Glimmer of hope

Today I saw a glimmer of hope. Yes, there really may be hope. Beyond the utter ineptitude of our current political leaders. Past the broken system of greed and human degradation. Even in the shadow of our despicable wars and war machine. I saw a glimmer of hope today. People are beginning to wake up and realize that this is not all that America has to offer. We as a people have a chance to make real change, and reshape this country into what we want it to be. Not what a select wealthy few decide it is. Masses of people marched on Wall Street this weekend, while many of us were still hard at work to keep food on the plate and roofs over our heads. The masses have begun to speak out in America. The masses have begun to come together and raise their voice.

This generation is sick of the bullshit left to us by the last generation. A nation of people full of promise. From the Greatest Generation who overcame the Great Depression and defeated fascism and genocide in Europe to a generation that guaranteed the dream of equality and civil rights, our parents generation have taken this great promise of freedom, liberty, and equality and turned it into a system committed to greed, hatred and destruction. Well not anymore. We are coming of age finally, and we are inheriting a country, a world in worse shape than when the last generation found it. Enough is enough. We must stand up against the global banking cartels. We must stand up to those who value humanity based upon which income bracket they were born into. We must stand up to the looming police state we've inherited.

I saw a glimmer of hope today. This hope was in the symbol of people coming together even though they were harassed, beaten, and arrested by bastards with badges. This hope is something in the undying spirit of Liberty that great thinkers and leaders believed in long before us, but knew it needed to be defended long after we pass. A glimmer of hope, however is not all that it takes. Will we come together and stand up against these tyrants? Will we stand up and become the embodiment of that dream and make a better world for our children? Or leave them this nightmare of banks, police, and greed that we're being given?

Sean M Henry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLEIVMki0D8&feature=player_embedded

Shame on President Obama

Today, at the UN, world leaders are discussing the bid of the Palestinians to be considered sovereign over their own land. Sadly, my country, the supposed beacon of freedom and democracy in the world is standing in opposition of freedom and democracy in the Middle East. The official cop-out line is that they support a Palestinian state, but only if it's negotiated with the Israeli's first. He said that "Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the UN". My question then, Mr. Obama, why do we have the UN? Why has your administration put so much emphasis on UN resolutions in the past, if in the end it's inconsequential?

Here's how I see it, as an informed and concerned citizen of the world: The Palestinian people have a right, the same right as the Israeli's or even Americans, or any other population on the planet to have a say in their own state and affairs. Just because one group or point of view feels threatened by this sovereignty it does not make the Palestinians or any other group less than human or less deserving of rights.

If the current standard put forth by the Obama administration, and the Israeli government were in place in the 18th century, the United States would never have come to exist. The Palestinians, in fact, are going about their own statehood in a more peaceful manner than our nation's founding fathers did. Compared to the standards of today, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and others would be on a terrorist watchlist and would be actively pursued by the military and covert organizations. Is this what we want to be? Is this to be the standard moving forward into the rest of the 21st century? Or will we as Americans stand up to this nonsense and demand that people across the globe have the rights and sovereignty that they're willing to fight for?

I know that my opinion on this little blog will not change the tragedy of what's happening in the Middle East, but my hope is that at least my words and opinions will be seen and help to influence more dialogue among us. I'm doing my part, will you do yours?

Sean M Henry

Sitting Idly By

Where are we? What have we become as a people? Has the American spirit died?

The United States has never been in such a situation as we find ourselves today. We are fighting two official wars, and two or three more unofficial wars overseas today. Beyond that, we are in the worst economic slump in generations. According to Marx, these economic booms and busts are just what come with the system of capitalism, and until the system is put on its head, not modified or adjusted, but actually fundamentally changed at its roots, it is destined to repeat itself.

Now, perhaps having only been alive for the last three decades, I may be wrong here, but in my lifetime there have been several cycles of this boom and bust that Marx predicted over a hundred and fifty years ago. Beyond the general trend of boom and bust, the ownership class now owns more of the wealth and industry than ever before in the history of this country. To further exacerbate the problem, for the first time in this nation’s history the people are stunningly silent about what is going on. It seems almost as though our population has been so dumbed down that we believe we cannot fix these problems on our own, but rather need a member of the ownership class to fix it for us. This goes entirely against the fundamental existence of the American Spirit. We are a people who have, through every generation, relied more upon ourselves and our own laurels to make changes and the world better for ourselves.

Where are we now? We are sitting idly by, watching reality TV, discussing nonsensical political solutions to problems utterly misdiagnosed by so called ‘experts’, and hoping that someone else with more money and smarts fixes everything for us. What have we become as a people? Where are the populist voices standing up for the people, the working class, the vast unwashed masses?

I am fortunate to have been born in America. And I am proud of where my country has gone in the past, and parts of the world we’ve built for ourselves and future generations. I am, however, ashamed of my current generation and our utter ineptitude to get anything done or changed for the better. I am ashamed of what my country has become; the global war machine. I am ashamed of what my country has become, a global power with advice and remedies for the rest of the world to follow, which is unable to take care of its own problems.

I will once again be proud of my country, and perhaps my own generation once we come together and do something for ourselves. Barack Obama could not in 2008 fix this mess, and can not now. Nor can any one of the Republican presidential nominees. We as a people can, and only after we stand up against the powers to be that have led us to this terrible position at home and in the world.

Though I remain pessimistic about who and what we’ve become, I do honestly believe that we have this in us. This country is what it is because of past generations of people less educated and qualified than my own generation standing up and doing things for themselves. My only question is when and where will we decide that enough is enough, and we’re going to make this country better than how we found it?

Sean M Henry