- Jul 1, 2004
- 21,030
- 2
- 61
I was looking for something on youtube and came across this little 10 minute self-proclaimed "mini-documentary" and it touched something that has been on my mind for quite some time now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY96soe41BI
I believe there is a growing amount of Americans who have become fed up with how our government is functioning. Our policies, both domestic and foreign, socially and economically. There is just no doubt about it, people really want some changes in this country. While Ron Paul took a major loss in the race for the Republican nomination, the phenomenon revolving around his campaign was definitely something new and something quite amazing. Certainly Obama's message of change is drawing in many, many more people.
With the internet now being something extremely common, films and videos about the Federal Reserve, the war in Iraq, the September 11th attacks, and even many news segments, as well as conspiracy theory videos, are being shared and watched. Even PBS's "Frontline" segments about Dick Cheney are enough to scare the minority of people willing to watch and actually retain the message.
Many will argue that a lot of what people are seeing is biased, and some of it, just plain lies. I certainly won't disagree. But I wanted to create this thread because I believe that this is irrelevant.
The people who are fed up, angry, disenfranchised, and even scared, are in the minority. But they are real. And they certainly are diverse, not just in terms of political philosophy, but also in regards to their reasons. On one hand, you have a very small group of people who believe our government planned and carried out the Sept 11th attacks, or perhaps, "the Jews" did it. Those who believe Gore won the election of 2000. Those who believe the Bush administration lied to get 170,000 troops into Iraq. Those who believe FoxNews is a mouthpiece for Neo-conservatives. Those who believe that the Federal Reserve is nothing more than a group of economic gangsters. Those who believe we are ready to attack Iran. Those who believe Bush and Cheney will declare Martial Law and retain their offices after January 2009. Those who fear the Democrats will surrender to terrorists, those who think OBL works for the CIA.
It doesn't matter if what one believes is true or fabrication. It doesn't matter if the anger is justified. Because we have to deal with reality, and the reality is how people feel.
It seems insane to think that a bunch of Americans will react in violence, that people would bomb a government building, kill innocent people, go on a rampage. A domino effect resulting in chaos. Timothy McVeigh comes to mind, but that was a while ago, when people were running Windows 95 and had 56K modems. If they were lucky.
But what if tomorrow, something similar happens. Some guy writes up a suicide note filled with hatred towards our government, and drives a truck loaded with explosive material into some building. And what happens when just enough people think he was justified in what he did, and just enough of those people want to do something similar.
What happens when innocent people no longer become innocent people, at least in the eyes of others? What happens when people take on the "you are either with us, or against us" mentality? What happens when John McCain voters are not innocent because they are supporting someone who is ruining the country, or Clinton voters, or Obama voters are not innocent because they are voting for someone who will ruin the country? Again, it doesn't matter if it is true, or justified.
Honestly, I don't even want to imagine the consequences.
After the September 11th attacks, a lot of people in our government realized that we had pissed off a lot of people overseas. They call it "blow-back." And they have thought of ways to combat and deal with the situation. And while we sit at home and watch David Walker talk about the coming $53 trillion in entitlements, Naomi Wolf talk about "The End of America," and how Cheney and Rumsfeld fucked up the Iraqi invasion, I wonder if some of our government officials see what we see, and foresee the government having to deal with another group of people they have pissed off. A group of people who aren't overseas, aren't brown, but are angry, and seek vengeance and change through violent acts.
I think that unless we do make some drastic changes, the American Terrorist is inevitable. True, there have always been people in this country who were mad, upset, and angry. People who don't trust our government. But with new technologies, messages, whether they be truth or lies or mixed, are being spread faster and to more and more people. And the means of change through voting and representation seems to be failing, at least to those of concern. Those who wanted Ross Perot were disappointed. Those who wanted Ron Paul never even had a prayer. And even those who want Barack Obama are getting worried.
If it continues, eventually, something has to give. Great change usually comes by means of great violence. And those who want the change are inevitably those who bring the violence. I can only hope that when the time comes, God blesses America with a Mahatma Gandhi or a Martin Luther King Jr, that God blesses America with a side worthy of our standing by, and a tomorrow worthy of our hope.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY96soe41BI
I believe there is a growing amount of Americans who have become fed up with how our government is functioning. Our policies, both domestic and foreign, socially and economically. There is just no doubt about it, people really want some changes in this country. While Ron Paul took a major loss in the race for the Republican nomination, the phenomenon revolving around his campaign was definitely something new and something quite amazing. Certainly Obama's message of change is drawing in many, many more people.
With the internet now being something extremely common, films and videos about the Federal Reserve, the war in Iraq, the September 11th attacks, and even many news segments, as well as conspiracy theory videos, are being shared and watched. Even PBS's "Frontline" segments about Dick Cheney are enough to scare the minority of people willing to watch and actually retain the message.
Many will argue that a lot of what people are seeing is biased, and some of it, just plain lies. I certainly won't disagree. But I wanted to create this thread because I believe that this is irrelevant.
The people who are fed up, angry, disenfranchised, and even scared, are in the minority. But they are real. And they certainly are diverse, not just in terms of political philosophy, but also in regards to their reasons. On one hand, you have a very small group of people who believe our government planned and carried out the Sept 11th attacks, or perhaps, "the Jews" did it. Those who believe Gore won the election of 2000. Those who believe the Bush administration lied to get 170,000 troops into Iraq. Those who believe FoxNews is a mouthpiece for Neo-conservatives. Those who believe that the Federal Reserve is nothing more than a group of economic gangsters. Those who believe we are ready to attack Iran. Those who believe Bush and Cheney will declare Martial Law and retain their offices after January 2009. Those who fear the Democrats will surrender to terrorists, those who think OBL works for the CIA.
It doesn't matter if what one believes is true or fabrication. It doesn't matter if the anger is justified. Because we have to deal with reality, and the reality is how people feel.
It seems insane to think that a bunch of Americans will react in violence, that people would bomb a government building, kill innocent people, go on a rampage. A domino effect resulting in chaos. Timothy McVeigh comes to mind, but that was a while ago, when people were running Windows 95 and had 56K modems. If they were lucky.
But what if tomorrow, something similar happens. Some guy writes up a suicide note filled with hatred towards our government, and drives a truck loaded with explosive material into some building. And what happens when just enough people think he was justified in what he did, and just enough of those people want to do something similar.
What happens when innocent people no longer become innocent people, at least in the eyes of others? What happens when people take on the "you are either with us, or against us" mentality? What happens when John McCain voters are not innocent because they are supporting someone who is ruining the country, or Clinton voters, or Obama voters are not innocent because they are voting for someone who will ruin the country? Again, it doesn't matter if it is true, or justified.
Honestly, I don't even want to imagine the consequences.
After the September 11th attacks, a lot of people in our government realized that we had pissed off a lot of people overseas. They call it "blow-back." And they have thought of ways to combat and deal with the situation. And while we sit at home and watch David Walker talk about the coming $53 trillion in entitlements, Naomi Wolf talk about "The End of America," and how Cheney and Rumsfeld fucked up the Iraqi invasion, I wonder if some of our government officials see what we see, and foresee the government having to deal with another group of people they have pissed off. A group of people who aren't overseas, aren't brown, but are angry, and seek vengeance and change through violent acts.
I think that unless we do make some drastic changes, the American Terrorist is inevitable. True, there have always been people in this country who were mad, upset, and angry. People who don't trust our government. But with new technologies, messages, whether they be truth or lies or mixed, are being spread faster and to more and more people. And the means of change through voting and representation seems to be failing, at least to those of concern. Those who wanted Ross Perot were disappointed. Those who wanted Ron Paul never even had a prayer. And even those who want Barack Obama are getting worried.
If it continues, eventually, something has to give. Great change usually comes by means of great violence. And those who want the change are inevitably those who bring the violence. I can only hope that when the time comes, God blesses America with a Mahatma Gandhi or a Martin Luther King Jr, that God blesses America with a side worthy of our standing by, and a tomorrow worthy of our hope.