Friday 23 November 2012

A challenge to Americans


Most Humans are Dead Inside
Lisa Guliani


26 April, 2012


The more I see of Israeli atrocities against Palestinians, the more I want to go to Gaza.

What right do we in the West have to be safe and secure?

What right do we have to walk the streets in peaceful neighborhoods, to live comfortably, to go about business as usual, to have our self-satisfied little lives intact, to sleep in warm beds under houses without blown-out windows and caved-in roofs, with plenty of drinking water and 24/7 electricity, and the freedom of movement Palestinians can only dream about?

What makes us so special? It's our government here in the U.S. that is funding and enabling these Israeli psychos to perpetrate mass murder.

At night, we can tuck our children snugly into bed and know they're safe and warm, but we sit by in silence while the two most god-awful 'governments' in this world deny innocent children in Palestine and around the world these same basic securities.

Why do so many people think we in the West deserve so much - and why doesn't it bother us that others have little or next to nothing?

What right do we have to live in a peaceful setting, never worrying that our skies will fill with missiles, never worrying that white phosphorous will rain down upon our heads?

What right do we have to anticipate and plan for our tomorrows when so many others can't even plan for tonight?

When was the dropping-off point - when did it happen? Ya know, that point when people stopped caring about one another, stopped giving a damn about what happens to the other human beings out there?

Do you listen to people talk amongst themselves at work?

What are they talking about? Current events in Gaza? No. Drone strikes over Pakistan? No. Economic pillage by Wall Street banksters? Hardly. They're talking about '50 shades of Grey'. They're talking about 'Jersey Shore'. "Kim Kardashian'. The latest video game. Their Christmas wish lists. Black Friday shopping deals.

Nobody where I work ever touches current events unless I bring it up.

And then they manage the briefest of eye contact for a couple of seconds, and in those eyes, there is nothing, they're dead. Nothing there. Zero empathy or concern or even a pathetic attempt at feigning mild interest. Just indifference. The subject changes so quickly, it's almost as if people are using some kind of internal remote control device to 'switch the channel' or just 'switch off'.

When exactly did it happen, this collective speedslide away from basic human decency?

What makes us so goddamned special?

Just what has become of you, America?

Who the hell do we think we are in this country, anyway?

The more I see of my 'fellow Americans' and the psychopaths representing my 'government' and the more I observe the conduct of the mainstream media in this country, the more I.....want to go to Gaza and be a human shield.

There is nothing so special about me that I deserve to live while others are having their lives ripped away.

There is nothing so special about me - or any of us here in the West.

I'm a working American, complicit in the mass murder of innocent people, just like the rest of you out there.

I owe the besieged people of other nations something more than words in the wind. So do you, America.

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." ~ Nelson Mandela

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity" ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Lisa Guliani

Lisa Guliani is a former internet-based political talk show host, political writer, researcher, activist, conscientious objector, "known protester', and self-described thought provocateur. When she's not engaged in some odd combination of the above, she's handing out smiles to the elderly, and also enjoys reading, music, cracking jokes, and hanging out with her buddy, Goose, who has yet to realize he's a dog. Her favorite sections of SOTT?
It's a three-way tie: Secret History, Puppet Masters and Society's Child.

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