Comments on: Guns and Butter

By: Skywatch May 2010 A Call to Action « MotherSky

Skywatch May 2010 A Call to Action « MotherSky — Sat, 01 May 2010 18:06:06 +0000

[...] Guns and Butter [...]

By: Anne1Texas

Anne1Texas — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:55:18 +0000

Thank you for a very thoughtful, well-written article on a complex problem with no easy answers. Being able to 'distance' yourself to see a larger picture offers us, as readers, a new perspective as well. Well done!

By: Edda Sörensen

Edda Sörensen — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:10:02 +0000

That with Martin Luther – it was me posting it. I have nothing – nothing in commun with the "Hippie" writing anonym and finding grounds for the army to be in Afghanistan – its absolutely grotesk and any REAL Hippie would laugh at its face.

Greetings from Bavaria

Edda

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:59:55 +0000

Oh – I forgot to tell you what I found out. The day when a angry young man nailed his thesis on the door of the church in Wittenberg,to protest against the roman katholic church, Pluto was just entering capricorne… the name of the young man: Martin Luther and the day the 31. Oktober 1517

By: Edda Sörensen

Edda Sörensen — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 10:02:32 +0000

Dear Jessica,

do you real think, that the american peace moovement (and not only the american...) is having a beauty sleep? I admire your wonderfull highly intelligent comments very much, but in this topic I dont agree. I live in Munich and this time the famous groovy Oktoberfest was overshadowed by Pluto himself in form of black dressed Policemen who looked like they where serving Mordor. You have seen that in Pitsburgh, 20 Protesters and 500 Policemen with sound-cannons, pepperspray and 5 Million Cameras. I exagerate a little, but honestly, which peacestrugeling human beeing have the courage now to be confrontet with these modern time monsters? Its not a beautysleep, dear, its a nightmare.

Edda

By: Jessica Murray

Jessica Murray — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:48:29 +0000

GlitterGal,
Let me second your proposal that US war critics widen their focus to the citizenries Washington is bombing; rather than confining their attention to GI casualties. This kind of myopia is presumed normal within the "patriotic" worldview; but nationalism in general must be outgrown if we are to survive.
Jessica

By: GlitterGal

GlitterGal — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:09:25 +0000

At the start of the war in Afghanistan (after the Twin Towers attacks), both my husband and I commented that the war was doomed to failure. It would be nice to say we were right except that troops and civlians have died unnecessarily for yet another war for territory and resources, now waged under the figleaf of NATO but with the US driving it.

Over here in Australia, support for the war in Afghanistan is starting to fall. The illegal invasion of Iraq was never popular and now we're out of that pretty much, although we still pat the US stooges in the Iraqi government on the head.

Only the Afghani warlords including Kharzai are so incompetent and blatantly corrupt, it's hard to keep the lid on the idea that the war is going down the gurgler, and fast. The picture here is clearer because our government isn't the driving force, just the hanger-on.

Thanks for the astro insight on this subject, Jessica, and all your other comments. I really enjoy your take on the reality of events, not wishy-washy idealistic thinking which takes us nowhere in practice. It's always been people who make the difference, so hopefully as the mire of Afghanistan gets murkier and murkier, the anti-war movement will rise again - for once I'd like to see us take action for unselfish reasons, on behalf of the Afghan people so bitterly affected by this war, and not just because our own troops are dying there, even though I pay respect to the troops not their leaders.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:24:45 +0000

Even though I am an old hippie peace-nik who has been teaching international relations and talking about the military industrial complex for decades, I think there are good reasons for us to be in Afghanistan in some capacity–albeit maybe not as a large army on the ground trying to out maneuver a native guerella army. Tina Brown has raised some good points in her articles on Afghanistan in The Daily Beast. I'd suggest those for perusal if you are looking for some actual reasons why we might need to stick around and try to help.

By: Jessica Murray

Jessica Murray — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:23:30 +0000

Gsabino,
Yes. Benjamin Franklin said that the system would fail NOT because of the corruption of the government but because of the corruption of the people. Check out Gore Vidal's interview:
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article6854221.ece
JM

By: gsabino

gsabino — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:11:39 +0000

I like your response, especially the part about unconciousness not having the power of conciousness. I agree that movement from "below" is the only way to change the M-I complex.
One of the things I find most worrisome is that, in contrast to the sixties, the press is no longer serving its role as dissemenator of information. Media has become a powerful tool of the Right. For most, if they didn't see it on TeeVee, it didn't happen. Years of "dumbing down" the national discourse have paid off in spades to those who would prefer that things stay just the way they are.
On the other hand, at least on the coasts, it seems like the media isn't really fooling anyone anymore, and the people have gone way beyond the narrative created by "the experts".