Nothing New Under the Sun

Ecclesiastes 1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

A country at war. The administration first vowing not to enter a war and then becoming very defensive and insecure, and therefore needing a consensus by any means. Thousands of Americans sent overseas to fight for "democracy." Rich Americans profiting from the deaths of civilians. Dissidents being discredited and followed. Opposition being squashed through the jailing of protestors. The protestors being held at an isolated island without the right to contact family, friends, or counsel. Political officials spying on foreign-born radicals. A search in a democratic country being performed without warrants. Acts being enacted to keep Americans from speaking their minds. One or two catchphrases being used to strike fear into the hearts of many citizens.

The year is 2006. Or is it?

It is not.

The introduction of this blog perfectly describes the days and times we are living in now.

President Bush, after saying that we were only going to bomb Afghanistan, has kept us in a war for years without an end in sight. Cheney and his Halliburton cohorts have profited mightily over the thousands of deaths of U.S. military and Iraqi civilians. On our homeland, people are afraid to speak out against the war or the administration. Anyone who is deemed suspicious, for whatever reason, is liable to be jailed. People who have been accused of associating with "terrorists" are being held at Guantanamo Bay without the right of a fair trial or even lawyers. Anyone with a last name that looks remotely Muslim, or anyone who appears to be of Middle Eastern descent is searched at airports. The Patriot Act was passed giving the government the right to spy on you and deny you your basic civil rights. "Terrorist" and "insurgent" are words that are spat from the mouths of politicians in order to keep the American public in fear.

Yet, all of these situations were presented to me during a documentary about Emma Goldman, the famous Russian American anarchist. She did not live in the new millennium. No, she lived in the old one.

The first paragraph describes America during the years of 1916 through 1920. I was not referring to pResident (no, that's not a typo) Bush. I was referring to Woodrow Wilson. I was not referring to Operation Freedom (or whatever it's being called now). I was referring to World War I. I wasn't referring to Cheney and Halliburton. I was referring to John D. Rockefeller and his friends. The people who are afraid to say all the right things at the wrong times are us. (Don't act like you ain't never been online and had to erase something because, "I ain't gonna give them a reason to get my ass!") I wasn't talking about random Middle Easterners or those who supposedly have ties to Al Queada. I was talking about Russian, Italian, German, and Irish immigrants who weren't being held at Guantanamo Bay. They were being held at Ellis Island, and they too were not given due process in accordance with the laws of this country. The raids in this case had a name; the Palmer Raids, during which time, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer stated, "I believe, with these raids, the backbone of the radical movement has been broken." I wasn't talking about the Patriot Act. I was talking about the Espionage Act of 1916, which mandated prison terms for those who "obstructed the draft," and the Sedition Act of 1917, which threatened expulsion to foreign-born radicals. And I wasn't talking about "terrorists" or "insurgents." I was talking about "reds" and "anarchists."

So you see, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

As I watched this documentary, I felt the same chills down my back as I had felt when I first read Malcolm X's prolific speech, "The Ballot or the Bullet" which was given right before the presidential elections of 1964. I happened to have read it on the night that George W. Bush "won" his second bid for the presidency exactly 40 years later. During this speech, Brother Malcolm said, "America is just as much a colonial power as England ever was. America is just as much a colonial power as France ever was. In fact, America is more so a colonial power than they because she's a hypocritical colonial power behind it." (He also spoke another one of my favorite quotes from him in this speech, "Anytime you live in the twentieth century, 1964, and you walkin' around here singing "We Shall Overcome," the government has failed us. This is part of what's wrong with you -- you do too much singing. Today it's time to stop singing and start swinging. You can't sing up on freedom, but you can swing up on some freedom." LOVE THAT QUOTE!!!)

It's the same feeling I got the first time I really listened to Stevie Wonder's song, "You Haven't Done Nothing," which was a scathing commentary on Nixon released in 1974. However, with the lyrics, "We are amazed but not amused by all the things you say that you do. Though much concerned but not involved with decisions that are made by you………It's not too cool to be ridiculed but you brought this upon yourself. The world is tired of pacifiers; we want the truth and nothing else. And we are sick and tired of hearing your song, telling us how you'll change right from wrong. Cause if you really wanna hear our views, you haven't done nothing!"

Can the Jackson 5 please join me right here?!? (Listen to the song, you'll get it.)

Now, the old Black folks used to say, "when you know better, you do better." Well, what the hell is wrong with American leadership? Everything that is happening now, has happened before. Two or three times before! Why haven't we learned our lessons? Why hasn't the American public learned its lesson? Remember McCarthyism? Well, now it's just Rumsfeldism. Instead of some country in Europe, it's Iraq. Instead of Wilson, it's Bush. They're all just replacements. Same script, different cast. So, if this has happened before, why haven't we learned from our mistakes? Or why haven't we at least learned how to spot a lie?

You know what I think. I think it boils down to one Bible verse found at 1 Timothy 6:10, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."



"As an anarchist, I am opposed to violence. But if people want to do away with assassins, they must first do away with the conditions that produce murderers." –Emma Goldman

"If America had entered the war to make the world safe for democracy, she must first make democracy safe in America." –Emma Goldman