‘Raise Your Voice’ Archives
Moment of Silence
By Peter Molenaar Even as these words are written, another beneath the rubble has given up the ghost. The remaining resistance is fading”¦ Flashback to 1803. Given a plague of wars, Napoleon Bonaparte”'s France is a financial wreck. Concurrently, measures to maintain order in the lucrative sugar colony of Haiti are in jeopardy. Hence, the sale of some 828,000 square miles of “French territory” appears to be prudent (our own neighborhood is but a small parcel of this Louisiana Purchase). Every Haitian child knows the story. Note: Following the logic of ancestral events, it appears that many of us owe our existence to the Haitian slave revolt! Now see January 12, 2010. Nearly 12,000 registered nurses have volunteered for Haiti disaster relief””some 300 from Minnesota. They stand ready as the largest contingent of RN volunteers in U.S. history. National Nurses United is working around the clock to find deployment locations. “Medical facilities [...]
Wakan Tanka
by Peter Molenaar It took on the order of 200,000 years for humankind to develop a written language. Subsequently, “the word” accumulated in the form of scripture which in turn made literacy a requirement for entry into “the faith”. Hence, the emergence of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) within the once vast sea of illiteracy. Note: the various peoples of this neighborhood might do well to acknowledge that we all reside upon Dakota land. Prior to Abraham, prior even to the Druid elites of Pagan Europe, it was the vision quest which nourished the spiritual community. The trekker was rewarded by nature”'s unforeseen coincidences, including close encounters with curious animals. Such were the revelations of “the great spirit”. Note: A totem animal should be regarded as but one aspect of Wakan Tanka. Prior to the existence of life sustaining planets, was there a great spirit? Or, did mind emerge merely as a [...]
Irony Of Ironies
By Peter Molenaar Followers of this column might recall a two-part slogan issued prior to the Obama presidency. The first part read: “Unite to fight the ultra-right”. The second part: “even as we project the vision of socialist future”. It occurs now that it might be helpful to define some terms. By ”˜ultra-right”' is meant: those political forces which are manipulated and set in motion by the most greedy and self-absorbed section of the capitalist ruling class. The Republican Party is said to be dominated by these forces. Whereas, the more liberal wing of the ruling class consents to a political alliance with the social-democratic wing of Labor (and the other sectors which make up the Democratic Party). The term ”˜social-democratic”' refers to that trend within Labor which seeks to improve life without fundamentally challenging the power of accumulated wealth, i.e. without challenging the property relations which constitute the [...]
