Politicians

[Nur]

From the e-Nuri Archives

 

 

Welcoming The New World Order

 

 

Politicians and Prostitutes

 

 

Faarax Gololley, the legendary Political Humorist during the Afweyne Regime was quoted as saying :

 

" Afweyne raac, ama Afgooye aad, ama Afkaaga heyso ,"

 

Meaning: Follow Afweyne (Dictator of Somalia), or Go to Afgoye " (Somalia's notorious Guantanamo Style Dungeon), or Keep your mouth shut"

 

Today, our country, the former Somali Republic, and the world in general is going through difficult times, in Somalia, we are witnessing a 12 year uncivil war going on with no end in sight, a dilemma that is inhibiting any progress while at the same time exacerbating living conditions . The result is that many Somalis who are stranded overseas as refugees are unable to go back home, worse yet, they are unhappy to live in the Diaspora and are very fearful of melting in the American pot, adopting the McDonald and Levi's culture of consumerism, with no apparent purpose of life beyond that.

 

The solution of this problem lies in understanding politics, the politicians mindset and what drives them to make such horrible decisions as to to tear apart entire nations, separate childhood friends, along clan lines to exploit people's fears in order to keep their pockets full of cash and their mouths full of Khaat weed drug.

 

Politicians at home mobilize the masses to create an enemy for them to hate, later they use this hate energy to fuel their vehicles to grab power and lead their people to miseries. Likewise, on a wider scope, Internationally, politicians are doing the same thing , the scale of the village and human agony is just much bigger than Somalia, but the pain of innocent civilians in Iraq and Somalis caught across fire , hurts the same, like they say, killing one person is murder, annihilating a village is a policy, stark realities of the the Global Village and the New World Disorder.

 

Politicians usually rise to the top to fill power vacuums created when decent people shun politics due to its close relationship with dirty tricks, so most decent people who value their dignity stay away from politics for fear that it would tarnish them, and their loved ones with bad reputation by casting doubts on their character.

 

As a result, the bad apples in society, who care less for their reputation, take the lead and speak for the people and nation. Interest groups, those with material stake in the affairs of the nation, as opposed to moral values, begin supporting those who are seeking power. The interest group gives these power hungry hopefuls financial support in their quest for power, and slowly, they begin controlling them and directing them to serve the interest groups agendas against the interest of the constituency they claim to represent. Welcome the birth of a Politician, a Hero and Great leader of his tribe.

 

The politician has just sold out his people to an interest group behind the scenes with a secret agenda. He sold his conscious and that of his people for a quick personal gain that will haunt his nation for many years to come, and it is partially due to the citizens who allowed him to speak in their name and shunned active participation for fear of smearing and mudslinging. So, if good principles were like our clean bodies, a politician becomes an Intellectual Prostitute ready to trade his people principles and values for his personal gain.

 

A prostitute is therefore a person who allows others to buy time to desecrate her/his body in exchange for a material gain, like money. An Intellectual prostitute on the other hand is a person who allows others to desecrate her/his soul and intellect for a material wealth.

 

Politics was defined as the art of avoiding to tell the truth to those who need it most, but short of defending an outright verifiable lie, the more creative a politician gets in concealing the truth, the savvier that he is valued as a politician by his mentors, the interest group. The highest honor for a politician should win him the coveted Pinocchio Trophy.

 

Politicians are thus people who are interested in their personal interests and who are willing to pursue them even if it conflicts with their constituent's interest. At times, our warlords reason very logically. Everyone is claiming that he is working for what is good for our country and people, they tell us that they are saving Somalia by killing Somalis, no wonder their job is taking 12 years and counting.

 

Prostitutes sell their body for the highest paying customer, in contrast, politicians sell their moral convictions to the richest financial donor. Prostitutes do not enjoy selling their bodies for money, but they are just compelled in doing so,they reason that since everyone else is on their own, what the heck.. But neither do politicians enjoy telling lies by crying wolf, at the end of the day though, they need to pay their bills to support their special lifestyle, so a "white" lie wouldn't hurt?, so what the heck!.

 

Most people would probably agree with the above statements that I made, but to date, only the Italians, our past colonial masters have made the link, let us see if our Somali politicians, Presidents, Boqors, Warlords, Qabqableyaal and Anarchists@ El Doret can learn a lesson or two from Reer Benito Mussolini.

 

Just before the first gulf war, a group of young Italian voters, mostly young, elected an Italian Porn Star called Miss Cicciolina to Italian Parliament, They wanted to send a message to their politicians about their intimate feelings toward them, so they sent Miss Cicciolina to the Italian Parliament. The only promise the young lady made was that she will bare her top in Parliament. Subsequently, Miss Cicciolina was elected, and to the embarrassment of the Italian lawmakers, she sat topless in their midst, delivering on her promise to her young constituents and scoring a victory for the Italian voters who were displeased with their politicians. Later she confirmed that many politicians in parliament were staring at her with interest.

 

Cicciolina became an embarrassment in Italian Parliament, so she was asked to participate in the Parliament's Defense Committee, a boring committee that she would later breathe some evil excitement into it. As a member of the Defense Committee, she demanded to be sent to the Gulf War to entertain the Italian Soldiers in the Gulf. She was a sellout. After the show, she wondered what was all these troops doing in the gulf ? she was told that Saddam was a crazy and hostile to his neighbors and the troops are amassed here to control his evil intentions. She reasoned that they were doing the wrong thing amassing so many troops and risking so many human lives to handle a stressed out politician, instead, she offered to visit Saddam personally in order to defuse the tense situation, but her defense committee became too defensive about such a "sinister" idea.

 

Politicians also need the media to transmit their lies to their constituents, they need to reassure the public that everything is OK, and that big corporations are doing community work, burying Nuclear waste in Yoontey and cashing the checks in Nairobi Banks. They convince the locals that they can have free chest X ray and a glass of milk every day if they look after the nuclear waste in their backyard. Somali politicians think that Radiation is good for the public, so is disease, poverty, illiteracy , chaos and the ongoing anarchy, if that is not the case, then tell me please, why are they so adamant in prolonging our pain?

 

The News media in turn catches the prostitution disease, Ideally, News media were meant to report truth, and to be objective about what goes on in the our community. If you are as naive as I am, you would ask foolish questions like " Why are the politicians and the News media telling tall tales, why is each periodical, radio or a website supporting a local loser?" But Something tells me: " It is all about money stewpid!* " So as a result, the news media continues to stay in business, attracting more and more sponsors which leads to our present situation in which the news media is so adulterated, doctored and altered beyond recognition. To make it even more patriotic, the newspapers become a platform for disorientation of the public, The masses are lied to, manipulated and processed like a slaughter house by the influential few with wealth and who have an interest in continuing to dominate their community, their ultimate goal being Power. Now, can you blame the warlords for clinging to power so tightly?

 

As the public is bottle fed with lies on a daily basis, bull manure begins to smell like Giorgio's of Beverly Hills perfume, a lie needs to be repeated so many times before it is upgraded to reality, and as we the public are busy making ends meet in our daily circus to survive, we learn to adjust to live with such a lie, suddenly, a naive person like me or a child yells " Siyaasiyintu waa Qaawan Yihiin"

 

 

Nur

 

2003 eNuri Political Research

Qof Alle Addoonimadiisa U taagan, Dhabrkiisa Lama Fuuli Karo!

[Nur]

Nomads

 

I am reposting this old piece of mine for you to examine current affairs in our country and the world at large in light of my observations, please share your thoughts of species in our midst known as Politicians who are responsible for all the mess we are experiencing in our villages and the global one alike.

 

 

Nur

[Baashi]

Yaa Sh. Nur the Politicians R Us!

 

The mere participation in a government could make one a politician No? Many many politicians are simply folks who want to make a difference. Since that requires an ability to have a voice in governance, they become civil servants whose agenda is to make some sort of a difference in their area.

 

The other point is the politicians represent folks. The falg waving, bumper sticker bearing, dawg contributing, and well-wishing crowd who root for political figures are an extension of the politician of their choice. Now whether the polity is a tribal organization like ours, theocracy, or representative democracy the politics works just the same.

 

Having said that I agree that there are politicians who bend the truth or manipulate their subjects into believing in false reasoning just to get their way. Those are wicked and deserve your disdain.

 

But brother there are well-intentioned politicians like the UIC leaders who try to make what you call a “paradigm shift†by mobilizing their constituents to achieve political goals that are in line with their principles. They are politicians who want to make a difference in anarchy-ridden area. What makes them different from other politicians is where they get their inspiration from. They just happen to take their guiding principles from Qur’an.

 

Politics is something none of us can afford to ignore Nur. Sxb everything we do from biz, work, to domestic relations, and what have you is regulated by the state. And in turn the state is run by decision-makers aka politicians. Some are benevolent and others are wicked.

[Abu-Salman]

Frankly, politics is definitely unsuited to bring about the necessary "paradigmic shift" which is a sina qua none requirement if we are to salvate our specy.

 

Needless to restate, over and over again, the limitless list of crimes committed against humankind or our planet in the name of "reason's supremacy", "science as a panacea" or "free market"; these concepts being devalued even in the western world for their blatant failure to improve the lot of the wretched or control environmental abuses.

 

Having said that, solliciting interested gurus is not the right alternative either if we are to let even basic moral values gain the upper hand in a world where worsening unjustices are only matched by self-destructiveness and regressions, American unilateralism epitomizing this latest ordre du jour.

 

That is exactely why mass education, specially moral one, is desperately needed to ensure that globally promoted materialism will not destroy us in less than few generations.

 

And which better framework than a most coherent Shariah rule to finally realize again the ideal that Western ethical philosophers could only dream of, more than one millenium later than the prophet's commonwealth?

[Nur]

Djiboutian Somali

 

 

You write:

 

And which better framework than a most coherent Shariah rule to finally realize again the ideal that Western ethical philosophers could only dream of, more than one millenium later than the prophet's commonwealth?

 

 

....... Simply a far reaching Wisdom!

 

 

Nur

[Nur]

Bashi bro.

 

I agree with you that "politics" is at least a necessity as it defines everything, food we eat, money in our pockets or what we can see.

 

However, the politics that I was talking about does not apply to the ICU, they are anti-politics, they are trying to correct the mess politicians and warlords have left behind as they fled. A good example of politician that I was talking about is the following story.

 

 

Hungary PM: we lied to win election

Agencies

Monday September 18, 2006

Guardian Unlimited

 

The prime minister of Hungary has confirmed the legitimacy of a leaked tape recording in which he says his government lied to win April's election and "lied in the morning; lied in the evening" during office.

The recording comes from a speech Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany gave to a closed party meeting shortly after his Socialist-Liberal coalition took office for a second term.

 

In the leaked speech, parts of which have been played on Hungarian state radio, he argued that major economic reforms were needed. "There is not much choice. There is not, because we screwed up," he said. "Not a little: a lot. No European country has done something as bone-headed as we have," he continued.

 

" Evidently, we lied throughout the last year and a half, two years. It was totally clear that what we are saying is not true. You cannot quote any significant government measure we can be proud of, other than at the end we managed to bring the government back from the brink. Nothing. If we have to give account to the country about what we did for four years, then what do we say "

 

" We lied in the morning; we lied in the evening, " he said.

 

On Sunday around 3,000 protesters called for the leader's resignation outside parliament in Budapest. But Mr Gyurcsany defended the leaked tape - which was littered with foul language - and said he would not resign.

 

He claimed the statement "we lied" did not refer to the overall state of the economy but was about "general lies" told by politicians over several years. "Hungarians want to live like those in the west, but they are unwilling to adopt the western norms," he said. "For years ... we made people believe that they have nothing to do, that we will give them happiness as a gift."

 

Hungary has suffered from budget deficits since 2000 and recently submitted a plan to the European Commission to reduce its deficit - the biggest in the EU - mainly through tax rises.

 

Some observers say the leaked tape could have come from Mr Gyurcsany's office as a way to justify tough economic reforms. Just hours after the tape came out, a full transcript was posted on his weblog.

 

The Socialist party won their second term in office in April, with a coalition government taking 210 of the 386 parliamentary seats. Evidently, we lied throughout the last year and a half, two years. It was totally clear that what we are saying is not true."

[Nur]

For confused Nomads

 

May be this thread will help show the difference of politics and Islam.

 

 

Nur

[Coloow]

Faarax Galooley ( the street philosopher) made several prophecies.

 

A qaad consumer from the south was once asked why chewing qaad is good: His answer: Qaadka markaan cuno subito ayaay siyaasada iigu soo degtaa!

 

Baashi iyo Nuur, A few years ago I was told a funny story by a somali. He claimed that a socialanthropologist ( canadian/British) did a study on the expectations/growing up of kids from different ethnic backgrounds. The Asian kids wanted to be doctors, businessmen etc. the while kids wanted to be teachers, nurses, policemen. The somali kids said they wanted to be "presidents". Romour has it that the research dived deep into the reasons that lie behind this fascination/ambitions. She found that the average somali parent spent more time talking about politics than any other thing. This could of course be some pseudoscience romour but there is a lot to it.

[Nur]

Caaqil bro

 

Indeed a good observation, the Somali father (Average) does not spend quality time with his kids to begin with, when he does, he complains about their noise, so he seeks to be alone to read political papers, websites or TV, if any time is spent with kids, its probably Qabil, telling his kids how evil and untrustworthy other tribe is, his ambitions that a member of his Qabil becomes the next President, because, the Qabil that secures Presidency becomes the Superior Qabil according to Qabil politics. Of Course, all of this is brewed with Qaat, cigarettes, and in some cases, comprehension reducing drinks. Now, when a kid who grew up in that environment grows up, no wonder, Presidency Job is his choice, easy, fame, prestige, no work, and a lot of maney to steal for his Qabil.

 

 

Nur

[Nur]

Geeddi and Abdullahi Yusuf

 

 

The Somali People are all behind you, they want to see your backs, all the way to Axum, Tigreland. Yours is a new low for a politician, selling your honor and stealing public wealth is understandable, but selling an entire country wholesale to its historical arch-enemy is a new low for any somali politician, your names should be submitted to Guiness book fo world records Hall of Shame.

 

 

Nur

[Nur]

U.S.-Made Mess in Somalia

 

By Ivan Eland

 

04/10/07 "Consortium News" -- - - The media often report overseas developments, but don’t always explore their underlying causes, which, in many cases, conveniently lets the U.S. government off the hook. The recent internecine violence in Somalia provides a classic example.

The U.S. media have focused to date almost exclusively on the rising Islamist movement in Somalia and U.S. “covert” assistance to the Ethiopian invasion that supported Somalia’s transitional government against the stronger Islamists. The media should be focusing on one of the major causes of the Somali mess: U.S. government meddling.

 

After 9/11, the Bush administration feared that the absence of a strong government in the “failed state” of Somalia could turn the small east–African country—slightly smaller than Texas—into a haven for terrorists.

 

The administration ignored the fact that other states with weak governments have not become sanctuaries for terrorists. Even if Somalia had become a terrorist enclave, the terrorists, absent some U.S. provocation, probably would not have attacked the faraway United States.

 

As a result of the administration’s unfounded fear, the United States began supporting unpopular warlords in the strife-torn nation. That’s when the real trouble began.

 

The radical Islamists in Somalia never had much following until the Somali people became aware that an outside power was supporting the corrupt and thuggish military chieftains. The popularity of the Islamist movement then surged, allowing the Islamists to take over much of the country.

 

In sum, where no problem with radical Islamists previously existed, the U.S. government helped create one.

 

In many respects, the Somali episode is a replay of other horribly counterproductive past U.S. interventions. In the 1980s, for example, the U.S. government supported the radical Islamist Mujahadeen—then fighting the non–Muslim Soviet occupiers in Muslim Afghanistan—that metamorphosed into al Qaeda, which is now attacking the United States for its non–Muslim military presence in the Persian Gulf.

 

History followed a similar pattern in Iraq. The Bush administration justified the U.S. invasion of Iraq in part by al Qaeda’s alleged link to Saddam Hussein—a thug, to be sure, but one who had been wise enough, in reality, to support groups who didn’t focus their attacks on the United States. Now, in Iraq, where there were no anti–U.S. Islamic terrorists before, we have plenty to fight.

 

Somalia is the third example of the United States creating a potentially anti–U.S. Islamist threat where none previously existed. The U.S.–supported Ethiopian invasion weakened the Somali Islamists, but they are still fighting fiercely for control of Mogadishu, the capital.

 

Like those in Iraq, all the Somali Islamists have to do is hang on until the foreign occupier gets exhausted and leaves. When that happens, the Islamists could very well become the dominant political force in the country, capitalizing on their “patriotic” resistance to the hated Ethiopian occupiers and their U.S. benefactors.

 

The U.S.–backed Ethiopians, already unpopular, have become even more despised as a result of their alleged indiscriminate shelling of Mogadishu’s civilian areas, which human rights groups are calling a war crime.

 

Unlike the period when the Islamists controlled Mogadishu, the transitional government has been unable to keep order, undermining both its credibility and public support. As a result, many in Somalia see the period of Islamic rule as good days, and now long for its return.

 

And that’s probably what will happen. Like the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, whose recent good fortunes were brought about by continued foreign occupation of that country, we will likely see the Somali Islamists make a comeback.

 

U.S. experiences in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia should teach foreign policy experts and the American public that U.S. meddling abroad is often counterproductive and dangerous.

 

Yet the U.S. media help the U.S. government disguise these policy failures by failing to expose the underlying causes of violence, enabling the U.S. government to make the same mistakes over and over again.

 

Ivan Eland is Director of the Center on Peace & Liberty at The Independent Institute and Assistant Editor of The Independent Review. Dr. Eland has been Director of Defense Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, Principal Defense Analyst at the Congressional Budget Office, Evaluator-in-Charge (national security and intelligence) for the U.S. General Accounting Office, and Investigator for the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

[rudy-Diiriye]

Originally posted by Caaqil:

Faarax Galooley ( the street philosopher) made several prophecies.

 

Baashi iyo Nuur, A few years ago I was told a funny story by a somali. He claimed that a socialanthropologist ( canadian/British) did a study on the expectations/growing up of kids from different ethnic backgrounds. The Asian kids wanted to be doctors, businessmen etc. the while kids wanted to be teachers, nurses, policemen. The somali kids said they wanted to be "presidents". Romour has it that the research dived deep into the reasons that lie behind this fascination/ambitions. She found that the average somali parent spent more time talking about politics than any other thing. This could of course be some pseudoscience romour but there is a lot to it.

That is not the problem! yeah! we all wanna be the president! but the problem who is gonna

drive the donkey!! u gotta a solution for that?

 

let us know!!

[Nur]

Why I am Ashamed to be an American

 

By Doug Soderstrom

 

06/01/07 "Thomas Paine's Corner" -- - Having grown up in a small town in Central Kansas I was taught to believe that my country, the United States of America, was a land committed to justice and peace, a nation that one could count on to do the right thing, a country of civilized folks who had but one thing in mind…….. that of doing the will of God. I also began to realize that there is nothing wrong with feeling ashamed for having done something wrong, that such a response is a rather natural consequence of having violated one’s conscience, a voice from deep within that is no doubt a reliable guide for how a man (or woman) of true integrity ought to live his (or her) life. However, for those who seem to lack the capacity to feel ashamed, one can only wonder what must be wrong with them.

 

As I began to emerge into manhood there was an ever, ongoing flow of hints, subtle suggestions that things were not as I had been told. However, it wasn’t until our country vented its awful wrath upon a post 9-11 world that I began to realize that I had been misled. At that point I had no choice but to take a long, hard look at the history of our country, a thorough examination of what turned out to be a past drenched in the blood of our foes, foreign lands raped of their natural resources, democratically elected governments overthrown, an outrageous succession of egregious arrangements with tyrants and dictators from around the world, along with the fact that our nation is the only developed country in the world that utilizes the death penalty to kill its own people, and that we imprison more of our own people than any other nation in the world…… all of such having enabled me to gain a better understanding of why there are so many folks around the world who have become upset by our nation’s apparent willingness to abuse and exploit our fellow man. As a result of what I found, I have come to the conclusion that the vast majority of the American public is out of touch with reality, that such folks have unwittingly allowed themselves to have become mercilessly entangled in a world of fabrication and make-believe, a nation dominated by sheepish yes-men unwilling to face the fact that we, as a nation, are, and for some time have been, caught in a downward spiral of moral decline.

 

I have found it rather common for folks to become a bit upset with people like myself who occasionally pass judgment upon our country. In fact some have even told me that if I don’t like my country then perhaps I ought to consider leaving it. Such folks seem to believe that criticizing one’s country (one that has attained such a high standard of living…… as if such a thing should make a difference) is somehow unpatriotic. However, the last time I checked there seemed to be no relationship whatsoever between a nation’s quality of life and that of its moral standards. I have also found that individuals that tend to equate criticism of one’s country with that of being unpatriotic either do not understand the postulates upon which democracy is based or that their identity is so terribly intertwined with that of their nation that they have seemingly lost the capacity to reason in an objective manner. Finally, based upon my experience of having debated with such folks, it has become rather clear to me that most of these quislings have little or no education as well as being relatively uninformed as to what is going on in the world.

 

Now, if you don’t mind, allow me to take a look at a few things that tend to bother me regarding the country in which I just happen to have been born……. the United States of America.

 

I never cease to be amazed at how terribly ethnocentric the typical American tends to be. It is almost as if having been born in the United States confers upon one the right to think of himself as a privileged person, a contrived sense of status that no doubt lies at the very heart of everything that I will discuss in this paper. For example, consider religion…… the fact that the majority of Americans look upon Christianity as the one and only road that leads to salvation, every other faith a blind alley leading to the unending fires of Hell. Next is that of capitalism, a system having apparently received the blessing of God as the universally correct way of doing business. And then democracy, a political system that apparently no one in their right mind has a right to question. Of course there can be no doubt that democracy is certainly a stellar way of running a country, but must everyone in the world agree? Besides if the religious right (just as Moslems in Iraq) were to seize control, don’t you think that they (as fundamentalists) might be tempted to set up Christianity as the official religion in our country rather than that of running a democracy based upon the separation of church and state? Think about it……. fundamentalists are no doubt fundamentalists regardless of the color of “their stripes!” On the other hand, one must ask what right we (as citizens of a nation that is a mere 231 years from its own inception) have to tell folks living in countries not more than a hop, skip, and a jump from the “Garden of Eden” how they ought to live their lives. Ethnocentrism yes, but perhaps even worse than this is that which such narrow-mindedness almost always brings to pass; an unreasoning sense of arrogance generally referred to as that of the arrogance of ignorance!

 

Due to what appears to have been a rather serious lapse of judgment on the part of tens of millions of Americans, the voters, for whatever reason (perhaps it was a matter of fear), chose to place into power a President (a presidential administration) that: may well have laid the groundwork for 9-11 (the “new Pearl Harbor”) that, according to PNAC (Project for the New American Century) was needed in order to pave the way for our country’s military/economic takeover of the world; is in the preparatory stages of going to war with Iran (a conflict that will no doubt reign havoc upon our nation as well as that of the world); lied to the American people in regards to why we went to war with Iraq; lied to citizens in that our government has no intention of leaving Iraq given the fact that it is in the process of building as many as fourteen “Enduring Military Bases” (enough to house at least 100,000 soldiers) along with that of having built the world’s largest Foreign Embassy located in Baghdad (a 592 million dollar, 104-acre, 21-building complex); committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, as well as high crimes and misdemeanors for which several of our leaders should be impeached; condoned the systematic use of torture against prisoners; violated the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution by intentionally choosing to interfere with the free flow of information to the American people; enacted laws (such as that of the Patriot Act) that are seriously eroding our freedoms; through the use of the Military Commissions Act, granted the President the right to arbitrarily detain, imprison, and torture U.S. citizens at that of his own discretion (and without the right of Habeas Corpus!); allowed the President to disobey more than 750 U.S. laws through the use of so-called “signing statements”; through the passage of the Defense Authorization Act of 2007 set the stage for, essentially creating the likelihood that, our country might one day become a military dictatorship; allowed the United State’s military to develop an extremely sophisticated, website-based video game (America’s Army) to be used as a recruitment device that is teaching millions (perhaps as many as nine million) of our children to kill human beings with an increased degree of efficiency, all of such having desensitized our teenagers to kill others with little, or no, psychological pain; has enabled politicians to profit immensely from funds awarded to corporate enterprises associated with the military-industrial complex; bankrupted the nation by allowing the national debt to rise to nine trillion dollars in spite of the fact that the nation’s actual debt is a little over 59 trillion dollars due to the government’s use of unorthodox (essentially unethical if not illegal) accounting practices that intentionally disregard (essentially misinforming the American people with respect to) unfunded promises to reimburse (that is to repay) Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and an assortment of federal retirement programs; and has been absolutely unwilling to take responsibility for the fact that we, as a nation, have done more to destroy the ecosystem of our planet than anyone else on Earth.

 

For anyone who has taken the time to study the history of the human race, there can be no doubt that one of the primary, if not the primary, cause of harm is that of people taking up arms in the name of God. No one in their right mind can deny that Jesus, the Buddha, Mohammad, Confucius, or Lao Tse were men of good will. However, over the centuries the simple yet profound truths taught by these wonderfully wise men have been perverted beyond recognition. And, as far as the West is concerned, the greatest perversion has been that of the religious right’s willingness to accommodate the needs of neoconservatives in Washington D.C., a well-thought-out, although no doubt surreptitious, plan to allow the Bush-Cheney presidential administration to utilize their faith (a plan of salvation that rather conveniently ignores the teachings of Jesus, the fact that we should love rather than kill others) as a theologically-based (no doubt divinely inspired) justification for a cadre of militants all to ready to go to war in order that they might one day rule the world……. and all of such in exchange for political presence, an increased opportunity for the religious right to publicize a gospel of family values (a rather fabricated attempt to “sugarcoatedly-disguise” an undoubtedly well-documented ideology of out-and-out social-political conservatism). Looking back at history, there can be little doubt that much the same occurred in the 1980’s when Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority decided to align itself with Ronald Reagan’s tenure as President, and, before that, when Germanically-oriented Christians decided to go along with, and therefore to support, Adolph Hitler’s Nazi inspired efforts to rule the world.

 

Concerning the education (or shall I say the mis-education) of our children it is high time that we do the right thing, that we stop lying to our kids and begin telling them the truth. The school’s job is not to make “good citizens” of our children, for in doing such a thing our children end up being duped, conditioned, slowly but surely brainwashed, into becoming truckling sycophants, bootlicking followers of the status quo. As one who has taught college students for the past 41 years, the only task worthy of a teacher is that of teaching our kids how to think for themselves, critical thinking skills that might perhaps enable them to counter the outrageous mendacity of those in power, chauvinistic jingoes who would, through the use of propaganda, have our children believe a lie rather than that which is true.

 

Regarding our economy, a capitalistic enterprise focused upon one, and only one, thing (the enrichment of the rich euphemistically referred to as that of “the American Dream”), we, as Americans (those of us who are rather well-to-do), should be ashamed of ourselves, ashamed of having become an island of enormous wealth stationed in the midst of a poverty-ridden world (not to mention an ever-expanding proportion of our own people who are poor) in that we go to bed every night with a willingness to anesthetize ourselves to the needs of billions of folks whose lives are inextricably mired in an absolutely desperate attempt to simply survive. And then due to what appears to be a rather natural correlate of capitalism (activities that no doubt follow capitalism wherever it goes), the American people (folks so terribly possessed by that which they possess) have developed an apparently insatiable appetite to be rich (the capacity to consume anything and everything they want), the need to be constantly entertained, a near addictive fascination with sex, drugs, gambling, pleasure, power, and violence, and all of such no doubt nullifying any legitimate interest in the “finer things of life” such as that of developing a meaningful philosophy of life, a desire to understand what it means to be a human being, and that which might perhaps be worthy of our time here on Earth.

 

And then based upon the laws of our nation, lobbyists (highly paid representatives of the corporate world) have been granted the right to converge upon our elected officials for no other reason than to coerce them into conducting business in a manner that more often than not benefits the rich at the expense of the poor. We, as a people, have been led to believe that our votes count when in fact our ballots far too often elect congressmen, the majority of which, wait in hiding for a handout (a bribe) that will serve to fill their “electoral coffers,” and all of such in exchange for a simple promise to use their congressional powers to expedite the needs of their benefactors who in turn are far too likely to reward their compatriots with a well-paid, “post-retirement” position the purpose of which is to use their “congressional knowledge” to bribe those who have now taken their place; a revolving door of immense corruption that is no doubt destroying the foundations of a once democratic republic!

 

The final, and perhaps most important, reason why I am ashamed to be an American is due to the fact that we, more than any other people, have used our accumulated wealth (part of which comes from money earned from having sold more weapons of war to the rest of the world than the rest of the world combined) along with having developed the largest, most destructive military force (larger than the accumulated defense budgets of the rest of the world combined) since the beginning of time (next year’s defense budget will be nearly 700 billion dollars!), all the while realizing that if we had proven our love for God by using such funds to feed the hungry, medicate the sick, clothe the poor, house the homeless, and liberate the oppressed, we would have become a nation loved and revered by all…… rather than, as things have turned out, having become a land hated by nearly everyone in the world.

 

In conclusion, in order that you might understand where I am coming from, you need to realize that I do in fact have a bit of respect for my country, or at least for that which was envisioned by our forefathers, the founders of, what has turned out to be, a once great nation. However, just as we would with someone we love, we have no choice but to call attention to weakness, since in doing such a thing we give our loved ones an opportunity to address the problem. It is, and must be, the same with that of the land in which we have been born. If we truly care about our country, if we really do want our nation to flourish, then we should realize that we have not only the right, but, much more importantly, the responsibility, perhaps even, one might say, a moral responsibility to point out its deficiencies in order that it might once again be revived. For we must remember, as our nation goes, so do we……. in its flourishing we, as a people, will no doubt thrive, but in passing away, we, as a collective society, might well cease to exist.

[FatB]

nur were on earth do you dig up all this info from?

[Nur]

The One and Only bro.

 

I google my way around, you know back home in Somalia, there was a trivia game that went by " Googaa? which means ready to be tested on your knowledge base? and you would answer " Cadale" the name of town I guess, which means that contestant is ready for difficult questions.

 

Now politicians to do what they do best need citizens who know so much about their country, law, and international affairs, like those in the link below who vote them to office.

 

Enjoy the clip;

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19aqw_americans-are-not-******

 

Nur