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It's my personal soapbox, a place for me to express thoughts and feelings, musings and rants, reflections and recollections; to have fun with words -- about things spiritual, environmental, social, political, economic, and, from time to time, personal. And of course about peace. Soapboxes are in public places (as London's legendary Hyde Park) on purpose, and so I invite conversations with you, for it is through civil discourse that we can gain some perspective on the seeming chaos of these changing times and learn together how to shape a positive future for ourselves, our communities, and the generations to come.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

"Innocents" Abroad?



As usual, Robert Koehler perceives and tells the truth that lies (Or is it “lays”? I can’t really ever remember how it goes. Actually, though, “lies” works for its ironic double entendre.) behind  our so-called “news” media, our foreign policy, and, basically, our culture, which, for all its positive values and strengths, nevertheless so persistently and eagerly, like those three monkeys, covers its eyes, ears, and mouth; closes its heart and mind; and opens its wallet to the mongering of hate and fear.

Koehler opens today's issue of his weekly column, "The Innocence of U.S. Foreign Policy", thus:


The Saturday headline in the Wall Street Journal was: “Anti-U.S. Mobs on Rampage.”
The next day, a NATO  airstrike killed eight women collecting firewood in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, an event that garnered virtually zero mainstream U.S. headlines.
Somewhere in the gap between these two phenomena — the overheated news about our violent, irrational enemies in the Middle East and the silence surrounding our war and occupation of the region — lies American politics, values, the presidential race, the national identity. Beyond that gap lies the truth about who we are, and only when we have access to it does the future turn into creative possibility and peace become possible.
Read the rest here.
 

It’s sad, really. So much potential for good in the world – squandered. For how long can we continue to do this before we destroy ourselves? 

When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?

1 comment:

  1. Now your quoting "PETER PAUL AND MARY"?

    I like it.

    Have you read "Cultivating Peace: Becoming a 21st-Century Peace Ambassador". Written by your friend James O'Dea?

    Love

    Gary

    ReplyDelete