!

It is amazing and sad the extent and depth of the braindead, self-righteous hubris which aficts this nation of ours. I just heard a professor from a major university in D.C. on NPR decrying Russia because of their use of force in the Crimea. The Doctor pointed out that the U.N. charter made such use of force illegal, since W.W.II. He was adamant about the grave crime Russia is committing. I wonder, how can an American condemn the international use of force, considering that our own country lives and breathes by militarily intervening in other countries (and by intervening in other countries economically and politically and with special forces). It has done this since its inception. If you do not see this, I suggest you open your eyes--because they are shut. Or for some other reason, you are not seeing what is abundantly clear. Our nation, like no other, has killed millions upon millions of people spread over numerous other countries, and has deposed numerous democratic governments, just since W.W.II. This blood bath continues today. My best answer to how can an American condemn the international violence of other countries is this: in the selfrighteous blindness of my people, the American people, we fail to notice our own bloody sins--which are scarlet. Americans think that they, and they alone, are justied in being violent in foreign lands. Most Americans, apparently, think that America is a big friend of democracy and freedom. That is fantastic nonsense, fed to children like juice and cookies.

So many Americans rear-up at these statements of mine, and condemn or dismiss me for making them. Would you people please look into reality, extensively? It is important that we be truthfully informed. Would you please cut through the self-righteous stuff, which so thickly surrounds and pervades us? The contrast between the actuality and our self-assessment shows clearly our weak orientation to reality--and our weak thought, our weak comprehension, and our poorly developed sense of compassion. If we would concentrate on being good people, we would make progress in that area--progress that we sorely need, because we, as a nation, wreak havoc. Dont believe it? I am talking, among other things, of crowds of good people killed--I am talking, among other things, of multitudes of ne people, blown apart. I am talking about many, many healthy families, shattered and crushed. I am talking about democracies extinguished. By US. By the wild military machine this nation wields. By our violently imposing our vision of good on all the world, as if we were the arbiters of good--rather than possessors of a shortsighted, limited, misguided, primitive sense of good, as we actually are. When one has directly killed as many people as this country has, and one has destroyed as many governments as this nation has, that one ought to examine oneself very closely, to make sure that what one is doing is good.

That is my plea.