As workers moved away from farm work to factories, mines and other hard labor, they faced harsh working conditions such as long hours, low pay and health risks. Children and women worked in factories and generally received lower pay than men. The government did little to limit these injustices. Labor movements in the industrialized world developed that lobbied for better rights and safer conditions. Shaped by wars, depressions, government policies, judicial rulings, and global competition, the early years of the battleground between unions and management were adversarial and often identified with aggressive hostility. Contemporary opposition to trade unions known as union busting started in the 1940s and continues to present challenges to the labor movement. Union busting is a term used by labor organizations and trade unions to describe the activities that may be undertaken by employers, their proxies, workers and in certain instances states and governments usually triggered by events such as picketing, card check, organizing, and strike actions. Labor legislation has changed the nature of union busting, as well as the organizing tactics that labor organizations commonly use.
There is a long list of the use of lethal farce during these times.
Since early times in this country people who were first slaves then an oppressed class victimized by racism have been killed with no attempt of so called "government" to limit the murder.
One reason it has been able to happen is that most of the unaffected either sit back and watch or cheer the murderers on.
It is happening now. Yes some good folk are protesting. They have done that in the past and here we are.
On the whole the population is either indifferent or openly hostile to such systematized crimes against their fellow citizens.
In the 1960s and 1970s some of us got a closer look at the willingness of the government to use lethal force against the people. It was then that civilian police were trained by the military to control popular uprisings and protests.
The picture seems very clear yet even the progressive left is rather timid about responding to this threat to all our lives.
The very way that the theater was allowed to play out in the Ferguson situation is ample evidence that we have learned very little. Who could possibly have been surprised by the way the situation was handled? It is so like the bombings, lynchings, etc. that came before. Yet each incident, each set of murders is tolerated with some misplaced hope that it will magically become different.
There is no magic. The only freedom that exists is that that is won by hard struggle. We are not free and we won't be unless we struggle.
Jim Coffman and I have written about the state of denial world wide. Our country has all the problems that have existed in every other totalitarian state throughout history. The lack of understanding about how bad things have become is very much like the situation in an Institution for the mentally ill. That is why we call our book Global Insanity.
I read the diaries here with great interest for they reflect the level of massive denial and the pretense that some sort of democratic institutions are present. Time, effort and intellectual activity go on as if there were some magical mechanism that will stop this. The last election made the fallacy so obvious that I shudder as I watch the game go on as if it had other meanings. More money was spent, more evidence and facts were marshaled than ever before. There is nothing more to wish for folks. The facts mean nothing in this culture. Doing the same thing over and over again will not change anything it will only add to the problem. Get out of your denial and heed Niemöller's warning. There may still be time. No matter what, you will end up suffering more by your failure to act. We have not needed a weatherman to tell us the way the wind is blowing for a long, long time.