Fear and Loathing in America
Do not worry, dear readers, I am not, as the headline might suggest, going for the conspiracy angle that bin Laden and Elvis are working at the same 7-Eleven in Kalamazoo, MI
I am simply suggesting that WE, as a nation, are keeping his memory alive. We have been, since the 9-11 attacks. We have become a fearful, vengeful and downright ugly place...exactly what bin Laden and other terrorist groups wanted to accomplish. The terrorists have already won...
Prior to 2001, would anyone have believed that half of our country would decide that torture was a necessary tool to get information? Would we have ever conceived of a necessity for open-carry gun laws? Could we have imagined a time when Christians would become so hateful toward people of Muslim faith, that the far-right fringe would become as dangerous as ISIS? How about a time when the NSA would spy on its own citizens?
14 years later, we might have been able to overcome our fears and prejudice, if not for those who stoked the fear, fed on it and profited by it. Those in power (and those who OWNED those in power) recognized the potential for riches, beyond anything they had ever known. After all, nothing makes the rich richer more than war.
The media became compartmentalized, divided into one-sided, subjective "entertainment" news. By choosing sides, journalism has been replaced by something grossly imitating news...but designed to keep us fearful and prejudiced. It is, of course, no coincidence that those who profit most from the military industrial complex, also control the major media franchises.
Those on the Christian right, who really do believe in the Rapture and Armageddon, would like nothing better than to see it happen in their lifetime...perhaps even going as far as to MAKE it happen. Why, then, would they care about climate change and future generations? And the one-percenters are more than happy to accommodate them, choosing profit over EPA restrictions.
America is in paranoia mode, where mob-rule replaces the voice of reason. When a group of people are afraid, they latch onto the loudest voice that promises to keep them safe. Regardless of the cost.
And somewhere in Hell, Osama bin Laden is chuckling...