By Beauty Damned

More Hypocrisy

What could be more ironic than U.S. officials telling another country that their voting system is unreliable and corrupted?

I really like this quote from the NY Times article:

Secretary [Powell] also called on Ukraine's government not to use violence against the demonstrators who opposed the result, tens of thousands of whom filled the main square in Kiev today for a third day.

Because here in America, we treat protestors with respect and dignity and do not inflict violence upon them unless they're breaking the law (which they always are, right? Because by protesting, they are defying the government in the first place and should be punished!)

I love it! While the outrage of American citizens who feel our own election system is a sham, go completely ignored, our officials do what they are so good at doing, chastising and demanding reform of other countries. I find it amazing that our government (and Media! You fucks! Stop sleeping) seems to happily ignore whatever is going wrong in our own country, in our own communities, in our own federal and state systems while they are too busy attending to the affairs of others and policing the rest of the world.

Americans have become stepchildren. While our own country is one of the biggest messes of all (ridiculously high murder rates, starving children in our own streets, neglected veterans, millions without healthcare, corrupted voting system and a bazillion other issues that we need to stop ignoring) our government is busy spending billions in Colombia to wage their "war on drugs," when we have bred our own masses of drug dealers and users in the United States. Our government is spending hundreds of billions on a war in Iraq and Afghanistan to "bring liberty and freedom from fascist rule," while in our country we are fighting to maintain our own rights and freedom from fascist rule. Our government is demanding that others hold fair elections, when we can't even hold a remotely fair election in our own country. We condemn others for their savagery and violence, yet we are the greatest purveyors of war, terror and outright savagery, not to mention that even in our own country, we just can't stop fucking killing eachother.

Could we possibly be anymore blind to our own shortcomings while condemning others for theirs?

I saw a pregnant girl on the train begging for money who was obviously high on crack. I saw a veteran on the street holding a sign, silently begging, with the saddest far away look in his eyes as he attempted to put food into his own mouth, but couldn't do so without getting it all over himself. I see people in the subways dozing off from the junk they did earlier, homeless sleeping and defacating in the streets, children whose parents struggle to clothe, feed and educate them, seen drugs take control of the small town of my youth, watched people my age struggle to find a decent job, even after finishing four years or more of college, watched parents agonize about how they are going to provide healthcare for themselves and their children, seen my brother poisoned and victimized by the negligence of a large pesticides corporation, met a man who had been beaten within an inch of his life and left a vegetable by overzealous police, had a friend who blew his own head off with a handgun, have seen photos of American soldiers torturing prisoners and have witnessed and experienced the outrage and disillusionment at our faulty voting system.

Yet our leaders condemn foreign governments for not respecting the will of the people. Our leaders criticize others for not having adequate systems in place. Our leaders condemn others for committing acts of terror and violence. Our leaders frown on others who live in disease and poverty, saying "look! Our healthcare is the envy of the world! And look how great capitalism is!," while children suffer disease and starvation in America. Our leaders boast about how well we treat our veterans while that man sits on the street corner suffering homelessness, hunger and unshakable sorrow. Our leaders talk about ridding the rest of the world of drugs and crime. Our leaders talk of ridding the world of oppression while women and minorities are still heavily discriminated against in America. Our leaders condemn religious fanaticism while they force their own Christian religion through the legislative branches of our government and embrace fanaticism themselves. Our leaders condemn others for proliferating or persuing nuclear capabilities, while we build the biggest and most destructive weapons in the world.

When will we start following the golden rule, start taking care of our own, stop victimizing the rest of the world and cease pretending as if we're somehow better and have some right to reign down judgment and orders upon them?

Posted by Maria at November 24, 2004 02:25 PM | TrackBack