Given the state of the mass media and education in the USA, there is no reason to assume that American workers must know the basic contour of US imperialism (or indeed of anything about history). It is to the credit of American workers that the majority of them think that the Vietnam War (of which even the young among them are dimly aware) was not "a mistake" but morally wrong, despite the massive propaganda campaign to have them think otherwise. One of the purposes of the ruling class propaganda is the suppression and distortion of history, especially of history of popular struggles against capitalist and imperialist masters. What we want to do to counter the propaganda is to resurrect and disseminate the memories of those who did fight good fights, whether they won or lost.
At 9:03 AM -0700 9/21/02, Chuck Grimes wrote:
>Initiating a US war on Iraq is not just a sick joke, it is a formal
>state crime against humanity. Not that anybody cares much.
A far larger number of Americans, though still short of the majority, are opposed to the war on Iraq than to the war on Afghanistan. Most of them, however, are not plugged into any activist network, thus feeling isolated and powerless. The question is what we can do to facilitate movement from inactivity to activity, overcoming the feeling that you get socially ostracized by getting involved in political activism of any sort (reinforced by the tirades against the imaginary "left" on LBO-talk that just add to the ruling class propaganda that anti-war and other activists are weirdos to be shunned). -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>