Coup d'Etat of Anthropology 309

Today I witnessed a revolution.

On Speaking of Politics

Whenever I speak to someone of politics, be he informed or ignorant, I seek always to understand his point of view before pressing mine on him, a method which would benefit the learning community greatly if everyone where to put it into practice. Most people, however, are not willing to put aside their arrogant ignorance and attempt this, which is why I absolutely abhor talking about politics, and especially domestic politics. People simply aren't informed about foreign affairs and so they have yet to form opinions, and although people are not really informed about domestic affairs, or are blinded by bias, the point is that everyone thinks they are informed about domestic affairs. They consider themselves informed, and yet they really don't care. Of course, everyone is passionate about something, be it fashion or the War in Iraq, but almost no one looks at the nation as a whole. No natives, that is. Think, if you will, why you think the way you do. Where do you glean information? Why? I think that one can find that this is a useful exercise. Or one can remain in their ignorance.
Most people don't live in the world, they live in their world, which seems to work well for them. They go to work or school or they sit at home. They eat their packaged dinners. They drive their fancy cars. Little else concerns them. Like I said, this seems to work for most people, but it shouldn't work for all people, and it doesn't work for me. I am not content to watch the news or listen to my parent's political views. What I am willing to do is to change. To change my opinion, even if doing so is frightening, and by doing that, to change the world.
All that said, I don't really expect any new developments in your line of thinking.

George Bush and the War in Iraq

Let us be the voice of reason, not of radicalism. President Bush is not evil or calculating, and the war in Iraq is not about oil. There is oil everywhere: North America, South America; I mean, really, if we're honest, there are billions of gallons in Alaska alone, an area which we already control. This war is about control, its about Superpowers and what that position means, and its about being everyone's big brother. So let us not be Bush-haters; he is merely a reflection of the ideals of a country as a whole. Another white wealthy American male would have done the same thing, ideologically.
We are a nation of arrogant hypocrites. That is the problem with Democracy: for the people, by the people, of the people, and the people must take the responsibility for their decisions, like reelecting a president who has started a war. And not just a single war on one country, or two, or three: a war on an ideal, radical though it may be. Terrorism. The War on Terror. How stupid a decision! And yet, we are the ones who made that choice. So let us not hate George Bush, let us hate the American in ourselves.
The War in Iraq is not about oil, it is about opportunity. The United States saw an opportunity to place its slimy foot into the Middle East and we took it. Although making this region more...erm..."stable" does have certain economic benefits, the political benefits are far greater. Think, if you will, about what we are doing in Iraq. We are acting as we have always acted; the only thing that has changed is the public opinion. We are not conquering more soil, not colonizing or empirizing, and we are certainly not setting up a hegemony. So what are we doing? Liberating. Liberating, they say. We are freeing the Iraqi people, who are so unfortunate as to have their culture and have their way of living when we have so much a better way in America. Can you say ethnocentric?! Because we all know what would happen if the Iraqi or Afghani people tried to impose their government, culture, and standard of living upon us. Outrage! In fact, we already know what the reaction would be; we have already done it.
What makes us think that we are in any way superior to others? It is in our title we are a Super Power. A Super Power. Wow. Shudder at the thought and remember that the further we climb on this ladder of Superiority, kicking allies and enemies alike down, the further we will have to fall.

And great shall be the fall thereof.

A New Message

This blog is created for those of you who have a voice and wish to use it. This is not a place for stupidity, it is not a place for either ignorance or arrogance, and it is especially not the place for apathy. This is a place for change. Let us change the world. It will not be easy and it will not be fun, so if either of those are what you might be interested in, take a hike. It won't be entertaining. It is not a project. This is a responsibility. And not just anyone can take that responsibility, even though we are all able, and expected, to carry it. This is the job of those tireless souls who care, and who can't stop caring. This is the duty of those who know, and who won't stop knowing. This is the obligation of those who need, those who need to do more than sit in their tiny pinpoint on the globe and dream small dreams. This is their time, and this is their place. The responsibility of this great changing power is always there, and whether it is taken by evil or good or lazy or porductive, it must fall to someone. That someone must be one who cares, knows, and needs. We care about the world. We know what is happening in our world. We need to change our world for the betterment of mankind. We are not speaking of the betterment of any certain country, people, ideology, race, gender, or religion; we are speaking about mankind. We all share this one common thing; this thing which binds us together. It is called humanity.

What does it mean to be human? It means that not only can we change the world, we are required to.