To all,
We have reached that special time in America~election season. As many politicians plan to pack up their Washington offices for election season, the talk of the town is how can they begin to convince their electorate that they are doing the job elected to do in the face of mounting criticism from Americans towards their elected officials in the House and the Senate. While some politicians are trying their best to define how they are either with the war and its essence, but not the policies-they want to be a part of the Republican or Democratic party-without aligning themselves with the President or other party leaders who may initiate thought and policies that are seen to be ineffective, as well as trying to convince an American public (voting or not-but more to the voting) that a war costing billions in Iraq and Afghanistan will allow us to 'win' a war on terror where the battlefield is around the world.
In the midst of this kind of debate (a) an Israeli/Palestinian conflict that is not over and has not been difused where healing can begin, (b) A war in Iraq where soldiers/marines and others are still there at high levels and will remain there (as recent as 24 September) at high levels until next spring and possible beyond, (c) we have discord within both US parties and the United Nations over the war, Iran, domestic policy and the cost on American initiatives and (d) we find that our government-no matter their rationale-did have secret prisons, have engaged in questionable interrogations, tried to be above the law and in some cases re-write the law. Now we find our President on a political branch by himself while his party tries to maintain control in the areas of our government where he can operate without overt oversight.
As a citizen I wonder sometimes on how all of this will make the world safer for me and my children. At one level it is a unique thought to have that somehow a strained military (of which I was a part for 20 years of my life) can 'defend' America from people who are willing to die individually. I wonder what my President means when my President says we can 'win' a war such as this. Who are we fighting? He says Islamic extremist. Where are they? He says they are around the world. How do we defeat them? He says be using our intelligence community and our military to meet these terrorists around the world before they strike us at home.
I may not be old, but I have lived for a little bit of time. I do not recognize a time in my life that Islamic extremists (as they are called) have always had the power to send in few people to a community~sporting events, schools, train stations, buses, etc.~and create havoc. Large, proud military professionals can respond, but have a hard time to prevent. What has stood out to me, over the course of my life as well as in recent times, is the complete denial of the lives of the people we talk about. I do not see how we can continue to tell people of other nations to 'act' right when we don't recognize how people act in their part of the world. We allow allies to conduct operations that go against, in some cases, the basic premise of America and what we promote that we are around the world.
In the next month and a few weeks, we will here from many people who feel that we are under seige and need to stop anyone from hurting us. These folk will try hard to convince people in a variety of states that they have the answer for the ills of our nation. They will master the art of saying nothing about a lot and they will make campaign promises out of what many have not been able to do in previous political terms on the hill.
In the final analysis, schools will still suffer from cutbacks, social services will continue to lose necessary funding for the elderly and poor, social security will remain at risk, soldiers and possibly more soldiers will be risking their lives in a nation that has no idea on what they are going to do with themselves~to include paying for their own nation in money and in blood; although we broke it so we had to buy it (Colin Powel's statement to the President in 2003).
Whatever happens on our political front I am sure that it will be interesting...
Until the next time
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Of the Media
There are so many news outlets in the world today. Twenty-four hour news coverage, internet news coverage as well as blogs like this fill the airways and internet with a daily assault of views, stories, reports and analysis. Or do we?
I am an avid watcher of T.V. news. I watch MSNBC, CNN, FOX (not as much as the other two), ABC, NBC, CBS and all those in between. What strikes me the most is that the days of news coverage that is indicative of textbook definitions of fair, balanced and challenging seem to be gone and a thing of the past. What remains are anchors who lack seasoning. Reporters who don't know how to report and interviews that lack interviewing skills.
What do I see? I see female anchors on major news programs who do not know how to dress for their profession. I see analysts not speaking to the public but to the person sitting next to them. I see sensationalized questions to speak to personal pain and trauma and not to underlying causes of the circumstances that lead to the events of the day.
I see death and devastation around the world and I see people called to be reporters not asking questions that involve the inconsistency of policies of the governments that state their claim for justice and freedom. Where are the true investigative reporters? Where are the days of comprehensive coverage or are we locked into a paradigm of tabloid T.V. and ratings over investigation?
At least we have Tim Russert...
I am an avid watcher of T.V. news. I watch MSNBC, CNN, FOX (not as much as the other two), ABC, NBC, CBS and all those in between. What strikes me the most is that the days of news coverage that is indicative of textbook definitions of fair, balanced and challenging seem to be gone and a thing of the past. What remains are anchors who lack seasoning. Reporters who don't know how to report and interviews that lack interviewing skills.
What do I see? I see female anchors on major news programs who do not know how to dress for their profession. I see analysts not speaking to the public but to the person sitting next to them. I see sensationalized questions to speak to personal pain and trauma and not to underlying causes of the circumstances that lead to the events of the day.
I see death and devastation around the world and I see people called to be reporters not asking questions that involve the inconsistency of policies of the governments that state their claim for justice and freedom. Where are the true investigative reporters? Where are the days of comprehensive coverage or are we locked into a paradigm of tabloid T.V. and ratings over investigation?
At least we have Tim Russert...
Monday, July 24, 2006
War...again in the Middle East
To All,
The last set of weeks we have seen a crisis (if one can call it a crisis when viewed through a historical lens) of uneven proportions in Israel and Lebanon. Like the volcanoes of the world, the undercurrent of hatred, injustice, and fear have caused an erruption of war that grips two nations with displacement and hardening personal, racial and religious views of each other. It is no secret that Israel has the upper hand when it comes to military might. Afterall, their gunships are American made, their tanks, rifles, artillery pieces and some practices are American. They attack and enter a nation that has, as a part of their people, the group Hezbollah. I wonder...?
What would happen if the Mexican government said that the Klan, operating inside the United States were creating terroist type attacks inside of their country by running drugs and or weapons that were killing their people. Would we allow a foreign military to attack "strongholds" of the Klan and then move their military into our nation to seek out these people Mexico has determined as terroists?
I don't support terrorists nor do I support cowards who kill innocent people anywhere in the world. I am just amazed at the world's response to Israel attacking Lebanon. I know they say it is to push Hezbollah out and end their ability to create terror on Israel, but is that possible? By all military accounts you cannot kill off people who fight the cause because they are everyday people. Hezbollah members are community members. They are shop owners and they are construction workers and civil servants. They are the people of their community. As this is the case, their families and friends are benefiting from the "humanity" they provide their own when the larger society, somewhat dominated by ethnic differences and hatred, fail to address human issues for all. Therefore, the members of Hezbollah fight, some die, and new ones are created.
I wonder how long it will be before Lebanon, as a nation, will decide to allow foreign soldiers destroying their nation. Israel has said it is not just after the soldiers that Hezbollah fighters have taken, it is also after a larger mission that involves the nation of Lebanon. It sounds familiar to the US position on the war on terror. We knew Iraq was not responsible for 9-11, but we found a way to invade that nation and occupy it because of a threat that we thought could happen. It is a unique phenomena to witness the world asking the US to broker a peace deal for Lebanon when we told the world just three years ago that we have the right to eliminate threats to the US. Israel is saying the very same thing and I don't see how the influence of the US can work to provide relief to the people of Lebanon when we have not found out how to provide relief to the people of Iraq.
Iraq-funny how for a short time Iraq escapes modern media. The story there is the same. US generals have moved troops back into Baghdad. Civilians are dying daily in large numbers. No one is able to stop the two warring groups from killing each other. The leader of Iraq says he will not have his nation fall into civil war-some say you are already there.
In the middle of all of this are hundreds of people displaced. Homes and lifes uprooted and destroyed. Death and hatred are in large supply. Peace, love and tolerance almost extinct. What will the US do to help? Can we tell a nation to stop doing what we are doing? Time will tell.
The last set of weeks we have seen a crisis (if one can call it a crisis when viewed through a historical lens) of uneven proportions in Israel and Lebanon. Like the volcanoes of the world, the undercurrent of hatred, injustice, and fear have caused an erruption of war that grips two nations with displacement and hardening personal, racial and religious views of each other. It is no secret that Israel has the upper hand when it comes to military might. Afterall, their gunships are American made, their tanks, rifles, artillery pieces and some practices are American. They attack and enter a nation that has, as a part of their people, the group Hezbollah. I wonder...?
What would happen if the Mexican government said that the Klan, operating inside the United States were creating terroist type attacks inside of their country by running drugs and or weapons that were killing their people. Would we allow a foreign military to attack "strongholds" of the Klan and then move their military into our nation to seek out these people Mexico has determined as terroists?
I don't support terrorists nor do I support cowards who kill innocent people anywhere in the world. I am just amazed at the world's response to Israel attacking Lebanon. I know they say it is to push Hezbollah out and end their ability to create terror on Israel, but is that possible? By all military accounts you cannot kill off people who fight the cause because they are everyday people. Hezbollah members are community members. They are shop owners and they are construction workers and civil servants. They are the people of their community. As this is the case, their families and friends are benefiting from the "humanity" they provide their own when the larger society, somewhat dominated by ethnic differences and hatred, fail to address human issues for all. Therefore, the members of Hezbollah fight, some die, and new ones are created.
I wonder how long it will be before Lebanon, as a nation, will decide to allow foreign soldiers destroying their nation. Israel has said it is not just after the soldiers that Hezbollah fighters have taken, it is also after a larger mission that involves the nation of Lebanon. It sounds familiar to the US position on the war on terror. We knew Iraq was not responsible for 9-11, but we found a way to invade that nation and occupy it because of a threat that we thought could happen. It is a unique phenomena to witness the world asking the US to broker a peace deal for Lebanon when we told the world just three years ago that we have the right to eliminate threats to the US. Israel is saying the very same thing and I don't see how the influence of the US can work to provide relief to the people of Lebanon when we have not found out how to provide relief to the people of Iraq.
Iraq-funny how for a short time Iraq escapes modern media. The story there is the same. US generals have moved troops back into Baghdad. Civilians are dying daily in large numbers. No one is able to stop the two warring groups from killing each other. The leader of Iraq says he will not have his nation fall into civil war-some say you are already there.
In the middle of all of this are hundreds of people displaced. Homes and lifes uprooted and destroyed. Death and hatred are in large supply. Peace, love and tolerance almost extinct. What will the US do to help? Can we tell a nation to stop doing what we are doing? Time will tell.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
War, Drugs & What is Going On?
To All,
The BBC reports that Afghanistan and their neighbor Pakistan are not doing well with their relationship. It appears that there is some degree of discord between the two nations. The disagreement is at such a level that it takes our Secretary of State (Dr. Rice) to travel to Afghanistan and try to mend fences with these two nations that are so important to the war on terror. Interesting.
If you do not subscribe to the BBC web page than you would have missed a related story about Afghanistan that is most interesting. It appears that Afghanistan has re-ignited its cheif export-opium. A link on the BBC web page that is next to the story of Dr. Rice traveling to that nation explains that Afghans farm and cultivate large fields of the plant that produces the world's heroin. Interesting.
The article from the BBC (by Andrew North of the BBC News) says that the war on drugs in Afghanistan is being lost. The drug trade in Afghanistan fund Taleban initiatives and yet there is little in the way of stopping this from occurring. What is surprising is that everyone seems to know that Helmand province is the top producer of the poppy plant and that Afghanistan is the number one opium producing country in the world. American and British forces have been in the nation since 2001 and we have not yet recognized the nature of how a 'horse and cart' country can distribute (in 2004) 90% of the world's opium. Interesting.
Mr. North of the BBC reports that hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent by British and US taxpayers to combat this issue but it appears it goes for not. The war ravaged nation of Afghanistan still appears to have remote places that does not allow for an international presence. Therefore, the opium trade out of Afghanistan continues. Interesting.
As a professional who has spent most of his life in the counseling and medical needs of clients attempting to recover from drugs and alcohol, I am saddened by this news. It is hard for me to struggle with the reality that my clients are using a deadly drug [heroin] that makes it's way from halfway (or more) around the world. What is equally problematic in my thinking is that our nation's finest professional soldiers, Marines, and airmen are present and the crop continues. Mr. North's article he acknowledges that in Helmand province poppy crop production went down 10% in 2005, but in neighboring Nimroz province their poppy crop production went up 1,370%. Amazing.
It appears the approach to Afghan poppy production was to be addressed by providing alternatives to growing opium, but those international efforts have not materialized. They ask for issues such as new roads and irrigation canals for other crops. New roads and irrigation canals were supposed to also offer legitimate work for the citizens of that nation turning their interest away from illicit work. The aid, in a sense, that was supposed to show up did not. The money was supposed to show up-it did not; relief from the pressure of the Taleban and al-Qaeda was supposed to cease-it has not.
For the rest of the world it means that heroin is still coming and coming stronger. It means that the streets of Europe, North America, South America, Australia, Japan and othe places will have large supplies of heroin to deal. Which means my work and the work of many like me will also continue.
It is a hard thing to fathom that the US and Britian can be present in Afghanistan and not be able to address this problem that affects the entire globe. The drug trade of Afghanistan supplies the resources to the Taleban and al-Qaeda. It still exists, so the Taleban and al-Qaeda still exist.
Interesting.
The BBC reports that Afghanistan and their neighbor Pakistan are not doing well with their relationship. It appears that there is some degree of discord between the two nations. The disagreement is at such a level that it takes our Secretary of State (Dr. Rice) to travel to Afghanistan and try to mend fences with these two nations that are so important to the war on terror. Interesting.
If you do not subscribe to the BBC web page than you would have missed a related story about Afghanistan that is most interesting. It appears that Afghanistan has re-ignited its cheif export-opium. A link on the BBC web page that is next to the story of Dr. Rice traveling to that nation explains that Afghans farm and cultivate large fields of the plant that produces the world's heroin. Interesting.
The article from the BBC (by Andrew North of the BBC News) says that the war on drugs in Afghanistan is being lost. The drug trade in Afghanistan fund Taleban initiatives and yet there is little in the way of stopping this from occurring. What is surprising is that everyone seems to know that Helmand province is the top producer of the poppy plant and that Afghanistan is the number one opium producing country in the world. American and British forces have been in the nation since 2001 and we have not yet recognized the nature of how a 'horse and cart' country can distribute (in 2004) 90% of the world's opium. Interesting.
Mr. North of the BBC reports that hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent by British and US taxpayers to combat this issue but it appears it goes for not. The war ravaged nation of Afghanistan still appears to have remote places that does not allow for an international presence. Therefore, the opium trade out of Afghanistan continues. Interesting.
As a professional who has spent most of his life in the counseling and medical needs of clients attempting to recover from drugs and alcohol, I am saddened by this news. It is hard for me to struggle with the reality that my clients are using a deadly drug [heroin] that makes it's way from halfway (or more) around the world. What is equally problematic in my thinking is that our nation's finest professional soldiers, Marines, and airmen are present and the crop continues. Mr. North's article he acknowledges that in Helmand province poppy crop production went down 10% in 2005, but in neighboring Nimroz province their poppy crop production went up 1,370%. Amazing.
It appears the approach to Afghan poppy production was to be addressed by providing alternatives to growing opium, but those international efforts have not materialized. They ask for issues such as new roads and irrigation canals for other crops. New roads and irrigation canals were supposed to also offer legitimate work for the citizens of that nation turning their interest away from illicit work. The aid, in a sense, that was supposed to show up did not. The money was supposed to show up-it did not; relief from the pressure of the Taleban and al-Qaeda was supposed to cease-it has not.
For the rest of the world it means that heroin is still coming and coming stronger. It means that the streets of Europe, North America, South America, Australia, Japan and othe places will have large supplies of heroin to deal. Which means my work and the work of many like me will also continue.
It is a hard thing to fathom that the US and Britian can be present in Afghanistan and not be able to address this problem that affects the entire globe. The drug trade of Afghanistan supplies the resources to the Taleban and al-Qaeda. It still exists, so the Taleban and al-Qaeda still exist.
Interesting.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Of War and the Cost
To all,
We are seeing in the news that United States Marines are under the microscope for possibly commiting war crimes of shooting and killing innocent civilians in Iraq. The President promises punishment for those breaking the law, the Pentagon will conduct the investigation, the Iraqi government denounces the act and many wonder why it took so long for these incidents to come to light. Hmmm... a powerful thought indeed.
As a former soldier, I can understand the power given to so many in terms of weaponry and authority. I can understand, as many can, the need to "even" a score when one of your own falls victim to attacks. My entry is not designed to address the guilt or innocence of those Marines nor is it to demand justice for the innocently slain people in Iraq. Then what is this entry for, you might ask.
It is simply to state the obvious. It is to restate a sentiment that is always stated when addressing issues surrounding war-War is hell.
In war you have the unleashing of powers designed to destroy. One can wonder if you possibly can build peace while simultaneously fighting a war. War fighting requires an edge of its fighters to snuff life out of the enemy. Somehow, we expect those who fight viciously to also know when to stop and shut it off. Hmmm. . . I think we have heard this before.
They say the Marines who may have done this were seeking revenge for the killing of one of their own from an explosion of an IED. It is also said that the commandant of the Marine Corps went to Iraq to begin talking to his Marines so that they can begin to get some "sensitivity" training on how to interact with Iraqi civilians. Hmmm. . . another interesting thought indeed. It is said that the "insurgents" pop up to fight and then blend in with the civilian population. They tend to do this over and over again-somehow I have heard of this before-perhaps a John Wayne movie where "Mr. Sulu" from Star Trek fame states that he has VC on his own strike force. Hmmm. . . this sounds so similar.
I do not know what the truth is with those Iraqi civilians nor do I know the truth about the Marines in question. What I do know is that for the commanders who were relieved of their commands and responsibilities (I commanded and Army unit) they will live with a pain few of us will understand. If those Marine commanders and Non-commissioned officers have had to bury their Marines, theirs is a pain many more will not understand. And if this is all the result of fabrication of fact, personal desires and elitist agendas-then the souls of those who have died~military or civilian~need to mess with the plush and comfortable existence of those who have pushed their subjective reality onto the backs and trigger fingers of others.
We are seeing in the news that United States Marines are under the microscope for possibly commiting war crimes of shooting and killing innocent civilians in Iraq. The President promises punishment for those breaking the law, the Pentagon will conduct the investigation, the Iraqi government denounces the act and many wonder why it took so long for these incidents to come to light. Hmmm... a powerful thought indeed.
As a former soldier, I can understand the power given to so many in terms of weaponry and authority. I can understand, as many can, the need to "even" a score when one of your own falls victim to attacks. My entry is not designed to address the guilt or innocence of those Marines nor is it to demand justice for the innocently slain people in Iraq. Then what is this entry for, you might ask.
It is simply to state the obvious. It is to restate a sentiment that is always stated when addressing issues surrounding war-War is hell.
In war you have the unleashing of powers designed to destroy. One can wonder if you possibly can build peace while simultaneously fighting a war. War fighting requires an edge of its fighters to snuff life out of the enemy. Somehow, we expect those who fight viciously to also know when to stop and shut it off. Hmmm. . . I think we have heard this before.
They say the Marines who may have done this were seeking revenge for the killing of one of their own from an explosion of an IED. It is also said that the commandant of the Marine Corps went to Iraq to begin talking to his Marines so that they can begin to get some "sensitivity" training on how to interact with Iraqi civilians. Hmmm. . . another interesting thought indeed. It is said that the "insurgents" pop up to fight and then blend in with the civilian population. They tend to do this over and over again-somehow I have heard of this before-perhaps a John Wayne movie where "Mr. Sulu" from Star Trek fame states that he has VC on his own strike force. Hmmm. . . this sounds so similar.
I do not know what the truth is with those Iraqi civilians nor do I know the truth about the Marines in question. What I do know is that for the commanders who were relieved of their commands and responsibilities (I commanded and Army unit) they will live with a pain few of us will understand. If those Marine commanders and Non-commissioned officers have had to bury their Marines, theirs is a pain many more will not understand. And if this is all the result of fabrication of fact, personal desires and elitist agendas-then the souls of those who have died~military or civilian~need to mess with the plush and comfortable existence of those who have pushed their subjective reality onto the backs and trigger fingers of others.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Our Border, Our Safety & Our Army
California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas our border states with the nation of Mexico. Historically a place of great debate. What do we do with the situation of a bordering nation that within its borders there are high levels of unemployment, corruption, death, despair and human strain. Many postures have been proposed. Our president attempted to build trade with Mexico in an attempt to create opportunities for its citizens. Simultaneously, the drug trade and organized crime seem to de-rail any direct benefits of international trade from reaching the everyday man and woman. One of the results of this phenomena, people begin to migrate to the land of opportunity-America. So much so that we have found that we do not know what to do about the mass amounts of people in this nation. We talk of assimilation. We talk of deportation. We speak of creating laws to provide criminal charges~as if this will stop a nation of people seeking a better life for self but mostly for others. Many nations have tried to regulate immigration through legal means, I don't know of any nation that has had success in doing so.
So now we wait on the eve of our President's speech where it is purported that we may use the National Guard of the border states to assist in closing the door to illegal immigrants from Mexico. I guess I heard this correctly, the plan is to deploy the reserve forces of the United States Military to the border to "police" the border. Hmmm. I am not an expert on the constitution, but I think there is some policies or laws that state what the military can do and what they cannot do. National Guard troops are designed for state emergencies (floods, earthquakes and such) I am not sure (someone can correct me) if border security is their funciton. I served in the National Guard and I don't remember border security as a mission we trained for.
So we are at a place where our President is contemplating or perhaps his staff is contemplating moving in the direction of placing an overexteded military (in this case the US Army) into another deployment cycle. This time to the border between the US and Mexico. This plan goes into increasing a military budget for that deployment, the absence of wives and husbands from homes and places of business, and a cost to the readiness of Army units for a war on terror and a war to get Iraq on the road to Democracy. When we add in other plans from this administration to address the oil crisis, raising national debt, the trade deficit, national administrative unravelings and the perception by some American voters that our current president is being seen in a less favorable light than his predecessor who was seen as a "scum bag" because of his personal indiscretions~is it any wonder that this time in American history is confusing and troublesome.
But what about the immigrants from Mexico? What do we do? It appears to me that we need to do what American businesses have always done, find a way to capatalize on their being here. Not in such a way that we manipulate them and abuse their humanity, but in such a way that communities are improved, schools are repaired and made to be beautiful, that our highways get cleaned, that our factories produce more goods and services and reduce cost to the consumers, and that people help people make contact and grow the American dream, a dream that is being lost by a lot of Americans, for everyone.
So now we wait on the eve of our President's speech where it is purported that we may use the National Guard of the border states to assist in closing the door to illegal immigrants from Mexico. I guess I heard this correctly, the plan is to deploy the reserve forces of the United States Military to the border to "police" the border. Hmmm. I am not an expert on the constitution, but I think there is some policies or laws that state what the military can do and what they cannot do. National Guard troops are designed for state emergencies (floods, earthquakes and such) I am not sure (someone can correct me) if border security is their funciton. I served in the National Guard and I don't remember border security as a mission we trained for.
So we are at a place where our President is contemplating or perhaps his staff is contemplating moving in the direction of placing an overexteded military (in this case the US Army) into another deployment cycle. This time to the border between the US and Mexico. This plan goes into increasing a military budget for that deployment, the absence of wives and husbands from homes and places of business, and a cost to the readiness of Army units for a war on terror and a war to get Iraq on the road to Democracy. When we add in other plans from this administration to address the oil crisis, raising national debt, the trade deficit, national administrative unravelings and the perception by some American voters that our current president is being seen in a less favorable light than his predecessor who was seen as a "scum bag" because of his personal indiscretions~is it any wonder that this time in American history is confusing and troublesome.
But what about the immigrants from Mexico? What do we do? It appears to me that we need to do what American businesses have always done, find a way to capatalize on their being here. Not in such a way that we manipulate them and abuse their humanity, but in such a way that communities are improved, schools are repaired and made to be beautiful, that our highways get cleaned, that our factories produce more goods and services and reduce cost to the consumers, and that people help people make contact and grow the American dream, a dream that is being lost by a lot of Americans, for everyone.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Of Immigration
We find ourselves at another time in the American history where there are people yearning for legitimacy in a society sometimes wrapped around an ideology of what America is and who Americans are. We find ourselves watching human beings taking to the streets to protest and to demand the right to be considered legitimate. This is, to me, the matter before the American people of all ethnicities and skin colors.
Legitimacy is the force that is driving this issue that is long overdue. The need to be ligitimate is an ingredient crucial to the end result of self-worth, self-esteem, value and respect. The need to be legitimate provokes the cries of the voiceless and unrepresented.Legitimacy allows individuals to walk in and around members of the same society feeling like and actually being integral members of their society.
All people from the rainbow of the Latin world have entered the quasi-political scene of open protest and freedom of speech. Mexicans, Salvadorians, Central Americans, Islanders and the like all entered into American streets to show their faces, ethnic pride and desire to be a legitimate member of the ideology of America that states everyone has the right to live, be free and pursue happiness.
It is my belief that my Latin brothers and sisters have come up against what many minorities (and women on occassion) encounter on a regular basis-the ideal of supremacist ideology that provides an inherent belief that one group is superior to the other. When you digest the fact that 15 million people (and co-incidentally a larger amount in key voting states such as California and New York) there can be no confusion among the onlookers that "granting" legitimate citizen status to a large group of people who's ideology may differ substantially from that of the power structure provokes fear and suspicion.
Ultimately, like DuBois, we as a nation will have to offer an answer to his question of what it feels like to be a problem. DuBois asked this question in 1903 concerning a large group of African descendants turned loose in America without capital and without rights. My Latino brothers are asking not too exist in this nation as a problem, they want to be legitimate and seen as an important piece of the American fabric, to be included in the discussion on what happens to their lives and for them to able to legitimately have a hand in their destiny-to be an American without an asterisk. It appears that they, like African Americans and the founding fathers, have the same idea.
Legitimacy is the force that is driving this issue that is long overdue. The need to be ligitimate is an ingredient crucial to the end result of self-worth, self-esteem, value and respect. The need to be legitimate provokes the cries of the voiceless and unrepresented.Legitimacy allows individuals to walk in and around members of the same society feeling like and actually being integral members of their society.
All people from the rainbow of the Latin world have entered the quasi-political scene of open protest and freedom of speech. Mexicans, Salvadorians, Central Americans, Islanders and the like all entered into American streets to show their faces, ethnic pride and desire to be a legitimate member of the ideology of America that states everyone has the right to live, be free and pursue happiness.
It is my belief that my Latin brothers and sisters have come up against what many minorities (and women on occassion) encounter on a regular basis-the ideal of supremacist ideology that provides an inherent belief that one group is superior to the other. When you digest the fact that 15 million people (and co-incidentally a larger amount in key voting states such as California and New York) there can be no confusion among the onlookers that "granting" legitimate citizen status to a large group of people who's ideology may differ substantially from that of the power structure provokes fear and suspicion.
Ultimately, like DuBois, we as a nation will have to offer an answer to his question of what it feels like to be a problem. DuBois asked this question in 1903 concerning a large group of African descendants turned loose in America without capital and without rights. My Latino brothers are asking not too exist in this nation as a problem, they want to be legitimate and seen as an important piece of the American fabric, to be included in the discussion on what happens to their lives and for them to able to legitimately have a hand in their destiny-to be an American without an asterisk. It appears that they, like African Americans and the founding fathers, have the same idea.
Monday, May 01, 2006
The Vision of Humanity
The position of all humans in this current world involve a myriad of responses to the way in which our world is shaped as it relates to our position in life. Academically, we exist in a microsystem of self and family that begin to shape the collective consciousness that we use to live, grow, love, work and play. I am not always sure, no matter our starting point, if we get a view of life that leaves room for understanding of ourselves and the people that surround us. In short, who am I? Why and I here? What am I supposed to do with the tools I have at my disposal? Who are the people that direct my path? What makes me listen to them? What makes me grow to disbelieve their guidance? All worthy questions to ask in my educated opinion. In future posts, we will begin to unravel these questions systematically.
More to come. . .
More to come. . .
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Initial Blog for All
This blog is designed to provide an additional, educated view of humanity as it attempts to cope with a variety of social ills across all lines including race, class, and region of the world. I woant all to know that my purpose is to provide alternate views of many issues facing humanity. From war, to hurrican recovery, AIDS and health disparities, this blog will work to inform all people about life, liberty and the need for finding the road to happiness. More to come. . .
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