WE MUST ATTACK IGNORANCE AT EVERY TURN

I just responded to someone else's blog post. I can't condemn them outright for their misguidance -- at least they took the time to post their thoughts. So I will assume they were sincere. If not, at least they got off their butt -- metaphorically speaking.

There are so many misconceptions and plain falsehoods that are passed off as truth.

This is why we must continually educate ourselves in the facts about what is going on in the world and then use those facts and our own energy to rebut those misconceptions and falsehoods.

Bit by bit we will break down the propaganda wall that so many have come to believe represents the truth.

And bit by bit, in doing so, we will build a new wall of truth that will keep out the lies and protect our efforts to make this a better world.

THIS IS THE BLOG I READ (Title: US Defense Spending Has Doubled In Past Decade)
(URL: http://digg.com/d31Qdnv)
(It had a chart of "defense" spending for the years 1940 to 2010. The figures allegedly come from government sources -- and they probably do.)

It read:
'Since the September 11, 2001 attacks on US soil, the defense budget has risen steadily year after year. This year, we will spend twice as much as we spent before the attacks. Obviously we needed to step up our spending after the attacks, but the question is, how sustainable is this? Defense Secretary Robert Gates posed a question in a speech this weekend:

“Does the number of warships we have and are building really put America at risk when the U.S. battle fleet is larger than the next 13 navies combined, 11 of which belong to allies and partners? Is it a dire threat that by 2020 the United States will have only 20 times more advanced stealth fighters than China?”

His argument focuses not on cutting spending, but making sure that we are using the money more efficiently. When we spend more money than the rest of the world combined, you would think we could get the job done without steady increases every year. Read more about the speech Gates delivered here and here*.'

*"here" and "here" were hot links to the CNN and New York Times websites respectively. More on those monkeys another time.

THIS WAS MY RESPONSE:
There are no grounds whatsoever for the assertion that "we needed to step up our spending after the attacks [of 9/11]." The U.S. spends far too much on "defense" and has for decades. Stockpiles of nuclear weapons. Invasions of sovereign nations. Contracts for o-rings that cost a fortune, purchased to boost the coffers of corporations that have their hooks in Washington. As you have cited, it is a bloated budget that eclipses all other nations. Money that could go to the poor, infrastructure, education, universal health care... you name it. Improving those things would make this a much safer place to live. Think about it.

And what are we defending against? Where is the invasion? This is OFFENSE spending. And, yes, it is offensive.

Best wishes,
Adrian Zupp

Knocking down the propaganda wall doesn't take a huge intellect. Just common sense and the facts. But the cost of silence is a bleak future for our planet.

Take care,
Adrian Zupp

THE FIRST AMENDMENT BELONGS TO YOU

I write this blog for everyone.

It doesn't matter where you live, what you do, or what your political persuasion. I don't care if you hate what I say: That is your right. My goal is to provoke thought and debate while highlighting problems and offering practical actions in response to those problems.

Most of the subjects I address are patently universal. Certainly they are all global in their impact.

But, necessarily, I most often address specifics that obtain to the United States of America. This stands to reason since -- for now at least -- the U.S. is the most powerful, influential and interfering nation on Earth. (In this usage, "nation" refers to the U.S. government and U.S. corporations and all institutions, instruments and individuals at their disposal in achieving selfish aims.)

So I believe it is very important at this point in my blogging to devote an entry to the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.

It reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

My main concern here, at this time, is the subject of free speech. In America, according to the First Amendment -- which is part of a supposedly sacred document that even the white men who run the planet swear by -- YOU have the right to have your say.

Provided you do not abuse this right -- for example, through slander -- you are protected by the law of the land. Of course, it does take courage to speak up in the face of power and power will often bark back: often with its own slanders and often in courts of law. But whatever may be thrown your way, the First Amendment is still your last best hope of bringing truth to the surface, and power to heel, in America.

And as you can see above, the First Amendment also tells you you have the right to fight the powerful, the corrupt, those seemingly above our reach: "the right of the people...to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

If you are a U.S. citizen it is vital that you are aware of your First Amendment rights and exercise them at every opportunity. Because you can bet that every greedy and pernicious corporation, every dishonest public official, every ego-tripping TV talk show nut job, every journalist and media outlet that gives us less than the whole truth and nothing but the truth, every PR agency that will create Big Lies for a price, every warmonger who profits from misery, every U.S. citizen who would put him or herself ahead of the good of the many, WILL exercise that right to the detriment of the greater populace.

And even if you do not live in the United States, whether you know it or not, you rely on the First Amendment as well. Do all you can to ensure that your fellow citizens of the world who reside in the U.S. do not allow their protection under this critical piece of legislation to go to waste.

This is a big subject and there are many technicalities we could look at. Perhaps another time. My goal here was to explain one important way in which you have more power than you may realize.

Use it!

Take care,
Adrian Zupp

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might also like to take a look at FDR's SECOND BILL OF RIGHTS and A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THE FABULOUS BILL HICKS.

EVERY CHILD COUNTS

I have lived in the United States for the past 15 years and I am prepared to draw ire by saying that it is the most self-absorbed country I am aware of.

I do not say that to offend. I say it because I believe it is true and it is significant. It is an observation I can make as a migrant – especially since I am from another Western, First World nation.

The United States government, virtually since the Revolution and certainly in the era of mass media, has succeeded in developing a modern society that is quite hermetically sealed. Certain information -- e.g. raw footage of carnage in Iraq -- is not permitted to come in from the “outside,” at least not via the mainstream media. Other, somewhat less “controversial” information is allowed in in dribs and drabs so we can still be told we have a free press and live in a real democracy.

The media are so controlled, their messages so carefully crafted and sanitized, that the world view of the citizenry is continually being shaped for them. With America at the center of that world, of course. The U.S. is the “light on the hill,” “God’s country,” the “greatest country in the world.” And a considerable segment of its high school kids can’t find Mexico on a map, let alone Iraq or Afghanistan. Call it “skewed education.”

Patriotism has been made into a fine propaganda curtain in the U.S. If you dare to question the system, you might get branded “un-American.” Conversely, if you want to get a chunk of the population on board for the invasion of a Mid East country, you might talk about the threat to American ideals or security or some such nonsense. It’s us-against-them stuff. And if you aren’t with us, you’re against us and it will be noted.

This is how it goes when you have the biggest stick.

I’d like to take this thinking to the nth degree. Americans (I’m talking generally), are very patriotic – one could argue nationalistic. They also take pride in many of their institutions, like the Bill of Rights and the Constitution and their favorite NFL team. They believe they live in the world’s greatest country largely because many of them haven’t bothered to learn much about other cultures – and their education system certainly hasn’t broken its back encouraging them to. I come from Australia. It’s a pretty good place, trust me. And we don’t get all unhinged about it being the best or the greatest. It’s just a good place to be.

The American Dream (myth) is often savagely defended, at least rhetorically, sometimes violently. America has the best athletes and its champion teams are world champions even though they only play amongst themselves. The nuclear family (a fading concept) is still touted as the model for American life for all those still living the Norman Rockwell fantasy. And our kids (I have an American son), our kids are our jewels.

Okay. So say the great cosmic lottery didn’t land you in America. Say you were born in, oh, Iraq. You bake bread for a living. You have a spouse and two children. It is the only life you know. You are satisfied with the simpler things.

One day, your village is bombed by American planes dropping American bombs paid for with American tax dollars that swelled the coffers of some American corporations. Your spouse and children are killed. They are “collateral damage.” How would you feel?

I’m obviously alluding to a lot of things that will need to be revisited another time, but I wanted to brush some broad strokes to paint a clear context: I love my son more than my own life, but can I say he is more precious than an Iraqi child? Or an Afghan child? Or the collateral damage kids anywhere else on the globe where the country with the biggest stick has self-righteously – and with God’s implicit consent – “protected its interests”?

I cannot. Because parents everywhere love their kids. ALL children are precious. Sure we love our own and see them as special. They are our kids so it’s natural that they’re very special to us.

But look at what we have done to so many places that a lot of us can’t even find on a map. We’re rather indifferent about what our government and its brethren corporations have done in our name “over there,” considering many of us are capable of turning into attack dogs should someone insult our flag… let alone one of our kids!

Are we really that blind?

Well, yes and no. Millions of Americans do NOT fit the description I’ve laid out. But the machinery that perpetuates the American myth and American greed doesn’t want you to know that.

Every major decision made in Washington D.C. has great consequences. Some domestically, some internationally, some both. And a lot of kids are affected. Maybe your kids, maybe not.

But isn’t it our responsibility to take actions and voice opinions that protect them all? Everywhere? If we don’t, what kind of people are we? Surely it needn’t take our own homes being bombed for us to recognize our selfishness. Surely we are blessed enough that we can afford to have compassion for children just like ours regardless of where they happened to be born. And turn that compassion into action.

You have more power in your hands than you realize.

Take care,
Adrian Zupp

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE:

1/ Contact your political representatives and tell them what you think: about poverty, using your taxes to invade sovereign nations, etc. Go here and put in your zip code: http://www.congress.org/

2/ On a more personal level, you can sponsor a child in the Third World. I use World Vision and feel pretty comfortable that the money goes where it should. www.worldvision.org

3/ Locally, you can donate food, clothing and other items to the poor. Goodwill is one very good organizaion: www.goodwill.org Or search the Web for others in your area. There are also those large clothing bins that dot most towns and suburbs.

4/ Pick a career that involves helping others.

5/ Protest, agitate, get involved. Search the Internet for like-minded people, groups and discussion forums.

6/ Do anything but be idle.

IF YOU HAVE OTHER IDEAS PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT
I INVITE YOU TO ALSO TAKE A LOOK AT MY POST "CHILD HUNGER -- THE SCOURGE OF THE PLANET."