Inauguration 2005: Beyond Bush - Beyond the System
Why we should protest the entire system on January 20th: not just George W. Bush
It's hard to believe that George W. Bush won the election. Was it stolen? Did he some how rig the results? How could anyone vote for him, much less the majority of voters? From a disastrous war based on lies to an economic meltdown that is leaving thousands unemployed, the entire nation is traumatized. Not only by the events of September 11th, but by the constant state of war, growing fear, and encroaching poverty that transforms the American dream into one long, reoccurring nightmare. What's next? Four more years in office, four more years of disaster.
George W. Bush's biggest flaw is that he exposes the system for what it is. He is more transparent than past presidents, revealing the U.S government's mission to take over the world through deception and murder. The Bush Administration's policies reflect their total disregard for people here at home; whose money and labor they steal to fuel the wars the government launches. They are dependent on the people, to provide these services willingly, accepting it as the American way of life. George W. Bush is just the latest face, perpetuating what the United States government has been based on from the start, and what all governments have been based on since the beginning of civilization; murder, slavery, rape, colonization, war, genocide, inequality and greed.
The majority of the country hates Bush for the destruction and suffering he has caused. We hate the war, the cuts in funding for schools and libraries, the corporate interests he serves, the destruction of the environment, the 500,000 jobs that have been lost since 9/11? Clearly his actions are not in the interest of the people, but deep down we also know that had John Kerry been elected, he wouldn't have been any better. He would have sent more kids to die in Iraq, served the same corporate interests propping up the same rich elite, destroying our environment in the name of progress and production.
This is nothing new! What we really hate is the system that both Bush and Kerry represent!
A system maintained by: The racist and anti-poor police, the lies told by politicians everywhere, the Mayor's who serve corporate interests over public needs, big companies and banks development projects that overrun local businesses and communities, the schools that teach our children a false history and to be good, subservient workers, while failing to allow creative freedom, or offering the inspiration they need to avoid a life of drug addiction and poverty or of over-consumption and selfishness.
Their System, Their Rules
We call it a system because it is like a highly structured machine, perpetually running, but reliant on the people's complacency. People continue to participate in the system, working under someone else's orders either because they believe they are working toward "success", or they have no other choice but to work a monotonous, low income job in order to stay afloat in this society.
Some people are afraid of other social or political structures and cultures, because the government, in their efforts to dominate and exploit other countries have painted them as threats: "terrorist", "communist", or "in need of democracy". As long as people remain blindly patriotic, and look to their leaders for protection, the government can ride smoothly, guiding the country in any direction they choose. Every president and government plays the same role, making policies and cutting deals that benefit corporations, and the rich minority, at the expense of the people, who keep the system running.
This frame work of who makes decisions, whose interests are served, and who benefits in the end, can not be changed from the inside. Even the rare politician who actually cares about the people he controls, is obligated to those with the most power and money, and is perpetuating this corruption simply by his position in the structure of hierarchy.
Fueled by mass consumption, production, exploitation, and destruction, this system is inevitably unsustainable and self corroding. Our entire society is about to blow up in our all of our faces. Around half a million children are sexually or physically abused each year. Homelessness, poverty, homophobia, environmental devastation, sexual assault, domestic violence and the many other horrors that are prevalent in our society, will not change, nor will our accompanying social values change if or when we usher a new face into the White House.
And while it seems simplistic, even cliche, to blame all of this on "the System," we cannot ignore its role in perpetuating these problems, which are largely based on notions of hierarchy and power. Indeed, capitalism and its adherents thrive on our system of exploitation and inequality, to the point that many of these problems have become an accepted part of the world we live in.
Yes, Bush definitely did some irreversible damage, and his administration's policies are especially horrendous, but one doesn't need to look far to see that Bush's policies are just a continuation of those who came before him. Keep in mind that the war on Iraq was waged by the Clinton administration throughout the 90's in the form of economic sanctions. These atrocities go back to Nixon, McKinley, Jefferson, all the way back to Christopher Columbus. First, this government was not designed by and for "the people" it was designed by rich slave-owners who shared interest with British aristocrats. This group of white men used the language of liberation to fool people into believing in their set of rules and values.
The system that was established by the colonists is the same system that today evicts poor black families to the streets while building stadiums and condos for the wealthy. It is the same system that arrests and deports Latino immigrants who seek work and asylum from the Maquilladoras (sweatshops) U.S. companies have established on their border. It is the same system that moved union jobs to low-wage countries and left people cities like Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, and Gary in a trap of poverty and drug addiction. It is the same system that killed 100,000 Iraqis in 1991 and 4 million Vietnamese from 1965-1973. It is the same system that finds racist cops innocent when they murder or beat people of color. It is the same system that keeps heroin addicts inside of prisons or left to dye in the streets instead of helping them get back on their feet.
We need to stop pretending that this country was founded on principals of justice and freedom because it simply was not. Through out our education we are delivered sensationalized stories of pilgrims, and colonists, war heroes and patriots, cowboys and "revolutionaries," brave in their struggle and victorious, defending the "land of the free." They teach us this version because if we knew the real story of our history the notion to rebel would be inherent.
To understand our history is to understand why a few individuals can escape from poverty but the poor as a whole always remain. It is to understand a history of murder, slavery, war, and greed.
From Slavery to Day-Labor
This country was built by the free-labor of slaves. These people were forced to work the land that was stolen from native people who were murdered by the slave-owners. The constitution, bill of rights, and entire structure for the United States government was written by rich slave owners. They then formed a hierarchical network and placed themselves in high positions of power within it, so as to remain in control of people economically below them. This is what our government is.
Slave-owners had the same mindset that we currently find in sweatshop owners and day-labor outfits. The worker is economically impoverished to a point where they must accept any job offered. The differences between slavery and slave labor today are minimal. Slaves we're fed and housed by the master, and beaten. Similarly, sweatshop workers and day-laborers are paid barely enough to eat and afford rent, and are worked to the point of physical exhaustion and injury. Both are disposable, exploitable, and predominantly non-white.
Ex-slaves did not go on to rise from poverty and lead lives of happiness. Actually, many remained enslaved because their master's refused to emancipate them. The government, by the same token turned its head and ignored that people we're still enslaved. The ancestors of these slaves still remain some of the poorest people in this country and fill the prisons. The courts and police facilitate this cycle of racism, deception and violence.
From Colonization to Free Trade
Latino immigrants who come to this country are almost immediately forced into a life of poverty. Many of these people come here seeking work, fleeing the harsh cycle of poverty they faced in their home countries. Their ancestors were also enslaved and murdered by colonists who stole land from native people. Columbus destroyed the entire native population of Haiti and Cuba through slavery and genocide. The Spanish Conquistadors invaded Central and South America and made with war with every people they encountered.
Today, the same basic structure is in place in Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Wealthy land-owners and politicians provide U.S. and European companies with endless amounts of resources and security at the expense of the people. These companies do whatever they please, lowering worker's wages, stealing trees, land, and water, and evicting people from their homes. They also use their wealth and power to put the people that help them into government offices. The governments of these countries return the favor by having labor leaders murdered by death squads and opposition movements crushed by the army and police. Throughout history the CIA and other U.S. forces have directly participated in the overthrow of governments that opposed their economic and political system.
Just as Cortez and Columbus invaded and stole the land and culture of the natives, today's big companies control the resources, jobs, and politics of Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Back then they called this process "colonization," now they call it "Free Trade." Democrats and Republicans stand together on the issue of Free Trade the same way that Jefferson and Adams stood together on the issues of slavery and expansion, or Johnson and Nixon stood together on the Vietnam War. That's because it's the same system and these issues are what move it forward!
Thinking Beyond Bush, Moving Beyond the System
Blaming the Bush administration or the Republicans alone for the all these problems does not address the larger issues plaguing the world we live in. We must look deeper. Focusing solely on Bush and his cult of personality helps us lose track of the real question; how can we really change things? We need to find ways of living that feed our bellies without losing our dignity. We need to live without fear of falling skyscrapers or falling stock markets. We need a world that is not divided by inequality through lines of gender, race, class, sexuality, and religion; we need a world that is not being destroyed for resource extraction and colonization. Yet instead of pursuing those goals directly, we participate in a society that allows Bush ? and people like him ? to rule over all of us. Why do we accept this as the way things are?
To get out of this nightmare of terrorism and war - we have to take direct action to get what we want out of life! The point is not to merely get rid of Bush and replace him with another leader, or to replace this government with another but to get rid of the entire system of hierarchy and inequality. We need to reshape our communities to function based on cooperation and mutual aid instead of greed, competition and the almighty dollar, where everyone has a say over their own lives and life is valued more than property. The power to change the world is not in the hands of Bush or anyone else, it's in our hands ? the hands of people everywhere. No leader and no government can bring us freedom and no paper like the one your holding can prescribe a solution for a better world, we all must define that for ourselves among our communities. Let's get to it?
