The More Things Change

From an interview I did in October 2004. This question and answer has particular relevance to me because I see the same things happening in this country that I saw happening in the 1980’s, only now the mass media in this country is almost completely controlled by people with a ve$ted intere$t in maintaining the status quo. Even if you don’t agree with me, you should still seek out some news sources from outside of our country so that you can gain a different perspective on what’s happening here and abroad.

Q: You also went to Nicaragua in the early eighties to gain some new experiences, would you tell us something about that time and if it changed your views on certain things and how do you see the political situation in the U.S. in the moment…?

A: My trip to Nicaragua changed me forever. It made me realize how few material possessions a person needs to be happy and it put me back in touch with the values that living in a consumer society can deaden in you, basic human values like caring about your neighbor. I realized that the U.S. government has been bought by corporate entities that have little regard for Americans and even less regard for the rest of the world. Their sole concern lies in expanding their control over the economic systems of the world. Countries are either to be exploited for their natural resources or else they are markets for goods that are produced elsewhere and controlled by the corporations. These corporate entities only have one natural enemy and that is a well-informed citizenry focused on self-determination. As an American taxpayer and a corporate consumer, I am complicit in my own government’s efforts to block other people’s movement towards self-determination. That’s what my experience in Nicaragua taught me. I think we Americans need to get serious about taking back our country and making it responsive to our needs and goals. What’s happening in America right now could happen anywhere when people get too complacent.

To a Friend in London

For the past few days, I've been exchanging emails with an old friend who lives in London. I've watched with dismay the news reports and videos of the destruction and looting and read to my further dismay that the British government has threatened to shut down forms of communication including Twitter in response to what is taking place. Our emails touched on some of the causes of the current situation as perceived by my friend. She has a unique perspective, being an American ex-pat who has been living in London for several years. As the conversation has recently touched upon the topics of nations, national identity and multiculturalism, I thought I would share this with you.

"Thank you again for sharing your perspective with me. I don't think I'm necessarily more political than you, I've sort of soured on mainstream politics. There's not a whole lot of difference between the left and the right as far as I can see, though if I had to choose a side I'd be hanging off the edge of the left.

In the past few years I've had to reassess what it means to have a national identity. Do you consider yourself English now that you live there? What does it mean to be English? I ask myself a similar question, what does it mean to be American? I grew up loving this country, being fiercely patriotic. Indeed, even now when I see the corruption in our government and the bigotry of a large portion of its citizens, I can still see the beauty of America's spirit trying to shine out from under the muck.

I'm not sure that the concept of nations makes much sense to me anymore when I see that the multinationals are the ones who are running the world. Governments don't act in accordance with the needs or wishes of the people they represent, they act in accordance with the demands of the corporations who paid the money to put them in office. I really believe that. The big multinational corporations don't pay taxes, they can't really be sued except by their stockholders if they are publicly owned, and their sole reason for being is to make money, not to provide goods or services to the people. They are virtually unregulated. Governments help to create the illusion that there are nations and some even pretend to have a democracy but in the end when it comes to serving and representing their citizens, they fail.

It's comical to me that we have the Tea Party in Arizona claiming that Mexicans are taking their country from them. They're too blind to see that America doesn't belong to the people, it belongs to big business. Why don't they rally to tax corporations instead of complaining about immigrants who do the toughest jobs for pennies? Why do the immigrants come here in the first place? Why for work, of course. The thing is that in today's world they may not need to come here because so much work is outsourced these days to places where labor is cheap. If I were a Teabagger (as we on the left refer to the Tea Party members), I'd push for businesses to hire where they sell, I'd push for just wages for all workers, documented and undocumented. In the end that would help their cause, unless their real cause is just to spread racist paranoia because they're too afraid to tackle the real enemy, which would be a monumental task and require real patriotism and not just theatrical flagwaving.

As for culture, I think of myself as a citizen of the world. I love that there are cultural differences between us, but I do not value those who dominate or suppress human freedom in the name of culture or religion. I cannot be silent when women or minorities are discriminated against. It's funny, maybe that's just part of my Mexican-American upbringing.

Multiculturalism is a difficult dream to achieve, we have so much to learn before we can expect to be respectful of others. I know it would be a challenge for me. I am so damn opinionated! But can you imagine what a beautiful world it would be if we did achieve it?"

Alice

The Future of Food

One of the participatory aspects of the online group that I belong to, Destroyers of Mass Production, is that any member can throw down a challenge to the other members. Some of the past challenges have included sewing blankets for the homeless and surreptitiously posting anti-war messages in public. A current challenge is to grow your own food.


I saw a very disturbing film last night that left me tossing and turning and that seems to relate to this topic if only because it has to do with growing your own food. It's called The Future of Food. It talks about the origins of genetically engineered food and what GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) are doing to our food supply. Not only do these foods contain harmful chemicals, bacteria, and antibiotics but because they are corporate hybrids they can be patented. If the wind or a bird drops a seed that has been patented onto a farmer's field and it cross pollinates with that farmer's crops, the resulting strain of corn, for example, may contain the marker gene that is patented. That farmer can then be held liable for violating patent law. Incredible as it sounds, many farmers have been sued for this very reason. Farmers, our food suppliers, are being put in a position where they must buy these genetically engineered patented seeds each time they plant for fear of being sued. This affects us because it reduces the variety and quality of produce that is available to us. Seeds are being patented all the time, so eventually even small organic farmers may be affected.


After a year of being vegetarian, I was feeling pretty happy every time I went to the grocery store and thought about how I wasn't eating meat that had chemicals and antibiotics. I went out of my way to look for cheese and dairy products that contain no rBST and I'm a label reader so my processed foods have to meet certain criteria. But where are the labels on our produce? Why shouldn't we know how our fruits and vegetables are being farmed? If I'm eating genetically modified food I want to know it. If my corn on the cob is classified as a pesticide because any insect that eats it dies, (yes, this is true) I want to know!

Here is a summary of what crops, foods and food ingredients have been genetically modified as of July, 2007:

Currently Commercialized GM Crops in the U.S.:
(Number in parentheses represents the estimated percent that is genetically modified.)

Soy (89%)
Cotton (83%)
Canola (75%)
Corn (61%)
Hawaiian papaya (more than 50%)
Alfalfa, zucchini and yellow squash (small amount)
Tobacco (Quest® brand)

(source: Seedsofdeception.com)

I know I'm ranting like a lunatic, but I'm angry. What kind of world am I leaving to my kids? We are allowing corporate greed to ruin our lives. That's what it all boils down to - this stupid war, global warming, genetically engineered food, it's unchecked corporate greed. So let's plant our gardens and let's press to make corporations accountable not only to their shareholders but to the rest of the world!