AMERICA responded to 9/11 with not only going to war with a country that had nothing to do with it, we also said "you cannot have toothpaste" or "shaving cream" on planes. Forget about the fact that once upon a time we trained Bin Laden and ignored tons of intelligence leading up to that horrific day.
As a country we've also traditionally ignored massive systemic inequity that stems from generations of overt socioeconomic oppression and racist justice systems, and then we blame the general result of those forces squarely on "the parents" or perhaps a young persons choice of fashion or music. I've said it before, it's sorta like dating a woman who was molested as a child and then abused by her previous boyfriends and wondering why she doesn't trust you. That, and you really only like her for her looks but aren't ready to admit it.
So, in regards to this movie from Sony that's supposedly getting shutdown by North Korean hackers, this is simply par for the course. This is not actually the American government getting pushed around though but really just an example of cowardly, visionless, greedy, corporate execs in Hollywood possibly getting punked by a couple hackers who play Halo in their spare time. Even if it was perpetrated by the North Koreans, they are laughing their asses off. Nobody is going to physically attack the US because of a Seth Rogen film.
But, it's our fault as citizens of this country (and consumers) that we don't demand more from our leaders as well as the companies who profit in the Billions off of our toil in this crony-capitalistic quagmire. These companies continue to drive our country into the ground and we are just along for the ride like its an amusement park roller-coaster… Weeeeeeee!
We allowed our music and radio to be gentrified by "Clear Channels" and swallowed whole their mind-numbing, homogenous, sterile servings of candy-coated pop and bamboozling rap. Our parents grew up with CSNY, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, and Bob Marley being mainstream. I grew up watching Public Enemy educate me on MTV that for my black and brown friends, "911 is a joke," and was able to absorb hip-hop music on radio stations that featured everything from A Tribe Called Quest to "Street Soldiers." But, the music on the radio now is not the reason for our collective dumbing down, nor the crime in our streets. It's simply a reflection of what we aspire to be together as a society and what the system thinks of us.
We continue to allow 'Wall Street' to run amok without any true regulation and do not force our political leaders to implement real rules to prevent the next collapse (Google: Vockler Rule, or Citizens United), let alone prevent the destruction of the middle class, or the fact that our two-party political system is literally a corporate oligarchy. #BushClinton2016
That is why all of this talk about not showing the movie in theaters somehow sets a "dangerous precedent," is such a dishonest, unexamined bunch of hot-aired, small-town-thinking bullshit.
We set a dangerous precedent when we continue to support invasion, occupation, and 'endless war' in the Middle East (and beyond).
We set a dangerous precedent when we continue to ignore entire communities of Americans that have been systematically subjugated and violently torn apart by immensely reckless and failed policies like the "War on Drugs," which only works in concert with our for-profit prison systems. Call it: 'Jim Crow 2.0'
We set a dangerous precedent when we continue to glorify 'Guns' as an omnipotent way to solve our problems, and thus remain the most violent nation of any first world country on planet Earth.
We set a dangerous precedent when we spend Trillions on 'Defense' and simultaneously GIVE BILLION DOLLAR BREAKS to entities that champion outsourcing, rather than employ the necessary amount of resources toward our education system. After all, the future is not our children in America anymore, it's our reciprocal relationship with a hyper capitalist-authoritarian Communist government in Asia. Right?
We set a dangerous precedent when we wake up every morning and look ourselves in the mirror and lie about what we believe is truly important in life. Not the future for our children, not the environment, not the unalienable right to life, liberty, and happiness FOR ALL Americans. Nope. Just the daily rat race that has us treating each other like rodents instead of human beings.
NATE MEZMER
Bay Area hip-hop artist and political activist, recent album "Few May Know" is available for free download or streaming at http://FewMayKnow.com
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