v for vendetta.....or voting

republicans won't like what they are about to read.

neither will democrats.

my mom will probably disown me.

(a pause. a shrug of the shoulders.)

remember, remember, the fourth of november....

it's interesting to be in africa while all the normal election horseshit proceeds in the states. i had a few thoughts to share as a "humanitarian," whatever that means.

democracy. (look it up in the dictionary in case you forgot what that is supposed to be in these modern times).

people have been sending me various email forwards that show beyond a shadow of a doubt that obama is an inexperienced muslim extremist communist terrorist antichrist. they are trying to save me from voting wrongly and helping the world to self-destruct. kind of like what my high school math teacher told me about creating a black hole in the room when you divide by zero....

"pro-life" and "pro-choice." both are totally hypocritcal positions, in the typical everyday practice. many of you know i am staunchly against abortion. for this, i would probably be associated and immediately compartmentalized as a "republican." but to the horror and confusion of my mother and many others, i'm not.

it's hard to even use terminology in our society without others being instantaneously polarized. directions: insert one electrode into rectum and attach other to testicular area. apply voltage.....

what the hell, nothing i can do about your prejudices. maybe if you can put them aside for a minute you can try to appreciate my point.

i consider myself "pro-life," but in a much different sense.

for me, it is not "pro-life" to oppose abortion and yet rain bombs down on other innocent people around the world. living to excess with so much insatiable, greedy consumerism and prolific waste while countless millions have short, brutal, and miserable existences does not honor life either. nor is it pro-life to support (by your purchase and consumption) the inhumane treatment of factory-farmed animals and pesticide-doused crops (this is nearly everything available in a typical supermarket).

i am opposed to american intervention where it is not wanted, and especially when it interferes with a nation's sovereign right to self-govern. spreading the venereal diseases of coca-cola and walmart and mc donald's around the world won't liberate oppressed peoples. why does getting fat and buying cheap plastic shit define freedom for us? pro-life means we should respect other nations, not try to eliminate inconvenient differences by homogenizing the entire planet. for the same reasons, i am opposed to a woman's intervention on her autonomous baby, complete with it's own genetic code. it's not her life, it's someone else's she's fucking with. it's a separate nation.

i disagree with obama on this position, but i think overall he offers so much more of a contribution to peace; to life.


******


the other day was the anniversary of christopher columbus arriving, by westerly navigation, in india.

no, wait.

it is the anniversary of when america and it's native population discovered columbus, lost at sea.

yeah, that's it.

i think i was told differently in school, but maybe now, pre-election, is a prime time to re-examine some of our deeply-ingrained ethno-centric viewpoints. maybe the more important issues this november 4th relate to the u.s. realizing the impact we have in the world:

how we make up 5% of the world's population and use 40% of the world's energy. how our foreign policies have far reaching consequences for people around the planet. how we continue a $1 billion-a-week war in iraq in the name of cheaper crude oil. (i hear gas isn't too cheap, though.) what's our oil doing under their soil?

we need to end our system of government by the elite for the elite, and stop these politics of fear. why do we let them whip us into a frenzy with loaded phrases? terrorism. what would you call it if bombs rained down on your house?

the endless hot button issues of abortion and gay marriage are reserved as such: republicans never actually do anything with them when in power; they simply use them as rallying points to prolong the already-strange and recent marriage of the religious right to their party.

jesus isn't a republican.

maybe it's time to take the lead with foreign policy, and win back the respect and admiration of all the world. people still clamor to our shores; they admire the idea of america. the chance to improve your station in life. to make yourself. they just hate how our selfish policies don't consider anyone else (the other 95% of humanity.)

a nation of immigrants has become decidedly unchrist-like in welcoming poor people who are just trying to improve their lives. picking our fruit provides them with an immediate ten-fold increase in income, and yet we feel inherently superior because we were lucky enough to be born on the right side of a line on some map.

lev 19:33,34
"when an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. the alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. love him as yourself, for you were aliens in egypt. i am the lord your god."

why are there so few followers of christ among christians?

why is it so often that the largest, newest, most ostentatious suvs are the ones sporting patriotic and religious bumper stickers? would it be better instead to just follow the example of christ: in place of accumulating untold piles of useless crap, maybe we could care for the poor, the sick, the immigrants, the less fortunate?

a start could be the wisdom of mother teresa: witness always, speak when necessary.

i guess this philosophy of action spills over into my personal convictions and forms the basis for being a pacifist, a vegetarian, and a humanitarian.

we in america need to take the lead on issues like human rights and environmental policy; and reign in our unchecked reckless consumerism. for me there is only one candidate who will even attempt this.

in many places here in africa, the average annual income is $100. in the states, we bitch about taxes for social programs for people who need help. we don't, however, seem to think twice about spending millions for another fucking aircraft carrier.

i believe all life is autonomous and to be treated with respect; whether fat americans, starving congolese children, a puerto rican rainforest, or colorado cows chest-deep in their own shit in an industrial feedlot.

read these: an illustrated cartoon/book called addicted to war, by joel andreas. also, a web article: jesus is not a republican. http://chronicle.com/free/v52/i42/42b00601.htm


today, as i was walking down the road, i came across this kid, who told me he was playing music for peace. his home-made guitar was humbling.

do what you can with what you have. for me, that's not much. but i'm trying.