Tonight I want to talk about unity. I also want to talk about
class conflict and how ideas both reflect and influence that
conflict. And I want to talk about the war against new ideas.
Everyone is talking about unity today. It is a central theme in
our culture. I want to share with you a few relevant quotes
about unity. First the words of conservative columnist Linda
Chavez, who referring to the tragedy of September 11th wrote:
"The attacks remind us we re all in the same boat. What unites
us as Americans is more important than any of the petty
divisions of race or ethnic group, of class or profession, of
religious or political affiliation. We are not black or white,
Asian or Latino, Christian or Jew. We are Americans We ve been
indoctrinated with the cult of multiculturalism ." "we must
recommit ourselves to assimilating the millions of new comers."
Sounds like the Borg. "You will be assimilated. Resistance is
futile."
Then there is Bill Moyers. Who to his credit, has for several
years been raising the alarum that something is wrong with the
soul of democracy in America. In his words:
"The soul of democracy--the essence of the word itself--is
government of, by and for the people. And the soul of democracy
has been dying, drowning in a rising tide of big money
contributed by a narrow, unrepresentative elite that has
betrayed the faith of citizens in self-government.
But what's happened since the September 11 attacks would seem to
put the lie to my fears. Americans have rallied together in a
way that I cannot remember since World War II. This catastrophe
has reminded us of a basic truth at the heart of our democracy:
No matter our wealth or status or faith, we are all equal before
the law, in the voting booth and when death rains down from the
sky."
I would question whether we are all equal before the law, or in
the voting booth for that matter, but more importantly after
that statement Moyers reminds us:
"The ideologues at Heritage earlier this year teamed up with
deep-pocket bankers--many from Texas, with ties to the Bush
White House--to stop America from cracking down on terrorist
money havens. How about that for patriotism? .And these people
wrap themselves in the flag and sing "The Star-Spangled Banner"
with gusto."
But to me, the most enlightening statement about our new-found
unity comes from a US Postal worker. She said:
Rain, snow, sleet, or hail, they didn t say nothin bout no
Anthrax.
CNN did not name her, but in my opinion in those simple words
she profoundly captured the state of America today. She also
showed that part of her soul where the poet resides.
The death of postal workers is not a laughing matter, but the
denial by the Federal Government of the unequal manner in which
the institutions of power in Washington were treated whether
there were signs of Antrax or not, compared to the way the
Postal workers were ill-treated, is definitely laughable.
The Postal workers have shown at minimum a degree of social
consciousness in this very confrontational, not united,
discourse over their well being. However, even the class nature
of the government s policy is also revealed.
Are we united?
Last year the average poor person's income dropped so far below
the official poverty line, that it set an all-time record.
Almost half a million more people filed for unemployment
benefits in the first eight months of this year than in the same
period last year. More than 440,000 jobs have been lost since
Sept. 11. All of this following a record expansion. Seldom is
the question asked: Expansion for whom?
Only 3.6% of national income went to the poorest one-fifth of
households in 2000, tying 1967 for the lowest level on record.
The share received by the middle three-fifths set a new low of
47% while the share received by the top one-fifth set a new high
of 50%. And according to the New York Times, the congressional
tax-cut package would give $70 billion -- out of $100 billion --
in relief to businesses. The richest 1% of individual taxpayers
would get 41% of the 2002 tax cuts in the House bill, about
$27,000 each, according to Citizens for Tax Justice. The 60%
with the lowest incomes would get 7 percent of the tax cuts,
about $78 each.
If that is unity, then give me the most chaotic disunity
available.
We are united in our horror at the atrocities of September 11th.
And we are united in our concern for our future. But beyond
that, what else are we united on?
There is more than one war going on right now. There is the war
in Afghanistan. And there is a class war in America. Ultimately
both are class wars. Accompanying these wars is a propaganda
war. It is a statement on our times that CNN is actually using
the term "propaganda war" independent of anti-communism but
only in the context of the battle of ideas between the Taliban
and the Pentagon. There is, however, also a battle for the
hearts and minds of workers around the world. Sometimes the
language of this war is subtle and at other times it is wielded
like a hammer. How can you have ideological unity when the
reality is one of economic disunity? Of economic inequality? Of
economic injustice? This propaganda war is more evident than I
have seen it during my lifetime. It is pervasive and touches our
every day lives. On the other hand, it is far more abstract and
relatively removed than we are used to in this country. Issues
that were not widely discussed before are now fair game.
Here are a few noteworthy examples of how the level of public
discourse, and the range of ideas and idealogy, has expanded:
First of all the scholarly book Taliban, written by Ahmed Rashid
is on the New York Times bestseller list and is being sold at
Costco. And while it probably would have sold only a couple of
thousand copies prior to September 11, it has now sold more than
half-a-million. Americans are discussing what is happening in
the world. As much as the network news sucks, more people are
tuning in to it. Maybe some of them will tire of the towing of
the official line and the narrowness of the coverage and
analysis, and start searching for alternative sources. I think
this is good.
When former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, who is a
Muslim, visited the ruins of the World Trade Center, a reporter
asked how he felt about the suspects sharing his Islamic faith,
Ali responded, "How do you feel about Hitler sharing yours?"
Ouch! Muhammad Ali asked that question!
The Pentagon is hiring Hollywood to help it imagine terrorist
scenarios. A commentator on CNN explained " If you are going to
change the future you have to first imagine it."
"If you are going to change the future you have to first imagine
it." We all know that is true. But I could swear this is
something I have heard Nelson Peery say at some point. So it
seems that CNN commentators are now quoting revolutionaries.
Of course it all comes down to what kind of future you envision.
Earlier I said we are united in our concern for our future. That
is true. But don t assume there is unity about what that future
should look like. Your view of the future is rooted in your view
of the present.
Did you hear what Ann Coulter, formerly of the National Review
said after the attack:
"This is no time to be precious about locating the exact
individuals directly involved in this particular terrorist
attack. Those responsible include anyone anywhere in the world
who smiled in response to the annihilation of patriots We should
invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to
Christianity."
Do you think she wants the same future as you?
There is a battle for the future. That is why Colin Powell
distinguishes between the "civilized" and "uncivilized" world.
That is why President Bush who claims to be against all
terrorism, still has found it necessary to specifically condemn
radical terrorism. If you are against all terrorism why qualify
the word? Because this is not just a war against terror. It is
part of a class war. This is a war just as much about meaning,
as it is about property, oil, power, and retribution. What does
terrorist mean? When it fit the interests of US Foreign Policy
to underwrite terrorism in Afghanistan to oust the Soviets --
terror was acceptable. Not evil. Zbigniew Brezinski, the
National Security Advisor under Carter, has recently said that
ousting communism was worth arming "future" terrorists. Which is
exactly what happened.
When State Department Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Michael
Sheehan was asked to define terrorism he said;
In a war, if military forces are attacking each other, it's not
terrorism. But if an armed terrorist organization attacks
civilian targets, that's terrorism. Or its... a terrorist attack
if you attack military people in barracks, such as Khobar
bombings on the Marine barracks in 1982. Those are terrorist
acts. Each case is taken on a case-by-case basis.
REPORTER: So, for example, if the United States were to drop-
what do you call them? cruise missiles on the people who where
in barracks or in tents, as it may be, would that be terrorism?
Could that be terrorism?
SHEEHAN: No.
That exchange took place last year. There was actually laughter
in the room at this response. That laughter was not included in
the transcript of the briefing released by the State Department,
but it could still be heard when the segment was played on C-
Span radio. Again, not a laughing matter, but laughable.
George Bush qualifies the type of terrorism he is against,
because in the historical sense if it were not for terrorism,
America would not be the power it is today. America might not
even exist where it not for terrorism. Consider the irony that
the US government is now preparing to combat potential small pox
weaponry, when biological warfare in the form of small pox was
waged against the Indians. As a result warriors in New England
were reduced from 30,000 to 300 years before even the arrival at
Plymouth Rock. The point is where there are class interests at
stake there is an ideological battle. George Bush would never
refer to the use of small pox against the Indians, a kind of
ethnic cleansing, as terrorism. In fact I dare you to find
reference to that part of our history in most history books.
We are in a war over ideas and that is why on the one hand we
are in an exciting period of new ideas being openly discussed
and disseminated, while at the same time, we are experiencing a
new wave of censorship and repression.
The type of terrorism is being qualified, because swiftly and
silently terrorism has been redefined for domestic use. Thus we
come to the USA Patriot Act, which stands for the Uniting and
Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to
Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. If you are not familiar
with the new powers given the Attorney General, the FBI, and CIA
in this Act, I urge you to read it soon. Following are some
interpretations of major components of the Act.
It permits the Attorney General to incarcerate or detain non-
citizens based on mere suspicion, and to deny re-admission to
the U.S. of non-citizens (including lawful permanent residents)
for engaging in speech protected by the First Amendment.
It expands the ability of the government to conduct secret
searches, again in anti-terrorism investigations AND in routine
criminal investigations unrelated to terrorism. This means that
law enforcement authorities can enter and search an individual s
home without presenting a warrant or in any way informing the
subject of the search.
It gives the Attorney General and the Secretary of State the
power to designate domestic groups as terrorist organizations
and to block any non-citizen who belongs to them from entering
the country.
It grants the FBI broad access to sensitive medical, financial,
mental health, and educational records about individuals without
having to show evidence of a crime and without a court order.
It puts the CIA and other intelligence agencies back in the
business of spying on Americans by giving the Director of
Central Intelligence the authority to identify priority targets
for intelligence surveillance in the United States.
It allows searches of highly personal financial records without
notice and without judicial review based on a very low standard
that does not require probable cause of a crime or even
relevancy to an ongoing terrorism investigation.
It allows student records to be searched based on a very low
standard of relevancy to an investigation.
It creates a broad new definition of "domestic terrorism" that
could target people who engage in acts of political protest and
subject them to wiretapping and enhanced penalties.
So where do you fit in the context of the USA Patriot Act? Are
you a terrorist? What does all this mean to those who are
battling for the poor. What might it mean to the President of
the Postal Workers Union? One writer, using Martin Luther King
as a political barometer, has written that King would have been
subject to investigation under these rules. Although we already
know he was wired taped. We can learn something about how
dangerous a new idea can be from the way that the final years of
King s life are addressed or not addressed by our cultural and
media institutions, since it was during that period that King
was waging a Poor Peoples Campaign.
First he was ostracized. He basically was condemned for his new
ideas. Why? Well he began to look beyond color to class. In his
Beyond Vietnam speech in 1967 he called America the "greatest
purveyor of violence in the world today" and referred to
the "capitalists of the West investing in Asia, Africa and South
America, only to take huge profits out with no concern for the
social betterment of the countries." But perhaps most damaging
from the perspective of those members of the ruling class who
had previously praised him, King starting talking about
restructuring society. Literally saying that an "edifice that
produces beggars needs restructuring." When he began to form
what he called a "multiracial army of the poor" to descend upon
Washington the Reader s Digest warned of an insurrection.
So first he was made into a pariah. Which effectively set the
cultural, ideological, and propaganda environment in which he
was assassinated.. That was the reaction to his ideas changing.
The USA Patriot Act is not only about planes being flown into
buildings. It is not about unity but polarity. It is about class
conflict. It is about the threat of changing ideas. And on many
levels ideas are changing in America.
One young person working on Wall St. when asked about his life
post September 11th, said "My life was ruled by the stock
market. I measured success by what college I would attend, and
my starting salary. Now how do I feel? A fireman asked what I
did and I did not want to say my job. Tax analyst " Nothing
wrong with being a tax analyst, but that self-evaluation
represents an opening for a shift in consciousness. And this
applies across society. Such a shift, a reprioritization, is
drastically needed in our society.
Consider this.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) nearly 36,000 children died from conditions
of starvation on September 11th. There were no television
programs about these children. No newspaper articles. No message
from the president. No acts of solidarity. No message from the
Pope. No Alert Level. And no military mobilization.
Where Americans spend their money is an indicator of what they
think is important. The day before September 11th the Red Cross
received $1,000 in donations . Within two weeks after Sept 11,
it had raised $202 million. Within a month that had doubled. By
November all donations associated with September 11 had reached
at least 2 billion. According to the US Department of Health and
Human Services more than 600,000 people go to bed homeless each
night. I praise all the artists who have come forward and
donated their talent to the victims of the attack on the World
Trade Center Towers. Over $150 million was raised in one night.
The social ills, the problems of the poor and destitute, are not
irresolvable. We have the money, the vision, the know how, the
technology, all of the resources necessary to resolve these
problems. Clearly what is lacking is a government willing to
mobilize those resources on behalf of the poor. And there is a
profound lack of general will. In fact when people found out
that not all of the nearly $500 million they donated to the Red
Cross would be going to the victims of September 11, but would
be distributed across the areas of concern addressed by the Red
Cross, many wanted their money back.
We are in more than one war. I have not quoted Martin Luther
King much in my life. But we all have quoted "I have a dream." I
think that quote should always be followed by King s other
forgotten, under reported, not as catchy quote: "an edifice that
produces beggars needs restructuring." We might need an artist
to restructure that quote. But the meaning is profound.
I know I have not talked much specifically about art. But art
take places within a culture. And if we are in a culture where
it takes the tragic death of 6000 innocent Americans for our
hearts to be moved -- then we are doomed. Our art must move
American citizens to be as outraged by the slow, invisible,
unreported, death of 36,000 children in one day, as they are by
what one kindergarten child described to her teacher as
the "birds are on fire" as she watched people jumping from the
World Trade Center Towers.
I listened to Charles Osgood on CBS talk about getting back to
normal. He said "We want to go back to the world we remember."
That will not happen. That world is gone. But even if we could I
don t want to go back to that world. We have to envision a world
better than the one that created the conditions that make such
terror imaginable.
Select Sources:
"Which America Will We Be Now?" Bill Moyers, The Nation,
November, 19, 2001
"Martin Luther King: A Domestic Terrorist?" Ira Chernus, Common
Dreams News Center, October 30, 2001
"Terror Law: A Win for Fear, a Loss for Freedom" The Nation,
October 26, 2001
"Attack on the Bill of Rights" Marty Jezer, Common Dreams News
Center, October 19, 2001
"As Economy Tumbles, The Poor Will Suffer Most," Betsy Leondar-
Wright, San Jose Mercury News, October 19, 2001
"Americans Dig Deep to Aid Victims, Maureen O Donnell, Art
Golab, Chicago Sun-Times, September 26, 2001
"This Is War" Ann Coulter, National Review, September 13, 2001
State Department Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Michael Sheehan,
briefing on the 1999 Annual "Patterns of Global Terrorism"
Report, May, 1 2000
Le Nouvel Observateur (France), Interview of Zbigniew
Brzezinski, January 15-21, 1998
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
http://www.aspe.hhs.gov/progsys/homeless/
"New class, New Consciousness," LRNA
"You Are Being Lied To The Disinformation Guide to Media
Distortion, Historical Whitewashes and Cultural Myths, Russ
Kick, Editor, disinformation
A-Infos News Service
"We Are Americans" Linda Chavez, http://www.jewishworldreview.com
CNN