Re: <nettime> How a Library Saved My Life.

[Goran Maric <goranmaric58@hotmail.com>]

Dear, Margaret,
I am all with you in what you have said except in one thing. I am not sure that what I said
is short sighted mentioning that I am not able to see substantial change going on.
Also, I am not sure I mentioned that there will never be a change?
I mean, there is change, but in relation to what and whom? My heart is beating with people
of Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and the rest, truly it does.
Also, I am aware that here, in the US, there will be a rally called "Save the American Dream."
And it will take place throughout the cities of the USA. It is great, there is no discussion about
it. But let me ask you what and whose dreams are we going to save? And also let's bear in
mind that when I am talking about the US, I am talking about, I believe, though not sure anymore,
the richest country in the world, right? I am not talking about a small countries in the mountains
of the Balkans who were first 500 years under Ottoman empire, then under Austro Hungarian Empire,
then was flattened by the last mentioned empire in WWI, then was flatten by Germany, WWII,
at the time Yugoslavia, then was broken in a bloody civil war in 90's. No, I am not talking about
these countries. And no matter how poor we were between 45-90's and no matter how bad
things were in some cases, over there, all the people had health care, and the school was free, OK.
But I must say those countries could never, ever compete in any intelligent way possible in regard
to wealth and physical with the US. And, yet, in the United States of America we have 40,000 people
dying due to the lack of the access to the health care.
And also, the next horror is the one about the American Dream that the education will make our
lives better. Now again, let me put this link here:
 

http://studentloanjustice.org/victims.htm

 

Please, bear in mind I am talking about the US, not some small country which for the most of its history

of existence was occupied by some other foreign forces. Now, let me go back to those 40,000

people who cannot afford the health care and might perish due to this. Tell me what is the

difference between 'deaths' of people who died due to the lack of the health insurance, and of

those who died due to the actions of a regime that prosecute its political opponents. I might lack

the knowledge, and please forgive on my ignorance, and would be more than happy to learn more,

but do you want to refer to me that 30, 40 or even more years ago people were better off in

the US in regard to the health issues, or it is only the fact that today we are able to count them

and speak of them. Now, can you imagine what a horrendous regime it would be that prosecute

40,000 people due to its political believes. We can agree, I believe, that something like that

would be quite an insane and horrible act. Now, how do we justify deaths of 40,000 people who die

because they do not have the access to the health care purely to the reasons that selfish

power holders do not want to provide access to it, for if the government pay for it, then they

might won't be able to have about 600 military basis throughout world and perversely huge

amount of wealth for themselves.

The one great mind, who is truly the source of my courage to speak of this here today, said

once that the US had spent $500,000 to kill just one Vietnamese soldier, while at the same

time spent $50 for a poor person, here, in the US.

Do I need to go now and comment the expense about the Iraq and or Afghanistan war in

relation to these 40,000 souls I talked about.

So, please tell me how my comment abut myself not being able to see any change taking place

is short sighted? And above all, I haven't ever said that a some type of a change will never come?

I believe I was wondering what we can do to get real change to come. Maybe I wasn't clear enough

in clarifying what change I am referring to. I am talking abut our inability to disassemble NATO in

Europe, removing nuclear weapons from the Europe, jail at least one criminal bankster, stop

wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, hidden wars in Yemen, and who knows where else, ongoing deaths

of thousands of people in the US due to the lack of the health insurance, stop enslaving people

with the false promising of better future through the schooling.

 

Now, let me go back to the education, and these experiences about dealings with predatory loans.

I want to firmly assure you this is not only about my own experiences, but the experiences of other

people living, here, in the US, as well. It is not only about myself. Honestly I cannot care less about this

capitalistic ideology of individualistic preaching that, at the end, it is only our own, personal, individual

reason that we are worse off than the rest of the other hard working people; as all of this is not

the byproduct of the system made so to make the profit out of it. Unfortunately, I just do

not accept your statement. Again, please, bear with me, I am talking abut the US, right, the country

that spends abut $500 billion dollars a year for the military, OK. And it's been going on like this

more or less for how long, 10 years, 20, 30, how long? Of course 20 years ago the amount

was not $500 billion, but I believe was quite similar in its equivalence. Have you seen any real change

in regard to this? Have you seen any decrease in military spending since the greatest evils of all,

the USSR, disappeared from the world map? Do you really believe that the material wealth, cars,

houses that the most of the middle class of America owns (?) is due to their income or it is due

to borrowed loans. Loans should not be something that we consider as the wealth of ours. It is

something we have to repay to those who lend them to us, right? And those who lend us loans

make profit out of the payed interest on these loans, right? Also people loose their houses if

they cannot repay their loans.  If there has been change going on, why do we have million

foreclosures today, why?  So, unfortunately, I just can't see how short sighted it is what I said

in regard to change.

 

Regardless, I must, say, I am deeply touched by the people’s compassion that all of you showed

by reading our posts. I am truly thankful to all of you. But, at the same time, to all of you

I want to say, I didn't say this for the sake of myself, I said this for the sake of my inability

to see that there is a change going on, while certain things, I just mentioned them, are still

here, and have been here for quite some time. They were here among us while we were

believing that we are the ones who are bringing or are the sources of the real changes to

some parts of world. We have had obvious failures, not to address, but to solve these

horrendous issues, deaths of tens of thousand of people in the US, contemporary enslavement

through the loans swindle, military machinery, neo-imperialism of Europe, the US, Canada

through NATO, preventing wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen...

 

In all of this I was using my personal experience just to put a touch of human personality to it,

so to show that these are not mere numbers. We are human beings, as well. I mean, we are

not wealthy in any account, though still human beings. And why our lives are any less valuable

than the lives of the other unfortunate people suffering throughout the world due to

corrupted regimes.  It seems to me as if we are way too easily moving over these issues.

Also it seems (I cannot judge, but can reasonably assume) as if we believe that our regimes are

in some way better, more humane, even though we can see that they are, not only, capable of

causing horrendous sufferings to the rest of the world due to the waged wars, but are causing

suffering to their own population.

I do not see any changes in that regard. Also I am not saying that people are not working

extremely hard to make changes happens. People are working throughout the world to make

changes for the benefits of the common good. But before mentioning changes in other

countries, and before mentioning our contributions to these changes, let's look into

our own backyard. It really can't be any simpler. And if we see that there are problems

going on, but really horrendous problems, just in different forms, we should ask ourselves

why they are going on. How it has happened they they have been going on in front of us

for this long.

Best,

 

 

gORAN

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