Teabagging the Face of Reason

I have a love/hate relationship with the media coverage of these unduly-glorified gatherings of a misinformed fringe. On one hand, I am always amused when people become enraged over distorted truths and falsehoods. On the other hand, it is very disconcerting to see so many people fall victim to such a fate. What is funny in small amounts becomes depressing in heaping portions.

Stalwart disciples of Fox News and haters of factual reality, these middle-aged, undereducated white mobs have been gathering with increasing frequency since the inauguration of our nation's first black president. (If you're wondering why I specifically mentioned the fact that President Barack Obama is black, it is because I believe racism to be an underlying factor in these gatherings, but that is a topic for another post). They have formed almost-pornographically-titled subgroups such as "teabaggers," who think President Obama is the reincarnation of George III or something, and "birthers," who think President Obama is a Kenyan-born sleeper-agent who cannot legally be president. They come from far and wide to celebrate their collective ignorance and shout buzzwords that they cannot define. And on Saturday, September 12th, 2009, they descended on the capital.

The motive for this particular event was the brainchild of Fox News commentator and yellow journalist Glenn "Get Off My Phone" Beck, in something he calls his 9/12 Project. The stated goal of the 9/12 Project is to "embody the spirit of the American people on the day after the September 11 attacks." That is strange, because the day after 9/11/01, I do not remember angry mobs falsely accusing the president of planning to kill the elderly in death camps, and I certainly do not recall primetime manchildren exploiting peoples' ignorance for ratings and personal profit. Nevertheless, roughly 65,000 people showed up to this event. I have never seen this many misguided people in one place. As the old saying goes: "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."

So what kind of patriotic patriotism do these patriots patriotically patronize? Why, they have an iron-fisted message for our president, of course! Here is a list, courtesy of reddit, of names that event speakers assigned to President Obama:

* Adolf Hitler
* Osama bin Laden
* Saddam Hussein
* Joseph Stalin
* King George III
* Satan
* The Anti-Christ
* Socialist
* Communist
* Marxist
* Fascist
* Nazi
* Tyrant
* Traitor
* Thief
* Liar
* Racist
* Puppet
* Scam Artist
* False Messiah
* Pirate
* Eugenicist
* Administration controlling MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN (aka everything not Fox News)
* Un-American
* Kenyan
* Russian
* Muslim
* Jew
* Terrorist

It reads like Satan's grocery list. Well, it would if "Satan" himself wasn't on the list. And hey, they called someone they disagree with "Hitler," how original! I also enjoy mix-matching the names to create oxymorons; it's like a game that I despise but I play it anyway because I hate myself: 1- Fascist Communist, 2-False Messiah Muslim Jew, 3-Hitler Stalin. You get the point. (Admittedly, though, "Tyrant Pirate" is an awesome name for a comic book supervillain). I would be surprised if any of these speakers could actually define any of the -isms on that list.

With the rampant use of "We the People" on their signs, it is apparent that these teabaggers genuinely do not remember that "We the People" eschewed the managerial incompetence of the Bush Era and elected Barack Obama president with an 8.5 million majority. A movement of 200,000 (roughly) people hardly rivals that. (After some thought, I think there is a possibility that these people think the votes of minorities still count as only 3/5ths of a vote?).

Yes, there are problems in this country. Yes, Congress is not perfect. Yes, these issues need to be addressed. But gathering in large groups at the beck and call of self-serving political ideologues to shout angrily about unsubstantiated rumors is not the solution to our problems. Most of the things these people are upset and fearful about are nothing more than lies. (I could go into the fact that these lies are spread by corporations aiming to protect their disgustingly huge profits, but again, that's for another blog post). Instead of becoming angry over this tragic display of maladroit vindication for flawed arguments, just do what I do, and hope that one day, intelligent, thoughtful, and courteous debate on important issues will one day make the transition from wishful fantasy to wonderful reality.

-Jesse

In Case You Missed It 7/6

Pictured above: Crowds protest in Niamey, Niger against President Tandja Mamadou's attempts to stay in power for a third term.

Chinese military continues to kill protesters, Uighurs, and the competitive lead-based toy market.

The Iranian government only has one British embassy worker left in custody, British people don't want him back if he is a member of the Labour party.


Zimbabwe still has no money, President Mugabe reportedly using gold reserves to fund his "PM Tsvangirai is a Big, Smelly Liar and I Hate Him" campaign.

-Jesse

Something Called Walling

Jon Stewart takes a look at the media reaction to the recently released Bush-era memos that authorized torture. "No one is upset about the fact that America tortures, they're just upset that they now know about it."

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
We Don't Torture
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Guantanamobama

The title of this post is a compound word combining the terms "Guantanamo" for U.S. torture/detention facility Guantanamo Bay, and "Obama," our nation's newly inaugurated 44th president. The word represents a great event involving those two terms, as well as my penchant for creating new, terrible words that make people cringe when I bring them up at the cocktail parties I am never invited to.

On his first day of office, Barack Obama is fully expected to order Guantanamo Bay to be closed, just as he promised. It will be gone within a year. Of course, a complete lack of unlawful detention and torture means I have one less thing to worry about. The time that I would have spent worrying can now be spent infiltrating exclusive cocktail parties and mingling with guests, using the opportunities to test my terrible new words, "presidentist" and "fataliteatime."

P.S. Congratulations, President Obama!

Israel Abusing a Defenseless Child, Using Explosives

Despite what America's Everyman and incessant lump, Joe the Plumber, says about war journalism, everyone with a working brain believes that receiving news of ongoing conflicts is a necessary part of holding people responsible for war crimes. In the case of the Israel-Gaza conflict that has been occurring for the past three weeks, Israel is in fact responsible for such war crimes, namely killing innocent civilians.

The excuse is, "Hey, these Hamas characters were launching poorly constructed 'rockets' into Israeli territory for awhile, and it was so annoying that we decided to shell schools, markets, and mosques and rack up civilian casualties to show them who is boss. (Hint: the 'boss' we speak of is not Fatah)." I am, of course, paraphrasing. As with most conflicts, innocent bystanders are the ones who pay the highest price. There are more civilian casualties from the Israeli offensive than IDF and Hamas casualties combined.


As of January 17th, there is a ceasefire agreement to this conflict. But I doubt that this is the end. Unsurprisingly, the majority of Israelis support the actions of the IDF, and the majority of Gazans oppose them. The difference is that most of the Gazans who were killed had nothing to do with Hamas, on account of the fact that they were ordinary people and not armed militants. The worst part about it all is that because of its status as one of the world's strong military powers, any UN inquiry into the IDF's actions will fall flat, and no one will be held responsible for the innocent lives that have been taken. Good job, Israel. At least Joe the Plumber still likes you.

Invisible Children @ Southeastern

Southeastern's Amnesty International Student Group will be hosting Invisible Children's Gulf Coast Roadie Crew on March the 18th. IC's Roadie Crew will be showing IC's newest film, "GO". Showings are at 5:00pm and 7:00pm in the Pottle Music Recital Hall. The event is free to the public.

Check out http://store.invisiblechildren.com/films/go-documentary.html for more information.

Support Human Rights in Israel

This story has really touched me. Just when I thought the Israeli government couldn't surprise me any more, it turns out they're locking up teenagers who refuse to serve in the military and participate in the oppression of the Palestenian people. Some of these kids are only 17 years old, and yet they are taking a stand and serving jail time in a show of solidarity with the Palestenians. They are demonstrating that they believe in a world of peace and cooperation, and are willing to make the necessary sacrifices. I shudder to think of myself, or the people I know, in their shoes. It is an outrage.

I encourage you to sign the letter calling for their release to be delivered to the Israeli Minister of Defense.


PEACE and LOVE,

Gregory

Gender and Social Change Organizations

Social change agents,

Women's participation in social change organizations is a topic that has been at the forefront of my mind for quite a while. I started thinking about this when I read Allan Johnson's The Gender Knot along with the Combahee River Collective Statement for the sociology of gender class in the spring semester. Since then, I have also read materials by bell hooks and other feminist writers who have dealt with this topic.

It's a difficult history to tackle, but in a nutshell, these writers maintain that social change movements in the past have been plagued by antagonisms over gender, and this continues to be the case today. The Combahee River Collective Statement is one of the best summaries of the problem that I have seen; I recommend that anyone with the time, or the determination to make the time, should read it.

It is clear that movements as diverse as the communist, anti-war and civil rights movements have all been dominated by men, leaving women to play marginal roles. This is not accidental, nor is it surprising. The patriarchal mindset and values of the dominant culture infect social movements and hamper their development, keeping them from realizing the deeper possibilities of liberation and perpetuating oppression. Just because we are thinking consciously about social change does not mean that we are entirely free from the dominant culture. There is no such thing as an absolutely clean break with the past, except over the long-haul.

Unfortunately, it seems to me that the gender contradiction also exists within the Southeastern Sociological Association. It is true that our advisor is a woman, and she has a great deal of influence, but it also appears that often, the male personalities in the group overshadow those of the female members. In discussions, especially, this seems to be the case. I would be interested to know whether others have noticed this as well.

If this really is going on, I do not think that it is anyone's "fault" or that we are bad people. The fact is, we have been socialized in a society that encourages men to assume leadership roles and tells women that they should just go along for the ride. These kinds of dynamics inevitably play themselves out in organizations, including organizations dedicated to social change. To overcome these problems we must make a conscious effort. The men must train themselves to be more cooperative and better listeners, and the women must become more assertive and prepared to be active leaders in revolutionary struggle.

Mao Zedong* argued that all things are characterized by contradictions (including organizations), but that contradictions can be either antagonistic or non-antagonistic. The type of contradiction determines the appropriate course of struggle. As of now, I feel that the gender contradictions in the SSA are not antagonistic, but if they are not addressed thoroughly, they may erupt into open antagonism at some point in the future. To keep that from happening, we must continually engage in criticism and self-criticism. I believe that this will make us much stronger, as there can be no real unity so long as there are power differences among us.

I encourage everyone, regardless of gender, to ponder what I have said here. And if you agree even a little bit, try to think of ways that we can work on creating gender equality amongst ourselves and in the larger society. This is one of the great revolutionary tasks at hand.


In solidarity,

Gregory



*By drawing upon Mao's ideas, I do not necessarily endorse everything he did during his long career as a guerilla leader and then as the political leader of the People's Republic of China.

uNsure. Untitled. Unedited.

I am new to blogging, due to my interest in diving head first into anything new, informative, and potentially fun I am just going to do what I know best. I am hopelessly romantic in that I believe that one can and should express him or herself through the only truth: ART! Andy Warhol says that art is anything we can get away with and I feel like the only way to get past the facade that we all deal with daily, the roles we must play to be apart yet stand apart, there must be an outlet. There must be a window to open and scream out of; without fear of repression, reactions, or repercussions.

I beleive this world is too filled with individuals, who dont recognize their responsibility in the global community. If we would all care a little more about one another we could worry a little less about ourselves.

Thoughts on the Clothing Drive

As you can see, the last item posted to this blog is the information concerning our ongoing clothing drive. I am emphatically behind this and similar efforts to help our fellow human beings, but I also hope that we are engaging in more than simple charity.

Charity and humanitarianism are two approaches to meeting human needs that have increased in recent years. So much so, in fact, that some economists now talk of a "non-profit" sector which operates alongside the public and private sectors of the global economy. And with the deterioration of social safety nets in many countries around the world (as well as the continued plight of countries that have never had real safety nets to speak of) it is no wonder that many of us are responding in this way. In the here and now, people are dying or barely subsisting, and we must do something. There is no question about that.

But I also hope that, as we engage in these efforts, we raise our consciousness to a level from which we are able to ask truly radical questions. In the case of our winter clothing drive, for instance, I am confronted with the question: "Why is it that I and other people with my class, national and 'racial' background have so many clothes that we can afford to give them away, and other people can't even keep warm through the winter months?" The question, "Should I help the poor?" can easily be brushed aside. I either give something or I don't. Either way, somehow, I can continue in my life more or less unchanged. But the question of why many people are poor in the first place cannot be brushed aside so easily. If we truly seek to answer this uncomfortable question, our little worlds will be destroyed, and we will find ourselves having to make a decision. Do we accept the status quo, or do we seek revolutionary change?

As we help the farming families in Mississippi, we should reflect on the myriad ways that we are connected to all workers around the world. Our society encourages us to think of ourselves as disconnected, independent individuals. This could not be further from the truth. Now more than ever we are connected to other human beings, but the relations that connect us are alienating and create the illusion of disconnection.

Just considering the computer I'm working on right now, I am amazed by the sheer number of people whose labor went into this machine. Who manufactured the parts? Did children assemble it in a sweatshop? How many little hands did it take? How many people were involved in getting it to this country? What's the story behind the retail workers who sold it to Southeastern Louisiana University?

The truth is that I don't know the answers to any of these questions. I don't know any of these people. And yet I am deeply connected to all of them. We are interdependent and part of one global, capitalist economy. I may not know their names, but these countless workers make my life possible, just as I, in some way, impact theirs. We are not separate. Only ideology makes us believe such nonsense.

So when I send my jacket to those farming families in Mississippi, I do it with the knowledge that I was connected with them long before I looked through my closet and decided to give. This is the knowledge of our real, material relations. This is the knowledge that must be backed up by love if we are to use it to remake the world.

We must not just engage in charity. We must create solidarity.

Workers of the world, unite!