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Edited on Thu May-27-04 12:03 PM by bigtree
Bullying, a National Institution: Preparing for Abu Ghraib and Beyond http://www.metaphoria.org/ac4t0406.html
What happens to a population fed a steady diet of violence, fear and insecurity? What happens to bullies on the school bus and playground who pick on the fat kid, the queer kid, the nerd, the unathletic, the disabled, the foreigner, the atheist, the vegetarian, the different dresser, the otherwise groomed, the non-hunter, the gunless, the awkward, and the not so beautiful? How do the privilege-inculcated and supra-testosterone enabled behave when called upon to exhibit the God Bless America "patriotism" of manifest destiny? What happens to them when they are told, "You're either with us or against us". Wake up and smell the fascism.
I am not surprised that there is prisoner torture and sexual abuse by the military in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Camp Bucca, Afghanistan, or anywhere else. I have seen bullies up close and first hand. I have been bullied by virtue of my weight, zits, immigrant status, politics, non-belief, politics, being different, etc. Yet, I am privileged because I am white and can blend into the typical fabric of U.S. society.
There are 2,000,000 people incarcerated in U.S. prisons today, mostly for drug violations. The U.S. incarcerates more people than any other nation on Earth. There are an estimated 12,000 rapes per year in U.S. prisons. This exceeds the reported annual number of rapes in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago combined.
Profiting in U.S. "corrections" has a long history, but the penal system is now more open to privatization than ever. These ever-increasingly privatized jails, just like privatized U.S. warmaking are highly profitable. War making is big business. The second largest contingent of armed personnel in Iraq are not from the United Kingdom. They are private for-hire mercenaries who outnumber all other so-called "coalition forces" put together.
The youth who intimidates and bullies that which they cannot or refuse to understand today becomes the soldier, mercenary. teacher, prison guard, member of congress, president, etc., of tomorrow. Yesterday's sexually privileged athlete is tomorrow's leader. And what of the abused? Will the abused become the abuser? Will the abused rebel against a system that perpetually integrates fear into daily life? What worries me the most is what will happen in a decade or two when the youth throughout Iraq grow up and respond to the abuse inflicted by the U.S. Empire.
more: http://www.metaphoria.org/ac4t0406.html
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