A couple of days ago, I was watching the news reports on how the White House is threatening to use nuclear weapons to fight terrorism. I guess wiping out an entire continent, if not the world, is one possible way to end terrorism? Maybe we can reach into the bottoms of our pockets and come up with hundreds of millions of dollars to develop "smart" nuclear bombs that will only kill the bad guys and leave only dust on the shoulders of the good guys.
Changing the channel, I caught a movie right when a car with somebody in it exploded, sending flame-covered car parts all over a parking lot. Exploding cars and acts of violence are hallmarks of great entertainment in this country. Meanwhile, in other countries these events seem too much of a reality people are constantly struggling to survive and end.
The next channel I turned to was good old Action-7 news, which never fails in its excellent coverage of the latest shoot-out, stabbing or car crash. I guess this is what makes it "action" news? What we describe as our democratic and virtuous values are not always the ones that we learn from reality let alone from television.
Finally, shutting off the television, I found myself bewildered and wondering whether these images that we are constantly being feed have contributed in some way to our acceptance and drive toward responding to violence with more violence in the war on terrorism.
During a national sport event, a commentator reported in front of a cheering crowd of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, saying, "There are no chips or dip here but plenty of ammunition." Entertainment and violence, of all types, seem to be elements of culture that we make clear should dissolve together and become one in the melting pot of society.
Ingrained in our attitudes is the ability to legitimize the role that violence plays and at the same time generate an incredible fear around "the enemy" whoever it may be. Have we become totally desensitized and blind to what violence produces at home and overseas? It is still an amazing nightmare how bombing another country has catapulted our sense of pride of who we are and unified all of civilization.
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Where is the unity in the Enron scandal, other than the relationship between Enron and its accounting firm, Arthur Anderson? Where is the unity when it comes to improving our public education or addressing how devastating profit-driven economy is to people's health care and our environment?
The century we just stepped out of was indeed a violent one. With the legacies of two world wars and an endless cycle of wars ravaging the people of Latin America, Asia and Africa, it is clear that violence turns life and everything it touches into pieces that never seem to fit into their right place anymore.
The new generation will have the same task, as the old generation. They will have to come to grips with their reality and maybe start putting some of the pieces back together. What does it say about our respect for life, as it does for any other country, when we are able to rally around and feel good in response to a bombing campaign? Respect for one another is the cement that fits all life together, and when we forget this we are left struggling against a mentality that combines violence and entertainment as a way of life.
As the sun warms up the air for another generation of leaves, I pray for a new beginning that sprouts from the warmth of justice and equal rights. Even if too much of the U.S. public is not being properly informed on what is going on with our foreign policies, nor where our tax payer money is going, I hope we at least make an effort to become more conscious and speak against the attitudes and policies that reduce human beings to purchasing machines and their lives to entertainment filled with explosions and Pepsi commercials.
by Maceo Carrillo Martinet
Daily Lobo Columnist
Questions, comments or suggestions can be sent to Maceo Carrillo Martinet at conuco8@unm.edu.
