I wrote this letter to Obama in Sept of 2007. There are, looking back, some grammatical imperfections, but I have not touched a word of it. I do not have a Mensa IQ nor am I a prophetess, but looking back on it, I was stunned by, not the grammatical errors, but the significance and left with the impression that, if I realized that???? I am reposting this, because of what the letter represents looking back at the last 8 months of economic events. I am posting it again, while posing this questions. How much do we want to be lulled to sleep? How much do we want to turn honest requests for discourse into a realm of aggression by calling it confrontational? How much do we want to rewrite history, so that he word liberal is aligned with communist and not open to thought? How much do we want to be in denial about what we have created and what needs to take place inside us to have the phoenix rise from the ashes? I was sitting in a coffee shop the other day. I heard a conversation where someone was saying that when history looks back on this time, it will be looked back on as a time when there was in the U.S., what is considered in other countries to be, an internal military takeover. Another day, I heard a conversation that he only reason there were not more protests was because they did not reinstate the draft. So my question is not about liberalism, pro choice (because as long as there is war there is none) or about what religion you are or if you are saved or not or what color your skin is or isn't. My question is about something else, so be waiting for my next post.
LETTER I WROTE
(I have not wanted this site to become political, since that was not my intention for it. But, I received an email from Obama asking for his support in pulling out of Iraq and my thoughts. This is what I wrote. I have been interrupted by phone calls all morning and have to get to work now, so please excuse the grammar errors, etc.)
I have so lost faith in this country from what has happened in Iraq, and I am so concerned that we will start bombing Iran, which I believe would have horrific consequences.
Furthermore, there are places online where you can go and see the list of all the changes that have been made in the name of protecting our country which take away our freedom and the freedom of people who are being arrested and being brought to trial amongst a long list of other things. It is appalling.
I do not know how we can have some of those laws and executive orders removed now that they are in place, and even pulling out of Iraq, I have no idea how those people will ever forgive us for what we have done.
Furthermore, as far as I am concerned, what caused 9/11 is the fact that this country seems to think it can pull the strings of other nations of the world with no consequence. 9/11 was such a shock, because we thought of ourselves as invulnerable, since our soil was never really attacked. Yes, I know there was Pearl Harbor, but that was a bit of a different type of occurrence in most people's minds.
People all over the world never felt that kind of invulnerability...They all know war on their soil. People will only bite the bullet for so long, and then what do you expect? On our soil, only the American Indians know what others know all over the world--many of whom believe that one day the land will be returned to them and where we are going, it could happen in a sense.
Right now our own infrastructure is badly damaged--35W collapsing in MN is just one example, our schools have deteriorated in education quality, there isn't enough work (and you can not even see decent unemployment figures, because you only see the figures for those still collecting unemployment insurance which is totally inaccurate), bankruptcy is up 60% in the state of MN (and I am sure it is ample in other states as well) and instead of creating more jobs for people in the United States and paying decent wages, we now have sweat shops all over the world doing our work,(And, didn't we do away with sweat shops in this country) and how much money do we owe China!
People are always so worried about taxes. If it were me, I would have a long long time ago thrown huge taxes on every manufacturer that created their products by cheap labor overseas, including those that now are having customer service and tech support overseas. I would then take that money and raise back up the education level in this country, and give jobs to all those people who could have had those jobs that went overseas, so that they can send their children to decent colleges where they can get a good education.
And, I am so sorry, if that will bring some of the CEOs off the golf course, and they will have to buy smaller boats, houses and not get their new Mercedes. But, of course, then you would have a middle class, and no one seems to want that these days. We prefer, instead of the affluent beautiful people, the affluent, holy and rich.
I happen to be someone who lived overseas teaching English for ten years (in Asia). This country, unfortunately has such a narrow, flat and immediate prospective that, we have no recognition of what people think of us overseas, so we can be told anything, and, if it makes us feel momentarily secure we buy it.
Business in the US right now is the same. The change from 1985, when I went overseas to '95 when I came back and to now is mind boggling to me. Please the stock holders, create quick profits, only support those who fill our needs, don't encourage questioning and discourse and dialogue, make as much money as possible, then sell out.
What I remember of the liberal seventies and eighties was: creating opportunity for all, people learning to communicate and express what they felt and thought, more bottom up discussion in companies, loyalty to employers and employees and people who wanted to afford having active and creative lives respecting other's dignity.
Were those bad goals? I don't think so, but the word liberal (which I really do not consider myself) has become a dirty word, while the world America has become a dirty word in most of the world, and we seem to have created the yellow peril that was the fear in the minds of how many people. After all how much money do we owe the Chinese now, and how much of anything is any longer made in the U.S. Isn't that the real problem?
Now what would happen if all that business was brought back to the U.S.....Wouldn't this be a more prosperous place? Instead, we have the oil and medical industries getting a tighter and tighter grip on us, more expensive fuel, and less and less Americans with health insurance (because the latest thing is to hire 3/4 time so that you don't have to give benefits), plus government trying to control the people's rights alternative medicine, and Monsanto buying up even organic seed, so that all our food from seed up will be treated with pesticides. Have you ever looked at, the rise in obesity in this country, and diseases that no one talked about before and no one knows what the answer is.
This is a mess from beginning to end. It is no wonder that you have so much of the population on anti-depressants (which I am not) or some kind of medication for panic disorders or drugs (which there seems to be more of percentage wise then in the 60's).
Pulling out of Iraq is only a small first step for which it would take tremendous effort on our part to turn around how we are perceived by the rest of the world and how we treat each other.
LETTER I WROTE
(I have not wanted this site to become political, since that was not my intention for it. But, I received an email from Obama asking for his support in pulling out of Iraq and my thoughts. This is what I wrote. I have been interrupted by phone calls all morning and have to get to work now, so please excuse the grammar errors, etc.)
I have so lost faith in this country from what has happened in Iraq, and I am so concerned that we will start bombing Iran, which I believe would have horrific consequences.
Furthermore, there are places online where you can go and see the list of all the changes that have been made in the name of protecting our country which take away our freedom and the freedom of people who are being arrested and being brought to trial amongst a long list of other things. It is appalling.
I do not know how we can have some of those laws and executive orders removed now that they are in place, and even pulling out of Iraq, I have no idea how those people will ever forgive us for what we have done.
Furthermore, as far as I am concerned, what caused 9/11 is the fact that this country seems to think it can pull the strings of other nations of the world with no consequence. 9/11 was such a shock, because we thought of ourselves as invulnerable, since our soil was never really attacked. Yes, I know there was Pearl Harbor, but that was a bit of a different type of occurrence in most people's minds.
People all over the world never felt that kind of invulnerability...They all know war on their soil. People will only bite the bullet for so long, and then what do you expect? On our soil, only the American Indians know what others know all over the world--many of whom believe that one day the land will be returned to them and where we are going, it could happen in a sense.
Right now our own infrastructure is badly damaged--35W collapsing in MN is just one example, our schools have deteriorated in education quality, there isn't enough work (and you can not even see decent unemployment figures, because you only see the figures for those still collecting unemployment insurance which is totally inaccurate), bankruptcy is up 60% in the state of MN (and I am sure it is ample in other states as well) and instead of creating more jobs for people in the United States and paying decent wages, we now have sweat shops all over the world doing our work,(And, didn't we do away with sweat shops in this country) and how much money do we owe China!
People are always so worried about taxes. If it were me, I would have a long long time ago thrown huge taxes on every manufacturer that created their products by cheap labor overseas, including those that now are having customer service and tech support overseas. I would then take that money and raise back up the education level in this country, and give jobs to all those people who could have had those jobs that went overseas, so that they can send their children to decent colleges where they can get a good education.
And, I am so sorry, if that will bring some of the CEOs off the golf course, and they will have to buy smaller boats, houses and not get their new Mercedes. But, of course, then you would have a middle class, and no one seems to want that these days. We prefer, instead of the affluent beautiful people, the affluent, holy and rich.
I happen to be someone who lived overseas teaching English for ten years (in Asia). This country, unfortunately has such a narrow, flat and immediate prospective that, we have no recognition of what people think of us overseas, so we can be told anything, and, if it makes us feel momentarily secure we buy it.
Business in the US right now is the same. The change from 1985, when I went overseas to '95 when I came back and to now is mind boggling to me. Please the stock holders, create quick profits, only support those who fill our needs, don't encourage questioning and discourse and dialogue, make as much money as possible, then sell out.
What I remember of the liberal seventies and eighties was: creating opportunity for all, people learning to communicate and express what they felt and thought, more bottom up discussion in companies, loyalty to employers and employees and people who wanted to afford having active and creative lives respecting other's dignity.
Were those bad goals? I don't think so, but the word liberal (which I really do not consider myself) has become a dirty word, while the world America has become a dirty word in most of the world, and we seem to have created the yellow peril that was the fear in the minds of how many people. After all how much money do we owe the Chinese now, and how much of anything is any longer made in the U.S. Isn't that the real problem?
Now what would happen if all that business was brought back to the U.S.....Wouldn't this be a more prosperous place? Instead, we have the oil and medical industries getting a tighter and tighter grip on us, more expensive fuel, and less and less Americans with health insurance (because the latest thing is to hire 3/4 time so that you don't have to give benefits), plus government trying to control the people's rights alternative medicine, and Monsanto buying up even organic seed, so that all our food from seed up will be treated with pesticides. Have you ever looked at, the rise in obesity in this country, and diseases that no one talked about before and no one knows what the answer is.
This is a mess from beginning to end. It is no wonder that you have so much of the population on anti-depressants (which I am not) or some kind of medication for panic disorders or drugs (which there seems to be more of percentage wise then in the 60's).
Pulling out of Iraq is only a small first step for which it would take tremendous effort on our part to turn around how we are perceived by the rest of the world and how we treat each other.
Comments