A loaded weapon
Threatens all of our safety.
Showing posts with label weapon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weapon. Show all posts
26 December 2018
07 December 2016
on American imperialism
This author rejects the notion of American exceptionalism. Having read repeatedly the nation’s founding documents, the Constitution and the Declaration, he finds in neither of the two texts cause or justification for imperial ambitions. America was not founded as an empire, and yet it is an empire, today. America exhibits sicknesses and discrepancies similar to those found in previous empires: we spend the lion’s share of our budget on keeping and expanding foreign corporate holdings - most often through aggressive war-making - whilst neglecting our domestic economy and infrastructure, allowing them to crumble; we curtail free speech and civil rights at home whilst paying them lip-service abroad; we imagine ourselves mighty because we had the unthinkable gall to use nuclear weapons in anger yet fail to understand that such brazen and inhuman acts compel other nations to arm themselves similarly; we call for the prosecution of foreign leaders who willingly committed crimes against humanity yet hold our own leaders (e.g. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld) exempt from such prosecution even though our own crimes dwarf those of others; we topple legally elected foreign leaders in favor of violent thugs trained by us to subjugate and torture their own people in order to maintain and protect American corporate profits.
Not one of the deplorable conditions mentioned above is called for in the Constitution, this nation’s supposedly highest code of laws, wherefore these conditions are unconstitutional, unjust, and forbidden. There is no justification for America’s imperial ambitions; our acts of war in the interest of short-term corporate profit making violate the Constitutional directives, wherefore they must stop. The America of which we collectively dream - that place where all persons are created equal, where the government acts to protect the Life, Liberty, and Property of all persons instead of merely the financial gains of artificial, immortal entities - that America does not now exist, nor has it ever. We pathetic citizens who demand a return to traditional constitutional values are being ignored, laughed at, and brutally silenced. Woe be unto this nation. Forgive us, world, for we knew what terrible things we were doing, and did them anyway.
© JPR / whorphan / americanifesto / 場黑
Not one of the deplorable conditions mentioned above is called for in the Constitution, this nation’s supposedly highest code of laws, wherefore these conditions are unconstitutional, unjust, and forbidden. There is no justification for America’s imperial ambitions; our acts of war in the interest of short-term corporate profit making violate the Constitutional directives, wherefore they must stop. The America of which we collectively dream - that place where all persons are created equal, where the government acts to protect the Life, Liberty, and Property of all persons instead of merely the financial gains of artificial, immortal entities - that America does not now exist, nor has it ever. We pathetic citizens who demand a return to traditional constitutional values are being ignored, laughed at, and brutally silenced. Woe be unto this nation. Forgive us, world, for we knew what terrible things we were doing, and did them anyway.
© JPR / whorphan / americanifesto / 場黑
14 December 2012
the accusative you
A specter is haunting the tongue of the modern English speaker – that shadowy, pervasive, accusative You! Upon listening closely to how people speak – especially to persons who are inebriated, or speaking passionately – one will soon understand I am talking about. And if one should find oneself being interviewed or facing the opportunity of speaking on a topic with which one is familiar, the first thing one is likely to do is to begin using You in the accusative form. (I do not even know if the usage to which I refer is called the accusative, but I think it sounds best.) What the deuce am I talking about? Well, here goes.
Imagine a friend is talking about a driver who cut him off while he had been driving home from work. “Why the fuck did you do that!” he will likely scream, his hands thrusting forward in supplicating fashion, his shoulders hunched and his eyebrows climbing. “How could you be so stupid as to pull out in front of me when I clearly had the right of way and too much momentum to stop within a safe distance?” In all likelihood, he will be making eye-contact with and pointing to the person to whom he is speaking, even though that person neither cut him off nor compelled the offender – the third party – to pull out in front of him. More likely than not, this agitated friend will proceed to draw analogies to other instances in the recent past when he felt slighted, offended, overlooked, or wronged; he will begin to whine about this policy decision or that stupid regulation, saying things such as “Why would you build a road here when over there is better” or “You're not going to get those guys to end their uranium enrichment program using sanctions alone.” And all this time, there will be a tiny little voice sounding in the head of the person listening patiently to his friend – less a voice, actually, than a deep, subconscious Knowing – that wants to grab the friend by the scruff of his neck, shake him, and say to him, “You fucking asshole! I didn't do these things – I didn't cut you off or enrich that uranium or pass that bill or tell that girl to dump you! Yes, yes, I know that you – and I'm talking to you directly, not to a fictitious third party who cannot hear you speaking – I know that you are talking about someone else, and I know that I'm supposed to understand this and not take your accusative tone and pointing fingers and rising anger personally, that I am supposed to remember that you use You when talking about Them even though you should be using They, Them, of Those Guys. Deep down, I know these things, but still, bro, come on, be disciplined when speaking.”
Yes, discipline – discipline is what is lacking in our society, as well as the patience to choose our words carefully and to think before we speak. It is not hard to acquire these things: all it takes is a bit less time spent watching television and a bit more time – starting with fifteen minutes each day – spent reading something such as The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. (This book is available in any public library worth its salt.) I am convinced that the surest way to mend the tattered remnants of fair Liberty's cloak, that the quickest way to regain mutual respect for one other, is to stop using the accusative You when we are speaking about people who are not present. For too long have we unwittingly taken responsibility for the actions of other people; for too long have we unknowingly allowed ourselves to be blamed for the shortcomings, failures, and mistakes of people we have likely never met. Speech is one of our most powerful weapons; words are weightier than the sharpest sword; and the sooner we learn to use these tools wisely, the better off we all shall be. Check your tongue and mark my writing, or all too soon we're back to fighting. Mahalo.
mentiri factorem fecit © 場黑麥
Imagine a friend is talking about a driver who cut him off while he had been driving home from work. “Why the fuck did you do that!” he will likely scream, his hands thrusting forward in supplicating fashion, his shoulders hunched and his eyebrows climbing. “How could you be so stupid as to pull out in front of me when I clearly had the right of way and too much momentum to stop within a safe distance?” In all likelihood, he will be making eye-contact with and pointing to the person to whom he is speaking, even though that person neither cut him off nor compelled the offender – the third party – to pull out in front of him. More likely than not, this agitated friend will proceed to draw analogies to other instances in the recent past when he felt slighted, offended, overlooked, or wronged; he will begin to whine about this policy decision or that stupid regulation, saying things such as “Why would you build a road here when over there is better” or “You're not going to get those guys to end their uranium enrichment program using sanctions alone.” And all this time, there will be a tiny little voice sounding in the head of the person listening patiently to his friend – less a voice, actually, than a deep, subconscious Knowing – that wants to grab the friend by the scruff of his neck, shake him, and say to him, “You fucking asshole! I didn't do these things – I didn't cut you off or enrich that uranium or pass that bill or tell that girl to dump you! Yes, yes, I know that you – and I'm talking to you directly, not to a fictitious third party who cannot hear you speaking – I know that you are talking about someone else, and I know that I'm supposed to understand this and not take your accusative tone and pointing fingers and rising anger personally, that I am supposed to remember that you use You when talking about Them even though you should be using They, Them, of Those Guys. Deep down, I know these things, but still, bro, come on, be disciplined when speaking.”
Yes, discipline – discipline is what is lacking in our society, as well as the patience to choose our words carefully and to think before we speak. It is not hard to acquire these things: all it takes is a bit less time spent watching television and a bit more time – starting with fifteen minutes each day – spent reading something such as The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. (This book is available in any public library worth its salt.) I am convinced that the surest way to mend the tattered remnants of fair Liberty's cloak, that the quickest way to regain mutual respect for one other, is to stop using the accusative You when we are speaking about people who are not present. For too long have we unwittingly taken responsibility for the actions of other people; for too long have we unknowingly allowed ourselves to be blamed for the shortcomings, failures, and mistakes of people we have likely never met. Speech is one of our most powerful weapons; words are weightier than the sharpest sword; and the sooner we learn to use these tools wisely, the better off we all shall be. Check your tongue and mark my writing, or all too soon we're back to fighting. Mahalo.
mentiri factorem fecit © 場黑麥
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