I'm an angry leftist, an animal lover and a vegetarian. I dislike the rude and selfish and have a severe distaste for the religious right and mindless flag-wavers. Excel in math and science, yet I have the spelling ability of a ten year old and I get lost in parking lots. Many who know me may not really believe this, but I actually do like this country, just not the priorities of our so called representatives. And that's really where the problem begins...they've forgotten that this is a democracy. Those in government are there to represent us...not to lead us with their own greedy and corrupt agendas...their corporate lined pockets. I believe that a good American is one that is willing to strive for something better...to acknowledge that the norm is not the answer, that tradition is just that...old and outdated. One must struggle find the proper places to look not only for the answers, but for the questions as well. This is something that is becoming more an more difficult in our era of corporate medias. Nearly everything we see and hear is twisted and contorted before it reaches our eyes and ears, if it even reaches us at all. We are only allowed to know what our government deems appropriate in order to sway public opinion and response, e.g. the build-up to the invasion of Iraq. More books, less TV. Question everything! Pop culture is the road to ignorance. Unbiasedly educating and informing the American public will let them begin to really understand the things going on around them like racism, poverty, war, corruption, crime and disease. Allow them to see the fallacies in our so called freedom and democracy, and to give them an idea of what it will really take for us to help this world achieve true peace and equality. Let them see the realities of American imperialism and the effect it has on the poor, the hungry the suffering the neglected peoples of the world. Religious ideology and free market capitalism are the Achilles heel of humanity. If we ourselves are to ever truly speak of freedom and democracy without hypocrisy, the control must be in our hands, not the corporations...return our government to one which represents the needs and concerns of the people a whole, not those of the Exons, Enrons and Viacoms. We as a people of this nation are currently in a sad state of ignorance and denial. A state that allows us to be dominated and deceived by those in power. The deception will only continue as long as we allow it to. Move away from the mainstream...find yourself on your terms, not a corporations'. Patriotism is just a form of brainwashing. Be proud not of the land on which you stand nor the color of your flag, but rather be proud of your humanity.
"Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them.
There is almost no kind of outrage-----torture, imprisonment without trial, assassination, the
bombing of civilians-----which does not change its moral color when it is committed by 'our'
side. . The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, he
has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them."
--George Orwell
