political mud slinging.....
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Re: political mud slinging.....
gee whizz.... look another artical from rense.com....." but a good one"
The New American Slavery
By Jolly Roger
[email protected]
4-2-5
The average American in the year 2005 lives a fragile existence, in a struggle for survival that can be ended by missing a few paychecks. The carrot at the end of the stick which was formerly known as "the American dream" has been replaced by a whip that can best be described as the American nightmare of homelessness, and slow, early death. You no longer work to achieve a better life for yourselves and your children. You work to keep a roof over your head, and you pray that you don't lose it. You became a slave when fear replaced incentive as your motivation to work, but I still suggest that you work while you can, because if the company you work for can't send your job overseas, the U.S. government is allowing 2000 people per day to enter this country illegally, because they're willing to do your job for less.
It doesn't matter if you're a "white collar" or "blue collar" employee. If you're an American, you're too highly paid. There are billions of people who want your job, and your government is doing all they can to see that you lose it to them. You see, we're not really Americans anymore. Now we're just anonymous faces in the "global village," because our government has sold our nation to foreigners and international bankers, and the new bankruptcy law has doomed the American citizen to a life of debt slavery. They'll insist that illegal immigrants are only doing jobs that Americans refuse to do, and you'll probably believe it, because if you're watching the TV that shovels that crap, you probably still have your job. The illegal immigrants are doing jobs that Americans always did, and every unemployed American I talk to can't find a job anywhere. And just like the European immigrants that flooded this country before the economic depression of the 1930's, today's illegal immigrants also have no gripe with a government that has allowed them work for high wages in America, and send billions back to their homeland. Nor do they care very much about our constitution, bill of rights, or way of life. They're only here for what they can grab, and our government has welcomed them with open arms, because they're grabbing it from you.
You're already working much longer, and much harder, to achieve a much lower standard of living than the previous generation, and 25 percent of working Americans no longer even get a vacation. The Social Security retirement age has been raised to match the life expectancy of American males, so apparently, you're also expected to work until you're dead. When you do finally get a vacation, they only trip you'll be taking will be in a pine box, and that's only if you're one of the lucky ones. Most of us will only get the state-issued canvas bag that gets tossed into the pit with all the others. If you don't mind the fact that you'll be working until you're dead, you might also want to consider the fact that you'll get nothing for your labor, because this nation's economy is about to crash like a freight train, and when it does, everything you've worked for will vanish. After the depression gets ugly, and your family has made the adjustment from three meals per day to three meals per week, the newspapers will blame your hunger on "the economy," as if it were some magical force that uncontrollably ruined a couple hundred million lives. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Politicians and international bankers can manipulate national economies at will, much in the way the media manipulates your mind, and a decision has been made to impoverish Americans, because global government requires that everyone in the world have an equally low standard of living. Simply put, we're being robbed of all we've worked for, because our government wants us to be poor, hungry, and docile, dependant upon them for our existence, and in fear of them for our lives. The government of the United States is intentionally destroying the economy of the United States, because the politicians and the international bankers they work for have decided that the American way of life, and catering to the demands of the American constitution, is simply too expensive.
Regardless of how wealthy you think you are, you actually have no real money at all. The "federal reserve notes" that are in your wallet, and your bank account, aren't really money, but are actually only paper on a debt that can never be paid, not even by combining all the assets and labor of every American alive today. Any loan-shark with a third grade education will tell you "the paper's no good," and naturally, the foreign investors who allow us to float this debt, have come to the same conclusion.
What is commonly known as the "U.S. dollar," represents a debt that is owed by the U.S. federal government, to the federal reserve bank. The federal reserve bank happens to be the privately owned entity that lent the money that's represented by the paper in your wallet. The federal reserve act signed away everything you own, and the fruit of your labor as collateral on this debt, and as foreign investors are becoming increasingly unwilling to invest the $2 billion per day needed to cover the interest, our creditors will want to collect it.
About 90 percent of all Americans are mortgaged to the hilt, and would have little or no assets left if all debts and liabilities were to be paid.* Most Americans have taken advantage of low interest rates, and are now paying a mortgage on their homes. The booming real estate market has made every purchase profitable, because the price of a home always rises. The problem is that the price of a home today is incredibly over-inflated, and the real estate boom that's been keeping the American economy afloat, is about to bust. Interest rates are going to rise, and the price of your home is going to drop drastically, which will leave you stuck paying for a house that probably wouldn't pay the interest on your debt if you sold it. If you're lucky enough to remain employed, inflation will shred your paycheck until you can no longer make mortgage payments. This is when you need to remember that when a nation's economy collapses, the wealth of the nation doesn't disappear, it only changes hands.
Millions of Americans are about to be tossed into the street, and because we're a kinder and gentler America, from the street they'll be tossed into shelters. Once in the shelter, they'll be wards of the social service system, which will make sure they all have food, and a bed to sleep in. In exchange for that food and shelter, the "welfare reform" act will put them to work at jobs where they will collect no additional salary. I guess the idea of "welfare reform" is a lot more acceptable to Americans than "forced labor" but regardless of what you call it, many Americans will soon experience slavery once again, and the slaves are not just sweeping public streets. Under the welfare reform act, many Americans are being put to work for private companies for no wages other than the cost of their food and shelter, both of which constitute the bare minimum requirements of survival. By causing the economy to collapse, and then "saving" the poor, our government can legally force millions of Americans into slavery. The new slavery will be blamed on "the economy," and it will employ a much larger percentage of the population than it did before the civil war.
To understand how they're accomplishing this, we need to turn our thoughts back to our monetary system, because due to the fact that it is no longer based on the gold standard, our government is in control of the money supply, and that gives them the ability to cause rampant unemployment, which is exactly what they're doing. The framers of the U.S. constitution protected us from this brand of tyranny, but because Americans were foolish enough to ignore and/or trust their government, they will become slaves, but most of them will blame themselves for their plight.
Article 1, Section 10, of the U.S. constitution clearly states that "no state shall... make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts." The constitution's prohibition of "fiat money" (what's in your wallet) guarantees that the wealth of the nation remains in the hands of the people, which leaves the government incapable of stealing the population's wealth, as they're doing today. You can collect all the dollars that you like. Our government decides what they're worth, and by keeping the presses working overtime, they're insuring that the dollar will soon be worthless.
The U.S. department of labor has also changed the way it collects data regarding unemployment, which allows for the fraudulent unemployment figures that are printed in the newspapers, and allows working Americans to believe that things aren't really that bad. Their new "household survey" system avoids counting most of the poor by basing unemployment figures on telephone surveys. A real estimate, based on population and payroll taxes, reveals that about 25 percent of the American workforce is presently unemployed, and that will eventually force them into the social service slavery system. Unless your mortgage and debts are completely paid off, and you can still pay your property taxes, there's a good chance you'll soon be joining them. Welcome to the third world, and to an American world, where slavery is legal once again.
What are you going to do when your government forces you into slavery? You can't avoid it, because if you're homeless, you'll be rounded up and brought to a "shelter", where you'll be fed, and probably medicated if you're not happy to be there. With so many people becoming homeless, it will be easy for them to find an apartment for you, and social services will pay your rent, and give you food stamps.
Soon after that they will find you a job, but naturally, you won't be taking home a paycheck because you're in debt to the social service system. They'll tell you that you're working your way back to independence, but since your salary will never be more than your expenses, you'll work for free until you're dead. If you refuse to work, the government "assistance" will be cut off, you'll be back out on the street, and you'll probably do your next job with a shackle around your ankle.
I'm not asking that you waste the time or paper required to write your congressman, because they don't care what you think anyway. What I am asking you to do is to remember something. When the economy does crash, and you're forced into the street. I want you to remember that this isn't your fault, and it's not the result of a "bad economy." Please remember that you're poor, hungry and homeless, because that's where our government wants you to be, and they intentionally destroyed the U.S. economy because they want you to suffer, and beg. And regardless of how bad things get, never sell your rifle. -- Jolly Roger
"Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the capitalist system was to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens..... Lenin was certainly right." - John Maynard Keynes*
*90 percent of all Americans are mortgaged to the hilt, and would have little or no assets left if all debts and liabilities were to be paid. --- Rep. Traficant to U.S. Congress.
**John Maynard Keynes is the economist for whom our present monetary system is named.
Unlike this nation's wealth, anything written by Jolly Roger is the property of the American people, and the author hereby grants permission to anyone who so desires to post, copy, forward or distribute this letter as they see fit, and in fact, the author encourages you to do so.
Disclaimer
Email This Article
gee whizz.... look another artical from rense.com....." but a good one"
The New American Slavery
By Jolly Roger
[email protected]
4-2-5
The average American in the year 2005 lives a fragile existence, in a struggle for survival that can be ended by missing a few paychecks. The carrot at the end of the stick which was formerly known as "the American dream" has been replaced by a whip that can best be described as the American nightmare of homelessness, and slow, early death. You no longer work to achieve a better life for yourselves and your children. You work to keep a roof over your head, and you pray that you don't lose it. You became a slave when fear replaced incentive as your motivation to work, but I still suggest that you work while you can, because if the company you work for can't send your job overseas, the U.S. government is allowing 2000 people per day to enter this country illegally, because they're willing to do your job for less.
It doesn't matter if you're a "white collar" or "blue collar" employee. If you're an American, you're too highly paid. There are billions of people who want your job, and your government is doing all they can to see that you lose it to them. You see, we're not really Americans anymore. Now we're just anonymous faces in the "global village," because our government has sold our nation to foreigners and international bankers, and the new bankruptcy law has doomed the American citizen to a life of debt slavery. They'll insist that illegal immigrants are only doing jobs that Americans refuse to do, and you'll probably believe it, because if you're watching the TV that shovels that crap, you probably still have your job. The illegal immigrants are doing jobs that Americans always did, and every unemployed American I talk to can't find a job anywhere. And just like the European immigrants that flooded this country before the economic depression of the 1930's, today's illegal immigrants also have no gripe with a government that has allowed them work for high wages in America, and send billions back to their homeland. Nor do they care very much about our constitution, bill of rights, or way of life. They're only here for what they can grab, and our government has welcomed them with open arms, because they're grabbing it from you.
You're already working much longer, and much harder, to achieve a much lower standard of living than the previous generation, and 25 percent of working Americans no longer even get a vacation. The Social Security retirement age has been raised to match the life expectancy of American males, so apparently, you're also expected to work until you're dead. When you do finally get a vacation, they only trip you'll be taking will be in a pine box, and that's only if you're one of the lucky ones. Most of us will only get the state-issued canvas bag that gets tossed into the pit with all the others. If you don't mind the fact that you'll be working until you're dead, you might also want to consider the fact that you'll get nothing for your labor, because this nation's economy is about to crash like a freight train, and when it does, everything you've worked for will vanish. After the depression gets ugly, and your family has made the adjustment from three meals per day to three meals per week, the newspapers will blame your hunger on "the economy," as if it were some magical force that uncontrollably ruined a couple hundred million lives. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Politicians and international bankers can manipulate national economies at will, much in the way the media manipulates your mind, and a decision has been made to impoverish Americans, because global government requires that everyone in the world have an equally low standard of living. Simply put, we're being robbed of all we've worked for, because our government wants us to be poor, hungry, and docile, dependant upon them for our existence, and in fear of them for our lives. The government of the United States is intentionally destroying the economy of the United States, because the politicians and the international bankers they work for have decided that the American way of life, and catering to the demands of the American constitution, is simply too expensive.
Regardless of how wealthy you think you are, you actually have no real money at all. The "federal reserve notes" that are in your wallet, and your bank account, aren't really money, but are actually only paper on a debt that can never be paid, not even by combining all the assets and labor of every American alive today. Any loan-shark with a third grade education will tell you "the paper's no good," and naturally, the foreign investors who allow us to float this debt, have come to the same conclusion.
What is commonly known as the "U.S. dollar," represents a debt that is owed by the U.S. federal government, to the federal reserve bank. The federal reserve bank happens to be the privately owned entity that lent the money that's represented by the paper in your wallet. The federal reserve act signed away everything you own, and the fruit of your labor as collateral on this debt, and as foreign investors are becoming increasingly unwilling to invest the $2 billion per day needed to cover the interest, our creditors will want to collect it.
About 90 percent of all Americans are mortgaged to the hilt, and would have little or no assets left if all debts and liabilities were to be paid.* Most Americans have taken advantage of low interest rates, and are now paying a mortgage on their homes. The booming real estate market has made every purchase profitable, because the price of a home always rises. The problem is that the price of a home today is incredibly over-inflated, and the real estate boom that's been keeping the American economy afloat, is about to bust. Interest rates are going to rise, and the price of your home is going to drop drastically, which will leave you stuck paying for a house that probably wouldn't pay the interest on your debt if you sold it. If you're lucky enough to remain employed, inflation will shred your paycheck until you can no longer make mortgage payments. This is when you need to remember that when a nation's economy collapses, the wealth of the nation doesn't disappear, it only changes hands.
Millions of Americans are about to be tossed into the street, and because we're a kinder and gentler America, from the street they'll be tossed into shelters. Once in the shelter, they'll be wards of the social service system, which will make sure they all have food, and a bed to sleep in. In exchange for that food and shelter, the "welfare reform" act will put them to work at jobs where they will collect no additional salary. I guess the idea of "welfare reform" is a lot more acceptable to Americans than "forced labor" but regardless of what you call it, many Americans will soon experience slavery once again, and the slaves are not just sweeping public streets. Under the welfare reform act, many Americans are being put to work for private companies for no wages other than the cost of their food and shelter, both of which constitute the bare minimum requirements of survival. By causing the economy to collapse, and then "saving" the poor, our government can legally force millions of Americans into slavery. The new slavery will be blamed on "the economy," and it will employ a much larger percentage of the population than it did before the civil war.
To understand how they're accomplishing this, we need to turn our thoughts back to our monetary system, because due to the fact that it is no longer based on the gold standard, our government is in control of the money supply, and that gives them the ability to cause rampant unemployment, which is exactly what they're doing. The framers of the U.S. constitution protected us from this brand of tyranny, but because Americans were foolish enough to ignore and/or trust their government, they will become slaves, but most of them will blame themselves for their plight.
Article 1, Section 10, of the U.S. constitution clearly states that "no state shall... make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts." The constitution's prohibition of "fiat money" (what's in your wallet) guarantees that the wealth of the nation remains in the hands of the people, which leaves the government incapable of stealing the population's wealth, as they're doing today. You can collect all the dollars that you like. Our government decides what they're worth, and by keeping the presses working overtime, they're insuring that the dollar will soon be worthless.
The U.S. department of labor has also changed the way it collects data regarding unemployment, which allows for the fraudulent unemployment figures that are printed in the newspapers, and allows working Americans to believe that things aren't really that bad. Their new "household survey" system avoids counting most of the poor by basing unemployment figures on telephone surveys. A real estimate, based on population and payroll taxes, reveals that about 25 percent of the American workforce is presently unemployed, and that will eventually force them into the social service slavery system. Unless your mortgage and debts are completely paid off, and you can still pay your property taxes, there's a good chance you'll soon be joining them. Welcome to the third world, and to an American world, where slavery is legal once again.
What are you going to do when your government forces you into slavery? You can't avoid it, because if you're homeless, you'll be rounded up and brought to a "shelter", where you'll be fed, and probably medicated if you're not happy to be there. With so many people becoming homeless, it will be easy for them to find an apartment for you, and social services will pay your rent, and give you food stamps.
Soon after that they will find you a job, but naturally, you won't be taking home a paycheck because you're in debt to the social service system. They'll tell you that you're working your way back to independence, but since your salary will never be more than your expenses, you'll work for free until you're dead. If you refuse to work, the government "assistance" will be cut off, you'll be back out on the street, and you'll probably do your next job with a shackle around your ankle.
I'm not asking that you waste the time or paper required to write your congressman, because they don't care what you think anyway. What I am asking you to do is to remember something. When the economy does crash, and you're forced into the street. I want you to remember that this isn't your fault, and it's not the result of a "bad economy." Please remember that you're poor, hungry and homeless, because that's where our government wants you to be, and they intentionally destroyed the U.S. economy because they want you to suffer, and beg. And regardless of how bad things get, never sell your rifle. -- Jolly Roger
"Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the capitalist system was to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens..... Lenin was certainly right." - John Maynard Keynes*
*90 percent of all Americans are mortgaged to the hilt, and would have little or no assets left if all debts and liabilities were to be paid. --- Rep. Traficant to U.S. Congress.
**John Maynard Keynes is the economist for whom our present monetary system is named.
Unlike this nation's wealth, anything written by Jolly Roger is the property of the American people, and the author hereby grants permission to anyone who so desires to post, copy, forward or distribute this letter as they see fit, and in fact, the author encourages you to do so.
Disclaimer
Email This Article
Re: political mud slinging.....
to;harte and deepthought, some times just posting an artical is what is needed to get the peoples attention... weather or not you choose to belive it is your decision... the point is.......... it was presented for your discrestion,like i said in my prev
ios post ... i post it if i find that it may...... be of interesst to the forum ,not nessiarily ( i know i do not spell that well) my opinion.... so please don't take them;( my post) out of context, as i don't mean to offend anyone just to inform....and sometimes copying and pasteing is all that is needed to get the point across... belive me i have plenty to say ...but i feel that sometimes a copy and paste is better, as i tend to be too direct...
to;harte and deepthought, some times just posting an artical is what is needed to get the peoples attention... weather or not you choose to belive it is your decision... the point is.......... it was presented for your discrestion,like i said in my prev
ios post ... i post it if i find that it may...... be of interesst to the forum ,not nessiarily ( i know i do not spell that well) my opinion.... so please don't take them;( my post) out of context, as i don't mean to offend anyone just to inform....and sometimes copying and pasteing is all that is needed to get the point across... belive me i have plenty to say ...but i feel that sometimes a copy and paste is better, as i tend to be too direct...Re: political mud slinging.....
artsouth,
I just checked and it sure looks open to me. If you're talking about the MMP as a potential Waco type event, it's back open in the Conspiracy Forum. Try this link.
http://www.timetravelforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=92
If you can't find it or it won't open for you let me know. But it's there.
Cary
artsouth,
I just checked and it sure looks open to me. If you're talking about the MMP as a potential Waco type event, it's back open in the Conspiracy Forum. Try this link.
http://www.timetravelforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=92
If you can't find it or it won't open for you let me know. But it's there.
Cary
deepthought
Member
- Messages
- 166
Re: political mud slinging.....
No problem artsouth, I read Rense daily, it just seemed like a mass blog, although I guessed your best intentions
No problem artsouth, I read Rense daily, it just seemed like a mass blog, although I guessed your best intentions
Re: political mud slinging.....
My agologies here artsouth, and those who were looking to post on that thread. My dumbass was under the impression that the thread would be edited of offending posts and reopened. That didn't happen. The mod who locked it wants it to remain locked. You can always start another thread though. Call it Minute Man Project - Waco Event 2? if you want to.
Cary
My agologies here artsouth, and those who were looking to post on that thread. My dumbass was under the impression that the thread would be edited of offending posts and reopened. That didn't happen. The mod who locked it wants it to remain locked. You can always start another thread though. Call it Minute Man Project - Waco Event 2? if you want to.
Cary
Re: political mud slinging.....
Being a Loser in America
04/13/2005 16:15
My name is David R. Hoffman, Legal Editor of Pravda. And I am a loser
Actually, this inauspicious status was conferred upon me before I was even born, because I made the one critical mistake that, in American society, constantly delineates the boundary between what qualifies as success and what qualifies as failure: I did not choose my family wisely.
Fortunately, my prenatal destiny did not cause any adverse effects during my childhood years. While my parents were far from rich, I seldom missed a meal or doctor"s appointment because of financial hardship, and, since my social circle was limited to children similarly situated to myself, I rarely experienced any sense of deprivation.
This changed during my high school years, when the austere realities of "loserdom" first made their appearance. I was one of the few "have-nots" taking college preparatory courses, and the experience of being surrounded (and ignored) on a daily basis by the surfeit of "haves" in the classroom provided an ominous glimpse into the realities of my existence.
So, after graduation, I prepared myself for a life of mundane labor. After all, people like me never make a difference in the world. We eat, sleep, work, grasp at vestiges of entertainment when we can afford to, and dream of retiring healthy enough to enjoy our twilight years.
But even that dream was not to be. One afternoon in 1991 I received a telephone call advising me that the company I had devoted fifteen years of my life to was closing down the department where I worked and eliminating all the employees. But even though this unforeseen development made me feel as discarded as yesterday"s rubbish, and I was without health insurance or income, I had a contingency plan.
Or at least I thought I did. Just a few years earlier a documentary about the life and times of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had expunged the dismal memories of my high school "college preparatory" years, and inspired me to obtain a higher education. Fortunately, at the time I lost my employment, I was just one semester away from obtaining my undergraduate degree.
But the years of stagnation in a dead-end job had left their mark, and I was weary of indulging the quixotic hope that my next employment venture would somehow spawn everlasting happiness. So, on little more than a whim, I took the law school entrance examination (LSAT), and soon found myself enrolled in law school.
After graduating and passing the bar (law licensing) exam, I idealistically looked forward to entering a profession where truth and justice prevailed over politics and propaganda--a profession that could allow me to make a positive difference in the world.
Reality, however, was not so cooperative. Law firm after law firm sent rejection letters praising my qualifications but denying me employment. Undeterred, I decided to visit law offices in several cities, hoping my physical presence would make more of an impression than mere words on a resume.
It was then I discovered I had not chosen my family wisely. Time and again I was informed that all available positions were being reserved for individuals whose relatives already worked at the firm.
After a few months of frustration, I found myself stocking pet food at a local grocery store for a few cents above minimum wage, a position I could have obtained without incurring the onerous debt of a law school education. So, rudely awakened from my idealistic slumber, I soon learned that the legal system is not the only industry fueled by nepotism and cronyism.
During the Reagan presidency in the 1980s a political phenomenon known as the "angry white male" erupted against affirmative action policies, which had permitted employers to consider the race, gender or national origin of an applicant or employee when making hiring or promotion decisions. The primary criticism of these policies was their alleged proclivity to give "preferential treatment" to minority candidates, thereby negating the rewards of seniority, hard work and discipline.
Yet one does not have to look very far to see the hypocrisy of such criticism. The White House is currently occupied by a man whose educational, business, political and military careers (performing some nebulous National Guard duties to avoid serving in Vietnam) were augmented by his family's wealth and political connections. Yet he still possessed the audacity to denounce affirmative action policies as "preferences." The entertainment and business worlds are also inundated with the offspring of the wealthy and/or famous. Yet nobody condemns them for benefiting from preferential treatment. Instead they are the staples of movies and television shows, and coveted guests on the glut of programs devoted to kissing celebrity posteriors.
My attempted sojourn into the legal world had confirmed one American reality: the backlash against affirmative action was not to preserve the principals of hard work and discipline, but to maintain the ability of the rich and powerful to exploit the poor.
Subsequently I decided to open my own law practice, thus encountering more American realities: First, the legal "system" is more adept at rationalizing injustice than doing justice; Second, the wealthy and powerful are constantly favored by the legal "system" over the poor and weak; Third, in the eyes of the legal "system," the Constitution and Bill of Rights are not the cornerstones of freedom and individual rights, but simply nuisances to be explained away or ignored. In such a system, an attorney can profit handsomely by simply taking a client"s money and going through the pretense of legal representation. But the price is one"s soul.
Fortunately (or so I thought) I did not need to engage in such Faustian deals. To supplement my income while I was in the practice of law, I had begun teaching part-time at a local university. After a few years of this, I was encouraged to "phase out" my law practice and move into teaching full-time. A few months after completing this phase-out, I was verbally informed that I had been awarded a full-time position.
But approximately a month later I received a letter, prominently signed by the very person who had offered me the job in the first place, stating that I was not even being considered for an interview. For several months, I tried to convince the university to honor its original commitment, even offering to undergo a polygraph examination to prove the employment offer had not only been extended, but accepted. I soon discovered, however, that even in the world of academia, the truth can be meaningless.
So I returned to the practice of law, working for an attorney on a commission basis with a small base salary. But on the eve of potentially settling my first major case, I experienced, as baseball great Yogi Berra once said, "Deja-vu all over again." Suddenly the percentage of the profits I had originally been promised was dramatically reduced. Thus ended my second foray into the legal world.
Those who have heard of these incidents inevitably ask one question: "Did you get these offers in writing?"
The answer is no. And while I must agree that I would have been wise to do so, the fact that this question is foremost on people"s minds confirms yet another American reality: The culture is so dishonest that no profession or institution can be trusted to act with integrity. Although many administrators in the academic world stress the teaching of ethics in the classroom and demand honesty from both students and faculty, they predictably feel no obligation to adhere to such standards themselves when it doesn"t serve their interests. The legal profession as well is allegedly governed by a code of "ethics." Yet while attorneys are frequently "disciplined" for relatively minor infractions, the most egregious misconduct is often met with silence. In some cases attorneys have not even been reprimanded for sleeping during trials, for intentionally withholding crucial evidence that would have exonerated an accused, or for participating in government-orchestrated frame-ups or perjury.
In fact the opposite is often true. While some attorneys have actually lost their jobs for refusing to criminally prosecute innocent people, those with no such scruples have become politicians, judges, or highly paid consultants for the government, the media or corporate America. So naturally the injustices persist.
I will admit that I was reluctant to write this article. After all, it is not easy to confess to a worldwide forum that one is a loser. But last night, partially for the sake of research and partially to reflect upon dreams past, I began reading about the America of my youth, the 1960s and early 1970s. I remembered how people were beaten, imprisoned, tortured and murdered simply for protesting an unjust war in Vietnam and/or an unequal caste system at home, where the wealthy (like America"s current Vice President and unindicted war criminal, Dick Cheney) were granted deferment after deferment to avoid the military draft while the poor were sent into combat.
I recalled the activism and political awareness of America"s youth, and their willingness to risk their futures, their livelihoods, and even their lives for causes they had little hope of winning. I also recalled how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., later in his career, had denounced the folly of militarism and war, and how that portion of his dream is consistently ignored by politicians and pundits in the war-crazed culture of today.
But what haunted me most about the 1960s and early 70s were the injustices, human rights abuses and murders that were ignored (and in some cases perpetuated) by the American power structure as a routine part of "doing business." While there may have been other times in our nation"s history where governmental excesses were more egregious, the 1960s revealed that many of the agencies supposedly created to uphold the Constitution were actually more lawless than many of those they targeted. Thus another reality was exposed: America is not a nation of laws, but simply of powerful people who operate above the law, who manipulate the legal system for their own gain, and who protect criminals who uphold the "status-quo," while harshly punishing criminals, and even innocents, who oppose it.
For many years the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), under the auspices of J. Edgar Hoover, failed to acknowledge the existence of organized crime and only cursorily investigated crimes against civil rights workers in the American South. Yet this same agency had no hesitation in employing any tactic, legal or illegal, to undermine the civil rights movement, and to destroy the Black Panther Party, the American Indian Movement, and the Weather Underground.
Tragically, a significant percentage of Americans also revealed that such lawlessness would be quiescently accepted, and even applauded, when directed against racial minorities or those considered to be "leftists"-thereby casting doubt (at least in American culture) on Che Guevara"s theory that the violent repression of small groups of revolutionaries will plant the seeds of revolution in the larger population.
As I contemplated the meaning of the 1960s, I also wondered what I might have done if I had been of college age during this era. Would I have had the courage to risk a criminal record, imprisonment, injury or even death for what I believed was a greater cause? Or would I have feared what the future could bring if I made such a commitment?
Would I have become one of the wrongfully imprisoned or martyred, many of whom are unfairly forgotten, or would my commitment have opened doors, as it did for many activists and radicals who went on to become professors, authors and business people?
Now, in the twilight of my years, closer to death than away from it, as I look back on what has been and what might have been, I face the somber reality that, despite having "played the game" by working hard, striving to be honest, and furthering my education, life has remained a struggle, where the moments of joy are too frequently overshadowed by the hours of sorrow.
On a national scale, I"ve watched the future I once dreamed of produce technological progress and sociological regress, as America, under the Bush dictatorship, has plunged once again into the quagmire of racism, injustice, hatred, despair, and war based on lies.
I thought about the duplicity of politicians who, as in the Terri Schiavo case, waxed poetic about the "sanctity of life," yet are unwilling to sacrifice the millions of dollars "contributed" to their political campaigns by health-care and insurance company lobbyists, even though there are millions of Americans, like myself, who cannot afford health insurance. How many of these uninsured will die in America this year because their inability to pay for health care or prescription drugs compels them to put off seeking necessary medical treatment until it is too late?
How many condemned Dr. Jack Kevorkian, now sitting in prison in the State of Michigan, because he supposedly denigrated this "sanctity of life" by ending the suffering of those with debilitating or terminal illnesses, yet remained silent while, in this very same State, a judge mocked the suffering of Maurice Carter, a terminally ill African-American man who spent decades in prison for a crime many believe he did not commit? Although Carter was ultimately given a "medical commutation" by Michigan"s governor so he could seek medical treatment, (she refused to grant him a pardon, an act Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn called a "profile in cowardice"), it was too late. He died just three months after his release.
This cowardice and disdain for life is also evident in the case of Roger Coleman, who was executed by the State of Virginia for a crime he insisted he did not commit. Although evidence exists that could potentially clear Coleman"s name, the Virginia courts, under the guise of "mootness," have refused to allow posthumous DNA testing on this evidence. But what is ignored in this "mootness" facade is the very real prospect that an unapprehended murderer is safely walking the streets simply because gutless officials are unwilling to admit they may have killed an innocent man.
Of course, no "profile in cowardice" would be complete without the mention of the man who has the ignoble "honor" of being America"s first "pro-life" war criminal: George W. Bush.
After presiding over more than one hundred-and-fifty executions while governor of Texas, Bush boasted that not one innocent person had been killed "under his watch." Yet those who endeavored to challenge this braggadocio soon discovered that after an execution all evidence related to the case was conveniently destroyed.
But even when this evidence existed, and even when DNA testing was exonerating the wrongfully convicted across the nation, Bush consistently denied thirty-day reprieves to death-row inmates who requested such tests, even though the results would have virtually eliminated the risk of executing an innocent person. His actions, along with the actions of countless judges and politicians in Michigan, Virginia and throughout the nation, lead to yet another American reality: Those who pontificate the most about the "sanctity of life" are often those who demonstrate the most contempt for it.
Of course, Bush"s cowardice and the absence of a military draft have produced many emulators, like Bill O"Reilly, Dennis Miller, Toby Keith, Kid Rock, Richard Perle and countless others, who have aggrandized their careers by exploiting the popularity of the Iraqi war, yet who have never served in combat situations themselves.
O"Reilly, in a pathetic attempt at bravado during an interview with film maker Michael Moore, actually demonstrated how low these warmongering cowards will sink. When asked by Moore if he would be willing to sacrifice the lives of his children in the war against Iraq, O"Reilly replied, "I"d sacrifice myself."
Not surprisingly, while the Iraqi war drags on, O"Reilly, hypocrite that he is, remains safely ensconced in the studios of the so-called "Fox News Network," and his evasion of Moore"s question establishes yet another American reality, one that existed during the 1960s and still exists today: While the rich promote the wars, they always expect the poor to die in them.
Now America is reaping the antithesis of what was sown during the 1960s. Although the motives for the Iraqi war, like the war in Vietnam, were based upon government lies, this has not resulted in an analogous sense of outrage. Instead the alleged "reasons" for going to war are no longer relevant. What apparently is important to a substantial portion of the population, and the corrupt, corporate-controlled media, is the need to show the "peaceniks" that "true" Americans will "support the troops," regardless of what they are dying for.
But even in these terrible (and some may say apocalyptic times) there's still a cursed thing called hope, that nagging little trickle of faith to make one believe that, in spite of the incessant triumph of evil, someday things will get better, that the universe will somehow seek a balance, and that all those causing the ugliness, death, and injustice will eventually be punished for their crimes.
But this hope of future justice provides little solace when I think of those wrongfully imprisoned in American gulags simply because gutless politicians and judges are more concerned about their own careers than doing justice. Nor can I forget those who were martyred. I just wish they could tell me whether their sacrifice was worthwhile. But death, the ultimate censor, has condemned them to silence.
So I ask, "Who are the wise and who are the fools? Are the wise those who live long lives, acquiring material possessions through stealth, deceit and the exploitation of others while being trumpeted with sycophantic praise? Are the fools those who dare to struggle for a better world, thus spending their often too brief time on earth in suffering, hardship and frustration?
I do not know the answers. But I cannot help but think that thousands, perhaps millions, ask these same questions everyday.
The famed mathematician Descartes once said, "I think therefore I am." But in American society this motto has been transformed into: "To be one must conspicuously consume." So, in the eyes of the society I live in, I do not exist.
Of course invisibility is a fitting fate for a loser. But considering how low people will often sink in their quest to become "winners," perhaps being a loser is not so terrible after all.
David R. Hoffman, Legal Editor of Pravda
Pravda.Ru
Being a Loser in America
04/13/2005 16:15
My name is David R. Hoffman, Legal Editor of Pravda. And I am a loser
Actually, this inauspicious status was conferred upon me before I was even born, because I made the one critical mistake that, in American society, constantly delineates the boundary between what qualifies as success and what qualifies as failure: I did not choose my family wisely.
Fortunately, my prenatal destiny did not cause any adverse effects during my childhood years. While my parents were far from rich, I seldom missed a meal or doctor"s appointment because of financial hardship, and, since my social circle was limited to children similarly situated to myself, I rarely experienced any sense of deprivation.
This changed during my high school years, when the austere realities of "loserdom" first made their appearance. I was one of the few "have-nots" taking college preparatory courses, and the experience of being surrounded (and ignored) on a daily basis by the surfeit of "haves" in the classroom provided an ominous glimpse into the realities of my existence.
So, after graduation, I prepared myself for a life of mundane labor. After all, people like me never make a difference in the world. We eat, sleep, work, grasp at vestiges of entertainment when we can afford to, and dream of retiring healthy enough to enjoy our twilight years.
But even that dream was not to be. One afternoon in 1991 I received a telephone call advising me that the company I had devoted fifteen years of my life to was closing down the department where I worked and eliminating all the employees. But even though this unforeseen development made me feel as discarded as yesterday"s rubbish, and I was without health insurance or income, I had a contingency plan.
Or at least I thought I did. Just a few years earlier a documentary about the life and times of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had expunged the dismal memories of my high school "college preparatory" years, and inspired me to obtain a higher education. Fortunately, at the time I lost my employment, I was just one semester away from obtaining my undergraduate degree.
But the years of stagnation in a dead-end job had left their mark, and I was weary of indulging the quixotic hope that my next employment venture would somehow spawn everlasting happiness. So, on little more than a whim, I took the law school entrance examination (LSAT), and soon found myself enrolled in law school.
After graduating and passing the bar (law licensing) exam, I idealistically looked forward to entering a profession where truth and justice prevailed over politics and propaganda--a profession that could allow me to make a positive difference in the world.
Reality, however, was not so cooperative. Law firm after law firm sent rejection letters praising my qualifications but denying me employment. Undeterred, I decided to visit law offices in several cities, hoping my physical presence would make more of an impression than mere words on a resume.
It was then I discovered I had not chosen my family wisely. Time and again I was informed that all available positions were being reserved for individuals whose relatives already worked at the firm.
After a few months of frustration, I found myself stocking pet food at a local grocery store for a few cents above minimum wage, a position I could have obtained without incurring the onerous debt of a law school education. So, rudely awakened from my idealistic slumber, I soon learned that the legal system is not the only industry fueled by nepotism and cronyism.
During the Reagan presidency in the 1980s a political phenomenon known as the "angry white male" erupted against affirmative action policies, which had permitted employers to consider the race, gender or national origin of an applicant or employee when making hiring or promotion decisions. The primary criticism of these policies was their alleged proclivity to give "preferential treatment" to minority candidates, thereby negating the rewards of seniority, hard work and discipline.
Yet one does not have to look very far to see the hypocrisy of such criticism. The White House is currently occupied by a man whose educational, business, political and military careers (performing some nebulous National Guard duties to avoid serving in Vietnam) were augmented by his family's wealth and political connections. Yet he still possessed the audacity to denounce affirmative action policies as "preferences." The entertainment and business worlds are also inundated with the offspring of the wealthy and/or famous. Yet nobody condemns them for benefiting from preferential treatment. Instead they are the staples of movies and television shows, and coveted guests on the glut of programs devoted to kissing celebrity posteriors.
My attempted sojourn into the legal world had confirmed one American reality: the backlash against affirmative action was not to preserve the principals of hard work and discipline, but to maintain the ability of the rich and powerful to exploit the poor.
Subsequently I decided to open my own law practice, thus encountering more American realities: First, the legal "system" is more adept at rationalizing injustice than doing justice; Second, the wealthy and powerful are constantly favored by the legal "system" over the poor and weak; Third, in the eyes of the legal "system," the Constitution and Bill of Rights are not the cornerstones of freedom and individual rights, but simply nuisances to be explained away or ignored. In such a system, an attorney can profit handsomely by simply taking a client"s money and going through the pretense of legal representation. But the price is one"s soul.
Fortunately (or so I thought) I did not need to engage in such Faustian deals. To supplement my income while I was in the practice of law, I had begun teaching part-time at a local university. After a few years of this, I was encouraged to "phase out" my law practice and move into teaching full-time. A few months after completing this phase-out, I was verbally informed that I had been awarded a full-time position.
But approximately a month later I received a letter, prominently signed by the very person who had offered me the job in the first place, stating that I was not even being considered for an interview. For several months, I tried to convince the university to honor its original commitment, even offering to undergo a polygraph examination to prove the employment offer had not only been extended, but accepted. I soon discovered, however, that even in the world of academia, the truth can be meaningless.
So I returned to the practice of law, working for an attorney on a commission basis with a small base salary. But on the eve of potentially settling my first major case, I experienced, as baseball great Yogi Berra once said, "Deja-vu all over again." Suddenly the percentage of the profits I had originally been promised was dramatically reduced. Thus ended my second foray into the legal world.
Those who have heard of these incidents inevitably ask one question: "Did you get these offers in writing?"
The answer is no. And while I must agree that I would have been wise to do so, the fact that this question is foremost on people"s minds confirms yet another American reality: The culture is so dishonest that no profession or institution can be trusted to act with integrity. Although many administrators in the academic world stress the teaching of ethics in the classroom and demand honesty from both students and faculty, they predictably feel no obligation to adhere to such standards themselves when it doesn"t serve their interests. The legal profession as well is allegedly governed by a code of "ethics." Yet while attorneys are frequently "disciplined" for relatively minor infractions, the most egregious misconduct is often met with silence. In some cases attorneys have not even been reprimanded for sleeping during trials, for intentionally withholding crucial evidence that would have exonerated an accused, or for participating in government-orchestrated frame-ups or perjury.
In fact the opposite is often true. While some attorneys have actually lost their jobs for refusing to criminally prosecute innocent people, those with no such scruples have become politicians, judges, or highly paid consultants for the government, the media or corporate America. So naturally the injustices persist.
I will admit that I was reluctant to write this article. After all, it is not easy to confess to a worldwide forum that one is a loser. But last night, partially for the sake of research and partially to reflect upon dreams past, I began reading about the America of my youth, the 1960s and early 1970s. I remembered how people were beaten, imprisoned, tortured and murdered simply for protesting an unjust war in Vietnam and/or an unequal caste system at home, where the wealthy (like America"s current Vice President and unindicted war criminal, Dick Cheney) were granted deferment after deferment to avoid the military draft while the poor were sent into combat.
I recalled the activism and political awareness of America"s youth, and their willingness to risk their futures, their livelihoods, and even their lives for causes they had little hope of winning. I also recalled how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., later in his career, had denounced the folly of militarism and war, and how that portion of his dream is consistently ignored by politicians and pundits in the war-crazed culture of today.
But what haunted me most about the 1960s and early 70s were the injustices, human rights abuses and murders that were ignored (and in some cases perpetuated) by the American power structure as a routine part of "doing business." While there may have been other times in our nation"s history where governmental excesses were more egregious, the 1960s revealed that many of the agencies supposedly created to uphold the Constitution were actually more lawless than many of those they targeted. Thus another reality was exposed: America is not a nation of laws, but simply of powerful people who operate above the law, who manipulate the legal system for their own gain, and who protect criminals who uphold the "status-quo," while harshly punishing criminals, and even innocents, who oppose it.
For many years the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), under the auspices of J. Edgar Hoover, failed to acknowledge the existence of organized crime and only cursorily investigated crimes against civil rights workers in the American South. Yet this same agency had no hesitation in employing any tactic, legal or illegal, to undermine the civil rights movement, and to destroy the Black Panther Party, the American Indian Movement, and the Weather Underground.
Tragically, a significant percentage of Americans also revealed that such lawlessness would be quiescently accepted, and even applauded, when directed against racial minorities or those considered to be "leftists"-thereby casting doubt (at least in American culture) on Che Guevara"s theory that the violent repression of small groups of revolutionaries will plant the seeds of revolution in the larger population.
As I contemplated the meaning of the 1960s, I also wondered what I might have done if I had been of college age during this era. Would I have had the courage to risk a criminal record, imprisonment, injury or even death for what I believed was a greater cause? Or would I have feared what the future could bring if I made such a commitment?
Would I have become one of the wrongfully imprisoned or martyred, many of whom are unfairly forgotten, or would my commitment have opened doors, as it did for many activists and radicals who went on to become professors, authors and business people?
Now, in the twilight of my years, closer to death than away from it, as I look back on what has been and what might have been, I face the somber reality that, despite having "played the game" by working hard, striving to be honest, and furthering my education, life has remained a struggle, where the moments of joy are too frequently overshadowed by the hours of sorrow.
On a national scale, I"ve watched the future I once dreamed of produce technological progress and sociological regress, as America, under the Bush dictatorship, has plunged once again into the quagmire of racism, injustice, hatred, despair, and war based on lies.
I thought about the duplicity of politicians who, as in the Terri Schiavo case, waxed poetic about the "sanctity of life," yet are unwilling to sacrifice the millions of dollars "contributed" to their political campaigns by health-care and insurance company lobbyists, even though there are millions of Americans, like myself, who cannot afford health insurance. How many of these uninsured will die in America this year because their inability to pay for health care or prescription drugs compels them to put off seeking necessary medical treatment until it is too late?
How many condemned Dr. Jack Kevorkian, now sitting in prison in the State of Michigan, because he supposedly denigrated this "sanctity of life" by ending the suffering of those with debilitating or terminal illnesses, yet remained silent while, in this very same State, a judge mocked the suffering of Maurice Carter, a terminally ill African-American man who spent decades in prison for a crime many believe he did not commit? Although Carter was ultimately given a "medical commutation" by Michigan"s governor so he could seek medical treatment, (she refused to grant him a pardon, an act Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn called a "profile in cowardice"), it was too late. He died just three months after his release.
This cowardice and disdain for life is also evident in the case of Roger Coleman, who was executed by the State of Virginia for a crime he insisted he did not commit. Although evidence exists that could potentially clear Coleman"s name, the Virginia courts, under the guise of "mootness," have refused to allow posthumous DNA testing on this evidence. But what is ignored in this "mootness" facade is the very real prospect that an unapprehended murderer is safely walking the streets simply because gutless officials are unwilling to admit they may have killed an innocent man.
Of course, no "profile in cowardice" would be complete without the mention of the man who has the ignoble "honor" of being America"s first "pro-life" war criminal: George W. Bush.
After presiding over more than one hundred-and-fifty executions while governor of Texas, Bush boasted that not one innocent person had been killed "under his watch." Yet those who endeavored to challenge this braggadocio soon discovered that after an execution all evidence related to the case was conveniently destroyed.
But even when this evidence existed, and even when DNA testing was exonerating the wrongfully convicted across the nation, Bush consistently denied thirty-day reprieves to death-row inmates who requested such tests, even though the results would have virtually eliminated the risk of executing an innocent person. His actions, along with the actions of countless judges and politicians in Michigan, Virginia and throughout the nation, lead to yet another American reality: Those who pontificate the most about the "sanctity of life" are often those who demonstrate the most contempt for it.
Of course, Bush"s cowardice and the absence of a military draft have produced many emulators, like Bill O"Reilly, Dennis Miller, Toby Keith, Kid Rock, Richard Perle and countless others, who have aggrandized their careers by exploiting the popularity of the Iraqi war, yet who have never served in combat situations themselves.
O"Reilly, in a pathetic attempt at bravado during an interview with film maker Michael Moore, actually demonstrated how low these warmongering cowards will sink. When asked by Moore if he would be willing to sacrifice the lives of his children in the war against Iraq, O"Reilly replied, "I"d sacrifice myself."
Not surprisingly, while the Iraqi war drags on, O"Reilly, hypocrite that he is, remains safely ensconced in the studios of the so-called "Fox News Network," and his evasion of Moore"s question establishes yet another American reality, one that existed during the 1960s and still exists today: While the rich promote the wars, they always expect the poor to die in them.
Now America is reaping the antithesis of what was sown during the 1960s. Although the motives for the Iraqi war, like the war in Vietnam, were based upon government lies, this has not resulted in an analogous sense of outrage. Instead the alleged "reasons" for going to war are no longer relevant. What apparently is important to a substantial portion of the population, and the corrupt, corporate-controlled media, is the need to show the "peaceniks" that "true" Americans will "support the troops," regardless of what they are dying for.
But even in these terrible (and some may say apocalyptic times) there's still a cursed thing called hope, that nagging little trickle of faith to make one believe that, in spite of the incessant triumph of evil, someday things will get better, that the universe will somehow seek a balance, and that all those causing the ugliness, death, and injustice will eventually be punished for their crimes.
But this hope of future justice provides little solace when I think of those wrongfully imprisoned in American gulags simply because gutless politicians and judges are more concerned about their own careers than doing justice. Nor can I forget those who were martyred. I just wish they could tell me whether their sacrifice was worthwhile. But death, the ultimate censor, has condemned them to silence.
So I ask, "Who are the wise and who are the fools? Are the wise those who live long lives, acquiring material possessions through stealth, deceit and the exploitation of others while being trumpeted with sycophantic praise? Are the fools those who dare to struggle for a better world, thus spending their often too brief time on earth in suffering, hardship and frustration?
I do not know the answers. But I cannot help but think that thousands, perhaps millions, ask these same questions everyday.
The famed mathematician Descartes once said, "I think therefore I am." But in American society this motto has been transformed into: "To be one must conspicuously consume." So, in the eyes of the society I live in, I do not exist.
Of course invisibility is a fitting fate for a loser. But considering how low people will often sink in their quest to become "winners," perhaps being a loser is not so terrible after all.
David R. Hoffman, Legal Editor of Pravda
Pravda.Ru