by Sari Krosinsky
Daily Lobo columnist
Maybe I think going to war with Iraq is a swell idea. I might even think the "Bomb Saddam" signs of the counter-protesters last Saturday were terribly clever.
Maybe I think we should bomb Kuwait, too. After all, we already have enough troops there to take over the country.
Maybe I think all wars are bad and evil and no one should ever use any violence, even if somebody is holding a gun to their head.
Maybe, just maybe, I think that war with Iraq in particular would be a really bad idea, that Iraq will not be bowled over as easily as Afghanistan, that we would risk either embroiling ourselves in a long war that would waste the lives of U.S. soldiers or just having another quickie war that accomplishes nothing. Maybe I think that whether we manage to depose Saddam or not, bad as he is, we wouldn't be helping ourselves or the Iraqis.
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Maybe I know that whatever I think, it doesn't really matter.
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Hyrum Gerald Duncan, as paraphrased in the Monday issue of the Daily Lobo said that, "Americans should abide by the mandates of their elected officials." So far, he's the only one I've heard who's gotten it right.
This is a representative democracy we're living in, not some utopian direct democracy. As good citizens, it is our duty to get out, vote, elect officials and then do whatever they tell us to.
Sure, we have free speech. Say what you like. Scream from the rooftops or in the streets. See what good that does.
Emma Goldman, when she went to lecture in England during the early 1900s, found even greater freedom of speech than existed in the United States at the time. Here, police shut down anarchist meetings. There, they had a park where anyone could go and speak without being hassled by the authorities, and multitudes gathered to listen -- or heckle.
Goldman was an incredible speaker. She shot down the hecklers and got people to actually listen. Then, she discovered something. As long as people were secure of their freedoms, they didn't feel compelled to do anything. However extreme the poverty -- and it was extreme -- most people didn't bother to act while they knew they could speak. The authorities didn't hassle anyone because they knew the speech just didn't matter.
But who knows. Maybe the peace movement will have some effect. Maybe the protests, lobbying and other tactics will persuade Bush and others in the government to see the error of their ways. Maybe the next thing we'll hear is that the United States is beginning a mass withdrawal of troops from the Middle East and dismantling nuclear weapons here.
But what about the next war? And the war after that? What about under-funded schools, medical care, social security, day care? What about the environment and the crumbling buildings that people are living in?
A few years ago, the United States government started a program called GEAR UP, which provides funding for early intervention and mentoring programs in middle and high schools. It's a good program. Now, the people or organizations that lobbied to bring the program into existence have to lobby every year to keep funding coming into the program to keep it alive.
People that protested the Vietnam War are still protesting war now.
That's what a representative democracy means. Elect a government, then spend the rest of your life hoping that the government actually does what the people they're supposedly representing tell them to.
So don't bother. Just take Duncan's advice. Obey your leaders. After all, that's the reason you have a government, isn't it?
If you liked or hated the subtext, or have no idea what it is, e-mail Sari Krosinsky at michal_kro@hotmail.com.
