I often get very frustrated with politics. So I do understand why people prefer to look the other way, though indifference and ignorance lubricate the self-destructive mechanisms which I believe are taking us towards either World War III, economic collapse, social Armageddon . . . or all of the above.
At the same time, there is so much which is confusing, horrifying, nauseating, just plain stupid and wrong, it’s impossible to keep up with all of it. Most crises seem so far away, not relevant to the day-to-day business of just trying to survive and keep our heads above water. ISIS, the Ukraine, China, Afghanistan, Palestine, all place a distant nineteenth to paying the mortgage, feeding ourselves, trying to put clothes on our backs that don’t disintegrate in the laundry, keeping the neighbor’s dog from pooping on the lawn.
Regardless of how consequential all of these international disturbances may ultimately be, the simple truth is they don’t hit home until they hit home. The primary reason Americans are now concerned about Ebola is their fear that it may spread in America, understandably so, though chances of infection are pretty remote. But until people started dying inside our own borders, it was just more bad news piled on bad news from “somewhere over there” where bad news seems to grow like mold on an old chunk of cheese in the back of the refrigerator.
Recognizing all of this, I am still very puzzled why people aren’t up in arms about things which are, without a shred of doubt, a clear and present danger to them, right now, right here in our own U S of A. I don’t mean unlikely, remote threats, like the prospect they will be hit by a drunk driver or be the victim of a swarm of killer bees. I refer to very real, very imminent hazards which have the potential to kill them, shortening their lives by many years! Who wants to die before they have to?
In my travels, people ask me why I left the U.S. in 2006. I have a straightforward reply . . .
The political climate and the food.
Both were toxic. Both were poisonous to my health and happiness.
Since I’ve already written over a hundred political rants, here let’s just talk about food.
The food in America is a death warrant.
Maybe not as poisonous as rat poison but ultimately just as lethal.
Some might think I’m being hyperbolic. I don’t think so. Americans are being slowly and methodically undermined by their diet. Meat is chock full of hormones, antibiotics, toxins, often tainted with fecal matter and various parasites, both viral and bacterial pathogens. Vegetables are often laced with herbicides, insecticides, chemical residues, too often lacking any nutritional value, due to bad farming, and premature harvesting to accommodate supply chains that stretch over continents.
As if that weren’t bad enough, we fill our faces with so much fat and sugar, snacks, sweets, and fast food of every shape and color, it’s amazing the sidewalks aren’t littered with the carcasses of people who have just simply keeled over from the sheer glut.
Beyond all of that, which basically is either a matter of choice __ eating junk food __ or a lack of choice __ the prevalence of unhealthy and contaminated food staples at the market __ I want to focus on one specific issue which I see as emblematic.
How many people can say they haven’t had cancer directly impact either themselves or someone they personally know, perhaps even a close relative or friend?
If you said ‘no’ I would be shocked. According to the American Cancer Society: “In 2014, there will be an estimated 1,665,540 new cancer cases diagnosed and 585,720 cancer deaths in the US. Cancer remains the second most common cause of death in the US, accounting for nearly 1 of every 4 deaths.”
There are certainly many causes for cancer. To whatever degree we can, we try to avoid exposure to carcinogens or anything which causes or encourages the growth of tumors.
But what do we do if we are not allowed to know about a potential source of cancer?
Monsanto has been very effective at suppressing any research findings about the health implications of both its highly lucrative herbicide Roundup and its expanding range of GMO products.
But reports are beginning to surface. This recent one on Roundup brings into focus how dangerous this extensively used, putatively harmless chemical killer is.
GMOs are the evil stepsister of Roundup. Most GMO crops are genetically altered to give them resistance to Roundup, so that the weedkiller can be sprayed on in copious amounts killing the weeds but leaving the edible plants intact and supposedly healthy.
Given the many reports __ here and here are merely a couple references __ coming out of research laboratories from around the world which are suggesting that these genetic modifications are extremely dangerous, posing all sorts of risks, first and foremost among them the promotion of grotesque and potentially cancerous tumor growths, people are requesting that at least the foods containing GMO products be labeled as such.
This is hardly an inconsequential concern. 88% of the corn grown in the U.S. is genetically modified. 93% of our soybeans are GMO. Because these and other food plants are the basis for the thousands of processed food products commonly included in the typical American diet, now “70 percent of processed foods in your local supermarket contain genetically modified ingredients.“
Mind you, people are not demanding a total ban on GMOs __ though a case can be made for one, at least until it is determined with absolute certainty that these Frankenfoods are safe __ they just want it PUT ON THE LABEL, so they can make an informed decision.
Polls show that 93% of American voters want GMO labeling. 93%! This cuts across the entire political spectrum __ Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Tea Party, liberals, conservatives, anarchists, Free-Tibet-Nuke-The-Gay-Whales Party of Patriotic Polemicists __ a historic and unprecedented consensus. And we can’t even get this done!
Our play-for-pay, follow-the-money, corporate lapdog politicians, from the President, all the way through the entire gutless reeking-with-corruption ranks of Congress, all beholden to the likes of Monsanto, refuse to stand up to the scumbags who put profit before people!
Uh-oh . . . I’m back to ranting about politics.
Sometimes it seems unavoidable, eh?
Anyway, let me wrap this up with a suggestion. While you’re munching away on that corn dog as you drive to your polling place on November 4th, you might want to ask yourself:
“Who should I vote for . . . and what the hell am I eating?!”
Absentee Patriotism
As a result, infrequently but uncomfortably too often, I get this remark from some rabid, myopic super-patriot who gets their understanding of our political system from the box that his hot glue gun came in . . .
“You don’t even live here. You have no right to criticize America.”
It’s one of those battle cries from desperately small minds which on the surface offers some common sense logic but with bare minimum scrutiny falls apart like stale Saltines.
Let’s imagine . . .
It’s 1938 and I am a Jew who has been living in Nazi Germany. I am getting increasingly uncomfortable with developments both locally in my village and nationally. So I leave and become an expatriate, a German citizen living in a foreign country.
While living outside the sphere of the Reich and its pervasive propaganda machine, I see that my discomfort was more than justified, that there are horrible things going on in my home country which threaten not only my fellow Jews, but threaten other individuals and the peace and stability of the whole European continent. I learn from other expatriates about the forced labor and concentration camps, and what appears to be a well-planned program being put in place for the extermination of millions of people. I learn of a massive build-up of military machinery which portends provocations of neighboring countries and promises massive military confrontation.
Are the people who question my now living overseas saying I would have had no right to warn people about the developments I had learned about? That I was disqualified by my foreign mailing address from speaking out against the policies of “my country”? That I would not have had the right to at least warn other Jews __ my fellow citizens __ and urge them to escape as soon as possible or face possible extermination?
I would argue that not only would I have the right to be critical of my country, I would have a moral obligation, a duty to do so, openly and aggressively.
“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” – Edmund Burke
Am I making a comparison between today’s U.S. and Nazi Germany?
Yes and no. Of course, anytime anyone wants to provoke a hysterical public outcry on any matter these days, they just yell ‘Nazi’ or ‘Hitler’ or ‘holocaust’ and the knee jerk response is right there for the having. That’s not what I’m doing here. The U.S. is slowly descending into a form of autocracy, a totalitarianism quite unlike Nazi Germany in many respects. But I believe it is potentially as thoroughly and ultimately menacing.
We can fret and argue about whether that’s correct but that’s not the point I’m making.
The simple point here is that, regardless of where I live or choose to travel, I share with every other American citizen the duty to keep a watchful eye on what my government is doing in my name, and to speak out when and where I see objectionable plans, policies, declarations, or provocative acts towards other countries. It is especially incumbent on me __ it is my responsibility as a citizen __ to share from out here what is not available from within U.S. borders, because of what is clearly massive censorship of the news there by the government and main stream media, which have become Siamese Twins joined at the pocketbook.
It is particularly my duty to warn others in America who are not as I am in a position to live elsewhere, of developments which portend the worst and pose threats to them.
We all see the signs. Often we don’t know what to make of them. The incessant puerile prattle of politicians and pundits creates a constant stream of obfuscation and confusion.
But it is the duty of every single American citizen to try to make sense of our increasingly precarious situation, and to share their insights with their fellow citizens. It is our duty to call out the official lies, the gross imbalance of power, the horrific inequality of wealth, the ongoing and systematic efforts by our government to promote and prosecute in our names policies and initiatives, foreign and domestic, which if the public had full knowledge of, it would steadfastly reject.
It takes a lot of courage these days to speak out against the government, especially the current administration, which has done a phenomenal job of PR and spin, and certainly makes no secret of its intent to squash dissent in America.
Yet, despite massive surveillance of citizens by the security agencies, the watch lists, the no-fly lists, the kill lists, the persecution of whistle blowers, the beatings and arrests which the most peaceful demonstrators now endure at the hands of the police, the suspension of habeas corpus, gross abuses of the FISA Act and the National Defense Authorization Act, there are still many courageous individuals and organizations which continue the daunting but necessary battle to expose the deeply entrenched and dangerous corruption which now poisons our system of government.
I make no claims to be on the same level as these exemplary patriots, speaking truth to power under the threat of persecution, an unconstitutional repression of free speech and basic human rights, the whole of which is more and more is beginning to exhibit parallels with some of the more oppressive regimes in history.
Just like you.
I watch. I listen. I speak out. I vote.
I do what little I can.
I wish it were more.