In Pursuit of Serendipity » Politics

The New Immigrants: Why U.S./Mexico Tensions Are How They Are

Oscar — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 06:25:04 +0000

The United States of America and Mexico have never had the most cordial of friendships. Mexico entered political turmoil after achieving its independence from Spain in 1821; unfortunately, political corruption still plagues the country today. It is estimated that there are 111 million Mexicans in a land area of over 760,000 sq. miles. This places Mexico as the 11th most populous country and the 14th largest by total area in the world, respectively. The United States, on the other hand, declared its independence on July 4, 1776 from the British Empire and was recognized as independent in 1783. Its remarkable Constitution led to a stable government, which the former British colonies and new American States all ratified in 1788 and amended with the Bill of Rights in 1791. Currently, there is an estimated 309 million Americans in about 3.8 million sq. miles, the 3rd largest by both population and land area, with only Russia and China being larger. Maintaining unity at the end of the US Civil War, securing the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon, and winning the Mexican-American War in 1848 and the Spanish-American War in 1898– all helped make the United States one of the strongest countries in the world and defined its present day boundaries. After World War II and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union, America eventually became the sole super power in the world.

The reason Mexico and the USA aren’t warm friends goes a long way back. In 1821, the American, Stephen F. Austin, carried his father’s vision of buying 307 parcels of land in Texas, a province belonging to Mexico after attaining their Spanish independence, and bringing 300 colonists to the area. The settlers had to eventually become Mexican Citizens and upon receiving their land titles became known as the Old Three Hundred, the first approved Anglo-American immigrants in Texas, along the Brazos River. Mexican law required the new immigrants to be Catholic and prohibited the possession of slaves, but the settlers didn’t pay much attention to that, since they were settling where no Spanish or Mexican settlements existed; consequently, most were Protestant and about 25% of them brought slaves with them. This would eventually become a problem with Mexico, as more and more Anglos continued to settle in Mexican land, as illegal immigrants. By 1834, Texas had a population of approximately 37,800 with only about 7,800 of Mexican origin. With this in mind, the Anglo immigrants started to think of independent statehood. This ties in beautifully with something Sun Tzu describes in his treatise, The Art of War, which I completely agree with:

Mo Tun of the Hsiung Nu established his power near the end of the Ch’in dynasty. His neighbors, the Eastern Hu were mightier and constantly sent ambassadors, making demands. “They said: ‘We wish to obtain T’ou Ma’s thousand-li horse.’ Mo Tun consulted his advisors, who all exclaimed: ‘The thousand-li horse! The most precious thing in this country! Do not give them that!’ Mo Tun replied: ‘Why begrudge a horse to a neighbour?’ So he sent the horse. Shortly after, the Eastern Hu sent envoys who said: ‘We wish one of the Khan’s princesses.’ Mo Tun asked advice of his ministers who all angrily said: ‘The Eastern Hu are unrighteous! Now they even ask for a princess! We implore you to attack them!’ Mo Tun said: ‘How can one begrudge his neighbour a young woman?’ So he gave the woman. A short time later, the Eastern Hu returned and said: ‘You have a thousand li of unused land which we want.’ Mo Tun consulted his advisers. Some said it would be reasonable to cede the land, others that it would not. Mo Tun was enraged and said: ‘Land is the foundation of the State. How could one give it away?’ All those who advised doing so were beheaded.” Mo Tun then sprang to his horse and made a surprise attack on the Eastern Hu, swiftly decimating them.

The point I’m trying to make is precisely that, the importance of land to a country. All those centuries ago, Chinese generals understood the importance of land to the State and General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna knew this. The white colonizers couldn’t just keep land that wasn’t theirs, simple as that. It is analogous to owning land, inviting people to live for a while and those same people wanting to keep your lands afterwards. Thus, Santa Anna marched from Mexico City to keep the Texas colonists in order. We all know the subsequent battle at The Alamo and the Texans’ victory at San Jacinto, which led to Texas independence in 1836. Mexico always planned to take it back, an effort hindered by the United States’ annexation of Texas into the Union on December 29, 1845. This led to further discontent between the two countries. The 19th century American belief of Manifest Destiny was crucial to the countries falling out with one another. Americans arrogantly believed that it was the United States’ “destiny” of expanding from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean by any means possible. This precipitated the Mexican-American War, a ruse to take land from Mexico. At the time, Mexico was weak and America saw a juicy opportunity in 1846-48, under President Polk’s administration, declaring open war on its southern neighbor. Many Americans protested and disapproved of the war. One of my heroes, Henry David Thoreau was one of them. He refused to pay his poll tax, money used to fund the Mexican-American War and was imprisoned for it. Thoreau’s famous Civil Disobedience essay emerged from that experience:

“…The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for, in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure.”

Here, one can easily discern that Thoreau saw the Mexican War for what it was, a scheme by a small group of men to take land from Mexico. However, Thoreau rebukes his fellow countrymen for not being more honest and protesting the war and slave trade in a proper fashion. The war was a disaster for Mexico, as it lost approximately half its territory, in the end only receiving 15 million dollars and an external debt to America cleared. The United States, in turn, had total control of Texas, the Rio Grande River became the official U.S.-Mexico border, and it obtained the present-day states of Utah, Nevada, and California and parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Gold was almost immediately found in California afterwards, spurring the Gold Rush.

I don’t know about you, but the way I see it, Mexico has reason to be upset, wouldn’t you agree?

If we now shift focus to the present day, we can see the current problems between the two countries. Namely, drug trafficking and immigration. Let’s keep it with immigration. America is the melting pot of the world, everyone knows that. Immigrants, either illegally or legally, come here in search of prosperity, of the “American Dream”– a better life for each person and their family. That is nothing new. Mexico is a third-world country, which means people will migrate to the nearest country with the best economy, and that happens to be their northern neighbor, the USA. It isn’t rocket science that people will be prone to leave their country in search of a better way of life. America exports much pop culture to the rest of the world, making it all the more attractive. Today, most immigrants come from Mexico, Central and South America, and Asia. The largest flow of illegal immigrants, of course, comes from Mexico. Are they breaking the law? Yes. Are they harming the country? I do not think so, and I can debate anyone, any day of the week, on this issue. I think the common American is truly misinformed of what it means to be an “illegal” immigrant. This so, because they do not directly experience the day to day struggle these people go through. It’s easy to label someone a “wetback” and to use them as scapegoats for our dilemmas, but people air their opinions without once putting themselves in their shoes. People are so naive that they think, “people should come here legally”. Trust me, if people could, they would. It isn’t easy for the new waves of immigrants to get here and survive here. Millions upon millions of immigrants from all over Europe used to arrive at Ellis Island in New York, with a much easier pathway to citizenship than the one illegal immigrants face today.

What is an illegal immigrant, by the way? Is it the name of a second or third rate citizen? Is it someone below human level? More than anything, an illegal immigrant is someone who fights for a better life. Did not God endow us with a visa to the whole world, from the moment we are born? Are people to stop at man-made boundaries, because elite people say so? Modern illegal immigrants come to work, the grand majority anyways. There is always that small fraction that come to commit crimes, but we shouldn’t form a judgment by such a small group alone. Most do come to work, doing the jobs hardly anybody wants to do. People who do dry cleaning, house keeping, construction, restaurant servers, lawn people, and all types of handymen are often illegal immigrants, for example. It is a rare sight indeed to see an illegal immigrant of not only Mexico, but any country, to be asking for handouts at a traffic intersections–like many white and black American citizens do everyday. These immigrants come to work. They have the guts to leave home and country behind, facing uncertainty– all in search of a better life for themselves and their loved ones. They start from zero. Can you do that? Would you risk death by crossing the desert or swimming the Rio Grande if that was the means to prosperity? For it is necessity not pleasure that spurs people to leave their homeland. Think of it this way, if your family needs prescription medication but you cannot afford it, and there’s a pharmacy on your street corner, what would you do? Let your family die for not having the money to buy the medication or break into the pharmacy and take the medication? If you had no other choice, what would you do? I would break into the pharmacy. FYI, the pharmacy is the United States.

Not to offend anyone, but what type of illegal immigrant is worse? The illegal white immigrant who came to America and eradicated the Native American population and subjugated African slaves, or people that come here to make an honest living by doing the toughest, often most physical of jobs?

I know which one Thoreau would deem as worse. So, what is the big deal with providing a pathway to citizenship for 11 millions illegal immigrants and passing the DREAM Act, so illegal students can have financial aid for college and a way to get a job when they graduate? Let us not forget that by being an illegal immigrant, you are denied of many things that can best be summed up as crimes against humanity. Even after being in America for years, illegal immigrants cannot obtain a social security card, a driver license, a passport, financial aid from FAFSA, and many other things. People are prohibited from reaching their true potential and their dreams. What is the point of having a grade-A brain and not being able to find a job worthy of you capabilities? That is a shrewd waste of talent, if you ask me. Now, some people who are anti-immigrant would always point out that illegal immigrants create a strain in our economy. Namely, that such people abuse welfare and medical treatment, that billions of dollars go to waste, money that comes from American tax payers. While that is true, people fail to grasp the larger part of the picture. Illegal immigrants help the economy by paying 8 cents on every taxable dollar for goods and services. They eventually purchase houses and vehicles, thus, helping the economy move. Moreover, many illegal immigrants resort to using fake social security numbers, hence, they never get reimbursed on federal taxes, allowing Uncle Sam to keep billions of dollars every year. Most people don’t even know that, or just plain don’t accept it. One must also note that more and more Hispanic immigrants establish their own businesses, with revenue accumulating in the billions of dollars. Therefore, when people come my way arguing how illegals are ruining the country, I return them stupefied. And If you think I am just airing my opinions, think again.

From Wikipedia:

“According to James Smith, a senior economist at Santa Monica-based RAND Corporation and lead author of the study “The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration”, immigrants contribute as much as $10 billion to the American economy each year. Separate research by both George Borjas, Robert W. Scrivner Professor of Economics and Social Policy at Harvard University and Paul Samuelson, Nobel Prize-winning economist from MIT has shown that illegal immigration had a substantial effect on reducing the economic status of U.S. poor while benefiting middle class individuals and wealthier Americans.”

Immigrants, be them illegal or legal, are what makes our country strong. If America wants to curtail the flow of immigration, it should build a wall all along the border and add more border patrol and aerial surveillance as well… but to the people that have been living in the shadows for many years– those 11 millions immigrants– they should receive a pathway to permanent residency and citizenship… now. You simply cannot deport 11 million people. What’s more, people become Americans by being exposed to the American way of life. A paper shouldn’t dictate if you are an American or not, it is our values and morals that make us Americans in the end.

The way things are right now, with the current Arizona law passed by governor Jan Brewer (another reason I dislike conservative republicans), things are beginning to get ugly. If the federal government doesn’t do something soon, the problem will escalate. It is my hope that the Latino community rises up from its slumber and demands its due. There is a feeling of hatred bubbling up among people on opposite sides of the issue. The fact that U.S. Border Agents shot and killed a 15 year old boy in Ciudad Juarez for reportedly throwing rocks and the murder of a man, Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, who was applied taser 4 times and beaten on the head with a baton for resisting deportation, have no doubt exasperated the Hispanic community this month.

I, for one, know where I stand on the issue. Where do you stand?

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A Day in the Life of Joe Republican

Oscar — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:05:13 +0000

“A Day in the Life of Joe Republican”

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because a liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of coffee, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because a liberal fought to insure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer’s medical plan because liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance – now Joe gets it too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe’s bacon is safe to eat because a liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry. In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because a liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained. Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because a liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air. He walks to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because a liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe’s employer pays these standards because Joe’s employer doesn’t want his employees to call the union. If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he’ll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because a liberal didn’t think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune. Its noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe’s deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because a liberal wanted to protect Joe’s money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because a liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because a liberal fought for car safety standards. He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers’ Home Administration because bankers didn’t want to make rural loans. The house didn’t have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn’t belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because a liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn’t have to. Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn’t mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: “We don’t need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I’m a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have.”

And finally, a quote by Senator Ted Kennedy while speaking to the New York Liberal Party in Sept 1960:

“What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label ‘liberal’? If by ‘liberal’ they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer’s dollar, then…we are not that kind of ‘liberal.’ But if by a ‘liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people–their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties–someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a ‘liberal’ then I’m proud to say I’m a liberal.”

The above is something an acquaintance of mine, Caleb Cadis, wrote on a Facebook link. I give him all the credit. Also, this article is not our intellectual property. All rights belong to the original author.

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Henry David Thoreau

Oscar — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:46:38 +0000

When you immerse yourself in literature, you begin a journey that will lead you to the greatest writers that have walked the earth. Their degree of greatness will vary according to how much their work impacts you and, as such, I was awestruck by the works of Henry David Thoreau, one of my heroes. Born on July 12, 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts, Thoreau was and is one of the most important people you may not have heard of, but whose importance was paramount to us all. Educated at Harvard University, Thoreau refused to pay five dollars for his diploma and, nonetheless, embarked on a life in which he would become a writer, poet, abolitionist, philosopher, and transcendentalist. That last one is a mouth full; transcendentalism was a movement of protest against society and common culture with new intellectual ideas in religion, literature, and philosophy. It is said that Ralph Waldo Emerson, another of my heroes, started this movement and Thoreau and others joined later.

Walden and Civil Disobedience are Thoreau’s greatest works. I urge people to give them a shot, they are the works that influenced the people that you do know, like the great Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy, the practitioner of satyagraha, Mahatma Gandhi, and civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. In his essay, Civil Disobedience, Thoreau argues what many feel today: “I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government”-things that would eventually even lead him to prison on one occasion. In Walden, he is a naturalist and writes about personal independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual finding, and guide for self reliance. Thoreau lived by himself in a cabin and tested simple living, isolating himself from society to get a better understanding of it. The following are Thoreau quotes from both works I mention:

“Things do not change; we change.”

“Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.”

“Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.”

“Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”

“The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.”

“If misery loves company, misery has company enough.”

“If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.”

“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.”

Hope you enjoyed them.

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On Lou Dobbs

Oscar — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:05:18 +0000

A certain aspect of my personality that has been congratulated by some and chided by others is my ability to put people that are out of line in their place. I can be laid back and nice most of the time, but when I see someone getting out of line and making others feel bad, I step in and leave that person in ridicule. I can do it as an automatic reflex, sometimes without them even knowing that I put them down and with the need of a dictionary to know what I said. I have no inhibitions in telling someone that their mentality is severely flawed, and point where they are wrong. I could care less if the person is rich, poor, Ivy League educated, or even famous. It is something that I do not do often, as I can very patient most of the time. Besides, whenever I feel like criticizing someone, I remember that not all people have been given the advantages I have had. Nevertheless, I speak my mind to people that deserve it at times. I have a strong sense of justice. I fight for what my mind and heart tells me is right.

If you watch the news, I am sure you have inevitably seen Lou Dobbs, the anchor of Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN. He is an overly arrogant, biased, and stupid racist snake. Dobbs is a Texan, and was born in September 24, 1945. He received a bachelor’s in economics from Harvard University, whoopee fucking doo. The man lands a job as a news anchor in Phoenix and then Seattle. He was invited by Ted Turner’s people in 1979, when Ted (another idiot, a billionaire, but an idiot nonetheless) was in the process of forming CNN. Lou began his career with CNN in 1980 and held various important positions. However, he quit in 1999, due to conflict with then CNN President, Rick Kaplan. After Kaplan left, Lou was invited back to CNN by his BFF Ted Turner in 2001. He was given the helm of Loud Dobbs Moneyline which became Lou Dobbs Tonight. Aside from his evening show, he also works as a radio host.

Lou Dobbs is a person that was endowed with much power by CNN; he expresses his opinions very crudely. Now, everyone is entitled to their opinions, but nobody is entitled to play God and insult millions of people because of personal dislike. If he doesn’t like Hispanic immigrants, then that is a personal problem, don’t stereotype or insult the masses of Hispanic immigrants that come looking for the American Dream. America is a nation of immigrants, it doesn’t matter if you arrived 200 years ago or yesterday, it is the melting pot of the world. The reason America is great is because minds from all over the world come and live here. We have the best of every culture. Plus, I daresay had it not been due to European Jewish physicists that immigrated here, America would not have become the world’s most powerful country. Johnny Von Neumann, Edward Teller, Leó Szilárd, Stanislaw Ulam, Hans Bethe and others were all immigrants of Jewish descent that were key people at Los Alamos, during the Manhattan Project. Robert Oppenheimer and Richard Feynman were not immigrants but their Jewish parents were.

So, please, Mr. Dobbs, don’t be so harsh on immigrants. True, Hispanic immigrants are not building nuclear bombs, but most do come to better themselves and the country, just give them a chance. Don’t use them as the scapegoat for America’s problems. Leave the bitchy-ness to the Native Americans whom experienced your ancestors invading America and caused their subsequent eradication. I must, however, thank Lou Dobbs for doing something right. You see, he has an inbox on his website where you can leave comments about his show. His secretary helps him pick the best comments and he airs them at the end of his broadcast. I left one a little over a year ago. The following is what I left:

“Jesus Christ, Lou Dobbs. You are still alive? You are nothing but an insecure racist with friends in high places that enable you to keep your job plaguing immigrants on television. Hope you die soon. This coming from all the immigrants you hate.”

So, what do you know? He aired my comment! I must thank him in person. As my comment was chosen, I also received his book, War on the Middle Class, as a gift. Not that I have read it, of course. Lou doesn’t stop at bashing illegal immigrants; he even called former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice a cotton picker! The man is a racist, he is a racist that tries to cover up by saying an occasional good statement that he later employs as a defense for not being racist. I wish I could sit down with him one day, until then I have a message for Lou, and the message is “Screw You.” We do not need racism in this world. What do you think of Lou Dobbs?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y0W19-N3Ik

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEe18ECiQh4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU7bsefBAmQ

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Obama

Oscar — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:44:30 +0000

I laugh my ass off when people claim they know about politics. All they know, usually, is what their parents feel about politics, something similar to religion. That is why it is an endless topic that gets you nowhere. HBU has mostly conservative students and that is why most dislike Obama. They hate him for everything. That makes me laugh my hearty laugh. When Bush was in power, they were like kittens, all quiet…now a democrat and liberal has a turn at the helm and “oh, the horror.” Obama is a fusion of Hitler and the anti-Christ, the country is heading to disaster, we aren’t true Christians if we voted for him, and other dumb and unfounded remarks are thrown at the man. I thank God for giving me the wisdom to know not be like that, from suffering from this type of character flaw. In essence, not to be biased enough to not give Obama credit or a chance. McCain was no Reagan, people. Conservatives were playing against time, and time is up. Obama is President. Democrats already endured 8 years of Bush-shit. Now, the tables have turned. If you are still against him, go sulk in private I bid you. I am tired of hearing negative remarks on a man who hasn’t even started work. You can post videos or write Notes denigrating Obama, they are all futile now, and you can put the time invested in bashing him to good use, like studying and becoming better and acing every class if possible. Support your President people, he won fair and square. It is the will of the majority. Am I happy that Obama won? Yes. Am I crazy about Obama? No. He is just another President, not the end of the world. Look through my Facebook notes. How many Obama notes have I written? Not many, huh? Now, go to your conservative friends and see how much they have written about the elections and criticized Obama… lots and lots, wouldn’t you agree? Now, who clearly has the problem? Conservative Republicans do. It cannot be one way all the time, people. Life has its up and downs. I am not brainwashed at all, I am no Obama drone, do you think this politician could ever brainwash me? Never in a million years. I didn’t even vote for him. However, we must learn to respect and make way for the decision of the people. I may not be too crazy about Obama, but the man has my support, just like McCain would have had my support had he won. Even enemies can show respect. Join me, as I offer my support to my leader, for the well being of the United States of America, everyone’s country.

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Political Crap

Oscar — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:36:24 +0000

I am tired of all these chain emails and crap claiming Obama to be the anti-Christ, the Devil, the destroyer of worlds, the incarnation of evil, the Apocalypse, Hitler fused with Stalin, Osama Bin Laden, etc.. Get a life. It’s not the end of the world yet. People are quick to label someone “ignorant” when their views and beliefs don’t match with that person. You should not lose friendships due to a person’s choice of candidate. Also, people should not toss the word ignorant to someone if they don’t even KNOW you. That just displays THEIR ignorance. Personally, I hate both candidates, but Obama a little less. I am not the type that can be brainwashed by religion or a gifted speaker like the likes of him, but if the man got to this stage, then he is NOT ignorant. Bush WAS (and IS) ignorant, and the country is in deep crap because of HIM, not Obama. To all the conservatives, I am terribly sorry my friends. If anything, blame Bush for this. Had he done well, Obama would have never had a chance. If I have learned anything is that politics and religion are topics that lead nowhere. It is like arguing with a drunk, you can never beat them.

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Let’s Overthrow the Government

Oscar — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:19:49 +0000

Pay no attention to people who cannot teach you a thing or two. The Greek philosopher, Plato said that if the material cannot teach you, then it should be censored. In Proverbs, Solomon said to stay away from a foolish man; you will gain no knowledge from his speech. So please listen to me. As people living the American Empire, we allow the government to control us too much, something which I detest. Did not Henry David Thoreau warn us about this? Have not we all read Civil Disobedience or even Walden? I urge you to do so. We are all revolutionaries deep inside our hearts and being young, this character trait surfaces more and more, like the tip of an iceberg as Freud would say. There is a time when we all want to change the world. For many, the government holds them back. The government is a nasty thing. Every time I meet a politician in person, I feel the need to wash my hands. Now, I know there are some good politicians out there, but I just have not met them, maybe I would not feel the urge to wash my hands.

I do not wish you to misconstrue that I support anarchy, those witty scriptures in the Holy Bible are great stuff for keeping the common people quiet; for they are the templates for most of our capital laws. There is no Camelot, no perfect country with a perfect government. The people that “represent us” do not care for us. Most fall in love with their powerful positions, leather office furniture and cherry oak desks, throwing their weight around in no particular direction and being more worried about their stocks and their account balance at the end of the day. Obama, Clinton, and McCain: one of them is next to being a failed president because they are not philosophers. The people will never be content until philosophers become kings, or kings become philosophers. The closest we have come to one has been Marcus Aurelius, as we have seen in Meditations.

Today’s governments are neanderthalic in nature. Mind you, I have coined that word to mean inept like the caveman. Turn your TV channel to CNN and you would see the President walk the red carpet with another country’s President or Prime Minister. They are surrounded by uniformed soldiers and flowers, and wave hello and shake hands with some captain. Protocol. It’s all protocol. What would Solomon say? Vanity, vanity it is all vanity. You meet the Queen of England, good lord, you better know the procedures, and the modus operandi of how to act with these people, who eat and go to the restroom just like you do. There is a difference between respect and demanding special treatment. Today’s leaders of nations are not warrior-kings. Of course, I am aware that warfare is something humankind does not approve of in these modern times, and I myself loathe wars that should not be fought. World War II was a war that needed to be fought, all others, I must catch up with my history to make a decision if they were pointless or not. Wars cost too much and the people who die usually die in vain.

How many people have died because of the actions of George W. Bush? It is he who is foolish and should be censored. Young Americans and innocent Iraqis have endured blood and death because of someone who forcefully tried to impose democracy in a place where they are not ready for it. Saddam Hussein had to rule with an iron fist to keep his people under control, Iraq was a much better place with him in power. He was still a vile dictator, but the country was in a better shape than how it is now. Interests. Oil interests. Blood for oil. Is this the American way? I would say yes. Thoreau saw that the Mexican War was nothing more than an excuse to take land from Mexico, to expand from the Atlantic to Pacific, what is known as Manifest Destiny. Land was the interest then. It is nothing new. It has happened before, it is happening now and it will continue to happen in the future. We should overthrow the government. I predict a war with China. When you are No. 1 in the world, you want to be No. 1 as long as you can, it is human nature. The USA will do anything to retain its status as the most powerful nation in the world, but as history has shown, powerful nations have crumbled and others emerge to take their place. The clock is ticking.

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