There is a terrific line in the movie "V for Vendetta". "People shouldn't be afraid of their government, a government should be afraid of its people."
Our lack of outrage for the mishandling of the Katrina disaster, the betrayal of America on what is now clearly a war that was begun on false premises and the fiscal mismanagement of our resources which has resulted in record deficits --yet there are a few voices in the wilderness calling for 'Censure' or 'Impeachment'. Why are more people not calling for arrests and convictions? Why are we not marching in the streets demanding a thorough investigation into these matters as well as the illegal wiretaps, the relationship of the Energy Task Force to the record profits being amassed by ExxonMobil and Chevron?
We have slowly allowed this situation to occur, we are all culpable, some more than others. We have become indoctrinated in a system that creates fear, distrust and anxiety. Those of us fortunate enough to have some opportunity may come out of our education system overburdened with student loans. We begin working to slowly repay that debt, even if the work doesn't resonate with us, we must promptly pay or the 'American Dream' of owning a home, a car and the plasma television may not be realized. We meet someone, we marry, we have children. We awaken one day, married, two children, a dog, an SUV, a mortgage payment and credit debt. We are owned. Do you ever talk to someone that wistfully speaks about moving to the country and writing someday? An attorney that longs to own a little diner in some small town. Such yearnings are our spirits, our souls communicating with us, long quelled and forced into repressed silence by the debtor system we become indoctrinated into. Fear of losing our jobs and subsequently a lifestyle we believe we must have conspire to win our silence. What has our hard work gained us? Are we working less and enjoying life more? Are we spending more time with our families and friends? Or are we working more in a fast-paced high-stressed world where the thought of 'offshoring' looms and we remain at our desks, imprisoned by our own lifestyle? Do we stop and consider who is profiting from all of our extra effort? If five years ago you were working 50 hour weeks in technology, and now --with five additional years of experience you are working 65 hour weeks, for essentially the same or less compensation -your productivity has greatly increased --your impact to the corporate bottom line has increased, yet where are the fruits of your labor?
And what of the impoverished? What opportunity do they have in this, "the land of opportunity"? I cannot even imagine the horror of daily life amidst abject poverty and violence. Close to 2,500 American lives have been lost in the war and occupation of Iraq over the past 3 years. How many of our own children die everyday in the streets in urban violence? In 2003 the Center for Disease Control reported 2,779 murders of African-American youth by firearms. This is over 5,000 mothers and fathers who weep for their children, yet in isolation from the rest of America. Why?
For awhile America was rising, beginning to understand its great potential to provide a quality and dignity of life for all of its citizens. We must awaken and rise again. Together we must reclaim America for "We the People" as was intended, not for corporations. Corporations still use a wealth of data about each of us, to decide if they will extend credit to us and transact with us. It is time that each of us had at least a report card about the businesses we empower with our money that describes how the business treats its workforce, the environment, the local community economy and our natural resources. Is this a business that is trying to undermine a representative government through lobbying efforts or remaining politically neutral? These are all things we must know, so we do not spend another dime at businesses that are ruining society and robbing America of its potential. Government and politics are a shadow manifestation of the underlying economic system. This government is simply doing the job it was hired to do by Enron, Halliburton, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Wal-Mart and others. But who is the government supposed to be working for?
As Dr. Martin Luther King so eloquently stated "We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy..."
George A. Polisner
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