Bush's culture of fear does not bode well for the future of America

I have become a big fan of Tom Ashbrook's show on WBUR radio called On Point. On Tuesday, January 9, 2007, Tom interviewed a French political scientist, Dominique Moisi who discussed the significant changes that have occured in global politics over the course of the Bush administration. His sweeping generalizations make a lot of sense to me and they are well worth listening to if you are interested in global politics and where our world is headed for the future of our children and grandchildren.

Sometimes you have to step way back to see what's going on in the world. For centuries, the view from the moon looked something like this: the West on a roll, confident and expansive, the once-proud Islam in retreat, and Asia, out of it.

Today, says French big-thinker Dominique Moisi, it's a whole new map out there -- the West is in a culture of fear, Islam in a culture of humiliation, and Asia the planet's new culture of hope.

Shifts like this are rare and profound. Their effects can last hundreds of years. Moisi says we are in such a mega-shift right now -- to a new map of global outlooks, with all that may mean.

This hour On Point: Dominique Moisi on cultures of hope, cultures of fear, and the new map of the world.

Link: On Point : The Clash of Emotions - The Clash of Emotions.


Howard Zinn interviewed by Bob McChesney on Media Matters

Howard_zinn On December 17,2006, on the radio show, Media Matters with Bob McChesney, Bob interviewed Howard Zinn about his new book, "A Power Governments Cannot Suppress". It is an excellent show and I highly recommend it. You can listen to it online or download the MP3 by going to the Media Matters web site by clicking on the link below.

Link: Media Matters with Bob McChesney on WILL-AM.


89% of Americans who want to buy health insurance can't

Out of work? No health insurance? Buy your own. Not going to happen. Lots of luck.

According to the Commonwealth Fund's Biennial Health Insurance survey done in 2005, 89% of Americans between the ages of 19 and 64 who thought about or tried to buy health insurance in the previous three years were unsuccessful.

Insurance in the individual market is often impossible to obtain or unaffordable. Nearly nine of 10 people who explored obtaining coverage through the individual market never bought a plan, citing difficulties finding affordable coverage or being turned down.

Squeezed_es_cht1

I heard on Meet The Press this morning, October 1, 2006, that the United States is spending 2 Billion dollars a week in Iraq. That's 8 Billion dollars per month. You'd think the United States could figure out a way to help its citizens get health care.

Link: Americans Squeezed by Health Care Costs.


Colbert Rips American Tribalism

Stephen_colbert Web site Truthdig has a wonderful article on September 20, 2006 on Stephen Cobert's show in which he does a riff on racial segregation in the United States or what Stephen calls "tribalism". It is worth watching on YouTube.

Stephen Colbert offered this riff on racial tribalism in America, after learning that whites tend to live amongst other whites.  Here’s a taste: “I’m colorblind.  I don’t see race, folks, and I always thought my gated community was incredibly diverse.  But, uh, today I asked around and it turns out that everyone at last week’s ‘smooth jazz and mayonnaise block party’ was in fact white.”

Click on the link below.

Link: Truthdig - A/V Booth - Colbert Rips American Tribalism.


Why We Fight, the film

Why_we_fight Why We Fight is a documentary distributed in 2005 which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and is a film which every American should be required to see. It provides information about the military-industrial-political-think tank complex and explains why, since 1945, the United States has been involved in so many immoral wars of imperial aggression. If Americans think that the United States fights for freedom and democracy, they are sadly mistaken and have been manipulated by their government and the corporations that have bought it.

I highly recommend this film.

Link: Why We Fight (2005).


The 10 Most Brazen War Profiteers

Bechtel I mentioned on this blog a few days ago that even though the majority of Americans are against the war in Iraq, the Republicans still will not set a date to withdraw the troops, nor admit that the policy was disengenuous from the start and a failure. Why?

The answer is simple, money.

And is greed worth the thousands of deaths of Americans and Iraqis and others, and  the billions of dollars of taxpayers money being spent driving up our deficit? Apparently the war profiteers think it is and they pay for our politicians.

For more information, click on the link below.

Armed with this information, vote in November for people who represent the people's interests not the corporations.

Link: AlterNet: War on Iraq: The 10 Most Brazen War Profiteers.


Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers

Iraq_for_sale I mentioned yesterday on this blog how a great deal of militarism is about corporate profit and the incestuous connection between corporations and politicians who fight wars out of greed and congquest. Today, I notice that Robert Greenwald has a new documentary coming out at the end of September titled, in fact, "Iraq for sale: The War Profiteers". Here is a bit of a pre-release review:

"Iraq for Sale" hits the gut with a punch by focusing on the victims of privatizing our military. The gripping documentary leaves little doubt that war is now being waged, in large part, for the direct profit of a few well-connected companies. 'Iraq for Sale' blows away the jingoism that our tax dollars are being spent for spreading democracy. Our hard-earned tax dollars are going directly into the pockets of large corporations who often provide shoddy work that puts their employees and our soldiers at grave risk.

Robert Greenwald, as his feisty Brave New Films studio did with "Wal-Mart," focuses on the true stories of victims of companies the likes of Halliburton, Blackwater, and many others who are largely unknown to the American public. They operate, at tremendous profit, with virtually no accountability in Iraq, either for insuring that our GIs receive appropriate and timely support. In fact, the documentary provides evidence that these GOP-connected privatized military companies actually put our soldiers and private citizens in harm's way in order to achieve a greater profit.

This is the story of real Americans who are victims of an administration that took the nation to war, in large part, to "feed the greed" of corporations that politically support them.

"Iraq for Sale" proves that the Bush White House and the Republican Party profit heavily off of fear and war -- and they do it with your money and our lives.

Link: BuzzFlash Review: Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers(DVD) (Pre-Order Now, Released End of Sept.).


The ugly under belly of America's racist past

Elizabetheckfordmob 49 years ago today, September 4, 1957, Elizabeth Eckford was blocked from becoming the first black student at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, called out the National Guard to block the school and on September 24, 1957, President Eisenhower sent in federal troops to enforce the law.

I was 11 years old at the time growing up in Brockport NY and feeling scared that I was living in a country where such hatred existed solely because of the color of a person's skin.

Terrorism was alive and well in the South in those days with blacks being killed along with white civil rights workers. This country has an ugly past which we should not forget as we attempt to intervene around the world. There are brave and courageous people among us who fight for justice which often are overlooked by history and from whose courage and sacrifices millions of people now benefit.

On 4th September, 1957, Elizabeth Eckford and eight other African American students attempted to enter Little Rock Central High School, a school that previously had only accepted white children. The governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, was determined to ensure that segregation did not take place and sent the National Guard to stop the children from entering the school.

On 24th September, 1957, President
Dwight Eisenhower, went on television and told the American people: "At a time when we face grave situations abroad because of the hatred that communism bears towards a system of government based on human rights, it would be difficult to exaggerate the harm that is being done to the prestige and influence and indeed to the safety of our nation and the world. Our enemies are gloating over this incident and using it everywhere to misrepresent our whole nation. We are portrayed as a violator of those standards which the peoples of the world united to proclaim in the Charter of the United Nations."

After trying for eighteen days to persuade
Orval Faubus to obey the ruling of the Supreme Court, Eisenhower decided to send federal troops to Arkansas to ensure that black children could go to Little Rock Central High School. The white population of Little Rock were furious that they were being forced to integrate their school and Faubus described the federal troops as an army of occupation. Elizabeth Eckford and the eight other African American children at the school suffered physical violence and constant racial abuse. Parents of four of the children lost their jobs because they had insisted in sending them to a white school. Eventually Orvel Faubus decided to close down all the schools in Little Rock.

For more information, click on the link below.

Link: Elizabeth Eckford.


Christian Nationalistism and Mindful Politics

I am reading both Michelle Goldberg's book, Kingdom Coming: The Rise if Christian Nationalism, and Mindful Politics: A Buddhist Guide To Making The World A Better Place, edited by Melvin McLeod concurrently. It is an interesting juxtaposition.

Michelle Goldberg is a senior reporter for Salon.com who documents the rise of what she calls "Christian Nationalism". It is frightening stuff reminicent of the rise of the National Socalist party in Germany better known as the Nazis. The most compelling aspect of the Christian Right is their intolerance and their rigid black and white thinking seeing the world as good, "saved", and evil, "the work of Satan". With this absolutist and primitive thinking they intend to take over the United States government and restore what they see as the righteous kingdom of God imposing their beliefs on their fellow citizens and the rest of the world.

The theories of the Christian Nationalists are biblically based and become somewhat delusional with their belief in the end days and the second coming which involves the war in Israel. They also eschew science as "liberal" thinking and push Intelligent Design into schools and State Education Departments with no acknowledgement of its lack of scientific basis.

It appears that the "faith" of Christian Evangelical Nationalists is anti-reason, anti-science, and anti-tolerance.

As an antidote to this frightening rise of Christian Nationalism, I started reading Mindful Politics edited by Melvin McLeod which is a collection of essays by various Buddhist authors on the common good. The Buddhist approach is quite different than the Christian Evangelical Nationalists in that it is based on reason, tolerance, loving-kindness, generosity, compassion, discipline, and patience. These are all the qualities one might expect from the so called followers of Jesus, but which are often missing from the actions of the Christian Nationalists, and continue to be an important part of the daily practice of Buddhists.

Having been raised a Catholic, it saddens me to see the mis-interpretation of Jesus' teachings by the Christian Nationalists who then attempt to impose their delusional beliefs on society. It reminds me of Gandhi's statement that he would consider converting from Hinduism to Christianity if he ever found a church that actually followed the teachings of Jesus.

Because of the threat of the values and thinking of the Christian Nationalists to the United States and their ascendency into political power, it is important to examine critically their beliefs and policies. I believe that a critical analysis based on reason and science will lead to a vision and policies that will best serve our nation and the world.


An Inconvenient Truth, the film

Inconvenient_truth Too bad Al Gore didn't become President. He's a very smart man and he has very good values. He strikes me a a grown-up with a mature view and wisdom about life unlike the current President who has never moved much beyond adolescense.

Al Gore presents a compelling case for global warming. It is done in a factual, entertaining way which is quite engrossing.

Inconvenient Truth is a movie every American, every person on the planet should see.

I highly recommend it.

Link: An Inconvenient Truth (2006).