The Twilight Zone

Change in public consciousness starts with low-level discontent, at first vague, with no connection being made between the discontent and the policies of the government. And then the dots begin to connect, indignation increases, and people begin to speak out, organize, and act.

-- Howard Zinn,
A Power Governments
Cannot Suppress

I've added the final book (for now) to my new collection, and you can see from the quote above which book that might be. A Power Governments Cannot Suppress is a new collection of essays by that silver-tongued American critic Howard Zinn. I had wanted to buy it on Sunday, but Border's was out of stock, so I grabbed it today from Barnes & Noble. Although it's just out, it's in paperback, and a terrific bargain at $16.95. This isn't a book for hard-cover first editions; it's a book for the Revolution.

I've only read the first essay so far, so I've hardly earned the right to get on the internet and blog about it. First instincts are often fairly accurate, however, and I think this book holds a place of honor on my now-lengthy current reading list. If you're planning on reading along, here it is:

• Failed States, by Noam Chomsky -- Completed, as I noted several days ago
  
• Hegemony or Survival, by Noam Chomsky -- I hope to complete this book tomorrow
  
• A Power Governments Cannot Suppress, by Howard Zinn
  
• The Conscience of a Liberal, by Paul Krugman
  
• Cracking The Code, by Thom Hartmann
  
• I Am America (And So Can You!), by Stephen Colbert
  
• The Chomsky Reader, by Noam Chomsky
  
• Collapse, by Jared Diamond -- I started reading this when I broke off to read Chomsky, and I want to go back and finish as soon as I can

I suppose I could have provided links to all those books, but you've got the list, now go to the bookstore. And since we're doing book lists, let's do one more short one, so I can note some of the more helpful books I've read earlier:

• A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn -- I've already woven the themes of this book into several blogs. Just as Chomsky's books are essential to understanding American foreign policy from a humanist and global perspective, this is the essential book for understanding the historical context of economic and class struggle in America.
• A New History of the United States, by William Miller -- Or any other fairly standard version of American history. It's useful to read conventional American history side-by-side with Howard Zinn's version.
• The Assault On Reason, by Al Gore -- This is a courageous book if you haven't read it, and addresses today's problems in many important ways. That it was written by Al Gore makes it required reading. Sorry, if you're lukewarm about Al, but he's literally that important, regardless of how you may feel about him personally.
• Armed Madhouse, by Greg Palast -- Other books and information sources had shaken some of my media-induced preconceptions, but nothing early last spring had quite the impact of this book. It's still more than relevant, and Mr. Palast is both a skilled investigative reporter and an excellent writer.
• The Trap, by Daniel Brook -- This short book describes the social and economic quandaries of today's educated middle class as well as anything I've ever read. It's an eye-opener!
• Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond -- This is a revolutionary study of human history, full of insight and careful study of the factors of climate, availability of resources, and microbial influence on the shape of civilization from its beginnings up to today.

There are many other books, and I'm constantly reading books on many other topics -- Zen, of course, literature, poetry, quantum physics, computer programming, and a lot more. Yes, I did identify with Burgess Meredith watching that Twilight Zone episode when I was perhaps eleven. Even then, with all the directions my life would take, and all the interactions I would have, deep down I was Burgess Meredith, and I just wanted to have All The Time In The World.

I want to get back to my books now. But there's also so much to discover here on the internet, and once I'm here, it's hard to resist finding my handy blog and sharing a few of my thoughts about it all before moving on. And the Twilight Zone reference seems fitting on multiple levels to me right now. I almost feel like I'm in one of those episodes; I mean, I know I'm a little more isolated than usual right now, but that's not it. Today's America has literally taken on a surreal quality, don't you think? It's inconceivable to me we should actually be struggling with the issues we're having now, when from the most basic and uncomplicated moral perspective, the direction is clear.

For no particular reason, of all the blog sites out there, I'm going to point again to Huffington Post, and another blog by Ariana Huffington, this one called Midnight in America: The Mainstreaming of the GOP's Lunatic Fringe. Actually, there's practically another disconnect even between Ms. Huffington's post and the many comments that follow, because Ms. Huffington does not yet appear to have quite the full sense yet of the absurdity that is politics in today's America. She's close, and her blog is excellent, but there is despair in these comments, and it's primal. I'm not sure how many Americans identify with the George Bush and Dick Cheney we see today, but most of us, I'm sure, identify with the students who met with Bush a few weeks ago and presented him with a plea to disavow torture. I think all but the most hardened Border Watch vigilante does not want to think of herself as part of a system that does the things we're doing to people here and abroad. Worse yet, for all our protests, no one seems actually to be listening. Doo-doo-doo-doo!

There'll be occasion in blogs over the next few days to shift from books to specific events as they seem to shed light on where things might be headed. For now, things seem a bit like one of those slow-motion scenes of carnage, where bodies fly in Iraq, Afghanistan and now, Pakistan, while the President and Vice-President turn with yearning eyes to Persia. Scattered about are various atrocities, like in Guernica, little atrocities like lies, smears, dirty tricks, hypocrisy, cronyism, corruption, racism, and greed. And, as Ms. Huffington notes, this is the Mainstream.

Guernica, by Pablo Picasso

It doesn't seem too mysterious to me why this has occurred. Or, it does, but at least I do have some sense of motive. At the risk of belaboring the point, it's clear that the wealthy and powerful have manipulated the still-formidable number of weak-minded, malleable citizens in our midst, and have manipulated less weak-minded, but still malleable public citizenry with smaller fortunes of their own. Now, those very accommodating servants are performing a ritual for their masters, spinning up fear and hatred until we generate more war and more hatred, turn ourselves into a full police state, and metamorphose. Unless some of us can find another way.

If we adhere to minimum scientific standards by requiring evidence, I can find little reason for hope from today's Congress, or the mainstream media (henceforth referenced as the MSM -- us folks at Microsoft love TLA's). Both appear to be largely under control of corporations, and act according to corporational morality, which is by definition inhuman -- hence the Twilight Zone.

It's going to require more of my energies than I would like to have to expend in order to do my part to turn us away from further wars, and home from our current wars. As long as people are dying when they don't have to, I feel guilty for the moments I steal only for myself. I do need to do this reading, however. I need to know better how to fight. (Remember, for me, the word "fight" may not mean what it does to you. I have also read Mahatma Ghandi, and Martin Luther King, and Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.)

When I need to laugh, there's Colbert. When I need ammunition for economic disputes, there's Krugman. When I need to better understand our world, there's Chomsky and Diamond. When I need to know how to talk to these people, there's Hartmann. When I need to be inspired, there's Zinn.

I'll give you one more preview of Howard Zinn's first essay, then you can go buy the book yourself:

We live in a beautiful country. But people who have no respect for human life, freedom or justice have taken it over. It is now up to all of us to take it back.

-- Howard Zinn, A Power Governments Cannot Suppress