9.27.2004

Patriotic Duty, Part III. Though It Comes Via Ep, Who Is Canadian.

I sent my mom this, and asked for her to consider that many of the points were true (even though, as Floyd pointed out, it's the Department of Homeland Security).

She replied with this, to demonstrate how polarized both sides are in her opinion.

I know that my liberal blinders are fitted tightly, but I see the first posting as a passionate, justified listing of facts, and the second as a xenophobic, bilious screed. Grrrr.

Still, she's an intelligent woman and I will continue to work on her for the next five weeks, using the "what kind of world do you want your grandchildren to live in" angle.

I forwarded my mom's forward to Ep in a fit of apoplexy. She wrote back brilliantly with:
I have more dark thoughts about being given permission to luxuriate in the pleasure of negative emotions like hate, anger, and revenge. Experiencing these emotions is very exciting and stimulating, but we're not supposed to give into them. Along come a group of people, the President of the United States included, who say, "It's OK! Go for it!" The price is if you're black and you hate gays, you are electing the party of the KKK; if you are working class and you hate Arabs, you are electing the party of big business; if you are a woman and you are afraid for your children, you are electing the party of pollutors; and if you are an educated, urban professional who hates paying taxes, you are voting for the party of religious fundamentalists who oppose reproductive freedom and teaching science in the schools.

For these people, it seems, the desire to lash out and punish overwhelms their own sense of survival.

Demagogues, dictators and religious leaders have been playing on the same quirk of human nature for millennia. A nifty little self destruct button preprogrammed for pushing.

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