do you Think you Know or Know you Think?

Where'd you get your information from punk? You think that you can front when revelation comes? -Beastie Boys

One might think that humans of all cultures think in a somewhat similar manner and process information similarly: through perceptions that form ideas which when reinforced by experience, eventually become known and accepted as a cultural reality, that is, an understanding of history that serves as a stable foundation from which to identify with self and others in the world. One might also think that language plays quite an important role in the understanding of information as it evolves into a "common" knowledge. How is it then, that the West, and especially the USA, can at once function as the moral and humanitarian guardian and disciplinarian of the rest of the world, when the importance of multi-lingual education and the study of non-American literature and history is largely ignored and even treated with derision in lieu of more "practical" subjects and pursuits in the name of progress in science and technology ? Perhaps, if communication and cultural exchange had been a priority in Europe's first contacts with the East, or if America's manifest destiny was really a mission of equality and discovery, not of cultural appropriation and conquest (an approach which would have naturally led to a mutually beneficial trade relationship), and looking to "markets" such as China to supply the West's insatiable appetite for exotic goods and technologies. How can we even pretend to be working towards some peaceful utopia of global cultural exchange and mutually beneficial trade and commerce, while systematically ignoring the genocide of Native peoples spanning over half millennia and still happening every single day that the true cost of the "American Dream" goes unacknowledged by the "99%" as they struggle against system of oppression that allowed them to "own" their very own slice of life on credit only to have home sweet home so cruelly snatched away by the foreclosure crisis. Is it the fault of the big banks? the multinational corporations? the corrupt political leaders?q the endless spending for necessary military intervention against the perceived threat from foreign terrorists, radicals, extremists, which has amounted to perpetual serial warfare across the globe to protect American "interests?" Whose fault is it??!!! We want to know how it is possible that our wealthy, powerful, beautiful, intelligent, free-thinking, creative, diverse, and industrious nation of exceptional individuals could be so maligned, suffering from such disfunction, depression, discontents. Our charitable donations to third world countries keep

them going, our human rights and women's' rights groups bring empowerment, birth control, education, and small business skills to exploited women all over the world, saving them from genital mutilation, rape, sex trafficking, domestic violence, poverty, and starvation, replacing the brutal all the while blasting their powers that be with charges of humanitarian violations, covert operations, corruption, price fixing, unfair trade practices, stealing technological, digital, pharmaceutical, or cyber trade secrets...(list continues in the "international" section of any newspaper on any day) Is there any peoples, culture, faith, region, or government that has not yet be scrutinized or condemned as the possible cause of our troubles?

The world is waking up from what may seem like an extended slumber to our young "United States History" but a blink of the eye in the course of humanity's cultural evolution and spiritual enlightenment, to the dire consequences of bipolar European imperialism's fervent Judeo- Christian churches proselytizing to save the savages of the world with the "gift" of God, concurrent with the journeys of discovery funded by various Kingdoms to find riches and treasures to supplement their coffers. The result has been nothing less than the systematic destruction of our earthly paradise for industry and sport, slavery, torture, and servitude forced most viciously upon the innocent and gentle, regular use of germ and biological warfare against previously disease free indigenous peoples, flooding agricultural and organic populations with liquor, tobacco, addictive non-native drugs and chemicals, pesticides, predatory plant and animal species, and zero nutrient foods. Is that harsh? Maybe it is without some kind of "proof," for the flag waving skeptics? How is it that this is a nation that continually fights against inequality, discrimination, poverty, violence, and the persecution of minority groups, when the essence of this land is one of peaceful coexistence, the acceptance of the differently gendered, pigmented, or sexed, the loving regard and nurturing of male and female energies and cycles, the deep reverence for nature and her plants and animals, a universal connection to the cosmos through the observation of heavenly bodies, an ancient and intuitive system of health and healing, equal worth and complementary roles and responsibilities of women and men towards each other, family, tribe, and humanity, and an abundance of game, vegetation, materials for garments, crafts, and tools, shelter, open spaces, water, fresh air, and deep spiritual understanding of the land? Why is it that every single

liberation and equality movement in this country has systematically skipped over the subject of the annihilation of the Native peoples in the each for their own special interest group struggle for a larger share of the spoils of war?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the destruction and desecration of lands and populations for a hundred years in the name of capitalism and Western democracy demanded through forcible compliance in trade and "opening" of markets for goods and services skewed in favor of the consumer, the obvious example being the string of "unequal treaties" forced upon China to satisfy the European demand for the luxuries of their taste for fine silks, tea, spices, and scents, all so glamorously featured in the "cultured" art and intellectual bourgeois society of the time. Not a land mass was left untouched: Africa was hunted for its big game animals and exotic furs and the bravado and amusement of British colonists, who felt likewise entitled to the kidnapping of entire tribes of people to be used as slaves at their leisure and in a way devoid of all human dignity or compassion. These crimes against humanity were then topped off with a system of Apartheid that served to subjugate the South African population to the status of slaves and subhumans subject to British rule in their own land. India did not fare much better under colonial rule, and Hong Kong, while modern and wealthy, was the economic and cultural wound of China kept painfully open and bled from the mainline to fill British coffers for 99 years after the formal invasions were over. What was the point of all of this destruction? Has anybody in the West thought to ask before the conceits of consumerist masses exclaim "oh, it's made in China" when the profit (versus quality) controlled product fails in it's function because reality intervenes and the inherent uselessness and waste of yet another "as seen on TV" detritus of domestic convenience makes its way home to the landfill.

[missing section: lost in the cloud or sleep-proofread]

... and of then for a democracy wielding leader of the free worldwhich yet how can it be that the Western nations find Eastern culture so simultaneously exotic and War is waged, death is dealt, a living is made, the price is paid...for what? how? by whom? when will it end? By what right does one attack another based on a presumed threat? What constitutes a perceived threat, by whom against whom and for what

reason? in other words...WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR INFORMATION FROM?

punk.

Did you get it from your parents? From your friends? From the "news"? From your teachers?Where did they get it from?Is it worth dying for?

Is it worth killing for?Is it really worth all this suffering?

From this perspective, war is the projection of the misery, terror, and violence of ignorance and apathy upon those perceived as other by those who look to benefit from the life force freed of its "alien" husks to be property properly branded "Monsanto" whole kernel corn, for you and me. It is not possible for right to exist without wrong, it is not possible to "preemptively" protect national "interests" through "limited intervention," nor can any society sustain unlimited growth for the remainder of any foreseeable future, if there is to be any such future...