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."

BIG WORLD VS. SMALL WORLD -- PART 2

Last time, I described my Big World Vs. Small World notion, how we are unavoidably a part of both, and that there will be dire consequences if we concentrate all our thoughts and energies on our Small World at the expense of the Big World.

So where does that leave us?

Well, it leaves us with a responsibility to educate ourselves about the Big World and then take action. You’ll note that I’ve avoided saying “educate ourselves about Big World issues” since “issues” carries connotations of the current political system which, while an institution we can occasionally sway, is not likely to be the answer to our prayers. Presently, it tends to be operate more as one of the architects of our nightmares. (Now that I’ve clarified the connotations of the word, I will use it below.)

So, education. Where do you get your information from? Newspapers? Mainstream Internet news sites? TV news and political shows? None of the above?

These sources are fraught with peril. They are not owned by you and me. They are owned by mega-wealthy people who have mega-wealthy people’s agendas. It is a matter that will require its own blog entry (or two), but suffice it to say if we get our information from these sources, we are largely being misinformed, manipulated, or subjected to some raving lunatic’s ratings-grabbing “entertainment.” What little news we do get from these sources is heavily compromised by the news we should be getting that is never reported.

So we live in the Big World but we are not getting the Big Picture.

So we must educate ourselves. And there are plenty of sources for this. (see below) But it takes some effort and some re-thinking. Certain “truths” we may have held to be self-evident will be burned down as falsehoods. Keep an open mind. When looking at alternative/independent news sources, ask yourself: What do these people at these news sources have to gain? The answer is a lot less than the people at the “traditional” news sources.

Okay, so we seek education – which should be an ongoing thing. What about action? What do we do?

Well, that depends partly on how much time you can find. Most folks can’t tailor their lives to become a leading activist. But we all need to find whatever time we can for social change because the clock is ticking on us all. (Some of the brightest brains on the planet believe that if things continue as they are, we may only have a half century left.)

Reaching out to friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances and strangers and talking about social change is important. That makes your self-education “viral” (however, we should all avoid being “preachy” – people don’t tend to respond well to that).

You can tailor your Small World so that you make time to address the Big World. Support groups like Corporate Accountability International, Union of Concerned Scientists, United for a Fair Economy or International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. You can do this around your current schedule thanks to the Internet. Find ways to give them your time and voice, not just your money.

There are countless groups tackling the big problems. However there are not so many that are over-arching and want across-the-board institutional change – but that too is a topic for another time.

Follow the real news and issues on Democracynow.org, zcommunications.org and the like.

Phone your political representatives to express your concerns about things like the recent banking bailout, invasions (not “wars”) in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and others, the terrible environmental policies of the United States as well as global warming, and so on. You might call this “macro issue change” and it’s more incremental than trying to actually change institutions like government, media and the structure of the economy. But it is at least on the road between Small World and Big World.

Add your voice to online petitions, such as those you can have delivered to your email by sites like http://www.care2.com/causes-news/ Every voice counts!

Surf the Internet and find groups tackling big/real issues. Do Google searches to find blogs and discussion boards. Make social networking work for something worthwhile – start a social change Facebook page, for example. The possibilities are endless. Just think about what is most effective, what is most gratifying to you, then do it. That’s how I came to start this blog and in the coming year or so I’ll roll it into my own social change networking website. As it progresses it will be very much action oriented, not just information oriented.

And, of course, teach your kids about what you are doing. It could be the most vital education they get.

Remember: The “enemy” is all around us. We are constantly being distracted from things that matter by junk entertainment and overcomplicated tax forms that are meant to tangle us up and wrong-headed patriotism over cynical invasions.

And yes, making a commitment to social change is on top of our essential duties of family, work and leisure (also very important). Time is precious but it is stockpiled in the future: a better future and one we are yet to secure.

Above all, don’t leave it to someone else. Every little bit helps and it really helps if you can do more than a little bit. No Super Bowl or reality show or daily duty is nearly as important as the challenge of preserving our planet and improving our lives.

Take care,
Adrian Zupp
IMPORTANT EX POST FACTO FOOTNOTE: A recent discussion I was involved in indicated to me that I may not have been totally clear about an important point: Addressing Big World issues can be done in little ways. They do not have to cost huge chunks of time or money or even worry. Every step counts. The more you can do, the better. But obviously we are all able to do different things and to different degrees. And generally, as we do a little here and a little there we find that the burden is not so great, and the challenge not insurmountable. You will feel empowered.

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might also like to take a look at BIG WORLD VS. SMALL WORLD -- PART 1 or WE MUST ATTACK IGNORANCE AT EVERY TURN.