Reykjavík Grapevine - 03.12.2004, Page 8

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Earn the Most, Pay the Least!
The new changes to the tax laws
made by the government benefit
high wage-earners with children
more than low wage-earners with
the same number of children.
Music Affects the Economy
Ágúst Einarsson, a professor of
business and economy of the
University of Iceland, has written
a book detailing the economic
effects of music in Iceland, based
on years of research. The book
will be published by the business
and economy department of the
University of Iceland.
Oil Companies Corroborate
Again
Esso raised the litre price of self-
service gas by one króna, as did
Shell and Olís – all on the same
day. Coincidence yet again?
Pederast Still On the Loose
Despite an intense search, a man
who abducted and later released
a nine-year-old girl is still at
large. The girl, who was picked
up in Kópavogur and released in
Mossfellsbær, describes the man
as about 20 years of age, with a
shaved head, dark-rimmed glasses
and facial hair under his bottom
lip.
Police Revoke 14 Licences in
One Weekend
14 drivers under the influence
were pulled over and had their
licences revoked the last week-
end in November, out of 700
cars pulled over. Other offences
included driving without a licence
and driving with drugs in the car.
Police say that the stepped-up ma-
noeuvres are in preparation for the
coming holidays. Nothing quite
says Christmas like a DUI arrest.
Strong words, perhaps: “the death
of democracy”? But this was surely
the last real election we’ll ever have.
People will still vote, of course, but
they will have no real choices.
For the left, John Kerry was the best
shot we’re ever going to get. The
man who founded Vietnam Vets
Against the War, with almost 100 %
ADA rating, super-intelligent; all of
this made him a war hero who could
be acceptable to the mainstream.
A nod´s as good as a wink to a
blind bat
We were even willing to set aside
our reservations and swallow some
very disturbing facts. Kerry talked
loudly about winning the war.
Well, he had been in Vietnam and
(wink) he wouldn’t really sacrifice
American lives in another senseless
war. He was opposed to gay marriage
but (wink) against a constitutional
amendment. He was a staunch
supporter of Israel (gulp). He was
opposed to capital punishment
- except for terrorists (gag).
For once the left, from anarchists
like Chomsky to the neo-liberals,
was united. We turned out in record
numbers and we lost anyway. The
majority of Americans delivered
democracy up to the tender mercies
of George Bush and the Republican
Party.
The Republicans have been quite
open in their disdain for democracy,
ever since Florida in the 2000
elections. In 2004 they were poised
to strike large segments of the
population off the electoral rolls only
it proved not to be necessary. The
Bush administration has shredded
the Bill of Rights, imprisoning
citizens indefinitely without trial.
They have legalized torture, in
contravention of international
treaties. And now they’re talking
about appointing three Justices for
the Supreme Court.
Some people blame voting
irregularities, others blame the media
or the timidity of the Democrats, as
if Denis Kucinitch would have done
any better. They miss the point,
which is that most Americans want
just the sort of nightmare George
Bush offers them.
What is it with Americans? Are we
so stupid as to vote against our own
clear economic and social interests?
What are we so frightened of?
Languishing in masochistic
langour
Americans are not stupid. As
Michael Moore points out, just listen
to them discussing something that
really matters, like baseball statistics.
I’ve lived in this country since the
late 50’s and, in my experience,
Americans are no more stupid than,
alas, any other people in the world.
On some level, Americans have
known all along that the reasons
given for the War in Iraq were
bogus. I knew it. The rest of the
world certainly knew it. And for
good reasons: a United Nations
inspections team failed to discover
any. The UN is a credible
organization while the President, no
matter what party he belongs to, lies.
And yet I’ve heard Americans affirm,
in a kind of masochistic languor,
that we went to war to protect the
country. They remind me of the wife
who defends her abusive husband
because he promised he’ll stop
beating her. She ignores all evidence
to the contrary, his history of broken
promises, his lack of genuine remorse
and she says this time he means it.
No, Americans are not fools. What
we are though, is very, very rich. So
rich that we can afford to elect a total
imbecile for a President.
About wealth, there’s no question.
As a nation, the US controls
almost half of the world’s wealth.
As a people we are foremost in the
development of obesity, as well as
being pioneers in the associated
disorders of anorexia and bulimia.
The American Dream come true
True, there are Americans living in
dire poverty. But they are invisible
in reservations or in ghettos,
invisible, that is, to the majority of
Americans stuck in their suburbs.
And, compared to the situation
in many other countries, even the
poorest Americans are well off. Some
Americans may go hungry, some
may be malnourished but there is no
famine or starvation here, no threat
of skeletal figures or bloated children
in the streets.
For most Americans, deprivation
is when you can’t afford cable.
Unemployment means running
up your credit card, or maybe
taking time for personal growth or
going back to school, perhaps even
exploring “voluntary simplicity”.
There is still plenty of the fat of the
land to cushion us.
On the whole, Americans live
comfortable lives; they are not
suffering. This is the American
Dream. Americans, I said, are much
like people anywhere in the world.
And people from all over the world
are flocking to this country to live
that very dream.
Over a thousand Americans have
died in Iraq but there are no photos
of the caskets to disturb us. The
suffering in Iraq has no reality for
the majority of the American public,
just another TV show. They are
protected from the killing by a fatty
layer of ignorance. And, in contrast
to the Vietnam war, there is no
military draft so the citizenry is in no
danger of being sent off to die.
How Iraq is unlike Vietnam
And my guess is that there will be
no draft. The Vietnam war ended
when the draft was changed to a
strict lottery system, ending the
deferments and endangering the
lives of middle class children. The
Republicans are talking about vast
arenas of conquest, wars which
would require a much larger army
to win. But the point is not to
win the Iraq war or any other war.
The point is for the War against
Terrorism to go on endlessly, fueling
the insecurity of the nation and the
resulting masochistic fascination of
the populace.
In the same way, I don’t believe
the Republican leadership has any
intention of ending abortion. It
would cause immense hardship for
middle class women, and certainly
result in a backlash against the
Party. It’s a dangerous game they
are playing with the southern
fundamentalists, who seriously
want to outlaw abortion, but I think
abortion rights will be upheld,
narrowly, in years to come.
The Republicans will find targets
that cause the least amount of pain
in the general populace. The first
victim will be the environment
where destruction is incremental,
unnoticeable over the short run,
but from which immediate, and
immense profits, from the sale and
exploitation of vital habitats, can be
made. Social Security is another easy
target. Young people all believe they
will never grow old and will be happy
for an excuse not to contribute.
Democracy requires enough
communality to generate tolerance
for your opponents, so that even
when they hold power, you can still
collaborate for the common good. I
predict that George W. Bush’s most
enduring accomplishment will be
the legacy of hatred by which he has
divided the country.
John Ashcroft the librarian
I now know that the majority of my
fellow citizens are psychopaths who
would happily torture me and kill
me. I see the smiling face of Lynne
Englund on the woman driving my
bus. I feel the eyes of John Ashcroft
upon me at work, I feel his cold
fingers at the library. And of, course,
Republicans must feel the same way
about me.
There will be no tanks rumbling
through the streets, only the guzzle
and drone of Hum-Vees conveying
commuters out to the suburbs. No
burning of books, why bother when
no one takes ideas seriously? No
firing squads, only the statistical
shortening of our people’s lives as
medical care is limited to the super-
rich. No network of concentration
camps for a scape-goated minority
- oh, wait, we already have a sizable
proportion of our black citizens
incarcerated - well, no drastic change
here.
Welcome to the era of Fascism Lite.
A friend from abroad sends me this post-electoral e-mail:
Dear Majority of Americans
Fuck you too.
Sincerely, the rest of the world.
Brave words, but, here in Minneapolis, these are the people I have
to live with. These are the ones who are strolling down my street
rejoicing in the death of democracy.
WHY THE BUSH REGIME WILL BOMB IRAQ
BUT NEVER BAN ABORTION
by Christopher Shillock
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