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Should the Left Cheer the Dollar's Drop? How to make the bankers scream: Robert Pollin, world's best obituarist of Clintonomics, explains it all for you. Do police states make people feel safer? Vicente Navarro on Franco's Spain, Cockburn on Ireland in the Fifties under the Catholic Hierarchy, Alevtina Rea on growing up in Brezhnev-time. Capitalism's true utopia? St Clair on the Pentagon's no-bid arms contracts. How's the press doing in Iraq? Patrick Cockburn tells all to Omar Waraich. Get the answers you're looking for in the latest subscriber-only edition of CounterPunch... CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558 |
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Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison by KATHY KELLY  Today's Stories June 4 / 5, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn
June 3, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts Joseph
Massad Jeff
Halper Tom
Barry Bruce
K. Gagnon Joshua
Frank Mickey
Z. Gary
Leupp Website
of the Day
June 2, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts Forrest
Hylton Mike
Whitney Brian
Cloughley Mazin
Qumsiyeh Russell
D. Hoffman Norman
Madarasz Norman
Solomon David
Price Website
of the Day
June 1, 2005 James
Petras Justin
Delacour Edward
Jay Epstein Omar
Barghouti / Lisa Taraki Dave
Lindorff Kevin
Zeese Jason
Leopold William
S. Lind
May 31, 2005 Sen.
Mike Gravel David
Krieger Tad
Daley Joshua
Frank Richard
Gott Norman
Solomon Tom
Segev Walter
Brasch Diana
Johnstone
May 28 / 30, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Richard
Lichtman Sharon
Smith Paul
Craig Roberts Dave
Lindorff Ramzy
Baroud Brian
Cloughley Fred
Gardner Lee
Sustar Joshua
Frank Justin
E.H. Smith Jackie
Corr Michael
Kimaid Toufic
Haddad Justin
Taylor Amir
Butler Ben
Tripp Poets'
Basement
May 27, 2005 Gary
Leupp Daniel
Estulin Kevin
Zeese Robert
Fisk Dave
Zirin Website
of the Day
May 26, 2005 Yuki
Tanaka Ray
McGovern Arthur
Mitzman Jack
Random Britt
Bailey and Brian Tokar Rebecca
Rush Jorge
Mariscal Paul
Craig Roberts Website
of the Day
May 25, 2005 Camilo
Mejia Dave
Lindorff William
S. Lind Chris
Floyd Brian
Cloughley Lenni
Brenner Sean
Cain Karl
Shepard John
Ross Website
of the Day
Dave
Zirin Michele
Bollinger Winslow
Wheeler Uri
Avnery Michael
Donnelly Joshua
Frank Stephen
Dunifer Paul
Craig Roberts
May 23, 2005 Esther
Sassaman / Thomas Nagy Mike
Whitney Ramzy
Baroud Michael
Dickinson Walter
Brasch Dick
J. Reavis Maria
Tomchick Norman
Solomon Kevin
Zeese Website
of the Day
May 21 / 22, 2005 David
H. Price Gabriel
García Márquez Oren
Ben-Dor Gary
Leupp Laith
al-Saud Elaine
Cassel Greg
Moses Fred
Gardner Dave
Lindorff Alan
Maass William
Blum Tom
Crumpacker Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Doug
Giebel Evelyn
J. Pringle Carolyn
Baker Chris
Floyd Frederick
B. Hudson Ben
Tripp Poets'
Basement
May 20, 2005 Dave
Lindorff Kevin
Zeese Paul
de Rooij Christopher
Brauchli Mark
Engler Joshua
Frank Robert
Jensen Jeffery
R. Webber
May 19, 2005 Bill
Forman Stan
Goff Neve
Gordon Michael
Dickinson Karyn
Strickler Andrew
Freedman Paul
Craig Roberts
May 18, 2005 Jean
Bricmont Laura
Carlsen Mike
Whitney Joshua
Frank George
Galloway Manuel
Garcia, Jr. Dwight
D. Eisenhower Dave
Lindorff
May 17, 2005 Mickey
Z. Petuuche
Gilbert Paul
Craig Roberts Ramzy
Baroud Robert
Jensen / Pat Youngblood Stan
Cox Dave
Zirin Diana
Barahona Website
of the Day
May 16, 2005 Michael
Gillespie Jason
Leopold Jesse
Muldoon Norman
Solomon Robert
Cray Patrick
Cockburn Website
of the Day
May 14 / 15, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Saul
Landau Gary
Leupp JoAnn
Wypijewski Ben
Tripp Brian
J. Foley Tom
Barry Mitchell
Verter Mike
Ferner Dan
Smith Mark
Scaramella Don
Fitz Diane
Farsetta Michael
Dickinson Ron
Jacobs Fred
Gardner Farrah
Hassen Douglas
Valentine Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
May 13, 2005 Tom
Stephens Patrick
Cockburn Mike
Whitney Chris
Floyd Jenna
Orkin Dave
Lindorff Joshua
Frank Website
of the Day
May 12, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts Uri
Avnery Greg
Moses Carolyn
Baker Pat
Williams William
S. Lind Jack
Random Gary
Leupp
May 11, 2005 Patrick
Cockburn Kevin
Zeese Christopher
Brauchli Zalman
Amit Robert
Shull Mike
Whitney Dr.
Teresa Whitehurst Norman
Solomon
May 10, 2005 Richard
Drayton Dave
Zirin Jackie
Corr Dave
Lindorff Michael
Donnelly Reza
Fiyouzat Scott
Parkin Stephen
Babcock Alan
Farago Michael
Neumann Website
of the Day
May 9, 2005 Louis
Proyect Robert
Fisk Kevin
Zeese Joshua
Frank Sasha
Kramer Andrew
Wimmer Jeffrey
Webber Jeffrey
St. Clair
May 7 / 8, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Gary
Leupp Saul
Landau Joe
DeRaymond Daniela
Ponce Heather
Williams Gregory
Elich Anis
Memon John
Chuckman Mike
Whitney Ron
Jacobs Colin
Kalmbacher Lance
Selfa Fred
Gardner Ben
Tripp Mickey
Z. Richard
Joseph Dr.
Susan Block Poets'
Basement
May 6, 2005 Patrick
Cockburn Erin
Yoshioka Sam
Husseini Dave
Lindorff Kevin
Zeese Joshua
Frank Dan
Bacher P.
Sainath
May 5, 2005 Carles
Mutaner Carl
G. Estabrook Farrah
Hassen Kevin
Zeese Michael
Leonardi Bennett
Ramberg Ray
McGovern Norman
Solomon Nicole
Colson Brian
Concannon, Jr.
May 4, 2005 Colin
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Walsh Greg
Moses Ali
Khan Chris
Floyd Linda
S. Heard Dave
Zirin William
S. Lind Gary
Leupp Website
of the Day
May 3, 2005 Dave
Lindorff Brian
Cloughley Ira
Kurzban Seth
Sandronsky Gilad
Atzmon Michael
Donnelly Alex
Sanchez Peter
Linebaugh
May 2, 2005 Ron
Jacobs Stan
Goff Karyn
Strickler Joshua
Frank Kevin
Zeese Vicente
Navarro
April 30 / May 1, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Gabriel
Kolko Jennifer
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Frank Doug
Giebel Steven
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Taylor Poets
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Weekend Edition When Shame SurfacesWelcome to the Third WorldBy REZA FIYOUZAT Caveat absurdus: This is intended for those who will never read it. It is a sad truth these days that most of the leftists who, in their conversations, writings, speeches, and actions, express outrage at the current state of world affairs, most likely go unheard by those who matter most: the greater public. They are heard mainly by either the 'converted' or the 'choir'. There are of course some occasional church-goers who barely hear anything anymore, but who nonetheless still consider themselves devout. However, by now their cynicism has gotten the better of them, and as they walk past the church more frequently than they attend, they can smirk to themselves in contempt, just as would Benjamin, that old donkey in that story of animals gone wild, as told by Mr. Orwell. 'What use is caring when the world is so fucked?' they expound loudly. 'What use is a brain when so thoroughly bunked?' we ponder back, not too proudly. American and British, as well as Australian friends, colleagues, fellow humans, I do not wish to speak harshly because your governments, since we are non-Israeli Middle Easterners, take the liberty of slaughtering us indiscriminately in our streets, at our weddings, in our schools, in our ambulances, in our homes, and even in our places of worship. No. No such thing is my wish. I know you are tired, and I know you have been worked to a comatose state. When you get home, I sympathize that you prefer not to engage in discussions that may turn out depressing, and that you instead would prefer to forget and hook yourselves up to that TV tube, the box, or that screen that says, 'You've got mail! Workday ain't over!' If I speak at all, it is only to point out that things are tightening around your neck. I mean you well yet fear for you, just as much as I fear the outcome of what you may fail to do: protect yourself. It is your safety I pray for, so that from the safety thus saved, eventually you may throw a rope to others and find your full humanity in doing so; so that you can breathe freely again. You see, we do not really need the helping hand you may offer, although any help goes a long way these days. We, like you now, but for longer, have lived with the noose and have learned a thing or two about struggling against its restraints. No earth shattering lessons, nor any magical one-key-fits-all kind of secret to report, though. Simple persistence and an unending effort to learn more, to critique, and to better articulate your humanity; those shall be your best friends in these times of deeply troubling woes. So, yes, if I speak it is not to besiege you with pleas for help, or handouts, or God forbid that you should quit your job and become a revolutionary and take to the jungles. That would be very stupid indeed. No; nothing of the sort. I mean not to disturb. However, there are things that you still can do. Here are some 'for-examples'. For example People who have worked in the US Congressional Offices inform me of certain key trivia that may come in handy. They tell me that every call a representative or senator receives regarding any issue counts for about five to ten, fifteen thousand calls, depending on the issue and the office; we may be off on the numbers here, and anybody who knows the exact numbers please enlighten us; but the main point is not in the quantities, but the quality of impact such an act produces in the hearts and minds of the people upstairs. As in, they know that, for every one caller who bothers to call, that many thousands of people are having the same concern. So, those in the crowds of the 'converted' and the 'choir' then? Are we practicing our faith? (Am I speaking too loudly?) Those who do know, what are they doing? It is very easy to take down this despicable screen separating the naked boy-President behind it from the public eye. It is really not a difficult thing to show to the people in the US how much worse their lives are compared to, say, thirty years ago. People have eyes. They have parents who bought houses with twentieth of the income of their kids. People know they cannot afford to buy as much with seemingly higher wages. They see their streets, hospitals, schools and neighborhoods in neglect and disrepair. Forty million people know they have no access to healthcare. We are told twelve million families in the US know that the likelihood of their next meals is in deep, anxiety-ridden, stomach-lining-eating doubt. People see that a new form of jobless 'recovery' is being sold as the norm to be expected. In short, people know they are being shafted. They just hope to hell that it ain't so! But it is. And, people will eventually see that it is. So, this other shoe too will drop. But when it does, how much work have we (the people who know) done to make the other shoe drop? You see, it does matter, because, when the realization does hit, it will be anybody's game to package it, explain it, and thus give some direction and articulation to actions taken (or not) by the public. So, the second shoe that will have to drop will do so in a favorable place or not depending on how much work is done by the people in the know. In other words, when people finally realize that unless they fight back they will get increasingly shafted, how and in what fashion they will fight will depend on how much work we do now to bring about that realization. In a situation where the organized force of the rulers is so immense, and where so much of the means of ideological production is concentrated in their hands, the game will be lost very quickly (as is manifest right now) if we do nothing and let things take their 'natural' course. There is always a tendency that moans, "Maybe things need to get worse for people to act!" Well, maybe yes, maybe no. First, people are just as likely to fight back now rather than later. Second, as things get worse, the conditions for fighting back too get worse. It does make a difference whether or not you can legally do certain things. The more things you can do legally, obviously the better are the conditions for fighting back. The point here is that we are part of the 'natural' course history takes. What we do will change the course of events. And if we do nothing, that too will change the course of events, but to our further disadvantage. I must admit to having masochistic tendencies. It comes with wearing the noose. One such tendency is to follow the right wing press and ideologues; like, The Economist and Rush, just to name two. Listeners to Rush Limbaugh know his oft repeated saying that it took only a third of the population of the colonies to pull off the revolution that led to the independence of the United States of America. I am not a historian so can't disagree, but it makes sense; I am told that it took the French about the same number of people to carry the French Revolution. Now, I don't expect you to pull off a revolution. Revolutions instigated by half-sleepy people are dangerous affairs. In fact, the current right wing crusade in the US is the revolution of the half-sleepy. So, there is a range available, from the low cost telephone calls/emails to representatives in the Congress, to the highest cost of an all-out social revolution. But, there are also things in between which are still revolutionary. Why, for example, are we not acting like the Wobblies? Why aren't we over-packing their jails at every opportunity? 'Wo, wo, wo,' I hear you say. 'Hold it there, buddy! That's getting a bit too harsh and way too revolutionary, already!' I hear you. You are right. I'll hold my tongue. I was merely pointing out that we need not re-invent the wheel, should it get to that point. It has been demonstrated clearly and repeatedly what it takes in the USA to show you're pissed off. If cramming their jails is too harsh, well, why are we not jamming their phone lines and email inboxes? That costs so very little in time, or effort. Or, how about this? Forget about organizing others, or with others. You, the one singular person, can make a difference; a big difference for your own sense of humanity, as well as for spreading the outrage. And all you need to do is hold up pictures of tortured Iraqis, or tortured Americans for that matter. This can be done even on your trips between Starbucks and MacDonald's. And it costs very little. Singular individuals can stand on street crossings, for fifteen minutes a day _ OK, how about, fifteen minutes every two or three days? Once a week? For those who would like to take that one step beyond the individual, why not coordinate with a singular other friend. Or, you can pool with a few friends, and do the same in shifts. But, why do I have to resort to such utilitarian language to 'motivate' you to do something? It distresses us to no end when, at every turn of any given day's twists and turns, we are forbidden to even bring up certain topics in our conversations with you. Why have things gotten to such a point where asking you to exhibit human conscience is taken to be 'dragging things down', or 'ruining our dinner' or else made out to be some 'bother' or a 'nag'? I know the cynical answer: "It's not my house that's on fire," you say. But, the point, again, is that your house is on fire. Maybe you haven't smelled the smoke yet. But we can clearly see the fire. Your neighbor's house is on fire, too; see? In fact your entire neighborhood is on fire; has been for a while. See your neighbor's little girl running out of the house and into the street? She knows. I know a good many decent American people, who on the day the Twin Towers were crumbling down, bringing an entire historical era down with them, were freaking out so horribly, it seemed like their own personal lives and worlds had just been shattered to pieces and their entire families lost in the rubble of the Twin Towers, even though they were thousands of miles away from all the carnage, and had not a single friend or relative anywhere near any of the terror sights. The American imagination must have been well-trained in believing that 'it' only happened to others! Nonetheless, the same Americans seem so cold and distant, unconcerned and for the most part very willingly ignorant about hundreds of thousands of non-Americans' lives being taken by their armed forces. But to bring that up in a conversation is to 'ruin the mood'. Some of us, foolishly it seems, hoped that maybe a truer window into the pains of humanity will be opened into American hearts and minds after the September 11, 2001 massacres. The imagination needed to see the deeper sources of pain failed, alas! And here we are not talking about the far left of the American life. We are talking about all the millions upon millions of hard working men and women, whose entire lives are eaten up by this giant capitalist machinery, who pay the taxes that uphold the public end of this system creating war after war, and who do possess the power to shake off this giant leech, yet feel powerless and so continue to be bilked. The existential reality for most of the US citizens is that their really existing life conditions are fast approaching a Third World standard. And yet, most Americans continue to believe they are living in the land of Number One. Thanks to the diligent efforts of hard leftist writers, activists and organizations we are now well aware of the perilous state of civil rights of individuals in the US. We are also equally and painfully aware of the bagging of the US government by the tiniest possible cliques. We are likewise provided ample documentation to the effect that Halliburton, Bechtel, and a very few other militaristically-inclined corporations are receiving the lion's share of all the profits being made from illegal and entirely unprovoked wars of aggression (crony capitalism is the name for it). All of these are fundamental characteristics of despotic, corrupt Third World dictatorships. 'USA Number One'? Hardly! 'Protector of liberty, democracy and human right'? Please!! Supremely disgusting are the Human Rights Reports (with big, capital R's) coming out of Washington DC these days. The most despicable human rights violators around the globe can hardly wait for the release of the latest such, just like we wait for the Daily Show, just so they can fall to the floor in stitches, in delirium over the audacity alone. What is truly disgusting is exactly the farce that has been made of 'human rights'. Go talk to the Palestinians, the Iraqis or the Afghans about such things. How about stopping the rape to begin with? Forget about the other niceties. Habeas corpus? (Schmabeas what?) So, brutes run most lands equally brutally these days, and the only cynical 'silver lining' is that more than a few of us supposedly deranged Third World lesser peoples can smirk in disgusting irony at the US population as more and more of their rights are stolen while they are, unhappily and neurotically in fact, fixed to Reality TV, a Monday Night game, or a sitcom. Some Europeans may consider themselves eligible to indulge in 'better than thou' rhetoric, but the grass, greener though it may seem, is not that much greener over there, either. On the day the world came tumbling down, on Nine-Eleven, as it is called, I told a friend (did I say it out loud, or did I say it in my head; since I never got a reply, can't tell to this day): "See how fucked up that is? This is the most horrific crime! It is despicable! How could anybody do such a thing? It is sick, isn't it? But, what if they do it again? I mean, like, what if they can? Like, they come back tomorrow and hit another city, say, Chicago. Then they come back again the next day and hit San Francisco, then Seattle, then Los Angeles. What if they do that every day, and hit different cities simultaneously? What if they start telling us that we should overthrow the American government, or else they will come back and hit other targets, to be chosen at their own discretion, and will do so again and again until we overthrow our government? What if they keep coming back week after week, month after month? What if we can't stop them, and they just keep coming back? What if they start announcing their attacks in their newspapers after a while? What if they start discussing in their legislature the scheduling and the tonnage of the bombs they plan to drop on us? What if their scientists start getting prizes for improving the lethality of the bombs they drop on us? Where will we hide our children? Our mothers? Our sisters and brothers and fathers and grandparents? Where can we go? What can we do? How should we fight back?" But, maybe I was digressing. Maybe I was talking about what the US Armed Forces and a good chunk of the civil society did to Vietnam (and to Iraq). Maybe shame did find its way up to the surface, and hence the silence. But, your silence is not what we want. We, as much as you, need your boisterousness. Your loud demands are what we seek. Be loud. Be strong and unafraid, and be prepared for they are coming for you. They are, in fact, already there. Welcome to the Third World. Reza Fiyouzat can be reached at: rfaze@gol.com
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