No subject

militant Marxists about those calling for Western intervention in Myanmar.
Listening to the reports here in Los Angeles on National Public Radio and
PBS television, there's continual discussion of whether or not the Western
powers should send in aid without the permission of the Myanmar government.

They haven't begun saying that about China. Yet.
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Foreign powers lean on Burma to open up aid drive
---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
---
Western powers kept up the pressure on Burma's generals on Thursday to allo=
w
a massive aid effort as relief workers struggled to help an estimated 2,5-m=
illion
people left destitute by Cyclone Nargis. The European Union's top aid offic=
ial
has warned that the military government's restrictions on foreign aid worke=
rs
were increasing the risk of starvation.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?area=3D/breaking_news/breaking_news__i=
nternational_news/&articleId=3D339237

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PATRICK BOND writes:
Do you have any kind of curiosity, dear amigo, about the desire of the=20
Burmese people for liberation?
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Why Myanmar should fear us
By Pablo Ouziel
Online Journal Contributing Writer
May 14, 2008, 00:14

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_3285.shtml

In the chaotic =E2=80=9CWest=E2=80=9D it is often difficult to gain the att=
ention of
the public, but one must be committed to trying due to the severity
of our current existential crisis.

We are psychotic as a society, we have become so dumb and manipulable
that we are truly being led towards digging our own graves and
smiling while working. We cannot go on like this. We cannot pretend
that we are a decent society with good intentions any longer. We are
not! The =E2=80=9CWest=E2=80=9D as a civilization is corrupt and decrepit; =
=E2=80=9Cwe=E2=80=9D are
not the bearers of morality in the eyes of the =E2=80=9Cother=E2=80=9D peop=
les.=20
We are not an exemplary civilization which people admire and adulate.=20
We are too arrogant and ignorant to realize, that we are seen by the
=E2=80=9Cothers=E2=80=9D as the enemy, because =E2=80=9Cwe=E2=80=9D are.

As a collective of people, the =E2=80=9CWest=E2=80=9D believes itself to be=
 the
holder of the truth, the one which understands what is good for the
world. This =E2=80=9CWest=E2=80=9D doesn=E2=80=99t exist however, it is a f=
igment of our
imagination, a division which has been indoctrinated to make us feel
we are superior. Through =E2=80=9Cour=E2=80=9D education systems, =E2=80=9C=
our=E2=80=9D media, =E2=80=9Cour=E2=80=9D
governments, =E2=80=9Cour=E2=80=9D corporations, =E2=80=9Cour=E2=80=9D art.=
 We are so indoctrinated
in industrialized information societies, that we regurgitate to each
other the propaganda which is fed to us on a daily basis. This
situation must change, because we are collapsing and it can only be
reversed by the collective strength of the whole population.
Otherwise we will be bombed out of our homes by those we so love to
call terrorists. They are terrorists, but terror is what =E2=80=9Cwe=E2=80=
=9D are
bringing to their lands and their homes, and that is why they are
terrorizing =E2=80=9Cus.=E2=80=9D

As peoples in industrialized information societies, we are looking at
the world like a big videogame in which we can solve everyone=E2=80=99s
problems because we are civilized. We are not! We have huge internal
problems. Inside =E2=80=9Cour=E2=80=9D walls, big CEO=E2=80=99s are earning=
 $400 million for
their exploits in the oil of other countries, while illegal
immigrants are scrambling for work inside =E2=80=9Cour=E2=80=9D factories. =
We have
millions of people loosing their homes, while banks are being saved
thanks to our taxes. If inside our walls, we are leaving our own
people behind, we are watching our neighbors lose their jobs and
doing little to help them, how can we expect those outside of our
walls to trust us when we tell them we are going to help them?

How can we expect the evil military dictatorship of Myanmar to feel
comfortable accepting our help? After all, the last time Cuba offered
Americans help with Katrina, their help was rejected and the =E2=80=9Cworld=
=E2=80=9D
accepted it as normal. Normal, while American people where dying and
there were not enough professional hands to help. We in the
industrialized information society believe that while =E2=80=9Cthey=E2=80=
=9D have
evil dictators, =E2=80=9Cwe=E2=80=9D have benevolent democratic institution=
s which
are the choice of the people. But we are blinding ourselves from the
reality which we are blatantly living. Our democratic institutions
are in the hands of very powerful organizations, our corporations are
not ours, they belong to very powerful groups. Our legal system is
built to defend those interests, and the media are one of their many
propaganda tools. Even our churches are infested with blood money,
yet many go to church to feel good about themselves.

How can Christians for example feel good, when they see the
cross-blessing Western soldiers going to kill in Iraq? We have
destroyed that country; we should all be confessing our guilt, not
blessing our soldiers. The biggest blessing those innocent young
=E2=80=9Ckilling machines=E2=80=9D could have is to be brought back to thei=
r land,
with all their limbs in place, and given some therapy. They need it
after having been manipulated into committing such terrible crimes
against the people of Iraq.

How can we honestly believe that while our governments have done such
a horrible thing in Iraq, their intentions are good everywhere else?
But that is a very difficult question to ask oneself and, therefore,
only the bravest make the effort. The answer is not a pleasant one.
In the industrialized information society, we should all go to bed
tonight trying hard to see our own reality. We must understand that
we are the oppressors holding the rest of the world hostage in order
to maintain our power.

In Iraq last week our media announced that while the whole country is
in ruins, a Disney-like amusement park will be built adjacent to the
Green Zone, and nobody reacted. After the Tsunami in 2004, five-star
beachfront resorts for the rich were raised where once laid the
foundations of fishermen homes, nobody reacted then. Yet, we do react
when Myanmar rejects our help. I would reject it, looking ahead at
the consequences for the country.

In the industrialized information society we only have two ways of
offering to help. Either we come with the barrel of the gun backed=20
by fake diplomacy, destroying countries to borrow their resources=20
or we send our NGOs to help and then our companies follow for the
reconstruction, building factories and offices for our companies,
resorts for the rich, and retirement homes for the old. Either way,
the locals always end up working for us. I have seen it with my own
eyes, I do not need the television to tell me.

Once in Laos, I saw a group of fat rich and ugly European NGO
directors getting drunk inside a posh restaurant, discussing the
future development of that country. In the meantime, the local
chauffer waited outside for hours in his impeccable white uniform
with white gloves, in an impeccably clean white luxury 4x4. That
pretty much defines, through my own experience, the way we like to go
around the world helping. It is sad but it is very true.

I understand why the Myanmar government is rejecting our help. This
doesn=E2=80=99t mean that I agree with dictatorships, it just means that we
should look at our own belly before observing that of our neighbor=E2=80=99=
s.
People in Haiti or Gaza a few weeks ago, or today would welcome the
help we are willing to offer Myanmar. Give it to them, after all
there are so many to help in the world, that we shouldn=E2=80=99t be making
politicized media events out of the misery of others.=20

Pablo Ouziel=20
is an activist and a freelance writer based in Spain. His work has
appeared in many progressive media, including Online Journal, Znet,
Palestine Chronicle, Thomas Paine=E2=80=99s Corner and Atlantic Free Press.

Copyright =C2=A9 1998-2007 Online Journal

Email Online Journal Editor


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     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un Para=C3=ADso bajo el bloqueo"
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