[Dialogue] Food for thought and action

[Chagnon@comcast.net]

Lucille Tessier Chagnon here.

Colleagues,   
   For most of my 69 years, I have taught everything from 3rd grade through high school  to underprepared college students to graduate and undergraduate courses.  And I am more and more convinced that most adult Americans have been schooled to sit down and listen, but not to think critically.  
   What is missing in mainstream America has nothing to do with political, academic, or religious affiliation.  It has to do with living with eyes wide open and courageous spirit that dares to question those in power, from professors to principals to priests to popes to presidents to publishers.  And I am not talking about direct questioning, which leads to defensiveness, but about consciousness raising that elevates and broadens the level of public discourse and ultimately gives voice at the ballot box to the docile, the voiceless, and the disenfranchised: a Movement of the Spirit...
   Following the four quotes below is the URL for a long summary, by one Jason Miller, of where America is today.  It's Miller's personal witness to the question that haunts all of us:  What can we do to be effective against such a powerful coalition of corporate interest, political power, military might, subservient media, and blind dogma.  I believe we have choices far beyond those he suggests, and I welcome suggestions about how I personally can more effectively join forces with what any of you, my Spirit colleagues, are doing. 
    The URL for Miller's lengthy piece is after the quotes and the summary paragraph.  Read on or delete.  Your choice.
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"In the councils of Government, we must guard against the acquisition of
unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the Military
Industrial Complex.. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced
power exists, and will persist. We must never let the weight of this
combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take
nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel
the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense
with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper
together."  President Dwight Eisenhower - January 1961

"If we do go to war, psychological operations are going to be absolutely a 
critical, critical part of any campaign that we must get involved in."  General 
H. Norman Schwarzkopf

"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist. Then they came for the socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.  Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me."   Martin Niemoeller, German Lutheran pastor who opposed Hitler in the 1930s

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come 
to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can 
shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of 
the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its 
powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and 
thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."  Joseph Goebbels, 1897-1945, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda 
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Surrender is not an Option        by Jason Miller 
Propaganda disguised as news in the mainstream media has manipulated the 
thoughts and opinions of many Americans for years. Corporations spend billions 
each year on advertising to ensure the perpetuation of Americans' obsession with 
gluttonous over-consumption, narcissistic worship of wealth and external beauty, 
and belief that amoral behemoths like Wal-Mart are benevolent pillars of 
"America's values"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10648.htm