A new perspective from Iraq

[ryan2772]

http://www.fsunews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/09/23/4151f512edf13

Letters to the Editor

September 23, 2004

Dear Editor,

As the director of a relief and development agency working in Iraq for the last year, I have found the situation there both intriguing and revealing. During this time, my wife and I have often visited with Iraqi friends who have told us the hooded terrorists that CNN, the BBC, and Al-Jazeera were interviewing and passing off to the world as representing the sentiments of the Iraqi people were not from Iraq at all, but from Yemen, Egypt, Saudi, or somewhere else outside the country, but were definitely not from Iraq. How do they know? They know the same way we know if someone is from Boston or Texas: Accents. Yet CNN and the BBC make these international terrorists appear to represent the will of the Iraqi people. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Nevertheless, because CNN and other media have told this lie loud enough and long enough, people around the world believe them and now have a negative view of the Coalition-led invasion of Iraq. The media has deceived and skillfully misled the world into thinking Iraqis are against America. This is not true, and yet people the world over have become discouraged and disheartened by believing their lie. Was this a calculated ploy by the media through carefully selected interviewing? Why has the media done this? These are good questions because the truth as we saw it from having lived in Iraq for over a year is that the overwhelming majority of Iraqis are very grateful to the United States for liberating them.

Incredibly, we find very few people here in the United States who heard about the town hall meetings that have taken place across Iraq preparing the Iraqi people to take over their own country. These meetings had been carried out by both U.S. military and civilians through the efforts of the Coalition Provisional Authority under Paul Bremer. I have watched this group of dedicated Americans from the U.S. State Department work tirelessly teaching the Iraqis about democracy, how to select a candidate, what to look for in a candidate, how to have an election, etc. As a result elections are taking place in every major city in Iraq! This did not just happen by itself, but from the hard work done by these committed people.

Why has America not heard about this work? These town hall meetings are the backbone of a democracy and what the transfer of power over to the Iraqis is all about. Yet the world has heard nothing about them. A tremendous amount of training from these U.S. civilians has taken place with mayors and citizens all over Iraq, and yet as we have traveled around the United States, we have found virtually no one in America who has heard of these meetings and the preparation that has taken place through them.

This non-reporting of the good things that happen on a daily basis is a distortion of the real situation in Iraq for which the media is undeniably responsible. There are 25 million people in Iraq, and yet the media has continually focused on the 25,000 who were part of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard, or his Fedeyeen, or the ex-Bath party members who are obviously against the United States and the success of a new Iraq. Why has the media primarily given these people, many of them terrorists, a platform to address the world as if they represented the Iraqi people? This has been a gross misrepresentation of the truth by the media.

This war in Iraq might well have been over 10 months ago if those trying to bring freedom to Iraq had not had to overcome the efforts of the media as well as the terrorists. As it is, the media has encouraged the insurgents and has undermined the Coalition at every turn. You may recall how quickly the media called the Coalition forces "occupiers" instead of "liberators," which could only embolden the terrorists. And you may remember when President Bush went to Iraq last Thanksgiving. Everyone in Iraq was excited. Did the media share this excitement? Hardly. They derided the President as "grandstanding." As one who was there I can tell you, not only was the U.S. Military encouraged, but also the Iraqi people were encouraged that President Bush had come to their country. And yet the media mocked.

[ryan2772]

cont'd....

Or consider the capture of Saddam Hussein? Did the media rejoice? Just the opposite. They were completely frustrated. This did not fit into their plans of prolonging the war. Nor did eliminating Saddam's two sons, whom everyone we have met in Iraq hated. The media has done nothing to encourage the Iraqi people. Nothing to try to help them to take ownership and responsibility for their country, but have done everything they could to extend the war. As a result, thousands of Iraqi and American troops and civilians have died who did not have to die. Obviously, the United States has been doing everything it could to bring the violence in Iraq to an end, but sadly, the media -- it seems -- has done everything it could to keep it going. Here lies a tragedy of which the world should know.

A year ago a British scientist who was at the center of the controversy about Iraq being able to deliver WMD in 45 minutes committed suicide, causing a huge investigation into his death known as the Lord Hutton Inquiry. For the three weeks leading up to the verdict, CNN and the BBC built the story up on air and on their websites that this would be the most difficult week in the life of Tony Blair, indicating they were going to make the follow up reporting to the verdict extremely hard for Mr. Blair to overcome. But when Lord Hutton and his committee gave their report, their findings were just the opposite of what the media was expecting, as the committee totally exonerated the British government of any wrong doing and found the BBC guilty of having misled the nation.

This was remarkable, yet as could be expected, instead of follow-up reporting, this new development was deemed no longer newsworthy, and just hours after CNN and the BBC reported the verdict, the story was no longer on their websites. Yet for weeks the media had used their misrepresentation of the story to mislead and influence the world. For weeks they had filled Europe, Asia, Africa, and as much of America as they could with the notion that the British government was covering up the truth, sexing up dossiers, etc. when it was actually the media themselves who were guilty. But CNN and the BBC are aware of the psychological damage they were able to impose on the world with the resulting negative attitude toward Tony Blair and George Bush, even though they themselves were the ones in the wrong.

So what is the truth? Am I telling you the truth when I say the vast majority of Iraqi people are thankful to the United States? Recently I met with a reporter, and as we started the interview, I decided that rather than tell her what I was doing, I would just show her, so I stood up as I had done many other times in the last month and asked for the diner's attention. When the people heard that I had been in Iraq the restaurant grew quiet, but then broke into applause at the brief message I had brought them. As you can imagine the ensuing interview was quite animated, and for the next hour diners dropped by with words of appreciation for what I had said.

In the course of our conversation something happened that should give us all hope, and a little more insight into what is the truth about the situation in Iraq. I told the reporter, "The most interesting thing that I have found is that everywhere I go and speak, people come up and say their cousin in Iraq (or whoever they might know in Iraq) is telling them the same thing that I am telling them." Two minutes later a woman came over to our table and said, "You know my cousin in Iraq . . ." The interview appeared on the front page of the paper the next day.

Take heart America. The truth will set you free.

Rick Leatherwood

Director of Kairos Relief and

Development, Inc.

Leatherwood@pmbx.net

[Guest JulianJunkie]

If this shocks you... or you want yet another reason to get Bush out of office and move toward bringing an end to this madness then read this and make a move.

The following is a forwarded email

Thank your media if you didn't know about this.

"Subject: Mandatory draft bill for men and women(ages 18-26)

Starting June 15, 2005, there is something that everyone should know about!!

This literally effects everyone since we all have or know children

that will have to go if this bill passes. There is pending legislation

in the house and senate (companion bills: S89 and HR 163) which will time

the program's initiation so the draft can begin as early as spring, 2005.

The administration is quietly trying to get these bills passed now,

while the public's attention is on the elections, so our action on this

is needed immediately. Details and links follow:

If this bill passes, it will include all men and ALL WOMEN from

ages 18 - 26 in a draft for military action. In addition, college

will no longer be an option for avoiding the draft and they

will be signing an agreement with the Canada which will no

longer permit anyone attempting to dodge the draft to stay

within it's borders. This bill also includes the extension

of military service for all those that are currently active.

Actions

1. Please send this on to all the parents and teachers you know, they

can be a powerful voice for change!

This legislation is called HR 163 and can be found in detail at

this website:

http://thomas.loc.gov/

Just enter in "HR 163" and click search and will bring up the bill

for you to read. It is less than two pages long. If you go to the

Select Service web site and read their 2004 FYI Goals, you will see that

the reasoning for this is to increase the size of the military in case

of terrorism. This is a critical piece of legislation that will

affect our undergraduates, our children and our grandchildren.

2. Please take the time to write your congressman and let them know

how you feel about this legislation.

www.house.gov

www.senate.gov

3. Please also write to your representatives and ask them why they

aren't telling their constituents about these bills and ...

4. Write to newspapers and other media outlets to ask them why

they're not covering this important story.

$28 million has been added to the 2004 Selective Service System

budget to prepare for a military draft that could start as early as

June 15, 2005. Selective Service must report to Bush on March 31, 2005

that the system, which has lain dormant for decades, is ready for

activation.

Please see www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html to view the Selective

Service System annual performance plan, fiscal year 2004.

The pentagon has quietly begun a public campaign to fill all 10,350 draft board

positions and 11,070 appeals board slots nationwide. Though this is an unpopular

election year topic, military experts and influential members of congress are

suggesting that if Rumsfeld's prediction of a "long, hard slog" in Iraq and

Afghanistan (and permanent state of war on terrorism) proves

accurate, the U.S. may have no choice but to draft.

5. Tell your friends, Contact your legislators and ask them to oppose

these bills. We must voice our concerns and create the world we want to

live in for our children and grandchildren.

'Each of our acts makes a statement as to our purpose."

--Leo Buscaglia

DO NOT ELECT GEORGE BUSH AND HIS PLAN FOR SENDING OUR CHILDREN NEEDLESSLY INTO HARMS WAY!!"

[Guest Akiraboy]

As the director of a relief and development agency working in Iraq for the last year, I have found the situation there both intriguing and revealing. During this time, my wife and I have often visited with Iraqi friends who have told us the hooded terrorists that CNN, the BBC, and Al-Jazeera were interviewing and passing off to the world as representing the sentiments of the Iraqi people were not from Iraq at all, but from Yemen, Egypt, Saudi, or somewhere else outside the country, but were definitely not from Iraq. How do they know? They know the same way we know if someone is from Boston or Texas: Accents. Yet CNN and the BBC make these international terrorists appear to represent the will of the Iraqi people. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Simply put, Insurgents,Radicals and Thugs.

Death and bad news sells in all media markets.

The true test will be the state of Iraq in 10 years...

Since they cannot close their borders or police their own municipalities this type of civil unrest and guerrilla warfare will continue. The US should Never have pulled out of the region as soon as it did.

Our troop casualty count is staggering. We have created our own NO-WIN situation. Its a helpless feeling, without any clear solution other than the Nov. elections.

[Guest obby]

It took 6-7 years for Germany to improve after we liberated them (and I can go on). We had critic then and we will have them now. History will prove our acts as righteous.

[Guest endymion]

Just in case you really truly are hypnotized by Republican Party propaganda:

Realize that no matter what happens at this point, every history book in the future is going to talk about the confusion over why we went there and what our mission was, and how we fumbled the reconstruction by not having a post-invasion plan and disbanding the Iraqi army. Every history book will discuss the alienation of America's allies. They will describe the record division in American public opinion.

Something really really really good would have to happen after all of that for the Iraq chapter in the history books to have a happy ending. I don't see anything really really really good happening at all, I see a lot of instability and a bunch of Americans poised to go and get killed in dangerous no-go zones so that a bunch of Sunnis who hate us don't end up in a civil war with a bunch of Shiites who also hate us.

And the draft? Just imagine how that part of the high school American history book is going to read. Bush led us into a draft so that YOU, the reader, YOU now have to go and register to get yourself killed in Afghanistan or Iraq or Pakistan or Syria or Lebanon or Somalia. Or maybe just Iraq, since there is no oil in any of those other dangerous hot spots.

[Guest web_norah]

It took 6-7 years for Germany to improve after we liberated them (and I can go on). We had critic then and we will have them now. History will prove our acts as righteous.

i think France and England might resent a comment like this....not that you'd care either way but i wouldnt throw those sort of assumptions around....without consulting a history book first.

[Guest JulianJunkie]

Just in case you really truly are hypnotized by Republican Party propaganda:

Realize that no matter what happens at this point, every history book in the future is going to talk about the confusion over why we went there and what our mission was, and how we fumbled the reconstruction by not having a post-invasion plan and disbanding the Iraqi army. Every history book will discuss the alienation of America's allies. They will describe the record division in American public opinion.

Something really really really good would have to happen after all of that for the Iraq chapter in the history books to have a happy ending. I don't see anything really really really good happening at all, I see a lot of instability and a bunch of Americans poised to go and get killed in dangerous no-go zones so that a bunch of Sunnis who hate us don't end up in a civil war with a bunch of Shiites who also hate us.

And the draft? Just imagine how that part of the high school American history book is going to read. Bush led us into a draft so that YOU, the reader, YOU now have to go and register to get yourself killed in Afghanistan or Iraq or Pakistan or Syria or Lebanon or Somalia. Or maybe just Iraq, since there is no oil in any of those other dangerous hot spots.

Amen brutha.... you're spot on.

It's hard to determine which is the most disastrous, infamous facet of this situation. Dissolution of diplomatic ties in a world that is in a process of shifting polarities is certainly deleterious in the long term, but clearly bald-faced mismanagement after an illegal war causing the reversion to previously unnecessary (and probably, currently unnecessary) barbaric practises of instituting the draft in a globally economic and informational age is also a world-class blunder.

The founding fathers would be ashamed.

[Guest trancepriest]

I think the threat of a draft restitution is great. All the people back at home that support the war will have a chance to serve... instead of some poor bastard in the military serving for their believes. The ones that don't want to serve will be more politically active. The draft without a college deferment is a beautiful thing... otherwise people don't care about what our government is doing militarily. GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!

Purple haze all around

Don’t know if I’m comin’ up or down

All you people that support the war.. enlist... fight for your believes.

[Guest pod]

Wars are "cool" to some people until you ask them to pick up a gun and fight for it.

I'll admit, sometimes I get to be bit of an armchair general, but my whole beef is that the war was executed in the wrong manner. The idea of a liberated Iraq is a good thing. Lying to justify it isn't. Not to mention a lot of needless deaths on both sides. There should have been around 52 (Saddam and his cronies) deaths total.

[Guest trancepriest]

I'm so hyped for a draft... so tired of the hypocrites that support the war and love to stay stateside making money while some lower class infantry soldier fights their war. If you think that supporting this war is being patriotic.. show your patriotism... enlist... go over to Iraq... help the armed forces meet their recruitment goals. Everyone loves American freedom but the brunt of the fighting for it.. is mostly lower class people that can't afford the freedom... and the greater joys of the american dream.

[Guest JulianJunkie]

The point is that people are going to be sent over there, and other places (read N. Korea, Iran, etc.) whether they want to or not. The idea that war supporters will have the reason to go over and fight in their war falls into irrelevance when you consider the fact that a computer will be selecting the names with no reverence for school, faith, or work status.

[Guest trancepriest]

If a computer is picking the people... I don't mind.. that means young males from any branch of society will be chosen... regardless of education status. Being an American should be more about how much your willing to fight for the nation.. rather than how much your willing to shop for the nation. My point is that many people support the war in Iraq because it doesn't personally affect them... your name coming up on a draft list... hits home. If Bush wants to invade N. korea, Iran, Syria... so much the better. It will wake the neo conservative yuppies up.

[Guest pod]

Yeah, when their kids get sent off to the meat grinder.

But I'm sure such a system will be rigged. The computer will probably be more racist than a Klansman hopped up on crank.

The country's elite have a way out of everything. I have a feeling the draft software will be developed by a firm which is known to be friendly to the Bush regime. You fill out Black, Latino, Asian in the race field and off ya go. The software will pop up a "Darkie Alert" window on the local draft board's PC.

You fill out WASP, and you're either not called up, or called up to do some logistical work stateside.

A volunteer military has been proven to be more effective. I would not want to fight in a conscript army one bit. If the war is unpopular, half the people in the battle will not pull the trigger when the shit hits the fan, either out of fear or a form of protest.

They don't want to be there, they're gonna freak out.

[Guest JulianJunkie]

I'm not certain of course how old you are TrancePriest, but if you were a young man (or woman, for that matter) who was hitting the books (geting a 3.0 or better, as things were in Vietnam, I believe) to become a contributing member of society and pursue the rights which were valiantly fought for, wouldn't you want to know that if you had to fight it was for the right reasons, like imminent threat or a legal, manageable and ethical international law implementation?

International law would have been a possible alternative if we had signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2000) and gone in there with the other 87 signatories at that time rather than just ourselves and our meager "Coalition of the Coerced". Furthermore, if we had done that, Saddam and his cronies would be sitting in The Hague in The Netherlands and the insurgents and other combatants would have a difficult time placing blame and hate on the USA. We would have had broad financial support, and our diplomatic relations would still be intact. Instead, we're taking all the heat for a foolish and hasty leap-of-f*ck-knows-what and will eventually be surpassed economically by the rising nations and trade blocs because of this critical error.

So you can be damn sure that I don't want to spend one drop of my peace, love, and money adoring blood (or anyone else's) just so that the Unnamed Venture Capital Groups can ride on the back of the people of the US of A and spread civil unrest and savagery throughout the world.

The war supporters can go on eating pork rinds. I don't care... As long as they're not killing people in my name.

[Guest trancepriest]

Many people from the "professional middle class".. yeah thats the 2.0 students on up in college... Aren't studying so that they can be a contributing members of society... according to surveys their in college to make more money. Back in the 50's and 60's people actually had humanistic goals to seek higher education... now almost 90% and higher of college students is doing it for the almighty dollar. Illegal immigrants are contributing more to this country that most of these office workers. People in the middle classes don't look favorable on anything that goes beyond pushing a pen to supporting this country. Alot of my friends are in the middle class... and I'm telling you... it would take an invasion of the continental U.S. before these people fight for America.

Imagine if the show... Sex And The City... was real. Could you imagine the reaction of any character on that show getting picked for a draft?... lol.

[Guest pod]

See, that is why an all-volunteer military as it stands is good. The fighters are there because they support the actions of the elected government. In theory.

In practice, I know a lot of troops who signed up during the Clinton adminstration, since they knew that they probably wouldn't be called on to fight, and if they did, it would have been for a justifiable cause like the situation in the Balkans was. That was a NATO effort by the way, the stability of the region was threatened, and the NATO alliance responded.

I would have been pro-war if the mission was to liberate Iraq. Saddam is an evil bastard and needs to die. WMDs my ass, that was bullshit. I don't even think Bush had to make that part up. I'm sure the American populace would have supported the war if it was all about removing Hussein, and getting out of there.

But back to the situation with the soldiers. A lot of them signed up for easy college money, or a way to get out of Peoria and see the world. Now there's real fighting afoot, and they've been had. The military recruiters never mention actual fighting when they talk to you. When I was 18, they called all the time to recruit me. They hyped up the money, the travelling, the training, etc...never mentioned fighting of any sort. I can see how a lot of people got snowed in. With college costing $30,000+ a year for a good school, can you blame them? Most thought, "oh well, I gotta wake up at 5 AM and do push-ups for 4 years after college, no big deal..." Now they're awake until 5 AM at least after no sleep for days, wondering if that kid around the corner is wearing a C4 jacket with Primacord trim.

The Bush regime has fucked up the nation royally. Lets remove him from office in six weeks. Kerry is more malleable and we can work on that.

BTW, vote for me in 2016.

[Guest trancepriest]

The fighters are there because they need the money. Most of them are hoping to be members of the middle class.. to go to college, travel the world (the middle class things they can't do w/o the military) and have the military on their resumes. The majority of these people won't re-enlist when their 4 years end. Even in peace time most people don't re-enlist... much less in war time. TV has trained everyone to be consumers... to have middle class objectives... even kerry is on TV saying that he wants to make the middle class stronger.. fuck the middle class... lets make the working class stronger (the majority of the population)... lets increase wages for construction workers, truck drivers, soldiers, police officers, factory workers, etc.

I don't care about wages for a lawyer, doctor, office manager... most of these people are overpaid.

[Guest JulianJunkie]

Alright TP... Let's maintain for a moment that these figures that you cite are correct, and further, that they exist. That's still ten percent of the people that would be eligible for draft that would have otherwise held a humanistic intention for going through school and becoming a member of greater society. That is still way too high. Not that everyone else is expendable, but far too many people have average goals like just making money to send the visionaries off to fight in an ill-founded war. That is in a purely utilitarian sense though. I believe that no one should be sent to fight this war. I believe that we should cut our losses and set up open-bidding for contractors from any of the G-8 nations to go and finally get some running water in the hinterlands of Iraq that haven't had it since March.

In addition, just because these people that you polled said that they educate themselves for the money doesn't mean that they won't do good things for their fellow human beings in the everyday situations. YOu can be sure that the second generation of Gulf War syndrome will put a serious hamper on that one.

Besides, I know quite a few philanthropists and intellectuals and I doubt that any of them would tell me that they wanted to do what they do now back in college. I'd hate to stifle the future philanthropists and intellectual contributors of the USA and the world, due to erroneous thinking and lazy civil attitudes.

[Guest pod]

Public school teachers too. They take it up the ass every day from pissant administrators and ungrateful students. In inner cities, they should get hazard pay too, especially with little Juanito carrying a shank or worse because Mr. Sanchez decided to give him an F since he didn't hand in his homework.

I went to school to actually learn my chosen fields better. I didn't expect a huge salary when I exited. I've been out three years now and I'm not exactly rolling in the dough. I kind of figured on that though...long term plans include making a good amount of money, and I can see that coming. But to me, learning what I like to do best was the real benefit. Most people I went to school with were focused on the almighty dollar. They were bored as shit in their accounting classes and have exited school. They make a decent living, more than I do for sure, but the truth of the matter is, are they living? They work 80 hours a week, go home, watch TV, beat off to some internet porn, and go to bed. True story, this guy I knew back in school lives exactly like that. He comes down to Miami once a year for a week and blows a few grand on a binge of cocaine use and high priced whores, or "yo dan, find me some gold-digging girls who will put out tonight..."

As far as fighting for the country? He probably wouldn't even if the goddamncommunists were banging the door down of his big house in Michigan. I'd pick up a rifle for a just cause, and certainly if the USA was invaded.

[Guest trancepriest]

As far as fighting for the country? He probably wouldn't even if the goddamncommunists were banging the door down of his big house in Michigan. I'd pick up a rifle for a just cause, and certainly if the USA was invaded.

LOL... that was a good post. Your right about school teachers... they should get paid more... we're treating high school and below teachers like working class... instead of middle class... thats wrong... because they do the greater good for our society. In general my view point is that the middle class is a protective group of people.. that only care about maintaining their status in the middle class and hopefully getting into the upper class. I just read a book called "Fear of falling : the inner life of the middle class". It was very informative about the mindset of this class of people.

The working class and below will soon be a inner third world in this nation. With cheap international labor and the middle class protectng itself.. these jobs have no respect as they once did. America is becoming a big corporation.. with the big question of how can you benefit the corporation?... so the people with technical skills... computer scientist, engineers, lawyers, doctors... these people will get paid very well.. college students know this... and are gearing their careers where the money is at. Nobody really cares about a high school teacher or even most people with liberal arts majors (unless they have a MD on up). An english teacher is not a valuable asset to the corporation. elitism is the name of the game... and you can't be an elitist wasting your time away in the desert.

Another book that was pretty good is... Global reach : the power of the multinational corporations. In this book the author explains that most professional middle class workers have a loyalty to their job than to their nation. Just think about it... if the draft gets reinstituted many middle class people can take their skills to another country. Patritotism in many ways is a thing of the past. I doubt most Americans could do what the World War 1/2 generation did. With the advent of tv and mass dissemination of information more people were exposed to the dea of a better life. And sure enough that doesn't involve fighting in Iraq. Alot of these people now sit at home or in their offices and praise Bush (because of the false idea that he's a class protectionist). With a draft... most of these same people... would be flying to Paris with a quickness.

You can see the truth in what I'm saying by analyzing the tax evasiveness of the big American corporations. They don't give a fuck about America... most will take their jobs overseas and all of them try to evade paying taxes. the lengths these corporations go to so as not to pay their taxes is amazing.... watch this documentary on PBS "called tax me if you can": http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tax/view/

The middle class carry the same values as most of the heads of these corporations. Loyalty to the pay check.

[Guest JulianJunkie]

I agree completely. Teachers are individuals who should be paid like doctors. Their place in society is just as important.

;D ;D ;D

Who knows, I might have ended up a pork-rind-eating war supporter with out them.

[Guest pod]

On all levels, the mainly WASP middle class is very protection-oriented and insular. I grew up amongst them. Even though my outward appearance was that of a white person, my multi-ethnic background was well-known, since everyone could see that my father was a "foreigner". While the society was too polite to outwardly use racial terms or be obviously bigoted, I could clearly see the 'protection' going on. We were borderline tolerated, since we made a little bit more money than they did, and were in the "hip" industry of computer engineering, which nobody did in that town, and had/have connections in New York City. However, the prosperous black family down the block was pretty much shunned except for the kid, whom was popular since all the little WASP kids liked hip-hop and black culture, but still slipped up and would use a racial slur or three.

My parents didn't mind the town, they saw it as keeping me safe if anything, plus my dad was never there so he didn't really see how boring and screwed up it really was.

But anyway, the society was very protective. Parents would chastise their kids for acting "poor" or "ghetto" based on what they saw on MTV....and god forbid a rich person dated a poor person, or one of the little white girls shacked up with the black kid from the "bad part of town" (which was no worse than my current neighborhood) where all the "colored" folks lived. Even if she was just shacking up with him to piss off her parents, it was a big no-no.

Conformity was and still is the watchword in a middle-class town . Everyone sought to obtain more and more status symbols, not for their utility (if any), but due to the fact that they were status symbols. This girl I knew got a Motorola Star-Tac flip phone when the damn things cost almost $600 or more, and were AMPS only, digital cell service being something bantered about in the pages of Popular Science or in USENET newsgroups (for the real geeks of the time to read about...more on that in a second...). Everyone thought she was the coolest, so I got shit on hardcore when I told her it was an ugly paperweight at best considering there was one tower in town and it didn't work near her house and only barely at the school. Of course I was one of the "class geeks" so whatever....worked against me until 1996 when the dot com boom happened, and suddenly my expertise became of use....the typical function of the middle class, you suck unless there's something I need from you. People accuse the nightlife industry of being this blood-sucking industry, I tell them just go out to any part of Middle America and see how they act. I was a dork until I hooked up a few bitches' PCs to the internet. Did I get some? Hell no, even though I did the work for free for girls. Guys were charged fifty bucks an hour, one hour minimum including transit time, transit time waived if I got a ride.

The real colors showed through in the later years of high school. The WASPs in training were all abuzz about the colleges and careers they were picking. You could totally see the effects of their parents on this one. They were either going to their father's or mother's alma maters, or choosing the same career path, or both. Financial and social status in the adult world were being assured even before these people were of adult age. A new generation of middle class America was being groomed for the world. Their career selections based purely on financial reasons and not personal reasons. A whole new generation of disAffected, if you will. I was still the oddball in this case, wanting to go to school far, far away to study motion picture production and photography. My only "cool" factor was that I was going to Miami, because that is where Madonna lived. The middle class didn't understand why I had to go so far away though, but they secretly relished the fact that I wouldn't be contaminating their gene pool, I bet.

[Guest pod]

I've returned a few times since then. They are all doctors, lawyers, and accountants now. Noble professions, on paper. Doctors care for the sick, lawyers defend us in court against an increasingly corrupt government, and accountants actually do serve a purpose. But are these people I described in it to help others? Not quite. Most of them are in it for a nice big paycheck, a 3 bedroom split-level colonial just off of Main Street, and a 4-door sedan from Japan, since if it is from there, it must be good since all Asians are ultra-smart and do nothing but work all day and night.

However, the few I still feel the urge to talk to, some have confessed being totally burned out, and not really happy, that they probably should have thought some more about the course they chose.

I'm not totally decrying that life. Financial stability is a wonderful thing, and someday I too will be out of debt, and have paid my taxes in full. But there are so many ways of going about that, most of which don't involve being this 'what do they think of me' status-driven victim of the middle class. It is perfectly alright to want cool things, and so forth. We're all guilty of that. I want an EOS 1Ds MK II, a Yamaha R1, and a nice house just off of Brickell Avenue. Trancepriest wants a Macintosh Xserve. Saleen wants another Saleen to drive, even. The trick is to do and obtain these things because you really want them, and not because society demands it. A 1Ds MK II, an R1, and a nice house in Brickell aren't gonna do wonders for my sex life, I want them because I think they rock.

[Guest trancepriest]

On all levels, the mainly WASP middle class is very protection-oriented and insular. I grew up amongst them. Even though my outward appearance was that of a white person, my multi-ethnic background was well-known, since everyone could see that my father was a "foreigner". While the society was too polite to outwardly use racial terms or be obviously bigoted, I could clearly see the 'protection' going on. We were borderline tolerated, since we made a little bit more money than they did, and were in the "hip" industry of computer engineering, which nobody did in that town, and had/have connections in New York City. However, the prosperous black family down the block was pretty much shunned except for the kid, whom was popular since all the little WASP kids liked hip-hop and black culture, but still slipped up and would use a racial slur or three.

Great post Pod. Well I'm black.. the only way i'll be a part of WASP society is if I make triple the amount of money they do (or more... and then i'll only be used). But that society is so cold... the amount of pressure a member of that society as to go through to maintain their status is incredible. Most of that society as adapted lower class culture to a certain degree.. but of course not to the point of losing the status in their society. Thats why the 1960's was such a threat. Middle class parents were like.. what the fuck is going on? Johnny is smoking dope and don't give a fuck. Sooner or later though... those "hippies" went back to caring about their class. A key difference between middle class and upper class.. is that to stay in the middle class... everyone as to work. So middle class parents try to pass down hard working values to their kids.... such as delayed gratification (thats not been working lately). The kids struggle trhough college... but as soon as their out.. they try to live like upper class folks. Gone are the days of delayed gratification... so the young and even older middle class rack up the debt.. they try to get the biggest house early on (something their parents worked a long time to achieve)... but the young middle class wants everything... right now. So no wonder you hear about people falling out of the middle class and protection of the middle class.

The middle class is endangered from within and from outside (mainly from everyone and their mama going to college). A Bachelors degree is getting watered down... so the class protection as gone to Ivy Leaque's, MD's and PHD's... more years for Johnny to go to school... when Johnny really doesn't want to. Johnny wants to live life like the lower class/upper class kids... having fun. Only two sectors can have fun and gratify themselves.. the lower class and the upper class. Entertainment wise... all the social classes model themselves off the lower classes (unless your an aristocrat like Prince Charles).

Thats why the black influence of Jazz, Rock n Roll, Hip Hop is so culturally attractive. Middle class kids see these people living a certain lifestyle that doesn't involve decades of hard discipline. To them its attractive. In a consumer based society like the one in wich we live in... years of saving, delayed gratification, etc. Is almost impossible... people desire more... now. Lots of people are out there.. blowing well over a thousand dollars a month on restaurants. Food unbelievable is one of the biggest status indicators of the middle class... food, clothes, travelling and where you live. Back in the 1940's.. it was primarily where you lived. The middle class wasn't as consumer oriented as it is now. So the end result now is that we have middle class couples making well over one hundred thousand a year.. combined income... and being dead ass broke.

Discipline/delayed gratification is still the key to success. Tell that to Sarah Jessica Parker's character on Sex And They City. That show to me mimics middle class urban society ... pretty accurately. The girl was working as a journalist... living in some 4 by 4 rat hole... spending all her money on expensive shoes, eating and travelling... to the point of near bankruptcy... only to figure out she had spent nearly 50,000 dollars on shoes (was it more?).