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[Darin initially wrote a rather long stinging, thought-provoking letter, and I asked him to cut it down for posting. The original title was a bit more explicit than what's here, but I saw fit to change it to "I'm Mad As Hell...," after famous line in the film, Network.
Opposing views are encouraged -Ed.]
I'm Mad As Hell...
I'm pissed off, but it's not just because I've spent four years in college, got good grades, and can't find a job. I've got plenty of company on that score.
It's something else; it's what I've become aware of since I've been waiting for the phone to ring and the mail to come with a job offer. I've caught up on four year's of what's being going on in the world.
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When you see it all at once, it's pretty hard to believe, especially how people are just accepting the profanity of it all. |
I don't know if people are just apathetic, stupid, just can't see it, don't want to see it, don't give a damn, or some of each.
We have company CEO's that have lied, cheated, robbed people of their life savings, and on top of that have run their companies into bankruptcy; and for that they are given bonuses, and multi-million dollar severance packages so they can enjoy life in their multi-million dollar homes.
At the same time, by allowing the corporations to get out of paying taxes by setting up their headquarters overseas—"headquarters" being nothing more than a file cabinet in a low-budget office in many cases—our government has ended up encouraging corporations to both avoid taxes and not hire their own citizens at a time when the unemployment in this country is higher than it has been in decades. Clearly, corporate profits, which pay for "their" elected officials rule!
We've got a shadow government of frustrated old, right-wing cronies that have used 9/11 to justify everything that their elk wanted to do from the beginning. The plans were all there, just waiting for a good excuse to dust them off and put them into action. This has included taking big bites out of the very freedoms, liberties, and values that hundreds of thousands of young men like me have given their lives to preserve.
After destroying a good part of Afghanistan, Iraq, and a few other places that most American's couldn't find on a map if they had to with billions of dollars worth of bombs and bullets, they are now funneling billions in tax money into politically favored companies to rebuild it all. So they line their pockets "going in" and "coming out." And who pays? Young people with their lives and their economic futures.
And we have a President that puts it all into shallow, simplistic slogans to appeal to the aware-challenged; slogans like "axis of evil," "war on terrorism," "beacon of freedom for the rest of the world," and "evildoers"—insultingly shallow slogans designed to stop people from thinking about anything deeper—like the real underlying issues.
And the while claiming to be Christian, we have an administration that pays all this by cutting programs for the poor and disadvantaged—nothing less than the total opposite of Christ's message.
...[And then there is]...the filth in the air and water of our country that's poisoning people; but that's okay because to do something about it would cut into corporate profits and impact political contributions.
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The fact that this country is disliked and even hated by more countries around the world than any time in history is "unfortunate," but, hey, if they are not for us, they are against us--and besides, who needs the rest of the rest of the world when you are a superpower? |
If we'd only admit it, we're mistrusted and hated for good reason. Yes, many of the people in Iraq were suffering, but if we would spend our bombs-and-bullets-billions on feeding the starving, and caring for the sick around the world, instead of a billion dollars a month war, there wouldn't be such a cause to hate us and our "compassion" wouldn't look totally hypocritical.
Can't you just see the world reaction if we really spent these billions we're using to kill people, on sending food, doctors, nurses and health care people around the world? What world religion or political system could hold a candle to that?
While we spend billions trying to solve problems around the world with force (what we know best and what's most profitable for our corporations), we're (when you cut away the BS) actually cutting back on education, teachers, policemen, our head-start and after-school programs, and a wide range of benefits for the needy—for which, by the way, there is a greater need than ever, given the fact that the rich and politically favored are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer and more desperate, which is largely why we need more police in the first place.
Along that that there is the so-called compassionate conservatism we were sold on with millions of dollars in slick political ads paid for by corporations that are now seeing a handsome return on their investments. And millions of us were convinced by these ads, the same advertising techniques that sell us on the superiority of Colgate toothpaste, Pedigree dog food, and Frosted Flakes.
Then there is the Fort Benning School of the Americas that, supported by our tax money continues year after year to teach favored students from around the world the techniques of torture and how to neutralize your current political enemies, and maybe even make yourself richer in the process. The school has been around for a long time, and has very effectively trained some of our worst enemies. We continue to gasp in moral horror as we continue to pour money into it.
...I could go on and on.
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...All this is bad enough, but what's worse is that our great heritage of rebelling against such victimization, the very attitude that established this country, is gone. |
We no longer care that our politicians are in bed with corporations that care nothing about anything but short-term profits and their own personal salaries.
From a selfish standpoint, if and when we ever get jobs, it's our generation and our children's generation that will to contend with the polluted and dead environment, and pay for this mess that we didn't want in the first place, long after those who are getting rich now have died after enjoying their lives of luxury. They just bought it all on credit and we're stuck with the bill.
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It's tragic that so many people lost their lives on 911, but hundreds of thousands of young men just like me gave up their lives before they really got started on living—for something they were told was important--our freedoms. They were under the impression that we would stay vigilant and protect it all after they were gone. But, the truth is we've been slowly giving away our freedoms--incredibly, under the guise of patriotism. |
We've fallen asleep in complacency and we've been conned into accepting the fact that conformity and going along with political and economic exploitation represent patriotism. The other hand, dissent, even against the clear travesty of justice, a lack of morality, and a lack of genuine, really do-something about it compassion for our fellow countrymen, is unpatriotic.
And, if the big money corporations can continue to sell us on the kind of superficial flag-waving, Bible-toting, "compassionate" conservatism that so many bought into during the last election, it will mean that they can continue to have both their president and their profits.
Lest you think I'm just anti-Republican or anti-Bush, let me say that when you get down to it, the Democrats are just about as bad. We have have basically one party anyway: Republicrats.
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Just how bad does it have to get? Or will it be too late when we finally wake up and find out? |
...When I try to talk to my parents about this, they say, "When you get a job, you'll forget about all this stuff you can't do anything about anyway." Like most people, they just handle it by ignoring it. Mom "isn't political," and dad gets what he knows about it all from TV and radio talk shows. Unfortunately, they spent a lot of money on my college, and I learned the need to think about things.
Since most the Class of 2003 isn't working anyway, maybe we should spend our idle time doing something really worthwhile for the country and its people and see that some very major changes are made!
Darin
"Just another unemployed graduate"
Darin, we appreciate the letter; you undoubtedly speak for a lot of young people. Then again, many would view these things in a different light.
This won't make you feel any better, but it would seem that you are rather low in your estimate of the monthly cost of the Iraq war. Although accurate figures are hard to come by, the cost is probably several times your figure.
That, together with tax cuts will probably drive the national debt to $5-6 trillion by 2008. Even now, it's clear that much of the visible debt is being offset by creative bookkeeping.
[Darin originally went into some detail on a number of other issues, such as the fact that the Iraq war was sold on the imminent threat of weapons of mass destruction and linking Iraq with Sept. 11th—both of which are myths. Also cut were paragraphs on the need for homeland security while cutting overtime pay for emergency rescue workers. And finally, Darin documented cutbacks in clean air and water requirements and allowing the big corporations to cut down more trees. These things have been widely publicized.]
But, like it or not, Darin, this is the world we now find ourselves in.
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What we need from young people like you are real solutions and getting young people involved in making some major changes. |
You speak of the American Revolution. You may also remember Martin Luther's revolt against the corrupt, all-powerful church structure of his day. He didn't resort to guns, only writings that were able to bring these things to the attention of the people and eventually spark an uprising all across Europe.
You now have the Internet where young bright people can hammer out ideas and reach agreements. Keep in mind that the Internet is a medium most used by the younger, more educated, more influential people. And it's basically free; you don't need millions from corporations to get things rolling. But you do need to get the word out. It helps that you wrote saying that your letter could be freely reproduced without copyright concerns.
You and a lot of bright young people like you may have a lot of free time on your hands as you look for employment. Why not put it to good use?
Responses are encouraged.
-Ed.
© 2005, All Rights Reserved
