Alternate reality

It is overly difficult to find a true liberal in America today. To be completely honest, I have struggled to find any here at Holy Cross in my first five weeks. How many other atheists, pacifists, and/or Green Party members actually attend Holy Cross? How often do you hear the point of view from this group, other then through visiting speakers? Instead I am barraged with religion at every turn and surrounded by apolitical conservatives. I hear girls say that they "want to have George Bush's babies" and guys say "Ronald Reagan was the best president ever." I would find it hard to believe if under 75 percent of Holy Cross students said they support tax cuts, welfare "reform," privatization, globalization, the Republicrats, the militarization of space (missile defense), and Clinton or Bush. Clinton and Bush: both bombed Iraq and Afghanistan. They share a lot more in common than most people realize.

The media and most publications in this country publish only the elite's point of view. The media now rests in the hands of only a few after a rapid period of consolidation. There is now talk of a merger between the CNN and ABC News divisions. What are we then left with? ABC/CNN, Fox, CBS, and NBC! What a selection. How often do you hear these news agencies report on the fact that over 3,000 civilians were killed in Afghanistan? There was almost no mention of civilian casualties until the bombing of a wedding this past summer; they completely ignored all death until the majority of the bombing campaign was over. There was ONE report in the Boston Globe of around 1,000 civilian casualties in the spring, but that was it. Where were the pictures of all these dead men, women, and children? How many of you realize that the Israeli Army has been occupying almost all of the major cities in the West Bank again for months, as it did for a few weeks in April? I am sure everyone remembers the outcry from the media then, but since Israel is doing it for the second time, it is now "old news." Israel is our ally, so the media will not report how it is in violation of almost twice as many U.N. resolutions as Iraq, including one from a few weeks ago demanding withdrawal to the Sept. 28, 2000 border. With no independent mainstream news organization, we are being fed mainly what the government wants us to know.

The Democratic Party is no longer the party of the people, but instead tends to follow whatever the Republicans demand. Many Democrats in both the House and Senate supported the Bush tax cut, as well as the USA Patriot Act, the appointment of John Ashcroft, and almost every other of Bush's declarations. Everyone needs to remember that the Democrats currently control the Senate and can block everything Bush sends their way. Instead they blindly follow him in fear of being labeled "unpatriotic" and of upsetting their corporate sponsors. How would the Al Gore, Joe Lieberman team be any different than George Bush and Dick Cheney? As the mentally unstable Christopher Hitchens correctly points out, if anything Gore and Lieberman would attack Bush and Cheney from the right. Lets face it, Gore SUPPORTS a U.S. invasion of Iraq-during his "amazing" 55 minute speech in California in September he mentioned weapons inspections a whopping zero times. Instead, all he demanded was that Bush get U.N. approval. Well Bush IS going to the United Nations and will more than likely bribe Russia and France into supporting him. His is currently attempting to force through a resolution which calls for the placement of tens of thousands of U.S. troops throughout Iraq to "monitor" weapons inspections. Is that not an invasion?! Excuse me, but was not the United Nations created to prevent wars, not legitimize them? The media again ignores the facts: the Bush administration is introducing a U.N. resolution Iraq has no choice BUT to refuse to abide by. Again, what about the fact that Israel is in violation of almost TWICE as many U.N. resolutions as Iraq, is actually armed with nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, and is currently occupying foreign territory (in violation of both international law and U.N. resolutions). Also, just how different was Clinton's foreign policy from that of Bush's today? Here are a few questions and answers to think about: Who was the last president to organize a massive bombing campaign of Iraq after withdrawing UN weapons inspectors in 1998? Bill Clinton. Who was the most recent previous president to pass a tax cut? Bill Clinton. Who refused to send the Kyoto Treaty to the Senate? Bill Clinton. Who supported the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which has led to massive consolidation and control of information in America? Bill Clinton! That's right folks, Bill Clinton was the most popular Republican president this country has ever had. Saddam is aggressive because he invaded Kuwait in 1990. Well what about other countries that the United States has supported and or bombed to the stone age: What about Israel? What about Vietnam? What about Indonesia? What about Venezuela? What about Columbia? What about the over 130 countries U.S. troops are currently in? Let's just fess up to it already, the United States is an empire and currently controls the entire world. We could argue over whether or not it is a hegemon or an imperial power all night, but it is acting as if it is the imperial master of every human being on the face of the Earth. U.S. propaganda is treated as sacred fact, as if Saddam Hussein is somehow more likely to lie than Bill Clinton or George W. Bush. Who was charged with perjury? Who did cocaine, drove while under the influence, and participated in illegal insider trading?

Back to the point, I am a frustrated, isolated cynic. I have yet to meet another person like me here at this "liberal" institution. I am alienated by society, by this school, and by the people here. I don't care about going out, drinking until I can't stand, and getting laid; instead I sit here contemplating whether or not I'll be alone the rest of my life. I wonder what the hell are we doing here and why does everyone else just ignore the fact that life is pain, suffering, and loss. Do they drink it away? Laugh it away? Instead, I lose 85 pounds in four months and still feel exactly the same. I am still treated the same. My views are still marginalized and generally ignored. Maybe this "Republican" minority should realize that the TRUE minority at the College of the Holy Cross are liberals, the same as in the United States today. In actuality, the Republicans have a massive majority here on campus. Everyone also ignores the fact that our country is now ruled by the rich for the rich, that the poorer are becoming poorer, that we're almost all from the upper classes (although there are a few exceptions- very few), and that possessions have nothing to do with life. We live in a parallel universe. One could say that Bush wasn't fairly elected, has been attacking foreign countries, and is threatening to use weapons of mass destruction, just like Saddam. Iraq has the right to send one million troops to invade New York and Washington to "preemptively" defend itself from American aggression. Tax rebates to corporations that pay zero dollars in taxes are not actually rebates, but free money; it is corporate socialism - socialism for the rich. Take the money from the poor, not just in America, but worldwide, and you get the system we have today. The differences between the rich and the poor are not shrinking, rather they are growing; global inequality is at an all-time high. We continue to smile and nod, drink ourselves into UMASS Medical Center, and worry about six page papers. At the same time, children in the West Bank are shot and killed attempting to attend elementary school, which is currently against the law; tens if not hundreds of millions of people are starving in places from Malawi to Afghanistan; innocent Tibetans are abused and stripped of all rights by the Chinese; and the Russians are destroying Chechnya. If the London Observer was right this past Sunday, by the time this article comes out we could be facing a "global crash" and "thirties-style global financial crisis." Maybe some people on this campus will begin to realize what it is like to live with poverty, without food, and without shelter.