Saturday, February 4, 2012

Huainanzi - Entry 52

Trey Smith

There was a king who liked slender waists, and people starved themselves to be thin. Another king admired bravery, and people endangered themselves and fought duels to the death. As we can see from these examples, the handle of authority and power easily influences fashions and changes morals.
~ a passage from
The Book of Leadership and Strategy by Thomas Cleary ~
I have often heard people remark that what goes on in Washington DC (or any other national capitol) doesn't impact their everyday lives, so they basically ignore the political news of the day. In our modern day world, national policies have a way of trickling down -- even when we don't realize it.

Take, for example, the US foreign policy of preemptive war. Under Presidents Bush and Obama, our nation has attacked other nations that pose no current threat to our national security. This policy has trickled down to our domestic police forces who now routinely arrest potential protesters before they actually protest anything. Utilizing the same terminology, the police refer to these actions as preemptive arrests.

These preemptive wars are employed against countries who are no match for our military firepower. In many ways, it's like shooting fish in a barrel! Again, our domestic police forces are mirroring this policy by manhandling peaceful protesters, people who pose no actual threat to the officers themselves. The brutality we use against foreign peoples is matched by the brutality that plays out in American streets.

To read the introduction to this ongoing series, go here.

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