memory additions

continuing on. Fiction vs. reality. The crux of the point below, is that often your own experience is not reflective of society as a whole. So to justify the dictatorship because the 'economy was good' is infactual. One could possibly say ' i benefited from it, but the majority of people did not, - so then it is ok'. is quite different. How do people reconcile this factual error when they study the massive amounts of debt that the dictatorship created? This is what i do not understand. I believe it is both ignorance and denial. if facts don't support your justifications... what do you do? Another reason for denial: feeling guilty - what if you found out when your child turned five years old that she had been stolen from a murdered pregnant woman? (common practice during the Argentine dictatorship) Could you honestly say this was a good thing? Although many wives were presented with children with full knowledge of where they came from. (The theory being that activists pass on poison ideas to their children, so two generations must be dealt with)

As Susana Kaiser discusses - the culture of fear stifles communication, discussion and dissent. even people that nostalgically remember the 'good ole days' do not want their children involved in activism or even community events because of fear they will be killed. So even they recognize it was 'dangerous' all the while speaking out of the other side of their mouth to claim that really, it was quite safe. That silence in fact speaks quite loud. What people don't discuss, is just as important as what they do -in analyzing the grip that terror has on a society even after twenty years.

Another tactic is discussing the violence without placing it within a historical context. The guerrilla insurgency is always exaggerated, their grievances are never discussed. A common theme is that the war was between the government and the guerrillas (rather than an all out war waged on civilian activists). As if opposition to state policies are caused for no reason. I still read articles on Colombia claiming 'Communist FARC' is trying to take over the government. The Montoneros in Argentina arose from anger about economic inequality. Along these same lines - an article i read yesterday on Hamas - how absurd the idea is that a relatively weak 'terrorist' organization is a realistic threat to nuclear armed Israel with the fourth most powerful military in the world. and so civilian annihilation is justified - to save the nation from a made up threat. (although a real threat to economic policies) Also importantly, is that civilian dissent is always lumped in with 'subversives' or guerrillas. This is especially true in Colombia to the point where even US human rights groups, the most moderate of all of them are called 'collaborators'. However this tactic is not new, in fact it seems to be the norm rather than the exception to demonize and criminalize dissent.

I have come to the conclusion that only through ignorance can most people support policies of violence, torture and massive inequality. I still fail to understand the mindset of higher levels of responsibility - those that orchestrate the policies. They are not ignorant. Those who intentionally deceive and manipulate public opinion because they know that the average citizen could not follow their ideas unless they are tricked. War for profit and power. There is a connection between most wars i read about - iraq, vietnam, state violence in latin america, etc. All of them depend on lies to fuel the conflict. This mass destruction will continue as long as ordinary society continues to cede power to these types of individuals. If you don't know what your government is doing - its most likely because they don't want you to know.

Ongoing thoughts concerning Israel's occupation:
1. To what extent should historical validity play in drawing the borders
2. If you follow the logic that Israeli's have historical ties to the land, how far back do you go? What about ancient Gaza and Egyptian rule? Is it relevant if the bloodline is diluted, or even nonexistent? (e.g is Palestinian an ethnic group, or rather more related to geographical location with a constant influx of relatively recent migration. also - european jews vs. arab jews? who has more legitimacy if they want different things)
3., how can biblical justification for land be used in the creation of a nation state considering the nation state is a recent phenomena?
4. last but not least, to effectively use this argument would that not entail the re-carving up of the Middle East (if not the world)

memory

First off, I can't figure out the right way to eat muffins. Similar to large cupcakes, you cannot fit a proper bit into your mouth unless you bite if off the side or the top. Then it crumbles all over you. Everytime.
I have two different themes. One is, truth vs fiction with memories. "For memory is more about what we believe happened than about what actually took place" Susan Kaiser.
the book is on memories of the dictatorship by teenagers in Argentina that did not directly experience it. ie born right after it fell. The question that keeps coming back is one i have thought about before. Things people tell themselves to be 'ok' with the dictatorship are usually based on lies or infactual information. Because truthfully, how can one reconcile complicity with murder or torture? While there are many books exploring the memory of the victims, i am looking for one that examines what th ruling class / rich / military tell themselves, and how this period of time is remembered for them.
first innacuracy: "the economy at least, was good then" this is a big fat lie. the government brought in neo liberal policies, sky rocketed the debt, took over private debt, sold control of natural resources -- imf policies, decreased welfare spending. poverty increased, wealth for the wealthy increased, the economy tanked. I suppose it could be true then that the economy was ok. Because for them, it was. hmmm. interesting. but why do people say that when they are middle class, and they did not benefit from it? is it rich class envy? the idea that if only they were smarter then they, too, could take christmas in miami? However, - the economy did not flourish, and those policies paved the groundwork for the big crash in 2001.
2. "At least you could walk down the streets and be safe". It is interesting that people use this excuse considering 30,000 people were murdered. I tend to see a correlation between silent crime and chaos crime. Which is worse.
To be continued... i have been distracted.

dear human rights watch...

"As a longtime human rights activist on Latin American issues I am concerned about the report by Jose Miguel Vivanco on Venezuela. In order to preserve the dignity of HRW, these accusations of bias and innacurate reporting need to be properly addressed."

fabulous websites: upside down world - "uncovering latin american activism"
Znet - absolutely awesome
znet has a two week course (some taught by noam chomsky!!) over the summer on alternative media and participatory democracy. i have been very politicaly influenced by many of these people and it would be one of the coolest things ever to take this course.
1. need to be employed before the deadline in a week
2. would need to be assured i could take the time off

i can't see the display of this blog anymore. my computer sucks ass and i deleted java and other programs in an effort to keep the computer running for longer. however, now i can't use a lot of programs. hmmm. i tried to re-dowload java which didn't work. did i break it? i need a new computer...

my other letter to the international labor rights forum.. since i occupy myself these days with reading immensly, then I offer my wonderful opinions to the open market. I also like to exagerate my credentials. Its interesting to think that even though I attended college, I am a self made "expert". most of what i learn i do on my own. Yet having gone to college is the only way I get some credibility with my self made knowledge. there is something seriously wrong with that picture.


Hello,
I read the educators packet on flower workers in Colombia. I study paramilitary violence against mine workers and various other trade unions in Colombia, as well as gendered studies. I found the report very informative but I suggest updating the portion on sexual violence.
1. connect sexual violence to the big picture of exploitation and globalization. The power structures involved in these exploitative jobs are at the root of sexual violence.
2 The issues of accountability and prosecution are only secondary problems considering 50% of the female floral workers experience sexual violence. even if the workers did not have work late at night or had better hours the problem would not go away.
2. The problem is not cultural attitudes in Ecuador. Please remember that immigrants in the U.S face similar proportions of sexual harassment and violence; as well as other groups working in exploitative working conditions around the world.