Jim Demetre
August 3rd, 2005, 11:14 AM
from Artdish:
http://www.artdish.com/ubbcgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7&t=000051
Dear Readers.
I was alarmed to read yesterday that our president is now officially on record saying that public schools should teach “Intelligent Design” along with evolution:
http://politics.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050802/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_intelligent_design
There is so much to be concerned about when it comes to the Bush administration it is difficult to know where to begin. For me, the most troubling thing about the ruling party is their attack upon science and the scientific method. It is not simply about the professional field of science -- something the White House and Congressional Republicans have chosen to totally disregard -- but the basic process of examining empirical data to form truths.
The widespread acceptance of this method during the Enlightenment has provided the basis for society as we know it. The dual forces that have defined the United States and the modern world itself -- Democracy and Capitalism -- could not exist if the populace had not collectively agreed to operate on this principle.
It is clear now that George W. Bush and the economic forces he represents want to reverse this historical development, replacing representative democracy and free enterprise with a secretive, autocratic, monopolistic plutocracy .
Bush’s economic policies are predicated upon a notion that tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans will improve the economy. And their environmental policy? The president and his men deny the evidence of global warming so that they can push for further industrial deregulation. When it comes to foreign policy, things get ugly too. We invade Iraq to eliminate Weapons of Mass Destruction when there is no evidence of Weapons of Mass Destruction. After we lay waste to this already broken nation, we expect it to transition immediately into peaceful Western-style democracy. While the world waits for these events to take place, billions of dollars find their way to the president’s campaign contributors in the form of government contracts.
More recently Bush has chosen to dig in his heels on the subject of stem cell research, equating the use of unused embryos (that would otherwise be discarded) with murder.
The “faith-based” culture Bush espouses is an elaborate ruse. While it may appeal to the worldview of the religious right, it has a more insidious purpose; the dismemberment the regulatory force of government and consolidation of power in the hands of capital.
What Bush, Cheney, and the rest of the Republican power structure fail to grasp as they attempt to undermine critical thinking in favor of unquestioning patriotism and religion is that their success will ultimately bring about the end of the United States’ economic power and political influence.
The rise of fundamentalism is always evidence of a culture in decline. Nations that embrace religious extremism (like Pakistan) are economic basket cases where people have abandoned hope for a better life on this earth. Even in the United States’ so-called “red” states, ambitious young men and women leave for “blue” states where they can participate in a growing economy and live in a tolerant society. Those who stay behind to work in the few remaining resource industry jobs have given up on the idea of social mobility and thus, education itself. Some sit around and wait for the End Times, others greet them head-on by enlisting in the military and going to Iraq. This may be the America that votes for Bush, but it is not the America we want to leave for future generations.
With China and India poised to become superpowers, the U.S. should be running scared. Instead our leaders seem determined to return our nation to the pre-Enlightenment world that brought about the American Revolution in the first place.
Jim Demetre
Artdish Editor
www.artdish.com
http://www.artdish.com/ubbcgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7&t=000051
Dear Readers.
I was alarmed to read yesterday that our president is now officially on record saying that public schools should teach “Intelligent Design” along with evolution:
http://politics.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050802/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_intelligent_design
There is so much to be concerned about when it comes to the Bush administration it is difficult to know where to begin. For me, the most troubling thing about the ruling party is their attack upon science and the scientific method. It is not simply about the professional field of science -- something the White House and Congressional Republicans have chosen to totally disregard -- but the basic process of examining empirical data to form truths.
The widespread acceptance of this method during the Enlightenment has provided the basis for society as we know it. The dual forces that have defined the United States and the modern world itself -- Democracy and Capitalism -- could not exist if the populace had not collectively agreed to operate on this principle.
It is clear now that George W. Bush and the economic forces he represents want to reverse this historical development, replacing representative democracy and free enterprise with a secretive, autocratic, monopolistic plutocracy .
Bush’s economic policies are predicated upon a notion that tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans will improve the economy. And their environmental policy? The president and his men deny the evidence of global warming so that they can push for further industrial deregulation. When it comes to foreign policy, things get ugly too. We invade Iraq to eliminate Weapons of Mass Destruction when there is no evidence of Weapons of Mass Destruction. After we lay waste to this already broken nation, we expect it to transition immediately into peaceful Western-style democracy. While the world waits for these events to take place, billions of dollars find their way to the president’s campaign contributors in the form of government contracts.
More recently Bush has chosen to dig in his heels on the subject of stem cell research, equating the use of unused embryos (that would otherwise be discarded) with murder.
The “faith-based” culture Bush espouses is an elaborate ruse. While it may appeal to the worldview of the religious right, it has a more insidious purpose; the dismemberment the regulatory force of government and consolidation of power in the hands of capital.
What Bush, Cheney, and the rest of the Republican power structure fail to grasp as they attempt to undermine critical thinking in favor of unquestioning patriotism and religion is that their success will ultimately bring about the end of the United States’ economic power and political influence.
The rise of fundamentalism is always evidence of a culture in decline. Nations that embrace religious extremism (like Pakistan) are economic basket cases where people have abandoned hope for a better life on this earth. Even in the United States’ so-called “red” states, ambitious young men and women leave for “blue” states where they can participate in a growing economy and live in a tolerant society. Those who stay behind to work in the few remaining resource industry jobs have given up on the idea of social mobility and thus, education itself. Some sit around and wait for the End Times, others greet them head-on by enlisting in the military and going to Iraq. This may be the America that votes for Bush, but it is not the America we want to leave for future generations.
With China and India poised to become superpowers, the U.S. should be running scared. Instead our leaders seem determined to return our nation to the pre-Enlightenment world that brought about the American Revolution in the first place.
Jim Demetre
Artdish Editor
www.artdish.com