Our Way of Life

Áine on February 27th, 2006 filed in General, Politics

In almost every venue where the Bushites defend the War on Terror, they mention that the terrorists hate “our way of life” or that our military is defending “our way of life”… it irritates me. Why? Because apparently they think we all share the same way of life, that this is one monocultural American society of white Christians who must all agree on the same so-called “moral values,” and anyone who doesn’t feel that way should just “shut up”… which is just plain bullshit.

What kind of “moral values” do you have to have to not see the poverty and the unjust disparity among Americans… and then to extend that sight to peoples around the world? Do you have to wear some kind of America-centric blinders NOT to see reality as it is?

Wake up. We don’t all share “our way of life.” Americans need to understand that both the Republican and Democratic parties represent corporate interests, rather than genuine democracy. As such, when they talk about “promoting democracy” overseas, they are not talking about democracy the same way you or I think of it.

A disservice is being done to those who died in that tragedy on 9-11, and those who are even now dying around the world as a result of terrorism if the world fails to search out and remedy the causes of terrorism. It does not take a genius or an elitist intellectual to figure out what causes terrorism, but it certainly seems as though the military-industrial complex and the CEOs that run it cannot figure it out for themselves. They likely believe that a continuance of economic disparity is good for business, and perhaps in the short-term, it was, but now those chickens come home to roost, and they seem either unable or unwilling to recognize the problem or the solutions.

Economic disparity is a global concern that frequently fuels hatred, violence, and terror. The great financial differences between nations, socio-economic classes, members within the same class, and in a family cause unequal access to resources and the failure to fulfill the basic necessities of life. Resources imply connections, money, representation within government, and free and open access to information.

Additionally, basic necessities include adequate nutrition, water, shelter, healthcare, education, employment, legal identity, and respect — and to that I would also add compassion, which is a general tenet of pretty much every religion in the world. Equal access to resources and the fulfillment of these necessities create equal opportunities, increase security, and reduce terrorism and violence. Attacks of terror and hatred, as we have witnessed throughout history, and in our own lives, might be prevented if the right measures are taken to guarantee people all over the world their basic necessities.

Respecting a local culture, its history, and its people is critical. Not everyone wants to work for, much less have visible in their community, a Wal*Mart or a McDonald’s or a Kentucky Fried Chicken. Not everyone wants to attend your favorite religious sect’s house of worship. Not everyone wants to contribute to the oppression of minorities or the suppression of their dissenting viewpoints. Not everyone wants to help spread corporatism, and all that it implies, around the world. Not everyone believes that the explicit and illicit arms trade and its proliferation worldwide are good things.

As long as there remain people anywhere who lack the basic necessities, there will be no chance for them to have a viable and fulfilled life, a situation that is more than likely to foster violence. Global economic disparity is fundamentally incompatible with global security; and poverty, along with other forms of marginalization that engulf the lives of so many people, is a breeding ground for terrorists.

“I assume the president’s going to say he got bad intelligence… I think that wherever you see poverty, whether it’s in the white rural community or the black urban community, you see that the resources have been sucked up into the war and tax cuts for the rich.” — Congressman Charles B. Rangel on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

“Many black people feel that their race, their property conditions and their voting patterns have been a factor in the response… I’m not saying that myself, but what’s self-evident is that you have many poor people without a way out.” — Rev. Jesse Jackson on the delayed response to Hurricane Katrina

“In New Orleans, the disaster’s impact underscores the intersection of race and class in a city where fully two-thirds of its residents are black and more than a quarter of the city lives in poverty. In the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood, which was inundated by the floodwaters, more than 98 percent of the residents are black and more than a third live in poverty.” — David Gonzalez, NY Times

“Congo’s economy remains at a virtual halt. Most people eke out a living not on $1 a day, which is considered desperate poverty, but on 25 cents. The idea that Congo is mineral rich, full of diamonds, platinum, cobalt and other valuable minerals, is an abstraction to most of the populace.” — Hope Glimmering as War Retreats From Congo, NYTimes 10/21/03

“These widening disparities are often attributed to the increasing importance of education. But while it’s true that, on average, workers with college education have done better than those without, the bulk of the divergence has been among those with similar levels of education. High-school teachers have not done as badly as janitors but they have fallen dramatically behind corporate CEOs, even though they have about the same amount of education.” — Paul Krugman, economist

“I personally think that society is responsible for a very significant percentage of what I’ve earned. If you stick me down in the middle of Bangladesh or Peru or someplace, you’ll find out how much this talent is going to produce in the wrong kinds of soil.” — Warren Buffett

“The United States of America is the most capitalistic of the major industrialized nations. This is not because America is a leader in per-capita gross domestic product, per-capita income, or productivity growth, for it is not. America does, however, have one of the most pro-business, inequitable, and inhumane socioeconomic systems in the industrialized world… It certainly does not benefit the average citizen, nor does it benefit the country as a whole.” — David E. Driver, former Wall Street executive turned Progressive

“Why did corporate governance checks and balances that served us reasonably well in the past break down? … An infectious greed seemed to grip much of our business community.” — Alan Greenspan, June 9, 2005, testimony to Joint Economic Committee

“Having 37 million people living in poverty in this country is wrong. We have a moral responsibility to do something about it. We saw the face of poverty right here in America during Hurricane Katrina. These people live on the edge every single day terrified that something bad is going to happen to them where they fall off the edge and into the ditch and are never, ever be able to get out. When you walk into a poverty center in this country you see a lot of single mothers who work hard and are responsible. They have never had a champion. I’m not talking about me; I’m talking about us. [. . .] When the president submits his budget, this is a moral document. It says a lot about America’s priorities. How could America embrace a document that does so little for so few? We have a void in moral leadership… the leaders we’ve been waiting for are us.” — John Edwards, former Senator from North Carolina

“The major issues that I see the United States has during this affluent period is the question of distribution of income. No society succeeds unless virtually all of its participants believe that it’s fair and gives people opportunities.” — Alan Greenspan, Jan. 26, 2000, to Senate Banking committee (note that this was said while we still had the Clinton budget surplus)

“From a spiritual point of view, it cannot be true that the work of the CEOs of some companies is worth a thousand times that of some other of their employees, just as it cannot be true that because you can get people to work full time for minimum wage they are justly compensated.” — Gregory F.A. Pierce, co-founder, Business Executives for Social Justice, 2001

“What we have here is a form of looting… The rich don’t need the money and are a lot less likely to spend it - they will primarily increase their savings. Remember that wealthier families have done extremely well in the US in the past twenty years, whereas poorer ones have done quite badly. So the redistributive effects of this administration’s tax policy are going in the exactly wrong direction… I think this is the worst government the US has ever had.” — George A. Akerlof, 2003 interview with Der Spiegel

“Plato told Aristotle no one should make more than five times the pay of the lowest member of society. J.P. Morgan said 20 times. Jesus advocated a negative differential - that’s why they killed him.” — Graef Crystal, compensation expert, 1998

“Unlimited inequality is inconsistent with community, no matter how well-off the poorest are. Even relative poverty breeds resentment, and riches insulate and harden the heart. Conviviality, solidarity, and brotherhood weaken with economic distance.” — Herman Daly, in Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development, 1996

“In a rich society, no one should be allowed to suffer from deprivation such as homelessness, starvation and illness. This ideal is essential, not simply as a matter of human good, but as the price we pay for a measure of domestic tranquillity.” — John Kenneth Galbraith

“I am hard-pressed to believe that this is a period where we’ve got a rising tide that has lifted all boats. There are millions of workers who have never seen the harbor, let alone even know what a boat looks like.” — Stephen Roach, chief economist, Morgan Stanley

“We’re becoming an oligarchic society, with an extreme concentration of wealth. This concentration of wealth is protected through a political process that’s making it difficult for anyone but the monied class to have a voice.” — Edward Wolff, 1999

“A line of Army convoy trucks filled with food, stretching to the moon and back. This is food taken from the poor by the wealthiest nation in the world.” — Larry Brown, after Congress cut $30 billion from nutritional programs, 1997

“In Appalachia, children were stunted by poverty. In Affluencia, children are stunted by wealth.” — Steve Blow, Dallas Morning News, March 4, 2001

“To do good, blood must circulate. Money must circulate, too. Money must be distributed throughout the body politic, not be concentrated in the pockets of a few… In the natural order, all life must exist within limits. Human society, as part of the natural order, must live within limits as well. A maximum wage linked to a decent minimum wage would help every family and every community live healthy lives – and restore balance to a nation ravaged by unbridled greed.” — Jeff Vogel, 1996

“The rich have decided that, since they don’t use public services any more, they shouldn’t have to pay for them.” — Ed Finn, Vancouver, B.C., Sun, May 16, 1996
[Perhaps they should keep that in mind when they want someone to call 911 for them for any reason whatsoever.]

“Sooner or later this country’s politics will get back to the core issue: economic inequality. I hope this happens in my lifetime. Actually, I think the subject is bearing down on the politicians faster than they imagine.” — William Greider, Rolling Stone, November 2, 1995
[A little more than ten years later, and the issue still isn’t right there in their faces. But it should be.]

“Perhaps I am too cynical, but I believe there is a separate class of people in this country called Too Rich to Go to Prison.” — Molly Ivins

“To suppose, as we all suppose, that we could be rich and not behave the way the rich behave, is like saying that we could drink all day and stay sober.” — L. P. Smith
[Actually, that’s not impossible. I’ve done that. Try mourning.]

“We used to think of Great Britain, with its castles and peerages, as being the epitome of a class-based society. Today, we far surpass Britain in the disparity of income. That is economically disastrous and morally wrong.” — David Obey, 1996

“Every time Jesus offers an opinion about riches, it is negative. Every time he teaches about the use of wealth, he counsels disciples to give it away.” — Thomas Schmidt, The Midas Trap, 1990

“I can’t stand the pompous among us who complain about welfare. The biggest welfare recipients in the United States are the richest people.” — Larry King, 1995

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