At risk of sounding like a whinging hypochondriac, it seemed appropriate to moan about how much my life is terrible, and thus to provide evidence for anyone to create standards of comparison.
"You've got it easy comparative to third-world children."
Response: Yes. Yes I do. I also object to the deployment of "first-world" military forces around the the globe to assist in the extraction of resources for multinational corporations.
Oh. I'm one of those kooks. Yes, most people are able to ignore bits. Like the American soldiers who kept being delivered to their families in flag-covered coffins for two decades. Suddenly, those same coffins start returning from Mali, Mauretania, Chad, and Yemen. Why are American servicemen and women in those countries? Where are those countries? Who authorized those deployments?
Answer: Americans are, by and large, ill-informed and inappropriately prepared to process information. Their educational system has been undermined for decades such that only the rich can afford qualifications, and the poor resign themselves to manual labour.
Side note: Manual labour is not a dropout option. A serious carpenter can be more inspiring than a structural engineer. My grandfather's friend built his whole house from the ground up - the entire thing - and it is built with such love that I doubt any cathedral coold encompass such emotion.
I'm getting weak, so I'm going to hit one more point, splash out some song titles and artists, and then come to a close.
Having watched snippets of television over the past week, I've noticed that the propaganda for the American presence in Afghanistan has been intensifying. Why are troops in Afghanistan? Drugs. What reason is given by five primetime TV shows, two films, and innumerable pres conferences?
"Defend Liberty"
"Protect Democracy"
"Build/Help/Establish/Create/Verb -- Freedom/Honesty/Equality"
Whatever. If people want to support their triops, they ought to support political movements to bring them home and away from bizarre ideological conflicts supported by money interests.
To the people of the United States: please do not send your children overseas unless they are part of an internationally sanctioned peace mission. Do not allow your government to do so on your behalf.
And now, the music from my last shower.
Music:
- Rhiannon, by Fleetwood Mac
- Jump Around, by House of Pain
- Make Believe, by Matthew Sweet
- Since You've Been Gone, by Aretha Franklin
- I Know You Rider, by Max Creek, written by the Grateful Dead
In short, Americans have been told that public service = military service, and that shooting an Afghan orphan is morally equivalent to feeding an Iowan grandma.
The United States has long ago forfeited any claim to a moral high-ground on foreign affairs. Berta Caceres would have spoken to the United States' handling of Honduras, and many women would have spoken to the U.S.'s handling of Libya, Syria, and Myanmar under Secretary of State Clinton.
The United States is not the world's policeman. It is a fascist jackbooted enforcer that squeezes resource extraction from banana republics that ignore human rights.
May the logical extension of my model never become replicated in reality.
My optimism can only reach so far. Until the sun rises on a world that makes sense to JohnLeCarré, I bid adieu.
Until next time, for England and the Colonies,
—mARKUS
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