Views
Right Place, Right Time
Right Place, Right
Time
by Walter I. Zeichner
Here
are some of my responses to the election in the US on 11/2/04:
1: Exit poll accuracy nationally, except for where there were electronic
voting machines, was high. Only in traditionally Democratic areas (in
Florida and Ohio) with electronic voting machines were the exit polls
way off, and there because Bush "unexpectedly" did well there.
Hint: the electronic voting machines were rigged, as we knew they would
be. Bush lost the election but managed to deceive most people yet again.
A voting district with 262 voters in Ohio cast 4000 ballots for Bush (electronic
machine!). That kind of fraud in one place indicates a likelihood of similar
fraud in other places. The USA cannot claim to have a functional democracy
when the elections are rigged by corporations in league with the Republican
Party. The national GOP is clearly a criminal institution at this point.
2: Scientists and climate experts worldwide have agreed that we are headed
for a huge energy/economy crash due to the changes in petroleum price
and availability, and that we are poisoning the biosphere by continued
use of fossil fuels. This means that when the price of oil hits $100 or
$150 a barrel, post-industrial civilization as we know it is going to
come to a dramatic end as most people on earth return to a pre-industrial
energy economy. The wars over oil will continue to increase, and George
Bush is the single best person to bring everything crashing down. His
proclivity for bloodthirstiness and cruelty, his pathological dishonesty
and his inability to learn from his mistakes make him the perfect bulldozer
to bring the house of cards down. The job is to dismantle a corrupt diseased
system, for the old paradigm to implode while the new ones come forth
from the (hopefully not literal) ashes. Go George!
3: It seems likely to me that the rest of the world may at some point
have to administer a correction to the US, as it did with Germany in WWII.
If Bush invades Iran, he casts himself (and you!) in opposition to Russia
and China, both powerful nations with long-range nuclear weapons. Bush's
unabashed plan to take over the Middle-East is unlikely to be tolerated
by the rest of the world in the long run. This will take a heavy toll
on the USA, but if people here allow a despot to rule then they will have
to pay the piper.
4: The myth of a polarized US: Yes, there are significant disagreements
about lifestyle, civil rights, and religion, but there are huge areas
of commonality which are ignored. Exploiting difference - divide and conquer
- is the oldest game in the book and it is being used effectively on the
population of the US. The commercial media is complicit as they are primarily
motivated by profit and the drive to increase their power. They have no
altruistic motives about the well-being of the populace.
Add it all up and everything is just as
it should be! Humanity is continuing its cycle of ideological war and
religious repression. Greed and lust for material things rules in the
most powerful nation on earth where the people argue over who gets to
marry rather than how to feed the hungry. Multitudes call themselves compassionate
Christians while screaming for the blood of Muslims and denying aid to
the struggling poor in their own backyards. Hypocrisy is the rule of the
day. Sounds pretty bleak, right? Not necessarily.
All of us who are alive now are the right
people in the right place at the right time, even though we may not necessarily
enjoy the changes we experience or their outcomes. My friends and I have
been discussing these global trends and others, politics, social movements,
etc. for decades. For much of the latter half of the 20th century people
all over the world have been observing the changes occurring on earth
and commenting on them publicly and privately. We've been preparing for
what's coming. We've built social and faith communities that acknowledge
the path humanity has taken, and tried to prepare relationships to be
more mutually supportive in case we ever need to depend on each other
directly. People all over the world are learning through Permaculture
and other methods to grow and save more food, as well as other survival
skills.
Closer to home it's important to recognize
that Bush "won" this election, galvanizing a lot of voters,
on the backs of gay and lesbian people. He is proceeding with amending
the constitution to ban gay marriage, killing two birds with one stone:
setting a precedent of changing the constitution to promote discrimination
against a minority group, and creating a scapegoat class. This reminds
me of the 1930's in Germany when laws were gradually passed which denied
Jews rights - the right to own a business, the right to attend school,
eventually Jews were denied the right to purchase soap! All this on the
way to the ovens. What does Bush have in store for us I wonder?
Our own complacency is the greatest danger
we face.
Walter Zeichner is a psychotherapist, bodyworker, farmer, witch, and
political activist of conscience who lives in Bolton.