The Fierce Urgency of Now

[gpolisne]

 There is a terrific line in the movie "V for
Vendetta". "People shouldn't be afraid of their
government, a government should be afraid of its people."
 

Our lack of outrage for the mishandling of the Katrina
disaster, the betrayal of America on what is now clearly a war
that was begun on false premises and the fiscal mismanagement
of our resources which has resulted in record deficits --yet
there are a few voices in the wilderness calling for 'Censure'
or 'Impeachment'. Why are more people not calling for arrests
and convictions? Why are we not marching in the streets
demanding a thorough investigation into these matters as well
as the illegal wiretaps, the relationship of the Energy Task
Force to the record profits being amassed by ExxonMobil and
Chevron?

We have slowly allowed this situation to occur, we are all
culpable, some more than others. We have become indoctrinated
in a system that creates fear, distrust and anxiety. Those of
us fortunate enough to have some opportunity may come out of
our education system overburdened with student loans. We begin
working to slowly repay that debt, even if the work doesn't
resonate with us, we must promptly pay or the 'American Dream'
of owning a home, a car and the plasma television may not be
realized. We meet someone, we marry, we have children. We
awaken one day, married, two children, a dog, an SUV, a
mortgage payment and credit debt. We are owned. Do you ever
talk to someone that wistfully speaks about moving to the
country and writing someday? An attorney that longs to own a
little diner in some small town. Such yearnings are our
spirits, our souls communicating with us, long quelled and
forced into repressed silence by the debtor system we become
indoctrinated into. Fear of losing our jobs and subsequently a
lifestyle we believe we must have conspire to win our silence.
What has our hard work gained us? Are we working less and
enjoying life more? Are we spending more time with our
families and friends? Or are we working more in a fast-paced
high-stressed world where the thought of 'offshoring' looms
and we remain at our desks, imprisoned by our own lifestyle?
Do we stop and consider who is profiting from all of our extra
effort? If five years ago you were working 50 hour weeks in
technology, and now --with five additional years of experience
you are working 65 hour weeks, for essentially the same or
less compensation -your productivity has greatly increased
--your impact to the corporate bottom line has increased, yet
where are the fruits of your labor?

And what of the impoverished? What opportunity do they have in
this, "the land of opportunity"? I cannot even
imagine the horror of daily life amidst abject poverty and
violence. Close to 2,500 American lives have been lost in the
war and occupation of Iraq over the past 3 years. How many of
our own children die everyday in the streets in urban
violence? In 2003 the Center for Disease Control reported
2,779 murders of African-American youth by firearms. This is
over 5,000 mothers and fathers who weep for their children,
yet in isolation from the rest of America. Why?

For awhile America was rising, beginning to understand its
great potential to provide a quality and dignity of life for
all of its citizens. We must awaken and rise again. Together
we must reclaim America for "We the People" as was
intended, not for corporations. Corporations still use a
wealth of data about each of us, to decide if they will extend
credit to us and transact with us. It is time that each of us
had at least a report card about the businesses we empower
with our money that describes how the business treats its
workforce, the environment, the local community economy and
our natural resources. Is this a business that is trying to
undermine a representative government through lobbying efforts
or remaining politically neutral? These are all things we must
know, so we do not spend another dime at businesses that are
ruining society and robbing America of its potential.
Government and politics are a shadow manifestation of the
underlying economic system. This government is simply doing
the job it was hired to do by Enron, Halliburton, ExxonMobil,
Chevron, Wal-Mart and others. But who is the government
supposed to be working for?

As Dr. Martin Luther King so eloquently stated "We have
also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the
fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury
of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of
gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of
democracy..." 

George A. Polisner