(MG) Then there is the Avenue of America. Until my country can stop its imperialistic self-centered plundering of the planet, AND confess its sins of indifference to the misery of the world's peoples (and its own native population, and its own descendants of African slaves, and its own immigrants from South of the Border), AND atone, until such time, there will be discord, violence, death and destruction in the world.
(MG) And one day, the world will decide it can no longer tolerate our continued despoiling of the planet and the murder of its peoples. The world will rise up, decide they can do quite well without us, and just stop inviting us to the party. Envision this: a world where the euro is the oil standard, a world that has no fear of American Military Cruelty and Destruction, a world that sells off all its U.S. assets, that lets the U.S. dollar go into free fall, a world which figures out it can subcontract out top management positions currently paying 10's of millions of dollars to international managers who will work for much less. A world that won't sell us its petroleum products.
(MG) "Oh, that can't happen," you might think. Well, as a recovering actuary, I'd say the probability of such a scenario of events is small. I'd not say the probability is zero, however.
(MG) U.S. hubris, pride and vanity, plus an over arching belief in the superiority of U.S. technology and culture, and its ability to hypnotize the population into what to think are sewing the seeds of decay for what was NEVER a people favored by God, but a land of bounteous resources, enough to support all its inhabitants, human, plant, animal, many times over -- a land of opportunity. Opportunity to plunder and spoil it, to claim it.
(MG) There are deft and flexible strategies for dealing with declining empires, and citizens who have taken their creature comforts for granted, and have not developed critical thinking skills, who have not developed strong community ties, and have not had to survive on the streets (or in the fields, or by the streams) by their wits and the kindnesses of kindred spirits.
(MG) And, as for the children of privilege ... think governor bush, for instance, think about his daughters and their immaturity ... each generation grower weaker and more wanton ... cultural inbreeding (going to the same prep schools, the same colleges, belonging to the same country clubs, the same social clubs, marrying in the same socio-economic circle, belonging to the same churches, belonging to the same political party, living in the same gated communities ... this too is inbreeding, and the effects of cultural inbreeding are at least as damaging as genetic inbreeding.
The Two-State Solution: Still Possible?
June 7, 2007 | 6:30 p.m. |
University of Chicago, International House,
Assembly Hall, 1414 East 59th St.
As we near the 40th anniversary of the Israeli military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, there is still hope that a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be reached. For the past two decades the two-state solution has become and remains the international consensus framework for a solution to the conflict. Yet, in recent years questions have been raised as to whether this proposal is still feasible after 40 years of military occupation.
Please join the American Friends Service Committee for an evening of discussion of this important question.
Panelists:
Ali Abunimah is author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse and co-founder of The Electronic Intifada, an internet gateway about Palestine and the Palestine-Israel conflict (www.electronicintifada) is author is When he is not writing and speaking about Palestine-Israel issues, he directs research for children services in the US and Europe. He received his MA from the University of Chicago.
Prof. Yigal Bronner is an activist in Caayush: Arab-Jewish Partnership, an Israeli conscientious objector who was imprisoned for refusing to serve in occupied Palestine, and an active parent in Hand in Hand, a Jewish-Arab elementary school in Jerusalem. Dr. Bronner currently teaches South Asian languages at the University of Chicago.
Emily Hauser is an American-Israeli writer and speaker. She has regularly placed commentary regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in major American dailies, such as the Chicago Tribune. She received her MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago.
Rev. Said Aliabouni served as Director for the Europe and Middle East Program in the Global Mission Unit of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) from 1997-2007. He is presently serving as Senior Pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in La Grange, Illinois.
Moderator:
Jennifer Bing-Canar is interim national coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee AFSC's Israel-Palestine Peace building Program. Jennifer's involvement in Middle East issues began in 1982 when she lived and traveled in Israel and Palestine and researched the Israeli peace movement. She later returned to work at the Ramallah Friends School in the West Bank where she taught middle school and high school boys for three years.
Sponsors: University of Chicago Center for Middle Eastern Studies, International House
This event is free and open to the public.
For more information please contact:
Miryam Rashid, American Friends Service Committee
Middle East Peace Education Program
(312) 427-2533 x 18
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