August 16, 2009 |
|
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.”
Empire: an extensive territory or enterprise under single domination or control.
“War is to man what maternity is to a woman. From a philosophical and doctrinal viewpoint, I do not believe in perpetual peace.”
~ Benito (Amilcare Andrea) Mussolini, July 29, 1883–April 28, 1945, Italian journalist and politician, First Marshal of the Empire, among the founders of Italian Fascism which included elements of nationalism, corporatism, national syndicalism, expansionism, social progress, and anti-communism in combination with censorship of subversives and state propaganda.
“I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, 'Mother, what was war?' “
~ Eve Merriam, born Eva Moskovitz, July 19, 1916–April 11, 1992, poet and author who wrote for children.
“We are not going to be able to operate our Spaceship Earth successfully nor for much longer unless we see it as a whole spaceship and our fate as common. It has to be everybody or nobody.”
~ (Richard) Buckminster Fuller, July 12, 1895– July 1, 1983, an American architect, (best known for geodesic dome) author of more than thirty books, designer, futurist, inventor, and visionary.
“The world cannot afford the loss of the talents of half its people if we are to solve the many problems that beset us.”
~ Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, (b) July 19, 1921, an American medical physicist, and a co-winner of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her development of the radioimmunoassay (RIA) technique.
“I am constantly amazed by man's inhumanity to man.”
~ Primo Levi, July 31, 1919–April 11, 1987, a Jewish-Italian chemist, Holocaust survivor and author of memoirs, short stories, poems, essays, and novels. He is best known for his work on the Holocaust and in particular his account of the year he spent as a prisoner in Auschwitz…described as one of the most important works of the twentieth century.
Bios: refer Wikipedia
» Subscribe to Albeit
or to unsubscribe.
|
High Maintenance Males
Somethin's Gotta Give
Are men killing themselves and others by ‘keeping the peace’ at home? Males tend to back off when push comes to shove with loved ones. More than likely, he’ll do everything within his power to make a point, to keep score fairly, to do what he thinks is his part in maintaining the relationship and the shared environment. He’ll gladly remove his shoes if she’ll gladly keep the kids away from his guitar. It’s a give and take situation, but when compromises get out of balance—look out! Somethin’s gotta give.
If he backs off from a disagreement, gives up on a reasonable request, or encounters resistance at every turn, who or what does he turn to for sympathy or consolation? (The TV or computer?) When men continually swallow their disgust or anger over recurring issues, how does all that pent up energy get released? Some would say through work or sports.
If he can’t express his anger, what happens to it? Most likely, it builds up inside to erupt at a later time and place—very often inappropriately—after it has disrupted the body’s normally healthy functions. Researchers have found that extensive damage is likely to occur to the psyche and physical body in the interim. Some say it just goes away after time.
But what if it doesn’t? What if the volume of his stuffed feelings cannot be dissipated in physical activity in or around the ones he admires or loves? Does he seek others to “take it out on”? Partners or children? Animals? Minorities? What other methods might he use to divest himself of anger? Road rage? Barroom fights? Wars?
When the Honeymoon Ends
As a single woman for the past 25 years, I’ve been observing relationships at every opportunity— some from a distance and others more closely than I prefer.
Anyone who’s ever been in a prolonged relationship, let’s say for more than a year when most proclaim “the honeymoon’s over,” knows how difficult it can be to live with another person even when in love. It seems no matter how hard we try to get along, there are explosive moments of conflict or the deafening times of silence when not communicating seems to be the solution.
Humans, and most other animals, have survived and evolved as a result of four basic drives. Richard Brodie in his book, Virus of the Mind, identifies these instincts as “the four f’s: fighting, fleeing, feeding, and—er—finding a mate.” Turning to the TV is a form of fleeing. Opening the refrigerator is a form of fleeing and feeding. Extramarital affairs are a form of fleeing, feeding, and having sex. These behaviors seem to take the place of fighting when actually they only delay the inevitable action of retaliation.
Early in our evolutionary journey, fighting was necessary to survive. Fighting for food, territory, and mates was the pastime of each and every day, and mostly fell to the male members of a group to perform successfully.
Abort Leftover Memes
Today is not much different. In too many countries, differing factions are still fighting for food, resources, and the right to reproduce, even though in an age of technological advances, it needn’t be so. Who is side-lining the abundant treasures of modernism? Who is taking more than their fair share? Who keeps the meme alive that says, “There will always be war.”? Whoever it is is standing in the way of possible peace among nations. Is this progress? Or is it just a deadly form of the good old boys’ status quo?
It has been reported that the United States has 800 military bases scattered around the globe with at least a dozen more in the planning stages. Located in forty-nine known countries plus at least ten more “likely” countries [refer Wikipedia], each is or will be staffed, equipped, and maintained. In addition there are airfields, refueling stations, ammunition depots, and so on. Many of these facilities are unwanted—neither by the host country nor the taxpayers supporting them.
Each branch of the military is overseen by high-ranking officials with paychecks to match. According to the Poodwaddle World Clock embedded on my Web site, the U.S. deficit is approaching $10,400,000,000,000 (ten trillion, four hundred billion dollars; not all of this deficit is due to military) and the amount per U.S. person (every man, woman, and child) is approaching $34,000 (thirty-four thousand dollars).
When I clicked on Wikipedia’s PDF of Official Figures for the Numbers of U.S. Military Employed Worldwide, the page was blank. But one word, empire, in its URL seems to depict where U.S. military policy is leading.
While the economic melt-down plagues most people, those in military service are relatively secure in their livelihood. There seems to be no shortage of funds for funding fighting. It’s easy to see this is fundamentally a guy thing, and perpetually sanctioned in the name of “security” and “protection.” Yet billions of people are unsafe from poverty, disease, lack of education, and a future filled with uncertainty and fear while their freedoms are traded for death and destruction.
Females are often notoriously considered “high maintenance,” yet I think the opposite is true—our male hierarchical systems dominate and dictate world affairs at the expense of women and children. Societies have been brainwashed and propagandized to believe that they must put up with this insane ‘defense’ in lieu of peace and prosperity for all.
Perhaps fighting will never be replaced with peace. But isn’t it time to stop, think, and act as if we deserve to live together in tranquility? What if we added a fifth ‘f’ to Brodie’s list: freeing? Let us begin now to free ourselves from the shackles of hatred, tyranny, and the tradition of bloodshed. When we decide to de-serve the meme of macho industrial military mindset, perhaps a new world of order can emerge and prevail.
#0061 Albeit Rantler
|
