"A Kansan's
Contemplations"
By Jason Miller
22 August, 2005
Countercurrents.org
Life
in Kansas can be as surreal as the landscape of a Salvador Dali painting.
Critical thinking is often a scarce commodity. Scopes II
provided me with ample evidence that many Kansans are proudly waving
the banner of anti-intellectualism. In May of 2005, the 6-4 Religious
Right majority on the Kansas State School Board contrived a 21st Century
reenactment of the Monkey Trial of 1925 to prove that Evolution
is a flawed theory. As I contemplated this obscenely vacuous spectacle,
I struggled to grasp how the Age of Reason could have by-passed my state.
The word farcical
would bestow a generous description on Scopes II. Three
moderate school board members and the entire mainstream scientific community
boycotted the charade. John Calvert, a conservative Christian attorney
who leads the Intelligent Design Network of Kansas, was the William
Jennings Bryan of this circus. Calvert questioned expert witnesses
in a quest to disprove Evolution. Most of the witnesses, who served
the purpose of validating the board's desire to introduce
the concept of Intelligent Design into the public school curriculum
for the state of Kansas, were from a think tank. Founded and funded
by Christian fundamentalists, this entity called The Discovery Institute
was created to advance the so-called "theory" of Intelligent
Design. Intelligent Design essentially purports that in merely observing
the complexity of the world, one cannot help but conclude that there
was an intelligent designer (in other words, God). Evidence, research,
and peer review are irrelevant (and non-existent) to the purveyors of
the ID theory, a thinly veiled form of Creationism. The
Discovery Institute clearly stated their ultimate intentions in using
ID in a leaked internal memo known as The Wedge Document:
The social consequences
of materialism have been devastating. As symptoms, those consequences
are certainly worth treating. However, we are convinced that in order
to defeat materialism, we must cut it off at its source. That source
is scientific materialism. This is precisely our strategy. If we view
the predominant materialistic science as a giant tree, our strategy
is intended to function as a "wedge" that, while relatively
small, can split the trunk when applied at its weakest points. The very
beginning of this strategy, the "thin edge of the wedge,"
was Phillip ]ohnson's critique of Darwinism begun in 1991 in Darwinism
on Trial, and continued in Reason in the Balance and Defeating Darwinism
by Opening Minds. Michael Behe's highly successful Darwin's Black Box
followed Johnson's work. We are building on this momentum, broadening
the wedge with a positive scientific alternative to materialistic scientific
theories, which has come to be called the theory of intelligent design
(ID). Design theory promises to reverse the stifling dominance of the
materialist worldview, and to replace it with a science consonant with
Christian and theistic convictions.
It would seem the
"good people" at Discovery Institute (http://www.discovery.org/)
have their own "intelligent designs" on ways to subvert the
secular public education system. To view "The Wedge" in its
entirety, go to:
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/2437/wedge.html.
Jack Krebs, the
vice president of Kansas Citizens for Science, ferreted out the true
intentions of the six board members who pledge their allegiance to the
Religious Right, the Intelligent Design Network of Kansas, and the Discovery
Institute. He boycotted the hearings and said:
"It's clear
from the beginning that this is not a real science discussion. This
is a showcase for intelligent design. They have created a straw man.
They are trying to make science stand for atheism so they can fight
atheism."
Pedro Irigonegaray,
Clarence Darrow's counterpart in Scopes II, is a Topeka
defense attorney who generously donated his time to the support of the
Theory of Evolution. He questioned the experts with a tenacity
that revealed their true agenda. He also exposed the fact that most
of them had not even read the science standards proposed to the board.
He so effectively embarrassed the opposition that his antagonist, John
Calvert, refused to shake hands at the end of the proceedings.
On August 9, the
Kansas State School Board voted 6-4 to adopt new science standards,
which take a critical view of the Theory of Evolution, a scientific
theory which is supported by volumes of evidence and has survived intense
scrutiny and peer review since Darwin introduced it in 1859. After spending
approximately $17,000.00 on their spurious hearings, the board will
now send their newly approved standards out for external review by a
Denver-based think tank. This will cost taxpayers an additional $20,000.00
so that the legalistic Christian majority on the board can point to
another step in their "due diligence" before they strike a
blow for "true believers" and open the door to bring faith
back into the public schools (in science class of all places)! In October,
the final vote which will "officially" implement the new standards
is a virtual certainty. As a parent with a child in a Kansas public
school, I simultaneously experienced perplexity, bewilderment, and frustration
as this insane scenario transpired.
Only a Symptom
As I pondered, it
dawned on me that "Scopes II" is merely a symptom of a much
deeper disease gripping our nation. As Thomas Frank concluded in Whats
the Matter with Kansas, American voters have been brain-washed into
voting against their own economic interests in an obsessive drive to
legislate Christian values into our nation. Scopes
II validates his point. Integrating the observations of others
and infusing my own analysis, I surmised that the root of America's
decay is the insatiable lust for power and money by the ruling class.
Our republic is crumbling while our standing in the world community
has disintegrated to the point that America is feared and hated. During
the Gilded Age, America experienced a similar period of laissez-faire
capitalism, inequitable distribution of wealth, and imperialistic endeavors.
While the ruling class of the late 1800s lacked the propagandistic
power to sustain its psychological stranglehold on the commoner,
today's government media empire has the capacity to lull our citizenry
into surrendering their individual freedoms in exchange for the comfort
of the protective bosom of Big Brother.
Man of the People?
I Think Not
Who is George Bush?
Does the aw shucks, folksy persona he projects square with
the real man? Is our beloved W truly a man of the people,
as he would like Americans to believe? Old Hickory, who was truly of
the people, would turn in his grave at that notion. Strolling
through life with at least $9 million in inherited wealth, our current
president could not begin to fathom the plight of the middle class,
let alone the poor. He has failed or underperformed at virtually every
endeavor of his life, but that has not been a problem for him. Wealthy
friends and family have been there to bail him out nearly every step
of the way. His alleged empathy for the plight of the common man is
a fraud. With his MBA from Harvard, I strongly suspect that W
is not nearly as ignorant as he portrays himself to be. He may be strong
and resolute in his beliefs, but given his power, money, and support
network, how difficult is it to be strong and resolute?
While it was his perceived strength and resolution that captured the
hearts, minds, and votes of many Americans after 9/11 rattled their
psyches, what those same Americans failed to realize was that Bush would
use those very qualities to advance a cause that under-mined many aspects
of their well-being. Middle and working class Americans who support
George Bush need to awaken from their intellectual slumber. Jozef Hand-Boniakowski
has much more to say about this in his essay entitled The Fascist Ego
and the Future at http://www.metaphoria.org/ac4t0505.html.
George Bush exists
to advance the interests of the rich and the elite. Early in his reign,
the events of 9/11 shattered the feelings of security of many Americans.
Seizing upon this opportunity created by the collapse of the Twin Towers
{which some, like David Ray Griffin in 9/11 and the American Empire
(readily found by Googling), assert that Bush and his henchmen actually
master-minded}, they have employed this powerful tool to manipulate
many Americans. Preying upon America's deep sense of fear, Karl Rove,
the Minister of Truth and a man from whom Joseph Goebbels could have
learned a great deal, forged the image of George Bush as God's chosen
savior to America and to the free world. He nurtured the
notion that America was under constant threat of attack by a nebulous
enemy called Terrorism. Such an abstract enemy enabled Bush and Rove
to keep the American people in a perpetual state of war and insecurity.
The new paradigm of the good Americans against the evil
Terrorists, laid the foundation for Bush's long coveted invasion of
Iraq, and enabled his regime to advance the Bush Doctrine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_Doctrine),
a remarkably bellicose, hubristic, and imperialistic foreign policy.
As the administration rushed the Patriot Act through Congress, few Congressmen
had time to even read the legislation before rubber-stamping it for
fear of being branded unpatriotic by John Ashcroft, America's
newly anointed Minister of Love. The Patriot Act ensured a domestic
policy which would work harmoniously with the Bush Doctrine by restricting
civil liberties in the interests of national security.
Reign of Bush
II
Over three years
have passed since 9/11, yet many Americans still dangle from the marionette
strings of The Ministry of Truth. Rove's propagandists and the mainstream
media have enabled "W" to propel the United States into an
illegal, imperialistic invasion of Iraq to perpetuate the interests
of the military industrial complex, including companies like Halliburton
and Bechtel. Tax cuts for the wealthy have shifted the tax burden to
the middle and working class. Under a crushing national debt of $7.5
trillion, America is now the reigning king of Debtor Nations, a title
once arrogantly bestowed upon developing nations. How can we saddle
our children and grandchildren with that burden? At the rate America
is going, future generations will become the indentured servants of
China and Japan.
Social welfare benefits
for the poor are substantially diminishing. Government-endorsed discrimination
against gays is increasing. The line between church and state delineated
by our Constitution is disappearing. Chasm is the new word to describe
the gap between the rich and the poor. Inconceivably, despite his declining
popularity, a substantial number of Americans still adore "W",
somehow managing to disregard a mountain of evidence of his incompetence,
disregard for the working class, and deceit. If one whispers a sweet
little lie to oneself long enough, one starts to believe it.
Repeat after me:
George Bush is a good president and represents my best interest....George
Bush is a good president and represents my best interest....
Is it working? Have
you slapped a W sticker on the back of your forty-foot SUV
yet? If you have, you are in Bush country now, partner. Tell the terrorists
to bring it on
.
Social welfare programs,
the Judicial Branch of the government, and Iran are now targets of the
Bush machine. Despite rapidly declining support for the war in Iraq,
and the pending investigation concerning possible treason committed
by Karl Rove, America is on the precipice of unbridled tyranny. As many
Americans passively watch, what is left of our republic is completing
its ugly metamorphosis into oligarchy, blended with a strong tinge of
theocracy which emanates from the Religious Right.
The Golden
Rule
While many of the
poor, middle and working class continue swallowing the fiction of the
American Dream, the rich and elite, whom I will call the
Oligarchs, own and manipulate the media machine which continues to propagate
the Horatio Alger myth. What the Ministry of Truth does not tell us
is that for every Bill Gates rags to riches story, there
are millions of Americans who put their hearts and souls into success
and stay mired in the quicksand of perpetual poverty. True social mobility
is rare in America, and the Oligarchs under Bush aim to make it rarer
still. They comprehend the truth of the maxim that he who has
the gold makes the rules. Oligarchs have most of the gold, and
they are strengthening their capacities to make the rules. Media perpetuation
of hubris, xenophobia, and homophobia enable the Oligarchs to convince
Americans that despite genocidal acts against Native Americans, the
enslavement of the black race, the internment of American citizens of
Japanese descent during World War II, imperialistic policies in the
Middle East since the end of World War II, support of numerous ruthless
tyrants around the globe throughout the history of the US government,
and ongoing discrimination against women and minorities, that America
is morally superior to the rest of the world. Despite creating 25% of
the carbon dioxide responsible for the Greenhouse Effect, denying its
existence, and withdrawing from the Kyoto Treaty; defying the UN by
invading Iraq and sending an antagonistic serial abuser
as our new UN ambassador (without Senate approval); and hoarding 35%
of the world's wealth while only representing 5% of the world's population
(shockingly, of that 5%, 1% controls one third of the wealth), the Oligarchs
somehow convince Americans that our nation was an innocent victims in
9/11. America has engaged in various forms of state terrorism for years,
and the victims are finally retaliating. Rather than taking the rational
steps of changing their narcissistic and imperialistic behavior, taking
reasonable steps to defend the American people, and implementing justice
against the true perpetrators of crimes against humanity (including
both individual terrorists like bin Laden and the state terrorists who
are at the helm of Americas government like Bush), the Oligarchs
continue with imperialistic actions that fan the flames of hostility.
Perpetuating this cycle of violence feeds America's dependence on the
Oligarchs cash cows, including the military industrial complex
and Big Oil.
They want the
whole world in their hands.....
Bush and the Oligarchs
will not be satisfied with absolute power in America. Their ambitions
extend far beyond our borders. One need look no further the Project
for the New American Century and its Statement of Principles (both readily
found on the Internet by Googling) to see that world domination by the
American military industrial complex is their ultimate goal. Several
of the signers of the statement of principles are now serving in high
level positions in the Bush administration, including Donald Rumsfeld,
Dick Cheney, and Paul Wolfowitz.
Americans who support
Bush have passively handed the keys of the kingdom to a pack of ravenous
megalomaniacs bent on world domination. Much to the delight of Bush
and company, fear and the media/propaganda machine are not the only
factors keeping the working classes from breaking free of their economic
and psychological shackles. Ongoing "cultural wars" over issues
like abortion distract ordinary Americans from important economic and
foreign policy issues, leaving our leaders to their own devices. Convinced
that false dichotomies limit their choices, many in America expend their
energy fighting one another rather than aspiring to individual freedom,
working to develop their potential as human beings, and allowing others
to do the same.
Beware the False
Dichotomy
In Bush's America,
if you are not for the war on terrorism, you are not a patriot,
and thus you are "against America". In this 1984-like atmosphere,
it is no coincidence that a law that gives the federal government virtually
unchecked power to violate our civil liberties is called the Patriot
Act. In Bush's vision of the New American Century, whether
you are American or not, you are either for us or against us. There
is no room for constructive dissent against the almighty W.
Bushs loyal subjects see the world in black and white, and support
the illegal war in Iraq because they are terrified of being labeled
as unpatriotic. Unwittingly, Bush supporters pledge their allegiance
to a paradigm that enables the rich to maintain dominion over the poor
and middle classes. Perverse use of the concept of patriotism
ensures a steady supply of tax dollars and warm bodies to feed the war
machine.
With numerous states
having passed constitutional amendments banning gay marriage and Bush
pushing for an amendment to the US Constitution, gay rights in America
are under siege. Under the Oligarchs, you are either straight
or gay, and if you are "gay" you are not entitled
to Constitutionally-guaranteed civil liberties. Hitler used the Jewish
people while Pol Pot preyed on intellectuals. In homosexuals, the Oligarchs
have found the scapegoat on which a successful tyranny depends. Offering
their minions a group to blame for the moral decay of society provides
a powerful cause around which the Oligarchs can mobilize their faithful
to rally.
For a serious laugh,
consider the notion that Americans have a real choice when they go to
the polls to elect a president. Dominated by two monolithic parties,
both of which are beholden to corporations and wealthy campaign contributors,
the political arena allows scant room for meaningful participation by
the poor or working class. Despite the superficial differences between
the Republican and Democratic parties on some issues, the two parties
share the common goal of perpetuating the power of the wealthy elite.
While the poor and working class have historically fared better under
Democratic rule, there is little evidence that there is an appreciable
difference between the two parties. In the end, the Oligarchy still
rules, whether they don the guise of an elephant or of a jackass.
Are you a liberal
or a conservative? Political pundits, pollsters, and their masters in
Washington thrive on people defining themselves as one or the other.
Their objective is to pigeonhole people into narrowly defined groups.
Having accomplished this, the powerful media machine sows seeds of discord
that draw people into a perpetual ideological battle between fictitious
groups. The reality is that no human being fits neatly into either category.
People fall on a spectrum somewhere between liberal and conservative.
Their views on some issues may tend toward liberal, and move towards
conservative on others. Yet the Oligarchs successfully manipulate many
Americans to choose a side, and battle it out with the other side, regardless
of what their individual views might be if they were to step out of
their liberal or conservative box. Perpetual bickering amongst
the working class gives the Oligarch plenty of cover for their malfeasance.
Secularism versus
the Religious Right is King George's favorite aspect of the cultural
war. Representing W as an Evangelical Christian, the administration
mobilized a coalition of conservative Christians known as the Religious
Right. The Religious Rights leaders are as power hungry as the
Oligarchs, while their followers, fueled by feelings of victimization
for their beliefs, vindictively pursue the Christian agenda.
Riding the Right to re-election, in spite of the obvious incompetent
and criminal nature of his first term, Bush was rewarded with another
four years to commit crimes against humanity. Employing a classic divide
and conquer strategy, Bush and the moneyed class enthusiastically
promote spectacles like Scopes II. In fact, Bush recently
gave a public endorsement for teaching Intelligent Design in public
schools. While their subjects squabble over the validity of Evolution
and argue about the phrase under God in the Pledge of Allegiance,
the Oligarchy counts the stacks of cash in its counting room.
Peace and Social
Justice are NOT Mirages
I am not despairing.
In fact, I am very hopeful for the future. History reveals that the
working class is not helpless before the might of the elite. We are
not destined to victimization at the hands of the Oligarchy. Mother
Jones, Eugene Debs, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the millions who rallied
behind them forced the Oligarchy of their time to give the people a
degree of human rights, freedoms, and economic justice. Awareness is
the first step in the journey toward reform. The human spirit is not
easily crushed or caged for prolonged periods, and we have the means
at our disposal to challenge those in power.
To begin this renaissance
of humanity and reverse the ugly dehumanization instituted by the ruling
elite, more Americans need to abandon the Oligarchy-controlled mainstream
media and fortify their minds with information from Internet sources,
many of which remain uncorrupted by the money of the elite. Activist
writing, letters to the editor, and correspondence to elected officials
are powerful means to inform and persuade others (and to hold public
officials accountable).
To counter their
divide and conquer strategy, we need to join groups and
organizations like the ACLU, the People for the American Way, Amnesty
International, the Human Rights Campaign, and the NAACP. These groups
champion human rights and challenge the tyranny perpetrated by the Oligarchy.
The working class needs to wage a powerful campaign to re-unionize America,
where union membership has dwindled to a pitiful 9% of the workforce.
Impossible as it may sound, groups as deeply divided as secularists
and members of the Religious Right need to find enough common ground
to unite against the Oligarchs.
Protests, boycotts,
marches, and civil disobedience have been effective means of diminishing
the power of the Oligarchy in the past, and can be again. Corruption,
greed, and malfeasance are rampant in the American government, and we
need to use virtually all peaceable means at our disposal to curtail
the power of the Oligarchy. On September 24, a group of protestors with
an anticipated number in excess of 200,000 will descend upon the White
House (http://www.answercoalition.org/).
My wife and I will be among them. We will present a list of demands
to the Bush regime, which include ending the war in Iraq, ending colonial
occupation in several sovereign nations, supporting the Palestine people's
right of return, stopping the threats against nations like Venezuela
and Iran, removing military recruiters from schools and communities,
bringing the troops home, and defending civil rights. On October 15th,
Bush will receive a visit from another large contingent of proponents
of social justice via the Million More Movement. There is still hope
for America.
(For more on challenging
those in power visit: (http://www.worldwiderenaissance.com)
Richard Nixon, one
of the most corrupt presidents in the history of the United States,
lost his tenacious grip on power through impeachment proceedings which
led to his resignation in 1974. It is now 2005, and once again American
citizens deserve far better than they are getting. The members of Congress
who have not sold out to the Oligarchy need to seriously consider impeachment
proceedings against George Bush. How long do we abide an incompetent,
avaricious war criminal? Under Bush, the money spigot for his military
industrial complex is wide open while the flow of tax dollars to the
poor is reduced to a trickle. It is unconscionable that a man with his
arrogance, disregard for human rights, inability to tell the truth,
and lack of capacity to tolerate dissent remains in office. Recent polls
show that 60% of the nation opposes the war, yet Bush and Cheney continue
vowing to "stay the course in Iraq". How long will it be before
enough Americans wake up and we impeach George W. Bush?
My Objective
According to Finley
Peter Dunne, the purpose of journalism is to comfort the afflicted,
and afflict the comfortable. As usual, I hope I have fulfilled
that purpose.
Jason Miller
is a 38 year old activist writer with a degree in liberal arts.
He works in the transportation industry, and is a husband and a father
to three boys. His affiliations include Amnesty International, the ACLU
and the Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He welcomes
responses at [email protected]
or comments on his blog at http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/.
This article is an essay from an upcoming book in which Michael Caddell
compiles progressive writings by Kansans