Libya: Arm'em then Bomb'em!!!

In the area of the world that the Bush administration and the G8 have labeled the “Greater Middle East” civil unrest has grown uncontrollable, at least in the eyes of many absolute monarchies and military dictatorships that litter the landscape. The unprecedented chaos which has arisen out of a growing strife in 21 countries in a 4,800 mile region; which is home to over 425 million people. It is not only interesting, but also disheartening, that our government and mainstream media have deliberately chosen to focus on Libya. It is also frustrating that the humanitarian focus on regions like Libya, and to an even greater extent with the tragedies in Japan, has been downplayed, while fear mongering is in full effect. As usual, in traditional American journalistic fashion, our paltry pundits refuse to ask genuinely pressing questions, and have elected to rephrase political talking points spewed from the President's administration, and which have been passed off as “real” journalism.

The same talking points that were used to sell the American public on not one, but two interminable wars in the middle east, which to their own credit haven't even been resolved yet, are not only frightening but reek of the globalist agendas of “stability” and “strategic interest”. Pundits and politicians talk about the threat Muammar Gaddafi is to his own people and his excessive use of force. But this discussion shouldn't be about what Gaddafi has done, but rather how he has done it. No one has made a case for the excessive force that Gaddafi has used, except for maybe Saudi Arabia, in the form of reflective action. Saudi Arabia, much like Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has used excessive forces and bribes not only to control their marginalized and angered masses, but have sent troops to countries like Bahrain and neighboring Yemen to help quell protests there as well.

President Obama said in his speech, “Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different.” In what way are we different? Our country, and its leaders, have been known in the past to focus on removing dictators of certain countries that have resources that we covet, while turning a blind eye to other humanitarian atrocities. Of course Obama also fails to address the fact that his administration approved 40 billion dollars in weapons sales to countries including Egypt, Bahrain and Lybia over the last two years, which have led to the cries of foul play when tear gas canisters in Egypt were labeled “made in the USA”. Almost all of the equipment approved in 2009 was aircraft parts and, in 2008, $1 million was approved for explosives and incendiary agents which the State Department claimed were used “In oil exploration”. To make matters even worse some of the main contributors to the European Union, specifically Germany, United Kingdom, Paris and Italy, which makes up a majority of the NATO military coalition, have supplied €834.5 million (roughly 1.5 Billion US dollar), in arms to Libya over the last 5 years.

So maybe the question that should have been asked isn't “Is Gaddafi dangerous and should he be removed?” but “Why, and how has Gaddafi attained the means of his absolute political and military power, and how can we prevent monetary contributions to these fiascoes in the future?” If this country is really the beacon of peace that political talking heads, specifically presidents past and present, claim it to be, then why do we always find that we've substantially contributed, at least monetarily, to the tools of oppression that are utilized by the very dictators that we then turn around and condemn, while we turn their countries into rubble? It's as if our leaders sell these weapons with little or no discretion, while allowing our military to be reduced to nothing more than some kind of demolition subcontractor for contractors, like Halliburton, looking to capitalize on any skirmish in the “Greater Middle East”.

In the speech he gave Monday night about Libya, President Obama stated that, “For generations, the United States of America has played a unique role as an anchor of global security and as an advocate for human freedom.” I have to admit that I snickered a little after I heard that as I said under my breath, “well... “Unique” is one way to put it,” especially if you’re an idealist high on your own bullshit. Realistically are role has drifted further from “an anchor of global security”or “an advocate for human freedom” and become more of a global enabler and prime offender of ubiquitous and violent fiascoes, which ooze uncontrollably with lies and hypocrisy. Rhetoric like this is nothing more than a reaffirmation of American imperialism, which more times than not is unjustified, and becomes more fruitless with each passing decade. As Obama rattles off an endless stream of talking points about a “strong and growing coalition”, which seems hell bent on doing anything to get their economies out of a rut, everything the president says becomes increasingly disingenuous. He also mentioned the “historic resolution”, which not only creates a no-fly zone, but also a no-drive zone that may be a precursor to ground troops in Libya. That being said, it should be no surprise that the same day Obama was getting ready to defend, not a war, but a “kinetic military action”, Libyan rebels announced their intentions to begin trading oil for the first time in a month.

Once again another question, which is one that should probably be asked, though it might never be answered are about Gaddafi's opposition, who have merely been referred to by the media as “Rebels”. For instance, who are the rebel forces and what are they going to do with the money? Let us not forget about all of our past nation building attempts where the rebels minorities eventually became the oppressive majority. All you have to do is look at the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Iraq and Cuba to see how our willingness to fund the opposition to a sworn enemy always seems to create new enemies in the long run. These “seeds of democracy” that we've been planting since World War II, and more frequently since the advent of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, have a history of producing more rotten apples. Which leads me to my final question...when is it going to end?

-The Dead Guy

We Can And Should Speak Out, Collectively and Do The Right Thing: or What Social Networking Sites CAN Be Good For

Tonight, I did something I rarely do. I went to a suburban bar with a cover band playing. This trip was solely for the purpose of attending the birthday party of someone who I have met in person once in my life. This person is friends with my partner but, for all intents and purposes, doesn’t really know me from Adam. Nonetheless, I made the trek and paid the five dollar cover, because it seemed like the right thing to do.

When I arrived, I was surprised to be greeted by a room full of veritable strangers with warm smiles and hugs. It did not take long for people to ask me if I needed drink or to offer me a seat in a crowded room. I am not a particularly open or familiar person. In fact, I am painfully shy at times. However, that did not matter tonight. Because it is close to the holidays and we are American adults. This is what we do. We smile and extend kindness to those who we believe have extended kindness to our friends and comrades. I was accepted and made to feel like family by a group of strangers simply because I am kind to and care for one of their own. This is our culture. We care for those who care for those who we care about.

Why then, do we have so much trouble passing a bill which provides care to those who responded to the trauma and violence of September 11, 2001 by risking their own well being in order to ensure the well being of others?

As Americans, we often show caring and compassion for those who we perceive to have been wronged, either by other people or by the system itself. We are quick to respond to calls for charitable donations and we are proud of it. Yet we seem to have no problem allowing congress to not pass a law which will provide healthcare for those who responded to the September 11^th disaster by rushing into the chaos and attempting t help those who were most directly affected.

How is this even possible?

Much like every other American, I think I remember that day very clearly and I know I remember the aftermath of that day as clear as anything. I can clearly remember everyone I came in contact with clutching their newly purchase American flags and sentimental materials and waxing poetic about heroism and the nature of the American consciousness. I remember a lot of talk about coming together and supporting one another in an extremely trying time. I remember the endless platitudes and syllogisms about colors that don’t run and the strength of a nation. It seemed like everyone around me wanted to talk about how powerful we can be when we come together and support each other.

And, as sentimentally overwrought as some of these expressions may have been, they all had a grain of truth.

We can be powerful when we come together.

We can change the world, or at least our world, when we collectively decide to do the right thing.

But we didn’t.

Granted, we did care for a while. We extended hugs and generosity and understanding like I have never seen before or after. For at least a few weeks following the tragedy, we lived in the America which I had always imagined had existed long before I was born; The America where every citizen extended a warm hand to every other citizen and we care for each other like family. Then, the bubble burst. We became fearful of other Americans who were too similar to our middle eastern neighbors in dress and religious creed. We became entrenched in several wars and began to bicker, once again, about foreign policy and economic legislation. We forgot to be unified.

We forgot our unity and we forgot about those who volunteered to help in one of the most frightening events I have ever seen.

We focused instead on tax cuts, abortion, NAFTA and a host of other issues. We bickered and argued and campaigned and voted. Somewhere, in the sound and the fury of our everyday lives and the endless shout outs of frustration, admiration and support to soldiers and politicians alike, we forgot to check on the very people who had, not so long ago, rushed head on into the smoldering destruction just to make sure others were safe. While we were debating and campaigning and speaking out many of these men and women were becoming ill as a result of their bravery and we never noticed.

They are sick and some of them are dying. The right thing to do would be to pay for their healthcare. If they were enlisted soldiers, who were being ordered to help and paid for their service during the September 11h attacks, they would have at least their basic healthcare needs taken care of, and rightfully so. However, many of these people were neither ordered nor paid to attempt to aid others in such a frightening and chaotic time. Many of them are simply American citizens who felt that they could and should offer a helping hand during a crisis. They rushed in when most were fleeing.

As a result of this, many of them became ill and our government, the people who we voted into office, will not pass a bill which provides them with the care they need.

Last week, congress voted down a bill which would provide healthcare to those who were sickened as a direct result of their actions in support of other Americans on September 11, 2001. And very few people seem to care.

Less than one week ago, my inbox and news feeds were flooded by people who were changing their profile pictures to support a war on a concept.

This week, a very real and challengeable fact became public, and no one reacted.

This is shameful to me.

However, it doesn’t have to be.

We can change it.

If you are one of the many Americans who cared on September 11 and continues to care now about the men and women who bravely sacrificed their own sense of well being in order to insure that of others, then I urge you to look up your local senator and harass the living hell out of them. Send letters, make phone calls, put the word out on facebook, twitter and myspace. Scream from the rooftops. Hold a sit in. Throw rocks through the windows of politicians. Do whatever it takes to be heard. Support the 9/11 Responders act and demand that those who you have voted into office do the same. It is the only right thing to do.

Please America, restore my faith in you.

As Christmas and all of its attendant sentiments approaches, please do what you can to make sure that these people are not left without the care they deserve for any longer.

I double dog dare you to.

_Shannon

Healthcare In The Real World: Or How We've Politicized The Personal

Lately, it seems like there has been a lot of talk about healthcare in the US. No one on either side of the political debate seems particularly pleased with the new healthcare bill, and many seem unhappy with the state of healthcare as it is. I often hear people complaining that private healthcare is available to anyone who is hard working, a tax payer, and who wants it and publicly assisted healthcare is there for the poor. Since it’s already so widely available, they seem to reason, then why should we change the system?

They’re right, to a point. Yes, private healthcare is available to nearly anyone who wants it, at least on the surface, and yes there are already public assistance programs for the poor, but this is a pretty incomplete view of the American healthcare system, which avoids addressing the fact that many Americans fall somewhere between having ability to pay for their own healthcare and being poor enough to qualify for public assistance.

I am one of those Americans.

I have worked, mostly full time, for the past 16 years. During those 16 years, I had exactly one year of working for a company which provided reasonable health insurance to its employees. Most of my jobs have involved waiting tables, and most of them have been for corporations, as opposed to mom and pop restaurants. I think this is important to note, because the corporate jobs which did provide any healthcare at all, provided bare bones, emergency only coverage to employees who worked a minimum of 40 hours a week. However, the one independently owned company I worked for offered the best insurance they could afford to their employees. Many of my friends have had exactly the same experience, with major corporations offering piss poor or no benefits to employees while smaller companies seem to offer livable policies. This experience flies in the face of those naysayers who bemoan the fact that it would be unfair to “force” small businesses to provide health insurance. You see, most small businesses seem to operate under the belief that their employees are human beings and, as such, deserve to be treated fairly. If a business is already providing good coverage for their employees, the healthcare bill as I understand it will not affect them at all.

However, this is not about the healthcare bill and what it will or won’t do. This is about what it is like to be one of the many people who cannot afford to insure themselves, but are not eligible to receive publicly assisted healthcare.

For me, it is pretty horrendous.

As a 31 year old student with little to no income during the school year, I certainly cannot afford to purchase private insurance for myself and, even if I could, half of the things which concern a thirty year old woman would not even be covered. These include, but are not limited to: birth control, maternity, some forms of cancer screening (including breast and cervical), yearly gynecological exams, and STI screenings. However, as an uninsured woman, I can access these things though my local Planned Parenthood where I can pay on a scale that relates to my current income level.

This may sound like a pretty good deal, but a trip to Planned Parenthood is not a very pleasant experience. For me, an annual checkup must be arranged months in advance, I must answer hours worth of questions about my sexual history, medical history and current income every single time I walk through the door, and I often spend hours in their waiting room only to be led to an exam room, told to undress and left sitting, in nothing but a paper robe and knee socks, for up to an hour while I wait for the clinician on duty to come into the room. I never see the same clinician twice and, as a result of that, a routine pelvic exam can take over hour as each new caregiver must ask the same questions each time. Furthermore, using Planned Parenthood as a resource for birth control means that I have very little personal choice in terms of which type I receive. One clinician may determine that I need a combination pill one year, while another (as was my most recent experience) may aggressive push me toward having an IUD inserted to the point of refusing to continue my previous pill. If I take issue with the method they are prescribing, I am often told that as a non insured patient I should be grateful for what I can get and take it or leave it. Don’t get me wrong here, I am grateful for the resource, but it is still very frustrating to feel as though my opinion regarding my body does not matter as much as it would if I were insured. Although trips to their clinics are not often pleasant or comfortable as an overtaxed system must provide care for thousands of men and women each day, I am at least able to access some healthcare through them.

Even with access to sexual healthcare through Planned Parenthood, not having insurance still leaves me in a precarious position in terms of general sickness and health issues. In my position, being sick rarely means a trip to the doctor, unless there is something seriously wrong. This means that I will often hold off on seeking care until I am nearly disabled by whatever sickness I have and, even then, will not seek help unless I am pretty certain that the illness requires antibiotics. Instead, most illnesses involve a lot of googling, a lot of self medication and a lot of hoping that I am not further damaging myself. The only time I will immediately seek medical care is when I am certain that I’ve got a urinary tract infection, as those absolutely cannot be effectively treated by any home remedy and can progress into sepsis or kidney infections.

In those rare situations where I must seek medical attention, I am often at a loss for what to do. You see, most primary care doctors won’t keep a self paying patient because there is too much risk of unpaid services. Without a primary care doctor, I am often given two options. I can spend an entire day and a month’s salary at the emergency room, or I can utilize an urgent care center.

Whenever the option exists, I use the urgent care center to avoid taking up the time of emergency room staff and incurring the ridiculous cost of being seen in a hospital. Again, I am grateful that such places exist, but using one is not a comfortable experience at all. As with Planned Parenthood, I must redo a full patient history every time I am seen. This means, again, spending hours in a waiting room and constantly having to repeat that I am self paying. Often just those very words are enough to cause the staff’s attitudes to change ever so slightly. Depending on the staff member, I have received everything from lectures on the importance of health insurance to pitying glances in the waiting room and downright degradation in the exam room. Because these centers are often staffed by students who perform all initial consultations, I have been lectured on eating disorders, been told that the student examining me is “certain” that I am sexually promiscuous based on my tattoos, been warmed that my seasonal congestion is a sign of AIDS and been prescribed medication that I am deathly allergic to, despite having clearly marked the allergy on my intake forms. All of these snafus could have easily been avoided if being a self paying patient wasn’t seen as akin to being uneducated or unemployed.

Furthermore, they could all be avoided if I had the ability to have one primary care doctor who I see repeatedly. Having a consistent doctor would mean the world to me as it would mean that I did not have to jump through hoops, be embarrassed, degraded or talked down to, whenever I am in the already frightening position of being sick. It would also mean that I would have access to preventative care and advice beyond the realm of WebMD.

Unfortunately, given our current system, this will not be possible until I am employed by a company which provides decent care, or the system is massively reformed to address the stranglehold which drug manufacturers and insurance companies have on the system. As one doctor recently explained to me, the current system has doctors answering to insurers and drug companies exploiting this fact by offering samples under the table in order to convince doctors to prescribe their drugs. This means that a doctor with a private practice must justify every service he or she performs to the patient’s insurance company before he or she justifies it to the patient. It also means that it is not in a doctor’s best interest to make services affordable to self paying patients as it takes money out of the pockets of the very insurance companies which pay most of their salaries. Often, giving away those free samples from drug reps is the only way for a doctor to circumvent this. In other words, most doctors have their hands tied in terms of being able to provide service as they see fit and this leaves many patients with less autonomy than they should have.

I know the healthcare debate is shrill and fully loaded for every American, but I also think that we have become so lost in the sound and the fury or it all that we may have forgotten who really is affected by the way our current system operates. This is not to say that I am looking for a handout, or, as one Planned Parenthood receptionist recently inferred, crying “poor” in order to exploit the system. On the contrary, I am looking for a reform which will remove the power over our well being from the hands of the insurance and drug companies and return to its rightful place in the hands of each American citizen and their respective caregivers. I only hope that whatever happens in 2014 makes that more possible than it is at this point.

-Shannon

The Tea Party Movement: Republicans were Libertarians for Halloween This Year

I don't vote, but I have been following politics since high school, back when Craig Killborn was still hosting the Daily Show. A lot of people in this country get their information from the fevered egos of pundits, politicians, and pastors, which litter the 24-hour cable new cycle of insanity and stupidity. I, on the other hand, who consider myself to be an evolved being, who only concerns himself with the truth, tends to trust the comical satirists that have never steered me wrong: from the likes of George Carlin and Bill Hicks all the way to the new bearers of the torch of truth with the likes of David Cross and Jon Stewart.

Now I understand that many people are frustrated, not so much where the country is going, but like children in the back seat we just want to know, “Are we there yet!”. Let's not forget that a man who claimed to be our “President” in 2000, who I will refer to as Governor Bush, whether he likes it or not, drove this entire republic toward the Bible Belt in a Hummer that ran on the tears of military families, the American Dream, and the largest budget surplus in American History.

Like I said earlier I don't vote, so I did not participate in electing Obama, who seemed like nothing more than just another demagogue disguised as a populist. The difference is that I'm not upset with what Obama has done, but the order in which he has done it. I think that Health Care is important, but also the most polarizing agenda of this administration. Now granted since many Democrats have become unemployed since November 4th with the rest of the country, in retrospect Healthcare may be a small victory, if, and only if, it is reformed and refined until the country is happy with it.

As a result, this chaos and confusion has made it easier for even sane people, like me, to see a part of the Tea Party agenda, which has quickly been diminished due to the nut jobs and lunatics, reflected in myself. The problems with the Tea Party become evident when one can, as Bill Hick put it, “squeegee your third eye.” of perception and call bullshit when you see it. As a result, I see the Tea Party as nothing more than a Libertarians grassroots movement which has been high jacked, not by fiscal conservatives, like Ron Paul, but by loud mouthed social conservatives like Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell, who are using a fiscal libertarian front to conceal their hideous social agendas. I think all of the sane Americans out there will feel a deep emotional resonance when I say... FUCK THESE ASSHOLES.

These fevered egos on steroids respond to hot topics in the news cycle like a couple of 16 year olds in a chat room, too busy arguing over which Jonas brother is the cutest instead of discussing topics of substance. Perhaps this would be more evident to the general public if we actually presented our news to the public discourse in a rational atmosphere, instead of our overly sensational, and intentionally frightening, new cycle, which I believe Jon Stewart referred to as, “The country’s 24 hour political pundit perpetual panic conflictinator.”

Even when it comes to the news topics we do get, which honestly, garner no real air time, like for instance, whether or not a pastor in Florida should be allowed to burn a Quran on September 11^th, It is evident that political hacks, such as Sarah Palin, fail the litmus test when they respond with, “People have a constitutional right to burn a Quran if they want to, but doing so is intensive and unnecessary – much like building a mosque a ground zero.” Oh Sarah, you were so close! That almost sounded like a thought out, rational political statement. But as usual y'all act like fucking children. These are not the kind of people I want running my country. Hey Sarah, Iran is threatening Israel with a nuclear strike! What are you going to do? “Well...I'm going to delete them from my facebook, shortly after I sling some verbal diarrhea.”

Furthermore, being a rational person who considers himself, politically, to be an independent moderate, who is seemingly surrounded by a sea of chaotic, irrational, conspiratorial lunatics on both sides of the political spectrum, I'd have to say that I don't really have much faith in my country or fellow Americans anymore, except of course, for the 215,000 rational, hard working citizens that showed up for sanity in Washington D.C. on October 30^th. These are the “real” Americans, or at least the ones that make living in this country worthwhile. The Americans that Sarah Palin referred to as the “real” Americans are exactly the people I avoid entirely and wouldn't even invite into my home.

Also, I'm so sick of hearing about how the Republicans and Tea party support the “little guy”, and how the republicans “won” the mid-term. First of all, the idea that ANY political candidate could represent any of us is a logical fallacy. Both parties are filled with rich cocksuckers who couldn’t be bothered to give two shits about you or me. In fact, the only difference between Republicans and Democrats, besides their social stances, which I could give two shits about, is the means in which they acquire their wealth. Democrats are usually self starters who work hard to acquire their wealth, while the Republicans have amassed the largest silver spoon collection in the history of the world. Secondly, the Republicans didn't win, as much as the Democrats lost. What I mean by that is more people were voting against the Democrats then for the Republicans. And the Tea party candidates only won because they ran as... Republicans! Let's see how many of these pricks would have won if they had ran as Independents, probably none.

One of the problems, which arose from the “Historic” election in 2008, was the idea that it was more historic than superficial. More people in this country responded favorably to the political candidate that was either “younger” or “experienced” depending on their demographic, or had the same skin color or genitalia as them. Also, to all of the women out there who got excited about a female in the White House, let it be known that Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin are the worst role models for woman since Kate Moss and Martha Stewart. Whoever thinks that these are “strong women” needs to seriously have their head examined. Both of these “things” bear no resemblance to the everyday working class women and mothers of America. They don't empower other women, but continually perpetuate the idea that to compete with men you have to act like them.

This past mid- term was no exception. If anything it shows how much America is in dire need of a credible third party, and I don't believe it is the Tea Party, since it can't stand on its own without the GOP. The current system belittles the independent voter throughout the entire primary process, since it does not allow them to participate, and values them only in the final weeks and months running up to the actual election. If we want to do anything to restore this republic we need to seriously think about the topic of campaign finance reform, and must pass tougher laws. Attempts at campaign reform in recent years have been at best sparse and a worst a joke.

For instance, In 2002 the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act that was sponsor by Senators Russell Feingold (D-WI) and John McCain (R-AZ), which was intended to combat corruption, restricted the quantity and regulated the content and timing of political speech, which did nothing but help incumbents like McCain and Fiengold, since they had other outlets for self promotion. They also added a Millionaires Amendment, which punished wealthy, self promoting candidates who could finance their campaigns without the aid of soft money from special interest groups.

The Tea party started out as a good idea, but as time has passed it has become a caricature of itself, which has lost focus. I agree that we should begin to vote out any and all incumbents, especially those that are holding the political process hostage. The only difference is that I believe if we want any real change we should start giving third party candidates and independents a chance to prove themselves instead of this insane political pendulum where we keep swinging from one extreme to the other once we get tired of a party.

-The Dead Guy

Are We The Ones We've Been Waiting For?

http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/wed-october-27-2010-barack-obama

As you all know, I'm sure, President Obama was on The Daily Show last night. The Dead Guy and I were going to try to liveblog during the broadcast, but it didn't really work out that way. Partly because of technological issues and party because I was too awestruck to react. Perhaps, I thought, it would be more fruitful to post a link to the episode here, along with some of my thoughts, and invite people to comment with their own thoughts.

To begin with, I was impressed with both President Obama and Stewart in that they seemed to be carefully displaying a mutual respect for one another. I was also impressed with the fact that Stewart was fairly tenacious in pressing Obama on issues such as the flawed healthcare bill and his performance versus his campaign promises. I do wish that Obama had been a little more direct in his answer to Stewart's questions about infrastructural changes within government and I was extremely taken aback by the president's insistence that the healthcare bill is similar to social security and civil rights. However, I think he made a good point regarding people's expectations and reality when he pointed out that there are always people who wish that change would occur more swiftly. At the end of the day however, I walked away from the broadcast with a sense of several things. One of which was that I had witnessed a historical event. The second was that I was, and am, fairly certain that John Stewart is probably the most hard hitting journalist of our time. The third is that I am very excited for October 30th and the Rally To Restore Sanity.

Anyway, what are your thoughts?

-Shannon

John Lennon, I'm Glad You Were Born

I usually write about John Lennon on the day he was killed. Every December 8, I tend to write some post about how much he has meant to me in terms of my own understanding of human nature and how I, as a teenager, often used Lennon in particular and The Beatles in general as a way to relate to my father and as a framework for my own world view. That may sound odd, or a little misguided, and it probably was. However, I still, many years later, think that there are some good lessons to be had in his story and a certainly valuable message in his music. Perhaps, these lessons and messages are more needed now than ever, or perhaps it just feels like it. Whatever the reason, I feel that it is important to think about them today.

There are several lessons to be gleaned from Lennon’s life story. Chief among them may be that no one is perfect and that it is foolish to expect perfection from ourselves and others. I know that we all have a tendency to deify Lennon as a holy martyr and I think that this is a natural tendency. The man was murdered at the height of his apparent enlightenment and we seem to have frozen him in our memories as forever being the person he was on that cold night in New York City. However, there is something greater to be gained by understanding that John Lennon, as a person, did some pretty horrible things. In his early career, he drank, fought and cheated. He also left his first wife and son without much support while publicly worshipping his second wife and second son later on in his life. It is uncomfortable to think about Lennon this way, so we often don’t. This is a mistake. You see, by understanding his imperfections, we can begin to understand our own. No one is perfect, not even rock’s greatest deity, and that means that we should cast a forgiving and understanding eye on those who seem exceptionally flawed, including ourselves. I firmly believe that Lennon himself was greatly aware of his own shortcomings and had to reconcile them within himself before he was able to effectively move on.

In addition to the understanding of our own nature which can be gained from looking at his life, Lennon’s music can offer us some valuable and powerful reminders in a time when the negative static which surrounds us is at a fever pitch. We are constantly inundated with messages about what we should be doing and the heights to which we should aspire. Often, these messages take the form of telling us to aspire toward success defined as financial gain. We are constantly being urged to earn more, buy more, save more, spend more and consume more. We are, we are told, intrinsically defined by what we have. It determines our social status, our ability to thrive and our own value. Of course, it would be a misnomer to declare that there is not a need to earn enough money to have what we need, and a greater misnomer to look at Lennon as an example of an ascetic lifestyle, but there is something to be said for his message that the material trappings by which we define ourselves are not as important as we think they are. Perhaps, by renouncing the value of our possessions in Imagine and urging us to re-imagine our definitions of success in Watching The Wheels, Lennon gives us a springboard from which we can reexamine what we need and how we are to get it. It is easy to forget that our basic needs are pretty simple and to become caught in a frame of mind which dictates that we need more and that our own individual needs are more important than those of others. The bottom line is that our needs are simply to have food, clean water and love. We do not need the trappings of modern consumerism. We want them and that is OK, but we ought to try to remember the difference as we go through the world.

Finally, I think that Lennon’s message is one of self definition. Through both action and words, he tells us that it is, ultimately, our job to define and redefine ourselves as we would like to be defined and that no externality can form this definition. We cannot successfully define ourselves by that which we possess or that to which we belong. It is tempting to use labels and syllogisms as definitions for ourselves, but that sort of external identity often fails to address our individual needs and actions. Sure, we can all carry signs and rally against our similarly identified enemy, but at the end of the day, that just adds to the aforementioned static and leaves us with the same sense of loneliness and disenfranchisement that led us to seek out the external identity in the first place. Through songs like Revolution, Lennon reminds us that we all do, in some way, want to change our world, but that change does not come through hatred or vitriol, no matter how tempting it may be. Instead, if we follow ever evolving message behind the music, it might be more fruitful to look for an internal revolution wherein we redefine our identities to include the fact that, as that great man once said, “we all shine on, like the moon and stars and the sun”, and we do this not by turning a hateful eye toward that which threatens our ideologies, but by reminding ourselves to simply love. We need to, as we move forward, love ourselves, love others and love our world. This is not easy or simple or even totally attainable, but every little step we take could be the one which moves us closer to what John Lennon once asked us to imagine.

-Shannon (Who is well acquainted with the touch of a velvet hand like a lizard on a window pane)