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Women’s rights are
human rights?
Stephen Henry Lewis,
United Nations’ envoy for HIV AIDS in Africa, 2006, said:
“[Women's rights have] never been made real, and so long as men control the levers and bastions of power… it never will be real. The demeaning diminution of women is everywhere evident… where freedom from sexual violence, the right to sexual autonomy, to sexual and reproductive health, social and economic independence, and even the whiff of gender equality are barely approximated. It’s a ghastly, deadly business, this untrammeled oppression of women in so many countries on the planet.”
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Serfs Up!
The American dream has become the world’s worst nightmare. America was once the land of freedom and opportunity, home of the brave, and a torch for the future; infamous because it was shamelessly led by a renegade government who thumbed its nose at Europe’s outdated feudal systems.
Now we’re wiping our noses and shedding an ocean of tears in dismay, wondering what the hell has happened. How did we become modern day vassals? When did wardship 2008 begin to occur? (Way before 9/11 to be sure!) What else will we be forced to forfeit for freedom? Is this what “coming full circle” is all about? In order to find the answers, one can’t just watch last season’s re-runs on television—one must investigate the long-term causes showing up as effects in today’s geopolitical arenas.
Netting the Serfs
Politics is not my forte, nor have many females ventured therein even though we should have, just to keep an eye on things. For more than a dozen centuries, women and girls have been relegated to the hearth and forbidden to take active roles in determining the fate of their countries. Now that some have escaped the noose of aprons and baby bibs, a few have managed to stake their claims in predominantly male circles. But little impact have we made compared with patriarchal reigns and gains.
Women most often have had to sacrifice their own self-interest to ensure the well-being, if not the ultimate survival, of their young. We’ve acquiesced for so long we barely know where we truly are—not only as a majority gender, but as more than half a species. And unfortunately, our feminine power does not reflect our position; neither do we exercise our power to become an effective voice in national and world affairs.
For example: The current food and energy crisis has grid-locked world economies and is wreaking untold havoc, hardships, and heartaches upon women struggling to feed their children.
Obviously the crisis is far from over and is not in our best interest, yet we appear helpless to end its siege. But if ever the time to correct a global dilemma is necessary, that time is now. How? Obviously we can’t cure the complexities of this catastrophe by ourselves, and so, with great trepidation, we must once again look to and trust our brothers for answers because they are primarily responsible for causing the situation.
A hungry people listens not to reason, nor cares for justice, nor is bent by any prayers.
~Seneca (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) 4 B.C.E.?–65 A.D., a Roman statesman and philosopher
Long-Term Trends
Dr. Michael Hudson is currently President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends. He is a financial economist and historian as well as an author, speaker, and sought-after expert in global financing analysis. Refer Michael Hudson.
According to Dr. Hudson, there are two economies: one based on industrial productivity which creates earned income, and one based on unproductive labor which allows for the extraction of other people’s money. (This one he brands F.I.R.E., representing the financial, insurance, and real estate industries. But few victims heretofore have detected their smoke screens in advance of the industries’ disastrous policies which have led to a near total melt-down of the United States’ economy.)
You may listen to Dr. Hudson’s talk, “The New Road to Serfdom.” His comprehensive but understandable explanation of the current energy crisis facing the U.S. and other countries which depend upon the value of our dollar is well worth your time. (Duration 59:52). He states that unless we cut back military spending, we face an inevitable depression and are doomed to a “slow crash.” ¹
Dr. Hudson emphasizes that self-interest must be demonstrated by American citizens if we are to survive this crisis. Since the mid ‘50s, we have ignored our self-interest by allowing our government to perpetrate and perpetuate wars in the name of freedom while we silently witnessed the funneling of trillions and trillions of dollars away from serving the needs of the American people.
Chants, Slogans, and Mantras
We’re just beginning to fathom that money spent for destruction benefits a few greedy moguls, while money spent for construction benefits the general citizenry. We’ve been duped and betrayed by the people we chose to protect our best interests. We’ve listened to their chants of fear and turned our backs on reality. We’ve bought their patriotic slogans and ignored religious teachings of “love thy neighbor.” We’ve sold our children’s futures down the river of other children’s blood.
Many of us have been taught that we “reap what we sow,” “what goes around comes around,” and similar versions of the ‘karmic’ mantra. There are multiple ways of saying we deserve what we get.
In the wake of Uncle Sam’s decades of bullying other nations into our ways of thinking and consuming, we are now treading the murky waters of “pay back” without having been issued life jackets. How long can we stay afloat while the well-stocked warship sails into the sunset and disappears over the red, white, and blue horizon?
It is in the best self-interest of women to demand the cessation and outlawing of war. Our children may not die on our soil from bullets, but they’ll surely die from lack of bread when production comes to a screeching halt on the once hallowed ground of our founding fathers and mothers.
The military lords we’ve worshipped may pretend they have our best interests in mind, but the evidence of hunger, death, and destruction indicate the opposite. ²
Futility of Feudality
How can females acquire or regain self-interest after centuries of feudal servitude to the war mongering masters? Did we not expect peace from our centuries of effort, trust, and allegiance?
First we must learn to think for ourselves, and for the sake of our children’s futures. We must do our homework as diligently as we do housework. Ask questions. Investigate. Trust your intuition and feelings. Give up pretending nothing’s different. Find and listen to people such as Dr. Hudson. Ignore big media’s propaganda. Face reality.
Our nation (and many others) is hopelessly bankrupt because we’ve innocently pimped for the military industrial complex. There’s just no way to pay the exorbitant debt racked up in our names and supposedly for our “good.” According to Dr. Hudson, the “slow crash” is in process and practically unstoppable.
The smallest glimmer of hope is hidden by the stockpiles of armaments and military mentality. Unless we, meaning both genders, stop supporting the offensives launched by the U.S., stop supporting the idea of war, stop funding the killing of innocent peoples for their resources, and stop saluting a flag that no longer stands for honor and integrity, we’ll all be crushed by the crash. This is the reality we must face.
Our founders suffered under the unjust practice of taxation without representation; we’ve succumbed to global devastation without negotiation.
The voices of women—for women and children—must be heard above the innocent screams of victimization. To remain silent in the face of flagrant abuse of human rights and freedoms brands us all with dumbed-downs’ syndrome.
It is futile—nay, suicidal—to ignore the feudality imposed upon the many by so few. ³
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