Monday, December 06, 2004

there's a little tyrant in us all

A few weeks ago I swore that I would not join the voices which have opposed the imperial politics of George W. Bush’s America. By this I do not wish to suggest my complicity with the building of Empire, or the politics and culture of warmongering and domination required as the fundament of such an enterprise. Rather, I felt that a different approach was required. The cool thing about George Bush’s America is, of course, America and not its leader. Putting aside for a second the legality of either of Bush’s two terms in office – the computer fraud of 2004 is no more legitimate than the judicial fraud of 2000 – it is important to note that he is precisely the leader for the job.

It is facile and immature to blame one individual, no matter how seemingly powerful they may be, for systemic failures. Let me make this perfectly clear: George W. Bush is not the most evil man in the world, he is not the bane of decent civilization everywhere. If you truly believe that Bush is conspiring the vicious and repressive control of people and resources, then you are giving him the benefit of an intelligence which, in such a tragically funny manner as his infamous “they misunderestimated me” phrase, he simply has not demonstrated himself to possess.

True, there are many within the current military-industrial power elite of America who are indeed conspiring to control the world’s energy resources. Cheney, Rumsfeld, the rest of the Bush family, and the like, have in fact, under the guise of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), so thoughtfully provided documentary evidence of their endeavours on their website (www.newamericancentury.org) for future war crimes prosecution. And it is again true that many of these same people stand to enjoy significant economic gains by waging war against foreign and domestic populations, as they in effect transfer tax dollars to their companies through the fun catch-all of defence spending.

I do think, however, that it is important to take a step back a bit and observe the system as a whole rather than get fixated on one stupidly arrogant and fascistic Alfred E. Newman-esque part. If we are to believe that government reflects the people, it is easy to see how North American lifestyles so easily and categorically support the occupation of foreign lands and resources. Almost everything we use we over-consume. Oil is merely the most painfully obvious example of this capacity of ours. It is simply not fair to accuse Bush of being an evil person for invading another country for oil, when we ourselves use oil on a daily basis thus fuelling demand. He just stupidly followed the whim of his people – you want oil, then baby you got it. George’s what me worry? face, glossing even the most deplorably criminal and inhuman actions which his government has inflicted upon others with a certain je ne sais quoi, proves to us that even puppets can kill.

The Project for a New American Century is itself not a novel concept. The elder Bush’s New World Order, given to us as America’s wily first step to secure Iraqi oil as the first Gulf War, precedes it like a tragic nickname from childhood. A misnomer, it is neither new nor is it orderly. Humans have been fighting for the control of resources for the entirety of our existence, and the strategic control of the world’s rapidly diminishing oil supply is merely the newest occurrence of this trend. However, this particular instance can be regarded as being more widespread in terms of the territory it covers and the extent to which it will be felt by the world’s population. Neither can this hegemony of energy resources by called an orderly affair, as the horrific mess which was created in Iraq and Afghanistan during at least the past 13 years attests. More to the point however, the tendency towards violence will increase substantively as oil supplies begin to be outstripped by demand. There will be more small and large scale conflicts, and in very real terms the economic realities with which we have become accustomed will vanish. In light of his three key words then, at least Bush’s World will be realized, despite its lack of novelty or order.

The Zeitgeist of North America is spiritual actualization through material progression, of becoming a better person by achieving the “good life” of a house and family. By spiritual I do not mean to refer simply to those people who “ethically” voted against the rights of homosexual couples to equality. We all sing the mantra of consumption in unison, and this process is as rewarding to its participants as it is wholly and completely unsustainable for the planet. Consumption gives us all our identities; you are what you eat, in a larger sense of the term.

So leave poor George alone. Blaming for the ills of the world is no more productive than crapping on the kid at school. He’s no criminal, he’s just another average joe, watching football and choking on pretzels guy, right? [ed. note - to reverse and potentially destroy that analogy, Bush's proletarianism is like crapping on the poor kids in school and calling it a No Child Left... er, wait a sec] If you truly want to resist Bush, seek alternatives to the lifestyle which he represents. Trying to live close to jobs rather than close to suburban bliss is a start. Using public transportation and biking or even walking when possible is also key. Maybe the first thing you can do right now is to restrict buying American, as any money which flows south increases the taxes which are supporting the war this very second. A permanent shift in attitudes will be required to subvert American imperialism. The most fundamental is the following: we can no longer allow business as usual the way we got used to it over the 20th century. The corporations represented by PNAC recognized this fact a few years ago, and that awareness spearheaded the new American Imperial project.

There may come a point at which the entire planet will take up arms against American hegemony, but now is not the time. I hope to use this space over the coming weeks to elaborate a few strategies for resistance against political aggression in both consumer and environmental terms, and make it more widely known that people are indeed responding to PNAC’s call to war.

Friday, December 03, 2004

happy, happy times ten

joy is filling the skies with plenitude, so My Psychiatrist told me in a dream.

we fought over cupcakes and spat on our noses, the stars a happy antioch. i wept for a friday that was never there, only getting a new day as a pill. this was the hope and endeavour that would ensure its awakened prophecy. a nod to the coach and we both sat inside.

"have you been experiencing these reports every morning?" already knowing yes, a mark was encoded forever in science and the barren trees surrounding my childhood years. he put the notepad down and looked deep into my black composure.

"there will only be triumphant and ecstatic fullness, a fuel for exposing the true nature of where it sits and where you stand. take this", he said passing me a dollar.

the coin was swept clean of its blood and still did not shine as my convictions felt it should. solely, it was turned sideways in my palm and broken home. i looked at the raincoat on the floor by my envy, and it was weeping.

the door opened and slowly backwards was a field of mice spilling. i pitied the wrong doctor, i told myself. my foot reached the earth for the first time in a week, and a daisy grew sadly in my place.