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LETTER: Butt-kicking the military/petroleum complex

To the Editor:

Lately, I have been doing some research about the decreasing amount of liberty and democracy we Americans enjoy. The more I dig, the more I find out about the disgusting corruption in our government of, for and by big business.

Not all that long ago, Americans envisioned a glowing future with our country as a home of dream-like qualities: comfortable, well-educated, well-fed, well-paid citizens living a life of relative ease (compared to our ancestors’ lives of toil) in clean cities and towns. There was a prophesy of freedom earned by thousands who died in wars for democracy, earned by the compassionate dedication of a society willing to share with those less fortunate among us. Given the progress we had made already, it seemed a certainty when we thought of flying cars, manicured cities and peace.

Instead, we have growing slums, rampant unemployment, second-rate housing and education, a national debt of $3.5 trillion, expensive-yet-substandard healthcare and corruption in federal and state governments. Citizens have become inured to inflation, slowly deteriorating liberties and bold-faced lies from politicians and corporate CEOs, as if that’s all we can expect of them.

We are fed fear via NBC, CBS, ABC, etc. It’s as if they compete to find stories that instill anxiety, worry and mistrust to keep our minds off the political/business maneuverings that are stripping us our self-determination.

Massive petroleum corporations seem bent on destroying the entire world with their global pollution, never-ending oil spills, global warming and fuel wars. It’s almost as if their CEOs think that if they make enough money they can buy a new world for themselves when this one will no longer sustain life.

Americans must see the truth of matters instead of relying on talk-show hosts. We can no longer afford partisan views where the other party is to blame. The Internet is a wonderful tool for gleaning information that television newscasts don’t mention. The Washington Post, NPR, New York Times, Al Jazeera (which has been banned in several Muslim nations for their unbiased reporting), San Francisco Chronicle, Mother Jones, etc. Try Googling the phrases “congressional corruption,” “unaccounted-for Pentagon funds,” “election-tampering,” and see what you find out.

The average person is too busy living their lives and watching TV to rebel against the constant onslaught that surrounds us. That type of disconnected attitude needs to change before there is irretrievable damage to our freedom and our basic way of life. Getting involved needn’t be a full-time job. One hundred million Americans can fight corruption for a week, while another hundred million take the week off to be with their families. Next week, they can swap the responsibility.

We need to get organized and demand from our politicians what we want and need. One person at a time must get involved and then show their friends what is going on behind closed doors so that more and more people become aware. We, the people, need to reclaim our country and do some good ol’ butt-kicking of the military/petroleum complex.

We have to partner up. Neighbor and neighbor, Facebook buddy with Twitter twit, solar company with wind-energy business, and voter with politician. This must be done to permit a peaceful revolution to work effectively. There are alternatives that would allow us to create sustainable, renewable energy. We, the people, have to demand them for ourselves and our children. They just need to be developed and utilized.

Before our Revolutionary War with England, no one ever thought the vast empirical might of England’s military machine could be defeated. Then a world power, France couldn’t do it. Spain’s enormous naval armada couldn’t do it. But fledgling America’s determined will and cumulative state of mind whupped ’em good.

We can beat a bunch of greedy old men, can’t we?

Andrew Tasker

Auburn

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