Too Much Truth

There are many ways to promote democracy at home, carrying it to new
dimensions. Opportunities are ample, and failure to grasp them is likely to have
ominous repercussions: for the country, for the world, and for future
generations.
-- Noam Chomsky, Failed States

How much truth is too much? Can you handle the truth? I've been trying to learn a few things about what's true and what isn't these last few months, and I feel as if I've climbed at least a plateau or two in understanding. I'd like to be able to communicate some of that here, for what it's worth, but this is just a personal blog, just a half-step above Dear Diary. The longest of my entries, printed out, would barely cover five pages. Who wants to read a long blog? Go read a book or something. I'm just posting a few pictures, a few videos, and trying to say a few short words to express how I feel, and allow random chance to find a receptive reader. If you're looking for War and Peace, this ain't the place. But there's a Pulitzer Prize winner in my immediate family (have I ever lied to you?), and while I'm not likely ever to receive Joseph's highest honor, I'm not afraid to think that I might have just a little bit of my own worth saying.

I've completed Noam Chomsky's Failed States, and have begun reading Hegemony or Survival. There are many who find Chomsky's point of view disturbing. That's a laugh, because it certainly is. Everyone has a point of view, and Noam Chomsky is no exception, but we can try and stick to the facts; they're quite sufficient. You don't have to be a student of the Noam Chomsky School of Philosophy, or whatever, to study the public records with him, and others, and come away with much greater insight into the forces that shape our world.

It is a dark vision, for the most part. I won't tell you that Chomsky is an optimist, though he may be. I suspect Howard Zinn is irrepressible in his optimism, and I love him for it. Noam Chomsky doesn't let us see quite so much of himself. The facts tend to speak for themselves.

Can you handle the truth?

I have followed this process in many phases of my life. I have seen the weight of evidence collect on numerous topics until I've attained a level of knowledge about certain things. If you touch a hot stove, you'll be sorry. If you go out in the rain with your head wet, you'll catch a cold. Smoking has bitter consequences. I've learned a lot, by trial and error. I know how it works, and I know when to say I understand.

We here in America are in the midst of momentous crisis. We are in danger of losing democracy if we're not careful. We are indeed being manipulated, make no mistake. The overwhelming majority in this country is deeply at odds with the direction we're headed, and we're being lulled to sleep by propaganda and American Idol. You, you conservative Evangelic Christian. You, you Wall Street Administrative Assistant. You, you soldier headed out for your third tour in Iraq. You are being toyed with and played for just a pathetic sucker. You have to fight!

What can you say in a little blog? After all that I've learned, what can I tell you? That politicians are corrupt, corporations are greedy, and nobody gives a damn about the little guy? Well, hot dang, you could have told me that! You don't need me! There's no room for the details here. I can't take you through it with me. But I can tell you that the devil really does reside in those details, and He's (did I really just capitalize that?) just as strong as ever. The playing field has always been tilted toward the elite and privileged, that isn't news. What's news is that it's gotten a lot more serious, and things are moving quickly now. Specific measures have been, and are being, undertaken that profoundly erode our freedoms. It's a pattern with historical parallels, and you know what they say about those who don't learn from history. It's just that we here in America can't afford to fall victim to that vicious cycle, not here, not now. The stakes are much too high, for us, and for the world.

LISTEN!

The United States of America is largely controlled by corporations. That's upside down. Now, I don't hate corporations. I really, truly, love Microsoft, for all its flaws. But how many times can we be told that power corrupts before we actually believe it? The Ring of Power corrupts all who wear it, and it's a burden that must be fully shared, if we're to go forward. I am here to tell you that a struggle is beginning now that has all the earmarks of being more terrible than we could ever imagine, far, far worse than World War II. I am here to tell you just how bad it really is.

We live in a perfect storm of global crisis, of which we're dimly, barely aware. We're literally melting the polar ice caps off our planet because we're madly uncontrolled, in a world whose religion has become the Bottom Line. We've already become immersed in this climate of fear, and by my speaking out in this manner, I think I may actually risk imprisonment and torture. It's happened already, and it will happen again. You and I, the vast majority, from all walks of life and all points of view, are, unbeknown to our everyday selves, already hostage, and smack dab in the middle of the fight of our unassuming lives.

With our dwindling resources, our overheating globe, our rapidly (thank God!) awakening public, and the growing impatience of the really nasty ones to get their power base sewn up once and for all, the battle lines are being more clearly drawn. I'm not sure which factor will finally push us off the edge, but the cliff is near, and I can see it, and you will, too. The lobster in the pot doesn't know he's being boiled, but I strongly suspect there's at least one moment of bright awareness. Do you have a boiling point? You are, I guarantee you, about to find out.

Take a breath, now. Calm down. I'm here. It's all right. We're going to get through this. I have a little blog I write occasionally over on Barack Obama's web site, and on my Profile Page I paid homage to Yoda for my favorite quote:

"Fear is the path to the dark side: fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering."
-- Yoda (Star Wars: Episode I)

I'm a little angry now myself, a little afraid, but I'll get over it. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." (Who said that?) I don't believe we're all evil. I believe there are billions of people in the world who just want to do the right thing. I am saying that we're not the ones in control now, and that the ones who are, are the same ones who've been there all through recorded time. They don't like you and me much. We were very foolish to trust them. Stop listening to their commercials, their mindless entertainment, and remember how truly dignified and noble you really are.

We're not powerless, not yet, anyway. The incredible thing about the United States of America is that its underlying structure is still based on the noblest ideals. That's the really dangerous thing about democracy with regard to the rich and powerful; there's always the chance the people themselves could win!

(Upcoming: On Monday, October 15th, I'll publish a blog in honor of Blog Action Day, when over 12,000 bloggers on blogger.com will all write a piece on the environment for an audience of millions. I suspect I'll write about Al Gore's Nobel award, and related issues. Then on Thursday, October 18th, stay tuned for my Sixtieth Birthday blog, and see what I write while in a drunken, self-pitying stupor.)