An essay by Tina Staik
June 27, 2001

Wake up and Take Back America!

My family and I have not missed a Fourth of July fireworks celebration--YET. This year, however, HOW can we celebrate our "independence" in the USUAL way, after discovering since the last election that the self-praise we have been giving ourselves as "the world's foremost leader in democracy" is only a smokescreen or more plainly, a lie!

As Fourth of July approaches this year, sadness grips our hearts at the state of our democracy. Not a sadness leading to depression, however, but a growth-promoting sadness, leading to willingness to see the truth after a rude, yet wonderful AWAKENING; a thanksgiving that we can SEE MORE CLEARLY NOW, and an admission that WE THE PEOPLE failed our country by not keeping close enough watch over those WE give power to--as Thomas Paine, and founders of our freedom-loving country had warned!

In May our family participated in National Strike One; last week, we joined other Americans in the national "Rolling Blackout" by turning out our lights from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. It is still NOT nearly enough, however! There's a deepening sense of urgency and unrest thinking about the number of Americans still living "in the dark," waiting for the next election as if we have a system that can be trusted! There's a growing frustration wondering WHAT it will take to get the "mainstream" corporate media to VOICE our DISSENT and PROTESTS nationwide!

For starters, instead of WASTING money on fireworks, how about celebrating our "awakening" by CALLING OFF THE FIREWORKS displays, petitioning our mayors and governors to USE MONEY ON ELECTION REFORM INSTEAD, which will be necessary in TAKING BACK AMERICA! Of course, some may want to use the money on other pressing needs that the outrageous tax cut for the rich will make impossible to meet, i.e., education, teacher salaries, prescriptions for elderly, and so on.

Also, how about SPENDING LESS, CHARGING LESS on our credit cards, and of course taking part in NATIONAL STRIKE TWO to protest the national pro-profit policy that has managed to brainwash us into even having PRIDE about being the most obsessive-compulsive-consumer robots of the world! Who benefits MOST from our wasteful consumerism? Of course!! THOSE WHO CARE MORE ABOUT PROFITS THAN PEOPLE, the same people who staged this outrageous usurping of the presidency as well as the gap-increasing tax cut to further increase their profits, and who are now staging another cold war in order to boost the war industry AND pamper their war-glorifying egos!

This AA, or arrogant administration, is literally dismantling our country! The democrats in Congress still appear more concerned about "keeping the peace" and "respecting" the "rule of law," perhaps for the sake of our country's reputation in the world. WHAT rule of law, however, makes it possible to systematically disenfranchise voters for decades and then participate in a cover up to make sure southern supremacists' feathers aren't ruffled!!!??? We must get their attention!

What IF the Europeans and Americans after WWII decided, for the sake of "moving on," "international relations" and "world stability," to cover up the genocide and concentration camps??? For one, German leaders would not have "learned" essential, ego-subduing lessons, which have made them the great, peace-oriented world leaders they are today! In all cases, exposing wrongdoings against humanity and civil rights is vital to ANY democratic nation's growth and development!

IS IT NOT just another form of "GENOCIDE" when we fail to take action to end poverty and educational discrimination for black children, considering that we have known for decades that there is a STRONG connection between Black American males, poverty, child abuse/neglect, lack of education, death, racial profiling, incarceration/recidivism and capital punishment!!!???

In light of this, ARE NOT our prisons just sophisticated CONCENTRATION CAMPS to which "supremacists" send "inferior" black males in order to prevent them from rising out of their low economic standing?

ARE THESE THE REAL REASONS our elections just fraudulent farces, set up to systematically count some groups of people less than others, that is, to appease the status quo forces?

If WE THE PEOPLE do not RISE to self-correct ourselves, we can be sure that, based on spiritual laws that govern this universe--someone will! The lesson of humility is a LESSON of Life that exempts no one!

History shows that arrogance, and egotistical nationalistic goals for world supremacy have led country after country to ruin! What makes our country think that we can act like gods to the world without respecting spiritual principles that govern all relationships.

Acting like we "deserve" to become an "invincible force" with capacity wipe out the world without fear of retaliation is fine as a little boys' comic book fantasy, dangerous for the security and stability of our own nation for adult males to play around with! Today is the day to start to make up for lost ground, to make friends around the world, to reach out, to understand our interdependence in this global community.

We cannot afford to just sit back and wait for democrats in Congress and the next elections!!! We do NOT have democratic elections! We do not have free press and most Americans lack this awareness...which makes the press more dangerous! We do not have freedom of speech without fear of recrimination (liberal journalists and leaders are systematically terrorized by threats and character attacks; just last week, protesters of the school of America, including an 88 year old nun, were given 6 month jail sentences for civil disobedience; even recent Supreme Court decisions have backed police brutality against citizens for not wearing seatbelts or for holding protest signs)! We do not have a government that HAS THE FREEDOM to care about people, children, civil rights, human rights, voting rights in real and substantial ways WITHOUT BEING BULLIED by those passionately determined to maintain the status quo!

We have an administration of SELECTED leaders who have bullied their way through Congress and who have CORPORATE-OWNED MEDIA as their right arm of power! They systematically befriend war mongers and dictators while simultaneously discrediting peacemakers and human rights activists! They are sensitive to the needs of corporations and arrogantly ignore world treaties to end discrimination and protect our environment! They turn their heads from dealing with police brutality, racial profiling, inhumane treatment of asylum seekers and women and girls in prisons.

How can we trustingly "wait" for the next elections!?

Our basic constitutional rights have been robbed and stepped on, and the most disturbing thing is that this cycle has repeated itself over and again! Furthermore, because we have been media-duped into thinking that "dissent and protests" are "unAmerican," we are only just beginning to SEE with some clarity the extent to which our civil rights and human rights and constitutional rights have been systematically compromised!

If the cycles are not more evident by now, read your history books to see Life at work! (Especially the historical scholarship since the 1970s of those groups, such as women, Black Americans, Native Americans, who were literally EXCLUDED from history books until recently, and who still only get a chapter or so collectively in most secondary school textbooks used today!).

The cycle "starts" with brave Americans courageously giving their lives OR their reputations (more often with nonviolent activism) to establish equality and justice FOR ALL! After achieving some progress with new legislation, however, these brave Americans get complacent, or, even worse, begin to feel uneasy about being "unAmerican" in asking for more reforms (it's the "independence" thing...you know...every American is required to PROVE he or she can invent the wheel because only "inferior" people ask for help...). Finally, America returns almost back to square one WHEN status quo forces make their move using either brutal means to frighten people into submission (KKK, FBI, etc.), or devising new and ever more deceitful legislation, such Jim Crow and Jane Crow laws, to maintain hierarchical rule and entitlement for the few!!! Meanwhile, almost all are brainwashed via "the power of the pen," and other means, into thinking that "true" meaning of "freedom" is keeping the government's hands off of Americans' guns! HOW were we ever duped like this?

Wake up, America! We the people ARE the government!!!

The REAL problem is NOT people, the real problem is a battle throughout history between TWO MAIN opposing ideologies--hierarchical rule of the few VERSUS democratic rule of the people (see Riane Eisler's seminal work, "The Chalice and the Blade").

Throughout history and even today, supremacist views held by fundamentalist conservatives, which embrace the notion that one group is superior to another, are at the root of all destruction and wars, genocide, concentration camps, and so on.

Just as peaceful, partnership societies were destroyed in Europe between 5,000 and 2,000 bc by hierarchically ruled IndoEuropeans, most Native Indian tribes of North America (which were largely peaceful, democratically ruled "partnership" societies in which women and men shared positions of power in public and private domains, shared responsibility in raising children and building caring communities, etc.) were brutally introduced to hierarchical sexual relations, racial supremacy, sexual and physical violence, poverty, addictions, and so on, this time by Europeans.

Looking back over recent events, since the election, and our history, since the writing of the Declaration of Independence, what seems evident is that most of our country's inner struggles from the beginning have also been between those who had a vision for America based on EQUALITY, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and Washington's refusal to be crowned king, VERSUS those who have held various SUPREMACIST ideologies, i.e., race supremacy, gender supremacy, religious supremacy, and so on. From the beginning, supremacists in our country have passionately defended the maintenance of status quo hierarchies and rule of the "entitled" few over what they deem "inferior" masses of people. The REAL reason supremacist conservatives OF EITHER PARTY do not want government to "interfere" is they KNOW the only way we will achieve equality and progress for ALL Americans is if the WE THE PEOPLE government "legislates equality"!

Notably, supremacists throughout the world, i.e., imperialists, communists, fascists, Arians, nationalists, and so on, have MUCH in common. They ALL justify OPPRESSION of the masses, thinking themselves to be "benevolent" leaders who "know better" what is "good for the people." OPPRESSORS may identify themselves by different labels, they may be religious or secular, ALL of them, however, share the same fundamentalist beliefs, that is, the notion that some groups of people are superior to other groups of "inferior" people, and that, therefore, any means of oppression, including violence, is ultimately "for their own good." ALL of them use the same tactics, terrorist violence, brutality, rape, genocide, violent character attacks, lies, slander, propaganda to eradicate opponents or keep them in their place. All of them feel passionately "chosen" either by God or by biological determinism to force their agenda on any opponents!

There is nothing more pressing than alerting Americans who love justice and equality FOR ALL to WAKE UP and STAY AWAKE!!! Why? By virtue of the fact that those with supremacist views are trained to hyper-vigilantly protect the status quo social order, they run very passionate and forceful campaigns! From their perspective, there is no such thing as equality. Either you are superior or inferior. "Equality" sounds like a threat to their self-worth, or "honor," which is tied to being "superior" and having "rightful dominance."

Consider how most liberals in this country have been hesitant to call themselves liberal, as if it is anti-American or communist!!! Perhaps the most successful campaign by supremacist conservatives ever was the one that has silenced Americans into submission since the McCarthy era, a campaign focused on associating government involvement in "legislating equality" with "communism"!

This is not only absurd, IT IS TIME for Americans to rise up to passionately put this argument to rest and STEP OUT OF THE DEFENSIVE once and for all!

There is a DISTINCTLY HUGE and CLEAR difference between a government of, by and for the people that "legislates equality and progress for all" and a communist military-dictatorship state legislating SO-CALLED "equality" as a smokescreen permitting military dictators to hoard the wealth!!! Communist regimes are run by SUPREMACISTS, and NOT those who believe in equality and justice for all! "Equality" is just the deceitful propaganda!

Supremacists also indoctrinate their children early with the belief that "violence" for disobedience is not only "deserved," but also indicative of authoritarian parents' "love" and "sacrifice" and "benevolence." Raising our children on supremacist ideology is the root of BIG problems--cycles of violence--in our country! Sociologist Alice Walker stated in the 80s that the most dangerous place in the world for a child to be was...the American family!!! Rather than wake up, it wasn't until the 1990s that we made more substantial adjustments in how we treat our children in schools and families. Overall, however, we continue to be the industrialized nation that is least tolerant of children, emphasizing their training to obedience from the time they are born, rather than appreciating their value, wisdom, intelligence, spirit! More than 90% parents still use corporal punishment in our country, and when our children bully one another and are violent in schools, we cry out for more punishment and violence to "teach" them to respect authority! Meanwhile, our violent crime rates are four to twenty times higher than any other democratic nation! (Corporal punishment is against the law in Sweden; they also provide parental education on alternative means of discipline. By the way, Sweden's violent crime rate is twenty times lower than ours...)

Supremacist views have prevented us from USING OUR COMMON SENSE and caring for our nation's children in manner that recognizes CHILDREN as our greatest national resource!!! The increased violence expressed by our children is a mere WAKE-UP CALL to Americans--our children are a MIRROR REFLECTION OF A SOCIETY that glorifies violence as a means of solving human differences! Those who have studied human behavior KNOW the power of media messages! Why else would they spend much time to PERFECT their techniques and billions of dollars on advertisements and campaigns! Very simply, we have so much violence and sex entertainment because this provides the preliminary TRAINING from boyhood for the military. Above all, this ensures our young men will not say "No!" again to fighting unjust wars (as they did for the first time ever in the 1960s, when they cried out of "make love, not war"--which was then changed by supremacists in the entertainment industry to "sex and violence"). This is how supremacists would have it, and how it has been for thousands of years! Superior warriors deserve the "spoils" of war: rape and rob and pillage. Associating violence with pleasant experiences, such as music in the background, being with friends, and of couse, sex, brainwashes new generations into accepting violence as the norm, sexual exploitation as the norm, hierarchical relations as the norm.

The fact that Clinton and Europe united in this last decade to emphasize peace-keeping forces throughout the world was a BLOW to supremacists' egos. Religious supremacists view God as a god who sanctions and "guides" men into war, conquering enemies, and "warriors" who kills "enemies" are believed to have highest value--proof that all people are not "equal"! A peace-keeping warrior is an insult! Jesus, for example, was an insult to those expecting a "Messiah" who would kill off their enemies. Later, gnostic Christians who practiced nonviolence and equality, and lived by Jesus' teachings were persecuted by supremacist Christians who destroyed their writings.

It is no coincidence that violence associated with sex has increasingly been glorified since the 1960s by those with the most money and power in our country! The message is loud and clear: supremacists and rightful dominance are glorified when our children watch TV, movies, play video games, observe their parents interacting, experience themselves in their-parent child relationships, and so on.

Supremacist beliefs are diametrically opposed to democracy. The thing that supremacists fear most is EQUALITY and shared power! There is no middle ground! Human beings are either superior or inferior, either the head or tail! Because they have been trained to believe that superiority is associated with self-worth, they are personally at war with anyone attempting to burst their ego-bubbles with evidence that, indeed, ALL human beings, including children, are intelligent and valuable and BORN with inner wisdom and connection to God and deserving of opportunities and goodness!!!

Interestingly, with regard to party affiliation, supremacists in our country have literally swapped labels of "Democrat" and "Republican." Notice, however, that most all defections, with the exception of Jefford's, have occurred in protest of presidential actions that legislate "equality," such as Johnson's signing of the Voting Rights Act or Clinton's nominations of women and minorities to high ranking positions in government. In fact, this is what makes Jefford's act so distinctively honorable and courageous! To my knowledge, it is the FIRST time an American, who loves justice and equality for all, DARED to take a strong and passionate stance in opposition to our country's SUPREMACISTS! He refused to be intimidated by those he knew would likely react strongly to "punish" his "disobedience" to "authority! He challenged those who typically make "boys will be boys" excuses for supremacists! He set an example to others who may fear the vindictive inclinations of those holding supremacist views!!!

Also notable is that, supremacist ideologies were originated by Plato, in his "Republic," and Aristotle. Providing the foundation for most other variations, their "classical" works were unquestionably the most highly regarded and widely read throughout history by religious clergy, scholars, rulers, slavemasters, and politicians alike! Taken together, Platos' advice "trained" tyrants throughout history to use the power of the pen to create "myths" and "stories" to control the "unruly" or "stupid" masses "for their own good." Furthermore, tyrants were encouraged to think of themselves as "benevolent" rulers who "must" use whatever means of oppression, including violence, to silence dissent in order to "maintain social order" and "keep inferior persons in their place," again "for their own good"!

Yet, our country was not founded on supremacist ideology--but rather a passionate vision for equality and justice for all, which so commonly surfaces from deep within the spirit of every human being fortunate enough to come to an AWAKENING realization that every all human life is priceless in value! Anyone who reads (or rereads) Thomas Paine's "Common Sense," published on January 10, 1776, is likely to be astounded by the extent to which the United States "owes its existence" to the vision of a PEOPLE's America that he so brilliantly detailed in just a few dozen pages! Paine made the case convincingly against monarchical rule, indeed, against any form of rule or ruler that dominated the people's will!

If Paine were with us today (WWPD), what would he be rallying people to do in light of the alarming evidence that the Cheney-Bush administration is dismantling our freedoms--utterly incapable of leading a government of the people, by the people and for the people? It is likely that Paine would stand passionately to declare these oppressive, bully rulers UNFIT to lead America, then ask them in no uncertain terms to STEP DOWN! RECALL!!!

On page 18, Paine states, "Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, so grow indolent; selected from the rest of mankind their minds are early poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so materially from the world at large that they have but little opportunity of knowing its true interests, and when they succeed to the government are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions." On page 42, he continues, "O! ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been haunted round the globe... and (the United States) hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind." ("the U.S." is substituted for "England")

Of course, in order to realize the vision of an all-inclusive peaceful and just society, our means must remain NONVIOLENT AND PEACEFUL. Nevertheless...

It is time to demand an immediate STOP to the illegitimate Cheney-Bush agenda! WE ARE NOT FOOLED! We know corporate media used their power UNETHICALLY to confuse voters and confuse public opinion in order to force the corporate America agenda down the throat of American people.

It is time to DEMAND THAT CONGRESS TAKE ACTION TO SEE THAT THE PEOPLE'S AGENDA HAS FIRST AND TOP PRIORITY!

It is time to DEMAND CLEAN ELECTIONS and no more game-playing, loop-hole laws for campaign financing! WE ARE NOT FOOLED! The McCain-Feingold bill is just another loop-hole possibility for lawyers to tanker with in the future! We want the REAL thing! England or Canada have it--why would we deserve less?! It is time to DEMAND REAL CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM, such as total public financing of elections and FREE MEDIA for all qualified candidates.

It is time to DEMAND AND END TO POLITICAL TV ADS that merely serve to CONFUSE VOTERS and make rich media richer! It is not only unethical to intentionally use tactics and design campaigns and ads that confuse voters and the issues, it should be ILLEGAL! WE ARE NOT FOOLED!!! The ACLU has been forceful in protecting the so-called "free speech" of those who make profits from political ads and violent entertainment and pornography, while simultaneously FAILING to protect the civil rights of voting citizens, protesting citizens and our right to live safe from violence and harm perpetuated by violence/sex/pornography industries! People's welfare and safety should take PRIORITY over PROFITS.

It is time to DEMAND an end to the power that corporate media have "legally" bought for themselves, perhaps more political power than the three branches of government put together! WE ARE NOT FOOLED! It is time to DEMAND an END to the rule of corporate America with federal oversight and legislation!

It is time to DEMAND our RIGHT TO FULL PARTICIPATION in our government, abolishment of electoral college and democratic elections. We must demand immediate investigation and litigation into the fraud and disenfranchisement of voters in the last election in over 22 states, in the census "calculations," and in states where there is "partisan" redistricting! THIS USURPING OF POWER MUST STOP! Informed citizens with expertise in these areas should be involved in every step of the decision making process to ensure the ALL the votes are counted in elections, that ALL people are counted in census, and that redistricting is in the interest of THE PEOPLE who have the most need to be served, and not any particular party or political agenda!

My hope and prayer is that Americans will rise from shore to shore to take back our country! It is up to WE THE PEOPLE and not our three branches of government to take responsibility for restoring democracy.

God bless America and awaken the brave and free!

Best wishes,

Tina Staik, MA

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