by Art Chantry (art@artchantry.com)
i clipped this out of some newspaper back in about 1981. ronnie reagan had just been elected president and the conservative ‘revolution’ had just started. i actually had a friend move away – he left the country! the guy said, “if reagan gets elected, i’m outa here.” he really meant it. ever since then, every election cycle where another conservative president got elected, i had at least one more friend decide to split. we were all scared. of what? each other.
us americans are the most chickenshit sissies on earth. we are so afraid of everything – terrorists, socialists, libs, rednecks, blacks, whites, men, women – basically everything – that we all arm ourselves to the teeth (literally. i know folks with filed razor teeth). all in the name of ‘self-defense.’ but, what are we so afraid of? invading hordes? commies? muslims? sex? what? exactly how many guns do we need to defend ourselves? try to imagine a communist army actually trying to invade our soil. they wouldn’t get ten feet before the locals would blow them to shreds. we have the most well-armed citizenry in the history of mankind. seems to me the only folks we need to be afraid of is people with the guns. i mean, look at this 30-year old statistic!
only cowards hide behind guns. at least that’s what i’ve learned growing up in tacoma.
in a very weird, perverse sort of way, the moment we all knee-jerk reflexed into a paranoid lurch against terrorism, bin laden won the ‘war’. his stated goal was to take away our freedoms by having us do it to ourselves. and that’s exactly what we did. the more and more primal basic rights we denied ourselves through fear, the more and more of a victory he had. the more terror he generated in us, the more we reacted with hubris, violence and oppression. we may have killed him, but, in doing so, he stomped us. he had us perfectly pegged. and now, we’re inches away from losing our freedoms all together to a fascist state. yeah, we’re closer to that than we’ve ever been before. REALLY close.
what we really should have done is treated that terror attack on 911 as an international crime. we would have had the support of the entire planet in our quest for justice. we could have come out financially and morally so far ahead of the game the terrorists was playing that it could have been a huge step forward for mankind in general – world unity. but, instead we ‘declared war’ – against what exactly? a tactic. so, this war will essentially last forever. and we become a policed state of fear and hubris. basically the same shit we think we’re fighting the ‘terrorists’ over. and we do it to ourselves because we are so stupid. they win.
just the same, i really want one of those red, white & blue striped pistols for xmas. it’s really RAD! gimme, gimme!!! hoohah!!!
ADDENDUM:
AC: “advertising makes it happen!”…we’re so afraid of each other. we’re just so chickenshit….