Is That Legal?

Yes, it is something to think about. But just what should I do about the people (most of them innocent, not that that matters) in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and the secret prisons whom Bush is torturing and murdering? I ask that sincerely.

I think this is why its ridiculous for anyone to come from a holier than thou attitude when it comes to responsibilities for the mess the world is in. In many ways, we are all complicit, maybe to varying degrees, but still the blood runs thick.

And when the systems that are meant to mediate your anger (electoral politics) don't seem to be getting anything done, what the hell DO you do? With tax payer bought bombs and dropping from tax payer bought airplanes over another country, what can be done to stop it? Can it be stopped? These are the 64,000 questions.

Well, that is the question in the end, isn't it? I live in Germany, and a work colleague bought Der Spiegel Monday morning, before we got on the train, with the cover of the naked Iraqi and the title 'America's Shame - Torturing In The Name Of Freedom,' we had another one of those polite discussions which seem so normal here. You know, the ones talking about what is happening in America, and how everyone living outside of the U.S. remains utterly baffled. Sort of like the world and Germany, ca. 1933-1936 (here, I am talking about the bafflement at the changes, not any comparison about changes).

Maybe you should print up a few covers (full color, of course), and have a few discussions with people you know. Maybe you could write your congressional representatives, since apparently most, if not all, of these pictures were seen by them in 2004, and politely ask why they took no action at that time.

Maybe, if you have a problem with your tax money being used for torture, you could stop paying taxes? I mean, the worst you face is jail.

This is the thing that makes a real appreciation of what happens to a society so hard. The cost of resisting evil seems so high (and it may be - no guarantee of any change if you don't pay taxes and are jailed).

I could be so bold as to say, don't live like an American - don't have any debt, don't buy anything apart from basics produced as locally as possible, no car, and if you have any talent for it all, get involved in local issues or in a local economic system. Your life will be different, and probably saying it will be 'better' is silly. But you will live in a way which is likely to at least make the evil being committed in your name less your fault.

Don't support the system at all, and when trying to change it, keep in mind that change in this case actually means replacement, not 'improvement.' Torturers are barbarians, and teaching them table manners is not really the point. Handing them over to a court for judgment might work, if there was truly a functioning international system, since it is quite clear no American responsible for torture at any level beyond the lowest soldier will be sentenced by an American court.

And do keep in mind, like a German in 1932, you can watch the future coming, and if it comforts you any, realize it isn't really your fault. Of course, there does come the point it is your fault, but that hasn't quite arrived yet. Good luck.

To choice: Thank you for your suggestions in response to my question about what to do to avoid being a "good German" in the U.S. today. But your suggestion to stop paying taxes and risk going to prison, or to give up one's car, would have no effect beyond showing that one feels strongly about the matter. Like the Buddhist monks who immolated themselves in protest of the Vietnam war, one would be hurting oneself to little end, and would also be unfair to one's family, who presumably benefit from the protester's being out of prison and with a car. Unfortunately, I can offer no better suggestions.

My response to it is not to individualize it (ala the suggestions above), though that can be helpful, but working in community with others. Moreso than anything else today, the atomisation of people assists those who hold the reins on centralized and concentrated power, since without a real sense of connectedness there is no base for opposition against such a concentrated force. I feel some suggestions above border more on wiping one's own conscience clean than getting things actually done.

If you're a parent, for instance, you can go speak to your PTA about military recruiters on school grounds, if you're interested in individualizing type things like thsoe listed above, parlay them into larger community efforts (an example from the vegan movement is to not merely switch your own diet, but prepare potlucks for others and encourage shelf space or menu options at local resteraunts). Time and time again attempt to build a solid base of people for actions.

These things are not easy. They are not as easy as founding MoveOn or getting someone to sign an online petition, or write a letter to the editor based on a form letter.But the results are much, much greater, and have a far longer impact that makes getting shit done down the line easier.

Well, that is the crux of the problem, H. If you keep living as you do (no personal comment, I might add), then nothing changes. This is the core right there. The futility of your individal acts is not actually the point.

I have noticed this tendency much more in reading comments from Americans recently - that is, decrying what is happening, asking what can be done/who will fix it, and then shrug off any suggestion involving changing the way you live.

Again, no insults here, this is a very general observation.

But this is the problem from outside the U.S. - if Americans aren't going to change, regardless of how much they talk about it, then what change can we expect?

To imagine that homo sapiens are anything but highly evolved animals is stupid. Would you expect your dog to make "moral choices". Many people voted for Bush in the last election. If you want to do something, then here is my suggestion. Find one voter in a red state - it may be family, it may be a friend, it may be a work colleague. Convince that voter to not vote Republican in the 2006 election. Keep on trying until you either convince them or you severe your relationship. Find another person and repeat if you must severe your relationship.

You don't have to go to jail. You don't have to sacrifice your family's well-being. It is not a protest. You only risk destroying relationships and telling someone that you cannot tolerate their politics because the result is morally repugnant to you. It is likely the first person you try to convince will become your enemy. Can you tolerate that? Can you be known in your family, among your friends, among your coworkers as someone willing to put the moral choices you so crave for others to make above personal relationships?