From: khaled Alkotob (khaledsa@juno.com)
Date: Sat Apr 30 2005 - 06:34:44 BST
Arlo and the rest
If you really don't want to sleep nights, go to
www.informationclearinghouse.info and spend some time there. It's amazing
that one has to read the British and Australian press to find out what is
happening here.
I came to the states when i was 15, that was 1978, the civil war in
Lebanon was at it's height. I spent my fair share of nights in bomb
shelters.
When the war started, those who were in the know said this would last 15
years. We looked amazed. Well it did.
Sometimes you look around and see things, notice things, but it takes a
while to connect the dots. Here is my father's perspective on things.
In 1958 he finished flight school in Fort Worth Texas and returned to
Beirut. The images he had of that era are deep seated in his mind.
America in it's Golden Age. The full service at the gas, Free map
included. His next visit was with my mom in 1970. Driving the highways
between Norman OK, and Chicago.
A few trips to California in the mid 80 ending with few months visit ( he
is now retired) with his relatives in LA. The run a store out of the
garment district downtown LA. America has changed, and not for the
better, His words to me were " the termite has struck."
No empire lasts forever. But there is a difference between aging with
dignity, and dying homeless in an alley somewhere.
After college, while visiting a former professor, he suggested a book by
Jerry Mander " Four arguments for the elimination of Television." A eye
opener on corporate America. Later to be followed by "In the absence of
the sacred: the failure of technology and the rise of the Indian
nations." He does go heavy on the indigenous people's rights, but he
makes some valid point about the failures to come.
Carl sagan's book " the demon haunted world" ( the good part is the
political one toward the end) sheds a light on a nation that lost it's
power to question and to reason. To find the truth. Not to ruled by
emotions, faith and doublespeak. It's Animal Farm all over again.
It's amazing how people's eyes glaze over the minute the conversation
turns to something meaningful. Sports, the weather and food is all they
are willing to talk about. It is refreshing to have a group one can share
and learn from despite the disagreement. i.e. the point that if your
retirement was in a private account and something was to happen to you,
unlike Social security, your family gets to inherit that money.
It sure breaks my heart to see such good people misled, and such a nation
driven into the ground. Our global view is so dismal, it's not even
funny.
Drive them into the ground, and they will invent the guillotine
On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 00:22:16 -0400 (EDT) "Arlo J. Bensinger"
<ajb102@psu.edu> writes:
> Khaled,
>
> My views on SS Reform are close to MSH's, and that is one has to ask
> why the
> wealthy, who don't need Social Security, are so anxious to move SS
> into the
> private sector (where not only greater gain is possible for a few,
> but greater
> risk and loss is probable for many).
>
> In the end, it has to do not with helping the majority of the
> citizens (such as
> me) "save". It has to do with risking the welfare of majority of
> citizens to
> improve the wealth-accumulation of the already wealthy.
>
> That SS is in need of reform is likely. That the majority will
> benefit from
> privatization is unlikely. You are wise to remember Enron. You are
> also wise to
> remember all the specifics. On the Enron tapes, part of the
> conversation is
> described as such:
>
> ""Before the 2000 election, Enron employees pondered the
> possibilities of a Bush
> win.
>
> "It'd be great. I'd love to see Ken Lay Secretary of Energy."
>
> That didn't happen, but they were sure President Bush would fight
> any limits on
> sky-high energy prices.
>
> "When this election comes Bush will f------g whack this s--t, man.
> He won't play
> this price-cap b------t.""
>
> And, lo and behold he did not, he has catered exclusively to
> corporate concerns.
> **This** is the regard in which I (and possibly others on this list)
> am held,
> and it appalls me. They key point here is really understanding whose
> interest
> they hold, and asking, based on all their actions, if you really,
> honestly,
> truly believe they are acting out of moral concern for the
> working-class,
> average Americans.
>
> What, I think, reeeallly gets my goat, is that they don't just come
> right out
> and say what they mean. If Bush just said, "we don't believe in a
> safety net,
> if people fall, so be it, that's the breaks", instead of making it
> sound like
> he's all about helping the average family... it's that doublespeak
> that is most
> frustrating.
>
> You mention Medicare. Its the same thing (as you have indicated). It
> had nothing
> whatsoever to do with helping the families of this country access
> healthcare.
> It had everything to do with benefitting pharmaceutical and HMO
> corporate
> interests, at the expense of your healthcare and your ability to
> afford
> medication.
>
> Bush's so-called "bankrupty" reform took away protections from the
> average
> citizen who may sadly need to declare this, while at the same time
> providing
> loopholes and clauses allowing the really wealthy to declare
> bankruptcy without
> losing any of their wealth.
>
> Pell grants and Lifelong Learning Credits have been slashed. While
> corporate tax
> breaks have been upped. Public lands that we all enjoy are being
> targetted for
> oil drilling (along with multi-billion tax breaks for doing so), in
> a move that
> even oil insiders will not likely ever benefit the citizenry (since
> oil
> production will not occur for over a decade, and in the meantime,
> other fuel
> alternatives will make it unnecessary) while restrictions on
> pollution levels
> are being returned to pre-1970's levels.
>
> So when you ask yourself about Enron, and ask yourself if you
> really, honestly,
> truly believe they are acting out of moral concern for the
> working-class,
> average Americans... you are very wise to be doubtful. All the
> evidence says
> "no".
>
> Arlo
>
>
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