A Common Sense Manifesto
Deep down, instinctively, you know it: that more war is coming, that the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are mere preludes to a grand symphony of world conquest. Consider deeper still, and you will realize it will take another major act of terrorism to ignite otherwise peaceful citizens into a renewed apoplexy of indiscriminate vengeance in the name of Patriotism, as blind to the suffering of fellow human beings in other corners of the world as it is deaf to the cries of U.S. citizens abducted, imprisoned, tortured, injected and executed because of their political views.
Our country is being fascified at an alarming rate and with uncanny resemblance to developments in 1930s Germany after the Reichstag fire provided Hitler a convenient pretext to suspend freedom of speech and bar voices of dissent. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights have been overturned, the principles enshrined in our Declaration of Independence exiled from the land, and our nation recast as a menace of global and historic proportions.
Even now, the U.S. rips foreign nationals from their families in the middle of the night, bundles them into car trunks, locks them in dungeons without charge, trial or legal representation, subjects them to torture and interminable solitary confinement, and throws away the key. Already, this practice has spread to a few U.S. citizens. How long do you think it will be before these tactics become commonplace among us? I suggest it’s but an election away.
How outrageous and unfounded my comments may seem, but they are based on research about as broad and deep as a concerned citizen can reach. Space does not permit presentation of all the underlying analysis, but seekers after truth can check these articles, which represent a tiny fraction of the underlying information and analysis I have pored through, in arriving at the conclusions herein.
Although I have seen some of the atrocities to come in prophetic nightmare (by which I tremble to think what seeming act of terrorism the Bush Administration intends for France), it needs no divine messenger to foretell there are calamities ahead, if the U.S. maintains its current course.
A Citizen's Journey
From the earliest time I can remember, my heart embraced the dream of becoming a U.S. citizen, a dream which came to fruition at the age of 19 when, armed with my birth certificate proving I was born in Boston, Massachusetts, I walked past a very intimidating marine standing guard at the U.S. Embassy in London and filled out the necessary paperwork. Within two hours, I walked out with the cherished passport in hand.
Now, my citizenship is in peril. How can I, in good conscience, belong to a nation that drops napalm on terrified Iraqi conscripts, hurls cluster bombs at harmless populations, rains nuclear radiation and disease on fellow human beings, tortures the innocent, and poisons its own troops, even as it sacrifices them on the altar of greed? How can I be a party to a country that in my name loots, murders, and rapes with impunity, impoverishes, afflicts, oppresses, starves, enslaves, and terrorizes, that plans to unleash nuclear weapons on the just and unjust alike, that disenfranchises its own people, and that extends its toxic grasp to the farthest corners of the world, all the while wrapping this evil in the countenance of godliness, righteousness, and "compassionate conservatism"?
And how can I, as a christian, stay silent while a usurping prince in God’s name slaughters God’s children? “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants pose as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). Sharing this prince's fate will be the most corpulent of his corrupt cardinals who, like the evil genius lab mouse in Warner Brothers’ masterful animation series, ‘Pinky and the Brain’, every night dreams up new ways to take over the world, helped by his dim-witted cage mate.
In Chinese, the word for America is M?iguó, literally "Beautiful Country" (M?iguó bù m?i, Bùshí y? bú shì). This translation sheds light on the Bible’s prophetic description, in the Book of Daniel, of "The Beautiful Land", where a ruler "will act deceitfully, and with only a few people rise to power…He will distribute plunder, loot and wealth among his followers. He will plot the overthrow of fortresses-but only for a time." (Daniel 11:23-24)
Overthrowing the Overthrower
I often wonder longingly what those founders of American liberty, Franklin and Jefferson, would say if they were alive today, with what indignation they would denounce our rulers as the corrupt despots they are, and with what eloquence they would tear down the whole stinking edifice of ill-gotten power. I find myself wishing they would rise up from their graves (in which they are surely turning now), come to our rescue, wrest the reins of power from corrupt hands, and steer us back to our senses.
But then I realize: we are the Franklins and the Jeffersons of this age. We are the embodiment of their outspoken identities. It is up to us to carry their spirit into these treacherous times and once again to overturn the prevailing despotism.
It is therefore now my sworn duty, and yours, as U.S. citizens, to alter or abolish this government, in accordance with the opening paragraph of the 'Declaration of Independence'. It prophesied such a time as this, when we must once again throw off a most un-American tyranny.
The most painless way to do this, of course, would normally be through the ballot box. But with election-counting now in the hands of Republican operatives, the 2004 presidential result has already been decided. Should renewed fear-and war-mongering not do the job of re-electing Bush, or if another round of government-induced terrorism fails to goad the electorate, he will nevertheless be swept to power on the wings of surreptitious software. Finally, if all else fails, our increasingly lop-sided and intimidated Judiciary can be relied upon once again to tip the scales of justice against the free will of the people.
Conclusion
The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights remind us of sound principles of government. They represent, I believe, the best efforts of men to attain the principles of Heaven, and it is up to us to lay hold of them (Matthew 11:12). It is time to depose another lunatic George, along with his cabal of liars, rapists, butchers, thieves, racketeers, cowards, cheats and whores. The voice of Wisdom once again calls to her sons and daughters to denounce this military junta, this rogue government of worldwide reach, this scandal to the ages, this blot on our name, this stench to humanity, this scourge of the earth.
In the end, the issue of nationhood may be decided for me, if the Gestapo-like Justice Department gets its way with Patriot Act II, which seeks powers to strip dissenters of citizenship, among its least offensive articles. But for now, let me offer this ‘Common Sense Manifesto’, a work in progress, for which I would welcome comment and input.
Peace.
Ian.
“The proles, normally apathetic about the war, were being lashed into one of their periodical frenzies of patriotism. As though to harmonize with the general mood, the rocket bombs had been killing larger numbers of people than usual…
"Once when he happened in some connection to mention the war against Eurasia, she startled him by saying casually that in her opinion the war was not happening. The rocket bombs which fell daily on London were probably fired by the Government of Oceania itself, ‘just to keep people frightened.’”
(George Orwell, '1984')
Armed Forces
Our bloated military budget exceeds the combined spending of the next 15 nations, and the Pentagon can not even account for trillions of our tax dollars it has burned through. It is time for drastic cutbacks, consistent with a policy of defense rather than unprovoked attack, independent audits of Pentagon spending, and a ban on our own use of weapons of mass destruction, including cluster bombs, daisy cutters, deplete uranium, and napalm, all of which were unleashed on Iraq. U.S. soldiers should be well educated and politically informed, not mere human sacrifices in ungodly causes, nor should they be used as guinea pigs for untested vaccines manufactured by the Bush Administration's friends in the pharmacy industry. A new government would also dissolve the U.S. Army School of the Americas (now known as the 'Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation'), which has trained some of the worst human rights abusers of Latin America.
Corporate Power and Lobbying
Corporate culture in the U.S. has come to embrace monopolistic abuse, price gouging, predatory practices against competitors, protectionism, worker exploitation, fraud, false accounting, tax evasion, bribery, political manipulation, corruption, pollution, and environmental destruction.
The Bush administration encourages these trends by championing deregulation, imposing punishing tariffs on goods produced overseas, and providing huge subsidies to domestic agriculture to the ruin of farmers in other countries, all the while falsely protesting its adherence to free markets.
It is time to restore governmental oversight of Corporate America, to rein in abuses, to make corporations pay their fair tax share, to stop penalizing imports and cease subsidizing exports, to adopt and enforce strict anti-monopoly measures, to shut down the offshore banking secrecy system, and to establish overseas trade courts where foreign nationals can bring charges against U.S. corporations that exploit them, destroy their environments, seize their infrastructure, practice extortion, and poison their lands and livelihoods. Ultimately, tough regulatory oversight will benefit corporate America by restoring public trust and improving the quality and integrity of our products and services, as well as our reputation overseas.
Death Penalty
Whatever the moral arguments for or against the death penalty, it has become an instrument of indiscriminate murder, applied with a bloodthirsty zeal that is an affront to justice, to humanity, and to the Creator in whose image we are made.
During his five-year term as Governor of Texas, Bush presided over 152 executions. Many "violated international standards," reports Amnesty International, "including the execution of child offenders, the mentally impaired, the inadequately represented, individuals whose guilt was still in doubt, and foreign nationals denied their consular rights." Bush's subsequent tenure in the White House has seen three federal executions, the first in nearly 40 years. Now, he is poised to execute detainees at the infamous Guantanamo facility at his pleasure.
Education
America's ignorance is not just scandalous but dangerous, rendering its people indolently receptive to government propaganda, and indifferent to other cultures, countries, languages and mindsets that we collectively destroy. The spirit of independent enquiry, so fundamental to America's birth, has been replaced by a mind-numbing orthodoxy of thought, allowing government to hoodwink the people and pander its lies.
Let us instill instead a thorough education of art and science, while offering every child and adult the opportunity to pursue interests such as music and drama, at public expense. Let us, like the Greeks, establish public holidays to celebrate theatre, poetry, and the arts.
Elections
Fraud is deeply embedded in the U.S. electoral system. Even the media frenzy surrounding Election 2000 in Florida totally missed the point that the Republican Party already rigged the outcome in the state through deliberate removal of Democrat voters from the rolls. Why, then, do all the Media, even most alternative news outlets, prefix Bush's name with the word "president", when he is, at best, "White House incumbent, George W. Bush"? The 2000 result was further removed from reality by an electoral college system that reversed the popular vote, and sealed by Supreme Court corruption. Now, with an electronic voting system in the hands of Republican insiders, the next presidential election in 2004 could be a foregone conclusion.
Our system is also warped beyond recognition by the poison of campaign contributions, for which corporations are rewarded handsomely with government contracts, tax breaks, subsidies, the right to pollute with impunity, unfettered access to politicians, and the ability to dictate both domestic and international policy. The two-party system, structured to exclude independent and third-party voices that would otherwise hold the balance of legislative power, and perpetuated by "redistricting" by which politicians choose their voters rather than the other way around, is yet another affront to the true meaning of democracy.
The solutions include: oversight of elections by a United Nations inspectorate, with international observers auditing outcomes, outlawing campaign contributions and replacing them with public funding of elections, giving equal media airtime to candidates and parties without regard for their wealth, scrapping the electoral college in favor of one-person, one-vote in presidential elections, creating nonpartisan panels to draw up districts with diverse electorates (by race, income level, etc.), and instituting proportional representation in both houses of Congress. By that measure, the number of seats held by a party would be in proportion to its national electoral support. Further, primaries should be open to all voters and never require them to register as adherents to a particular party in order to have their say.
Environment
The Bush administration's intentions towards our landscape, air and water are nothing short of rape. They would tear up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to give their friends the quick gratification of a few oil dollars, exterminate wildlife in the Yellowstone National Park, and destroy marine mammals. They have already stripped the Environmental Protection Agency of the little clout it had in the Clinton era. Meanwhile, government research has been taken over by industry lobbyists who conceal the toxic dangers they are permitted to unleash with casual indifference and brutality to human and animal life. On the international stage, meanwhile, the Bush administration's behavior has been equally appalling, including sabotaging the Kyoto Protocol, even though its measures to reduce global warming were in any case too little, too late.
An environmental tax on gasoline usage would begin to reduce the dangerous car emissions we all suffer from, and the money raised must go into a separate fund that subsidizes public transport, as well as development of wind and solar power. Nor can we afford to wait for industry-sponsored research to confirm that poisonous emissions are killing us and blighting our lives with cancer. The EPA must be restored to the strongest condition possible, as a vigorous and respected advocate for our national and state forests, parks, wetlands, and endangered species. It must be empowered to make unannounced inspections of factories and power stations and to close down offenders immediately.
Executive Power
The office of President of the United States has become a monarchical title during the Bush administration, and a despotic one at that. Bush can now install corporate insiders and ideological fanatics in dangerous positions of power, issue executive orders to deny citizens information that affects their lives, oust career officials that dare to protect the public interest, say whether political prisoners live or die, and declare war at will.
The scope of presidential patronage must be reduced, executive appointments taken out of presidential hands in favor of an independent review process, the reach of executive orders curtailed in favor of the legislature, nonpolitical protectors of the people elected, and a career civil service culture instituted.
Fiscal Policy
The current administration has squandered a budget surplus and caused record deficits that mortgage our future in favor of the greed, excesses, and follies of today. From now on, budget deficits and government borrowing should be outlawed at every level.
Foreign Policy
The Bush administration's foreign policy might be summarized as "Why settle for diplomacy when a war will do?", especially when that war is waged against an abstraction like 'Evil' or 'Terrorism'. For all its rhetoric about peace and freedom, the U.S. is rightly labeled a rogue state, and one with almost unlimited reach and destructive power.
The Bush Administration routinely reneges on international treaties and violates international law with impunity. It cares nothing for the concerns and preferences of other nations, even allies, while expecting them to clean up after its venomous escapades. It is a voracious warmonger, considering itself beyond the reach of punishment for war crimes and the auspices of the International Criminal Court. For decades, the U.S. has been in the business of overthrowing democracies and installing and propping up dictators.
It is time we stopped meddling in other countries' business and got our own house in order. It is time we were true to our word and cooperated on collaborative international efforts, such as the Kyoto Protocol, the International Criminal Court, and the United Nations. It is time we restored to our culture and our government the arts of diplomacy and international institutions. And it is time we committed to the principle that no person or nation should ever be subject to the tyranny, caprice or naked aggression of any other person or nation, nor should citizens of any country be held collectively responsible or punishable for the wickedness of their leaders or religious zealots.
We must also reinforce the Constitution's stipulation that Congress has the sole right to declare war and must never again give a president, least of all an unelected one, carte blanche to unleash destruction whenever and wherever he or she pleases. The Constitution must explicitly recognize war by presidential decree as a crime.
Freedom of the Press
U.S. media outlets, whether in print or radio or T.V., have become indolent mouthpieces for government, unimaginative, uncompetitive, uncreative, and just plain dull, marked by uniformity of opinion and political orthodoxy that fixates on the banal and the boring at the expense of color, flair, and diversity of opinion.
Rules preventing concentration of media ownership should be tightened, not relaxed.
Guns
The ease with which lethal firearms can be obtained in the U.S. not only causes carnage on a massive scale, but also instills a climate of fear that preys upon our productive capacities and joy. All firearms should be banned, from bazookas to BB-guns, and every effort made to limit their use by police forces.
Health
The nation's current healthcare spending, approaching 15% of GDP, while more than 40 million people go without coverage, testifies not just to the inequity of our system but to its sheer inefficiency. Meanwhile, we foster a culture of drug dependency, designed to make pharmaceutical companies rich while doing almost nothing to improve the underlying health of the population, and we promote reprehensible practices of factory farming.
Our immediate priorities are to establish a national health care service, crack down on the power of the pharmaceutical industry, promote preventive medicine, and ban factory farming.
Iraq
Now that Saddam Hussein has been deposed, and no weapons of mass destruction found, there is no reason for the U.S. to occupy Iraq. Instead, any involvement must be limited to humanitarian assistance, and the U.S. must agree to terms set by the United Nations.
Judiciary
An even-handed Judiciary is a citizen's best protection against institutional, corporate, or governmental abuse of power. However, the current administration has warped the entire justice system by stacking courts with political appointees and by intimidating those judges who dare to season Justice with Mercy. Attorney-General John Ashcroft has apparently forgotten the biblical principle that "the law was made for man, not man for the law."
We must restore the citizen's right to unprejudiced and transparent legal process, shield the selection of judges from political influence, and permit judges wide leeway to be lenient in sentencing.
Nuclear Weapons
As if to mock the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Bush Administration recently marked the anniversary of these atrocities by planning the use of so-called mini-nukes, as if little Armageddons could be more acceptable than large ones. Insanity rules. Already, the U.S. has unleashed nuclear terror in two Gulf wars, with its use of deplete uranium weapons, and turned Iraq into a landfill for its nuclear waste. Radiation appears not to bother this administration, as long as it falls on someone else.
It is time to reaffirm, not break, the Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty, to cooperate with other nuclear countries to decommission nuclear weapons, supported by international inspections, and to apologize to Japan for two brutal and wholly unnecessary acts. I wish there were a way every citizen of the earth could be provided with an off-switch that would disarm all nuclear devices, anywhere in the world, at will.
Pro-Choice/Pro-Life
The abortion debate in the U.S. has for decades stirred great passions and served as a pointless distraction from the true business of politics. It is an example of how a vastly complex issue, too deep for mortal minds, can be seized on and distilled into hollow slogans. As a question beyond mere politicians to grasp, it must be removed from debate.
Race
It is time this nation confess the misery and devastation it inflicted on humanity with the practice of slavery, for though the practice is abolished, its wound remains keenly felt. It is time the nation atoned for its butchery of indigenous peoples, and it is time humbly to ask for forgiveness. This is not to say that one race should pay perpetual penance for the sins of its ancestors, but to promote reconciliation and healing, for the rich variety of ethnicities and cultures within our shores is a great strength and one we must embrace.
Rights
Through a poisonous cocktail of PATRIOT acts, the Homeland Security Act, and a barrage of executive orders that amount to an abuse of power, the U.S. is turning into a fascist state. Terrorism at the World Trade Center is the pretext for denying freedom of speech and dissent, much as the Reichstag fire served Hitler in 1933. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights have been all but overturned, the principles enshrined in our Declaration of Independence exiled from the land, and our nation recast as a menace of global and historic proportions. A subservient and intimidated Legislature, Judiciary, and Press contribute to the problem. In the words of investigative journalist, Greg Palast, "what you see is institutionalized gutlessness."
The Bush Administration has also shown contempt for international law and treaties with its concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay, where it keeps fellow human beings caged like animals in appalling conditions of deprivation, fear, and torture, wholly indifferent to the question of whether they are innocent or guilty.
The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and its Bill of Rights, must be explicitly protected by institution and law, and any executive orders or congressional acts that contravene them subject to veto by an independent body of citizens. A broadcasting corporation, funded directly from a television license, should be established with a mandate to sustain independent and uncensored coverage, presenting a varied spectrum of voices and viewpoints.
Further, human rights should not be the sole privilege of U.S. citizens. A powerful nation has great opportunity to protect citizens in other countries, as well as immigrants, whether they be in this country legally or illegally. That should begin with dismantling military prisons at Guantanamo Bay and Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan and outlawing the creation or maintenance of any others.
Social Policy
Although it is not in a country's interests to foster dependency on the state, we are charged as human beings with care of the weak and disadvantaged, and though government is not the only means to achieve this, it is uniquely positioned to reach every one of its citizens in need. But current fiscal policy is hard at work to deprive future generations of social security, while corporate America is permitted to underfund its pension commitments to employees to the tune of $300 billion.
It is time to structure a pension arrangement for every citizen, whereby the obligations of tomorrow can be met by the contributions of today.
Sept. 11, 2003
