In These Times

Many years ago, battles were fought for nobility. Battles were fought to end the tide of oppression in the face of grave danger that lay at the hands of us all. We have come to a similar cusp of time but with different circumstances laying ahead of us. We no longer face the evilness of one man or one nation, but the threats of many men from many nations. we can harken back to the past to gain new insights of this threat or we can begin aknew (?) for the strive of justice because somewhere along the way our visions of the destination have become clouded or were never fully thought out.

We no longer pursue measures of peace but instead measures of aggression against people. As our jobs disappear and are replaced by low wage, part-time, temporary work, we are left to question the intentions of people in power. We are left to question the mode in which we should all strive to live our lives. After the horriffic events on 9/11/01, the first thing that our "president" told us to do was shop. Imagine FDR after that fateful day on 12/7/41 telling us to shop. Imagine liscence plates and flags being hawked on every corner and flying in the face of our grief. We are no longer a nation of people but a nation of consumers. We have gone through great changes in the past 150 years. We have progressed from a slavery of people to the slavery of the marketplace. We no longer have a nation of people and nations, but a nation of corporations. Where every idea, every threat, every person and every war can be prepackaged and sold. We do not look out for each other but more look out for ourselves. In this we forget about community, we forget about civic duty and live in constant fear of something, whether it be rapists, terrorists, snipers, or kidnappers. Maybe we should worry about corporations stealing our lives, our education, our politics, our open spaces. What is the bigger threat to democracy and the health and welfare of the people, a nation dominated by fear and greed or a nation dominated by the people?