Is bullying part of our national interest?
JOE MAYER
Recently our local newspaper announced a very worthy upcoming event. The County Health Department and the Parent Teacher Student Associations of the three public high schools are sponsoring a program entitled "Talking to Your Teens about Tough Issues: Bullying, Hazing, and Harassment." The article talked about the emotional scars left by hazing and bullying indicating that children repeatedly victimized by such behavior often see suicide as their only escape.
I'm surmising that no matter how worthy the sponsors' intentions and no matter how informative the program, one item concerning this subject will not be mentioned. That item is the example of bullying and violence committed by our government as America attempts to control the world. Besides strong threatening rhetoric and bullying tactics, our enormous military budget makes power available to the corporate owners of the world. And as evidenced -- Iraq (twice), Afghanistan, Bosnia, Grenada, Panama, Nicaragua, Somalia, etc. -- the United States frequently uses this military power. Our nation's example to our youth is -- "bullying works, violence works." In fact, with enough fear-producing rhetoric the citizens can be whipped into a patriotic frenzy to celebrate our domination through violence.
The vast majority of Americans, if aware of a starving neighbor, would react with compassionate action to relieve the misery. We react with concern, empathy, and charity when a natural (act of God) disaster devastates humans, domestic or foreign. The same reactions occur when the disaster is caused by human acts of violence outside of war. 9/11 was a cause of unity and created an outpouring of compassion for the victims and families.
Acting as individuals, most people are decent, caring, loving people. So why do we support institutional violence inflicted in our name?
One of the tactics used by the powerful is to glorify the term "national interest." This mystical, undefined term is hypnotic in its effect on us as a herd. Our individual caring instincts are left behind in nationalistic hysteria to protect an obscure "national interest." What is "national interest?" Is "national interest" blocking land reform in Guatemala so that the wealthy and corporations can continue to exploit? Is "national interest" undermining Nicaraguan attempts to reform its government to better balance national assets in favor of the indigenous? Is our "national interest" the overthrow of democratically elected governments such as occurred in Chile? And possibly in the future in Venezuela?
The question then becomes "whose national interest?" It isn't in the interest of citizens to turn over our sovereignty to the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO. It isn't in the "national interest" of middle-class Americans to have a trade policy that undermines their livelihood. It isn't in the "national interest" of American democracy to commandeer our tax dollars to promote corporate control of government, ours or others.
When working Americans, the majority, petition government for a safer working environment, for stronger pension protection laws or minimum wage rules, they are accused of seeking "special interests." When corporate America downsizes and exports jobs through "free trade" agreements it's for the "national interest." When environmentalists petition for stronger protection against toxics in our air and water in the name of all the people, they are declared a "special interest" lobby. When corporate America seeks exemption from environmental laws our capitalist owners of the media label it "national interest."
Power is the ability to define, to name, to control the perceptual environment in order to distort reality. Exposing this selfish "national interest" is one of the biggest challenges facing citizens today.
Recently our local newspaper announced a very worthy upcoming event. The County Health Department and the Parent Teacher Student Associations of the three public high schools are sponsoring a program entitled "Talking to Your Teens about Tough Issues: Bullying, Hazing, and Harassment." The article talked about the emotional scars left by hazing and bullying indicating that children repeatedly victimized by such behavior often see suicide as their only escape.
I'm surmising that no matter how worthy the sponsors' intentions and no matter how informative the program, one item concerning this subject will not be mentioned. That item is the example of bullying and violence committed by our government as America attempts to control the world. Besides strong threatening rhetoric and bullying tactics, our enormous military budget makes power available to the corporate owners of the world. And as evidenced -- Iraq (twice), Afghanistan, Bosnia, Grenada, Panama, Nicaragua, Somalia, etc. -- the United States frequently uses this military power. Our nation's example to our youth is -- "bullying works, violence works." In fact, with enough fear-producing rhetoric the citizens can be whipped into a patriotic frenzy to celebrate our domination through violence.
The vast majority of Americans, if aware of a starving neighbor, would react with compassionate action to relieve the misery. We react with concern, empathy, and charity when a natural (act of God) disaster devastates humans, domestic or foreign. The same reactions occur when the disaster is caused by human acts of violence outside of war. 9/11 was a cause of unity and created an outpouring of compassion for the victims and families.
Acting as individuals, most people are decent, caring, loving people. So why do we support institutional violence inflicted in our name?
One of the tactics used by the powerful is to glorify the term "national interest." This mystical, undefined term is hypnotic in its effect on us as a herd. Our individual caring instincts are left behind in nationalistic hysteria to protect an obscure "national interest." What is "national interest?" Is "national interest" blocking land reform in Guatemala so that the wealthy and corporations can continue to exploit? Is "national interest" undermining Nicaraguan attempts to reform its government to better balance national assets in favor of the indigenous? Is our "national interest" the overthrow of democratically elected governments such as occurred in Chile? And possibly in the future in Venezuela?
The question then becomes "whose national interest?" It isn't in the interest of citizens to turn over our sovereignty to the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO. It isn't in the "national interest" of middle-class Americans to have a trade policy that undermines their livelihood. It isn't in the "national interest" of American democracy to commandeer our tax dollars to promote corporate control of government, ours or others.
When working Americans, the majority, petition government for a safer working environment, for stronger pension protection laws or minimum wage rules, they are accused of seeking "special interests." When corporate America downsizes and exports jobs through "free trade" agreements it's for the "national interest." When environmentalists petition for stronger protection against toxics in our air and water in the name of all the people, they are declared a "special interest" lobby. When corporate America seeks exemption from environmental laws our capitalist owners of the media label it "national interest."
Power is the ability to define, to name, to control the perceptual environment in order to distort reality. Exposing this selfish "national interest" is one of the biggest challenges facing citizens today.
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1 Comments:
There is a dilution of conscience that occur in groups. Groups of people, including nations, have long been willing to do things that individuals will not.
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