HOW TO SUCCEED IN SCARING PEOPLE WITHOUT REALLY TRYING
By Andrew Williams
Last weekend was one of the best and worst of my life. I spent much of it with good friends, celebrating the birthday of one of that company. I also received a communication from a friend indicating that that person no longer wished to have contact with me and, in fact, was afraid of me. The trigger incident for the latter response was the person in question being out of communication for two days. This would not normally have alarmed me, except that I knew this person was not in the best of health, was terribly worried about a parent who had just undergone major surgery and had previously written me about feeling suicidal. So I went to my friend's house, spoke briefly to a neighbor-to ascertain whether my friend was all right--and made calls to every number I had for this person. I will admit to overreaching-I shouldn't have called again after I left a note on my friend's door to call me as soon as humanly possible. But this was not the result I wanted. The idea that any human being is afraid of me makes me feel horrible-that's not what I want at all. And now all I can do is grieve for what's lost and move on.
Apparently, my feelings are not shared by the United States government, which has just voted to create a bureau of Homeland Secrecy. This action, compounded with other recent actions-wars and rumors of wars, the USA Patriot Act-has given much of the world additional incentive to fear and hate America. Not to mention the fear and suspicion it's generating here.
In the process, we've pissed away most of the sympathy and goodwill accumulated post-September 11th.
These are facts that many of my fellow countrymen-and obviously my government-have not yet grokked. I have spoken with several acquaintances that have been to Europe this year, and they report that, as a result of speaking with Europeans citizens, they are ashamed to be Americans. They seem to be the exception.
But none of this took any real effort. As far as I know, no citizens group was clamoring for the creation of the Homeland Secrecy department. No marches have been held demanding that we bomb the Iraqis back to the Stone Age. The silent majority-if it exists-seems content to sit home drinking beer while clenching its fists and muttering "USA!' under its breath. Hardly a rousing call for a police state here and abroad. The United States government, in the interest of "freedom," took it upon itself to create this police state apparatus in the wake of September 11th. The citizenry was not asked to vote on its creation. It was simply done, and presented to the world as a fait accompli.
There was so little effort involved, most of the Senators and Representatives who voted for Homeland Secrecy didn't even bother to try to read the 35-page-that-grew-like-Topsy-to-500-pages bill. Not that they had time to read it, anyway. It was thrust upon them one day before the vote on its passage. The pleas of Senator Byrd and others to their fellow Congressbeings to take their time and not allow themselves to be rushed into voting for fascism were unheeded.
As the examples above indicate, any entity-an individual or a government-can scare people without even really trying. But where the consequences of my actions shocked, surprised and horrified me, the majority of Demoplicans and Republicrats pat themselves on the back and congratulate themselves for completing the final step to a fascist state. I'm with the Libertarians on this one: I love my country, but I fear my government.
And, in saying this, I join billions of people worldwide who share my fears, who do not believe in the literal application of the Old Testament admonition "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" because they do not want a sightless and toothless world. And if that makes me a traitor in the eyes of Bush, Ridge, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Powell and Rice, then so be it. Better to be a traitor in Heaven than a collaborator in Hell.
Peter Gabriel-UP
www.petergabriel.com
www.aapsonline.org
