Editorial Glance
By Martha Ireland
A recent article, “Happiness Consultants Won’t Stop A Depression” by Chris Hedges really hit home for me.
I live with a man who wants to believe that if you put a “positive” spin on something, that something will magically become truly positive.
This sort of crazy culturally induced wishful, magical, narcissistic, childish, cowardly thinking and intellectual, psychological & spiritual laziness makes me absolutely insane.
Hey – it’s self-benefiting reciprocity all over again – meaning that I won’t call you on your lies if you won’t call me on mine.
Even the most cruel terrorist attacks to befall the country haven't instilled an understanding among the Israelis about the connection between cause and effect - between occupation and terrorism. Thanks to the media and the politicians - two of the worst agents for dumbing down and blinding Israeli society - we learned that the Arabs were born to kill, the whole world is against us, anti-Semitism determines how Israel is dealt with, and there is no connection between our actions and the price we pay.
Over a decade ago a young woman approached me on the California Senate floor with a petition against the Taliban. Women are being repressed, tortured and killed by religious fundamentalists, she said. I signed on.
And so the charade begins once again. A state ripped apart by war, poverty and corruption promises to hold elections, and optimistic Western leaders pump in money and troops in a bid to ensure a window of comparative peace for the ballot. The battered populace votes, the results are declared and everyone proclaims the triumph of democracy in another land.
