Nothing But Fear

"Only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Thank you, FDR. Fear is immobilizing, as proven by my lack of posting for over a month, and more importantly, as proven by the vast majority of the American people who do nothing in response to the Bush administration's lies and misdeeds.

Everyone should read Reza Aslan, or at least a somewhat recent interview The SUN in which he speaks of the misinformation served up by the corporate media and the Bush administration about their war on terror that American citizens eat up like the good consumers they are.

There is almost constant dialogue in mainstream Mongolian media about the corruption in the Mongolian government; less is found there about the corruption in the education system, which is also rampant. We hear so little of this dialogue in American media, independent or corporate. (I check a variety of media on a regular basis and you just don’t find the word "corruption".) Though Mongolian journalism has a slight yellow hue––okay, okay, it's tone is quite conflamatory and condemning and it is not terribly objective. At least it’s not ignoring the elephant in the room. Although the work being done to fight corruption is not terribly effective, at least there is awareness and dialogue. Isn't that better that self-imposed ignorance?

In Aslan’s interview with The SUN he talks about how there currently is no leisure class in Iran to even think about fomenting a revolution against the ruling clerics. This reminds me so much of Mongolia where the average person has to scrape together a living however they can and so many people are scavenging from trash heaps. The ruling capitalism-worshipers care only for their own bank accounts and can’t be bothered to do what’s right; they do nothing to make the much-needed reforms.

You can download the complete interview from The SUN's web site. Better yet, buy a back issue, or hell, get an annual subscription.

Comments

[Gina]

Dear Lisa,
I am so sorry that you are feeling fear. It is so true what you say about American media. I don't know how much we can generalize about the American people. The last election showed that we are not what the government portrays us to be. I think the Internet is proving to be a very powerful medium that the powers-that-be would like control of ASAP.
I recommend www.commondreams.org as a place to get good reporting by responsible, dedicated and independent reporters. My friend Jeff Cohen being one of the finest.
In solidarity,
Gina