Ending Ostrich Syndrome

Hiding head in sand
Hiding head in sand

 

“President Obama had tears in his eyes in January, 2016, calling for relief from record breaking shootings and killings in the U.S. Yet 2016 became a record breaking year for U.S. export of weapons to other countries.  The U.S. is responsible for nearly 33% of worldwide weapon exports—by far the top arms exporter on the planet.” — Kathy Kelly, from a recent article

The “record-breaking year” alluded to in the quote above should be sufficient for activists to stop exclusively focusing on evils associated with Trump. For lame duck Obama has already set into motion sales forces which are slated to up the weapons ante to even greater heights as Trump takes over the Oval Office. Clearly, if the twin major threats of Climate Change and Nuclear Dynamics don’t wipe us out, our guaranteeing that the proliferation of weapons worldwide continues will do the trick.

It is sick, by any standards, to stick by one’s partisan guns, while witnessing the carnage we’re causing ’round the globe. It is long past the time for concerned citizens with a conscience to declare that no matter who’s serving as our Chief Executive, the U.S. is rotten to the core to such a degree that we must put aside purist identity politics to move in solidarity to undermine what the country is all about. Not just on the war front that we’re directly engaged in, but with regard to our increasing encouragement of abominations abroad among others.

What to do?

Well, I’m afraid it’s not going to be as simple and safe as refusing to pay taxes. In fact, none of what’s in gear at present in the activist realm has a chance in hell of stopping our horrid momentum. What’s needed is for low-profile cells to begin mini-conferences in confidence. Discussing tactics and strategies that will not be revealed on the social media. Going over game plans that acknowledge the importance of the element of surprise.

The actions which take place should be nonviolent. But they must be given birth by people who understand that the radically diseased culture embedded in the U.S.A. cannot be cured with reforms. Cannot be fixed by appealing to career politicians, who — by definition — are too self-serving for the Collective Good. Too preoccupied with personal advancement and financial profit to care whether genocide is committed, too selfish to even pause if all shellfish were to become extinct, too little concerned with any of Mother Earth’s lovely creatures when their bottom line is threatened.

Nothing interferes, as you know, with capitalist insanity. And nothing should keep activists now from truly embracing a Pro-Life position. I’m not talking about the abortion issue here. Rather, I’m addressing the fact of our Death Culture on a much broader scale at the moment.

I’m asking readers with whom this resonates to contact me, so that we can — for starters — put an end to our Ostrich Syndrome. Take our heads out of the sand and see who we really are, and then see what we have the courage and creativity to do something about what we’re causing.

Rachel Olivia O’Connor is a freelance journalist. She can be reached at [email protected].

 

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