Thanksgiving Reflections

I don't think things are worse now than they've ever been. I just think we're both hyper-aware and have instant reactions to news. France was beset with terrorism in the 1960s but Americans didn't care and our media didn't sensationalize to elicit fear-based responses. Unarmed blacks have been getting lynched and gunned down by cops for centuries, but there was no video. Congo President Lumumba was assassinated by Western forces and no one really blinked when a civil war started. Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh was overthrown in a coup orchestrated by the CIA but no one really cared and there was no video. South Africa's apartheid government assassinated leaders for decades and America's response was to declare that it was Nelson Mandela who was a terrorist. Saddam Hussein tortured his people for decades but no one really cared because gas was cheap, the victims were brown, and there was no film. FBI's COINTELPRO frequently gunned down Black Panther leaders, bombed Black activists in their homes, and put people away on fraudulent charges. The drug surge into cities was facilitated by our government to break these movements and no one seemed to care (notice how there is a call for softening drug laws now that it's hitting the suburbs?). Every Latin and South America country has experienced coups and American-gov sponsored revolutions in the 20th century at the cost of thousands of lives. The same is true in most of Africa, the Mideast (aka Africa for people who can't handle the truth), many countries in Asia. I think we're just starting to wake up. This is a moment when we're starting to peek behind the curtain and to learn how our cell phones are made, trace power operating in the world, see how women are treated and have been treated for hundreds of years, challenge cultural hegemony, transform capitalism, change our world. But it can only change by dealing with the world honestly. Don't blink, don't fold your hands in frustration like this is all brand new. We're just seeing things more clearly. Happy Thanksgiving!