Calvin's Weblog

An Open Letter to [Middle] America

Bravo America, you've shown your true colour. In true democratic fashion, you flocked to the polls with purpose, and with a vengeance. Voter apathy four years ago was at it's all-time low ... but yesterday, voter participation hit it's all-time high. This is no small feat! You've spoken loud and clear, and your voice has been heard.

Both major campaigns told you that this vote was going to be one of historical significance, and they were right. You listened to them, and you believed them. Yesterday you had a chance to show the entire world what Americans are made of, what America stands for, and what "freedom" means to you. And you did!!!

When it comes to the quest for Liberty, Justice, and Freedom, American history is full of some of the greatest and most inspiring stories in the world, so it's no surprise you felt the strong patriotic duty to participate and make your voice heard. It's truly a great and wonderful thing you did. It's something that most people in the world aren't even allowed to do, which makes what you did all the more special. It's awe inspiring, it really is.

In 1620, a group of 102 separatist men, women, and children fled from British religious persecution in The Mayflower and founded what later became New England. A new, better land, where they were FREE to practice their religion and had LIBERTIES unlike anything ever heard of in old England. They formed a fair new justice system, and their small colony grew rapidly as Europeans, who knew in their hearts that the human spirit was not meant to suffer under oppression and tyranny, flocked to this new (comparatively liberal) paradise.

In 1682, William Penn set sail for America with the dream of founding a utopian city, Philadelphia, where not only like minded Quakers, but ALL citizens, regardless of race, creed, or religion would be free from tyranny and persecution, have equality, and civil liberties. To this day, his "City of Brotherly Love" and all his accomplishments stand as a testament to the righteousness of free, liberal, forward thinking. The signs are everywhere - from the Liberty Bell, to the constitution of the United States of America, to the declaration of Independence - everything that America holds dear, stemmed from William Penn's Charter of Privileges, a guarantee of religious and civil freedom for all citizens.

In fact, your country's entire history is riddled with great stories a free thinking men and women who have forged westward, whether it be on the Oregon Trail in the 1840s or on the road to California a decade later - brave, freedom loving, forward thinking Americans have never been afraid to leave economic hardship, persecution, and the staunch 'old thinking' bureaucracy and governmental oppression behind as they push the frontiers in search of a new land, where they can be free to live their lives as they chose.

And that's really what it's all about, right? Freedom? The basic, fundamental human right to dignity and respect with freedom from oppression and persecution? Everything else stems from that - whether it be freedom from slavery, or prejudice, or taxation without representation, or your right to vote, to be heard, to peaceably assemble, to bear arms, to worship as you chose?

Yes, freedom.
And it's nice to see that the citizens of New England, and Pennsylvania, and Oregon, and California, and the District of Columbia, and host of other states still remember what their forefathers fought for, what brought them to live where they do. The real reason why America even exists. What freedom really means. It’s true, many Americans still know in their hearts what it means to be free, but they're obviously not the majority.

As for the rest of America, well, you've forgotten. And that's too bad. But for the rest of the world, as shocked and disappointed as we are, at least we know exactly what's going on in your minds. We don't need to make excuses for you any more. We don't have to ponder: "maybe it's just voter apathy?" or "maybe they don't get to see the world news that we get to see?" or "maybe we're only hearing the vocal minority?" or "maybe they're just too afraid to stand up for what's right?"
Nope. No more excuses. It's loud and clear now. We can stop shaking our heads in disbelief, you spoke - we heard - we believe you.

You told us America (by and large) is a nation of dolts. Close minded, backward thinking, religious fundamentalist, ruthless, greedy, tyrannical, oppressive, war mongering, self righteous, expansionist holier-than-thou dolts. You believe that you're right, and the rest of the world is wrong. You think that since you live in the greatest (read: strongest) nation in the world, it's therefore your duty to make the rest of the world think the way you do. A vote for George Bush was an endorsement to the rest of the world that "We know exactly what we're doing, and we're all for it."

What? 100,000 innocent civilians have died in Iraq since we invaded? Fuck 'em. They shouldn't have flown airplanes into our building then. Huh? It wasn't Iraqis that did that? Fuck 'em. They're all A-rabs. They're all to blame. What? They're not all A-rabs? Well, they all speak the same language and worship the same false god of evil, so fuck 'em. Huh? They don't all speak the same language or worship a false god? What do you mean their god is the same god as our God? Well, they're so backwards anyway, and besides, they all hate America and everything we stand for, so fuck 'em. Huh? What do you mean Iraq used to be a highly industrialized, prosperous and modern nation before Saddam, and that even after all the death and destruction we've caused, over 70% of the (still living) Iraqis actually approve of the removal of the dictator? Well fine - so it looks like we did them a favor then, doesn't it... fuck 'em if they don't appreciate that!!! We're America, dammit! It's our right! Ain't y'all never heard of Manifest Destiny?

Oh, but it's so much more the illegal invasion of Iraq. It's so much more than the crimes against humanity in Abu Ghraib, the genocide at Fallujah, the false pretense for war, or the deliberate and unlawful attack without U.N. consent... it's the little things too ... after all, many nations have been deceitfully led into wars by unscrupulous leaders before - that's nothing new, and it's not beyond the realm of reason that the American propaganda machine could work it's magic its citizens. There's all the stuff that hits closer to home that the American people seem to agree with too - like, even though you're the land of the FREE, founded on freedom from persecution and freedom to live your life however you chose, you still vote to make gay marriage illegal. You vote to make stem cell research illegal. You vote for racial profiling, you vote for fully automatic assault weapons, you vote for no health care, no pensions, and no future. You vote to keep everyone that's not like you OUT, and everyone that is like you IN. You voted that oil really IS worth your sons and daughters lives.

Your economy is floundering. Four years ago, your country was as prosperous as it has ever been, and now it's worse than it has ever been. You could have voted to fix that, but instead you voted to make it worse - and it's going to get worse, much worse. Trust me.
Your unemployment rate is skyrocketing. Your pension fund is nearly bankrupt. 70% of you receive less health care than the citizens of Cuba, India and China. Your literacy rate is the lowest of all G8 industrialized nations, and you infant mortality rate is the highest. Your household income, standard of living, and life expectancy are all the lowest too. But you still voted for more of the same. Why? Because you obviously think your way is better, that's why. After all, you are "America"- greatest (read: most militarized) nation on earth.

25,000 of you die needlessly in senseless gun deaths every single year and nothing is done about it - yet 2,948 Americans die on September 11th, and another 1,100+ during the war in Iraq, and no price (dollars or lives) is too high to prevent that from ever happening again. $143 Billion dollars and counting. Imagine if that much was spent - just once, to get rid of all the guns in America. I'm certain it could be done, and I'm certain it would save 25,000 live a year... but that's different - that's Americans killing Americans. That's your right. Foreigners have no right to kill you, and they've gotta pay - regardless of the cost. Even if your children and your children's children have to pay off the debt. No cost is too high.

Don't get me wrong. After September 11th, the world rallied behind America. An injustice had been done to one of our brothers. We cried for you as if it had been done to our own sons and daughters. We shared your pain, and your rage. The world was united in their condemnation of the atrocity, and we were behind the toppling of the Taiban and the crushing of Al Qaeda. If you recall, practically every nation that could put together a boat full of troops wanted to be a part of that fight - for you - our brothers, and for us - the free world - because the while the attack may have taken place on your soil, the target was OUR way of life. I myself flew 3,000 miles shortly after 9/11 - when it was still a very scary time to fly - to pay respects in person, at the World Trace Center site. Thousands of ‘free' people from around the world, like me, wanted to show our solidarity. But something went wrong... somehow this great disaster became the reason for everything. Somehow the stock market, the economy, your child's education, the price of milk, gasoline, and airline tickets, wars in Iraq, tensions with Iran and Korea, corporate scandals, layoffs, paycuts, EVERYTHING bad in America was being attributed to it... not to the crappy leadership of George W. Bush, but to the maniacal madman Saddam Hussein (cough, cough, er, I mean Osama Bin Laden). An even though America had made it through Peal Harbour and Viet Nam and WWI, and a Civil War, a war for Independence, and countless other tragedies okay, for some reason, this single blow was responsible for the most crippling effects ever known in the US economt.. Sure - sounds believable... so you bought it.

And now you've willingly given up your civil liberties. You've jumped into the Patriot Act feet first and said "Yes! I'm willing to live in a police state as long as that means no terrorist is going to kill me!" You've sent a loud and clear message that "We LIKE having no healthcare and we LIKE having no clue how we're going to survive after we retire! We LIKE paying quadruple what any other industrialized nation pays for prescription drugs and we LIKE the fact that our per capital oil consumption is triple that of the second highest consumer in the world. We LIKE the fact that only four countries in he world have worse air quality, and we LIKE the fact that over 95% of our water is unfit for consumption, fishing, or swimming. We are, after all, America! And that makes us better than you, despite the fact that you have all that stuff!"

I used to feel really bad for you. As recently as yesterday, in fact. I honestly thought you'd snap out of it and make the one simple easy choice that could make you prosperous and respected again. But you didn't. Were you duped? Nope. You just showed your true colours. You knew all along what you were doing. George Bush really DOES represent America. The way he's viewed in the world is how you WANT to be viewed by the world. I'm now convinced of that. It's a real shame. But things are going to get really bad for you now, and you're just going to have to live with it. It must suck to be you.

PS - Thanks, by the way! The rest of the world would really like to thank you for having such a crappy economy... it's making our economies look GREAT! Our dollar is worth the highest it has been in my entire lifetime - our economy is the strongest it has ever been! My house has doubled in price in a mere three years, and my stock options have doubled in the last ten months! I put more money into my retirement savings every thirty days than the average American MAKES in a month! Every time Dubya makes another enemy, all the investors that pull out of America go to straight to robust, bustling economies like ours with their money. You don't wanna buy French wine? Fine! We'll buy it - we've got lots of disposable income, and great taste - it is, after all, the best wine in the world... You don't wanna buy our softwood lumber or beef? Fine! There are plenty of other countries willing to pay a lot more for it than you ever did - but we HAD to sell it to you because of trade agreements ... Besides, all your meat processing plants are closing down and moving up here anyway, now that there aren't enough cows in the US to keep them in business. You get to pay more for our beef, and we get all your jobs to boot. Oh - you want some of our extra flu vaccine? You know, the ones that we get for free because that's what "HealthCare" means? Sure no problem - we'll send over a free box with each cow you buy. You want some of our fresh, clean drinking water? No problem - we'll tanker it down to ya, towed behind each softwood lumber truck. You want all our extra electricity? Well, we DO have more than we know what to do with - one of the added benefits of being a 'green' society I guess... sure, no problem - if you promise to stop letting all your PCB laden coal-burning smog drift north of the 49th parallel, we'll sell you all the clean, natural hydro power you can afford... assuming of course, you don't go bankrupt in the next 4 years...

We're just nice that way, neighbor. You made your bed, now you've got to sleep in it. Good luck with that president of yours, see you in 2008.

Posted by Calvin at November 3, 2004 10:59 AM