September 13 San Francisco

My thoughts on September 11th and the aftermath. Reconciliation does not mean forgetting the suffering and injustices of the past; rather, it means not letting the past stand in the way of opportunities for the future. -- Duane Elgin, author of Promise Ahead: a vision of hope and action for humanity's future I am overwhelmed with messages of sympathy and wishes for peace from Italy these past few days, difficult days in U.S. history. Thank you for your sentiments. And to Moto Guzzi, I cried when I went to your Web site on September 11th and found it blacked out in silence, in honor of those many souls who left our earth that day. I have heard from friends and they are okay, in body but not in spirit. Yet today, here in America the mainstream media broadcasts messages about revenge, violence, and war. Here in America a man in a truck tries to run over a woman who looks Middle-Eastern, who is walking across a shopping center parking lot. Here in America it is said the 90% of the population wants nothing more than revenge. Our American government attempts to find the responsible parties, and is ready to bomb in their whereabouts, no matter that the majority of citizens in the "suspected" areas are peaceful, loving people who are as horrified at the attacks as we are. It is time to stop this. We do not need war. Driving on the freeway yesterday, passing a closed San Francisco Airport, blocked off by police vehicles and large orange trucks, listening to the talk talk talk on the radio, seeing tears on the faces of people driving, people I don't even know, I realized how closely together we are all connected. Everyone felt this on September 11th, the great rent in the spiritual fabric that is our collective humanity. Is it time to finally follow the teachings of our spiritual leaders and pray, not only pray, but act for peace? I, for one, want nothing else but to rid myself of fear, yet, while there is fear and suffering for one, there is fear and suffering for all. Collective action is necessary now to protest this violence. We forget, because we are individually so minor in the scheme of the government machine, that individually we can be heard. We are all, individually, influences on others. So don't let our friends, or neighbors, our children, hear us speaking for revenge, violence, retaliation. Act for change at the deepest root level. Our western wealth can be used to lead in a planetary effort to heal and empower the disenfranchised, instead of to gather up ever more wealth than we need at the expense of other souls, souls like us. It is time for change. Are you, like me, a traveler? Then do you remember how we've wandered the earth and connected with other cultures, no matter how different, and realized that we are the same? We are of one fabric, we are one organism on this web that is the top of the earth, a fragile web hovering on a crust of matter, pressed in upon by the vastness of the cosmos. Together on this crust we feel the reverberations from all incidents, great and small. It is time for healing. It is time to turn off the television that broadcasts fear, hate and war. It is time to fill our minds and bodies with solutions and with hope. Some starting points for action: Media: Listen to public broadcasts such as Amy Goodman on Democracy Now and WebActive who offer not only the news but also commentary about how the mainstream media is covering the event, often irresponsibly. Activism: Go to Working for Change and write a letter to President Bush and other members of the United States goverment. Urge a peaceful solution. Speak out to your friends and neighbors, participate in a community event. Educate: We must educate ourselves on the cutures with which we clash, and we must educate ourselves on the activities of our own government in the world, examine the reasons we're there, examine the effects, consider that our government may not be acting from the heart. There are many reasons to change this. A fascinating book that addresses the topic is Duane Elgin's Promise Ahead: A vision of hope and action for humanity's future. On The Nationâs website: JONATHAN SCHELL: A Hole In The World DAVID CORN: The Dark Smoke ROBERT FISK: Terror In America PATRICIA WILLIAMS: Pax Americana NATION EDITORS: A Great Wound On The Atlantic Monthly's website: COMING TO GRIPS WITH JIHAD SEP 12 | "As investigators attempt to trace yesterday's devastating terrorist acts to their source, attention seems increasingly to be focusing on Osama bin Laden and his militant followers--Islamic fundamentalists who consider themselves engaged in a 'jihad' against the Western world." What are the roots of Islamic fundamentalist rage against the U.S.? How did Afghanistan become a hotbed of international terrorists? Atlantic articles by Bernard Lewis, Robert Kaplan, and Mary Anne Weaver look at the origins and consequences of jihad. THE TRIUMPH OF TERRORISM SEP 11 | Who could have perpetrated Tuesday's attacks--and why? Atlantic articles by Conor Cruise O'Brien, Mary Anne Weaver, Reuel Marc Gerecht, and Mark Edington give insight into the terrorist mind--and how the U.S. may have both inflamed and encouraged terrorist groups. THE VIEW FROM INSIDE Nov 2 | "The problem with a lot of journalistic criticism of how the U.S. operated in the mid- and late eighties in Afghanistan is that journalists operate in this perfect universe, where every option is possible, while policy makers usually only have bad choices." The foreign correspondent Robert D. Kaplan, the author of *Soldiers of God*, on his time among the mujahideen, the killing of Abdul Haq, and why the U.S. must not be afraid to be brutal. Alternative media: Don't be brainwashed by the mainstream media's frothing, repetitive, simple-minded messages. It's all much more complex. Take the time to discern, dare to be responsible for your own opinions: Counterspin with Janine Jackson and Steven Rendall: CounterSpin provides a critical examination of the major stories every week, and exposes what the mainstream media might have missed in their own coverage. Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez (from NYC), featuring the voices of some of the best minds of this generation (and previous ones), including activists, muckrakers, visionaries, artists, risk-takers, academics and "just folks" who share a commitment to truth, democracy, justice, diversity, equality and peace. WebActive is a site designed to offer progressive activists an up-to-date resource on the World Wide Web to find other organizations and individuals with similar values and interests. In addition to its work on cutting-edge multimedia technologies, RealNetworks aims to bring the networking power of the World Wide Web and the Internet to bear on social and political issues. AlterNet.org is a project of the Independent Media Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening and supporting independent and alternative journalism. First launched in 1998, AlterNet's online magazine provides a mix of news, opinion and investigative journalism on subjects ranging from the environment, the drug war, technology and cultural trends to policy debate, sexual politics and health issues. The AlterNet article database includes more than 7,000 stories from over 200 sources. Our heritage in the United States is activism and revolution. Let us remember our heritage and take action now, to make a better world. I look forward to exploring the world for years to come, for lifetimes to come. I look forward to meeting you, fellow explorers, for years and lifetimes to come. Please let us become global citizens, let no place be barred. Let us be free. Italy: I look forward to flying to Italy on Sunday, and beginning my journey into your culture. Thank you for being so welcoming. < previous | next >