t r u t h o u t - Marjorie Cohn | Another World Is Possible

t r u t h o u t - Marjorie Cohn | Another World Is Possible

I'm seriously questioning what it means to live in America now (or even recently). In the 20th century, we became a negative force in the world. We secretly assasinate legitimate leaders and support tyrants.

I was thinking about the general, overarching mindset of Americans today. Why don't we live like Canadians? They are peaceful, have universal healthcare, are economically healthy, live quiet lives, and have safe communities. Their culture actually reflects family values. Americans think that is weak! What does that say about us? It says our general mindset is AGGRESSIVE. We like being feared, we like being the bully. We like being rich and envied. Even leftist elites have this mindset--we are bitterly aggressive inside our fields and among colleagues.

Sure, we're okay with some of us doing yoga, eating organic and driving volvos (BTW, I took a picture of a veteran for Kerry bumbersticker owner driving a Volvo yesterday), but if we were all that sensitive most of us, including lots of hippies, would feel like we'd castrated the country.

That's a big reason there's no great push for an end to this war, no great fear that we'll continue to be at war. War is a salve for aggressive bullies.

I've been hammering the GOP with my new slogan Greedy or Paranoid (or both)? But the GOP is just playing on those aspects of our aggressive culture to maintain power. They'd probably exploit any mindset that would gain them power, but conservatism just happens to dovetail nicely with greed and paranoia.

Our culture and the GOP are a match made in hell.

We are stuck in a mindset of I win, you lose; you win, I lose (Republicans advocate this). Like, Republicans think that if we give universal healthcare to CHILDREN, taxpayers lose. They set up a paradigm where taxpayers are competing with children's health! This is why so much of Republican power is wrapped up with lies, cloaks, and distortions. This is fundamentally wrong if we want healthy families, jobs and communities. We must learn to win/win (of course, Democrats advocate this).

We can't have equality and trust without win/win.