amen, amen, amen

been listening to Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. this is a MUST READ. i've learned about certain events that he mentions throughout his book in some of my history classes. i think it's a fabulous book for anyone who wants to know our history. it's essential, and it's cheaper than spending thousands of dollars to get a degree in history to get this perspective. below is an excerpt that i thought was especially poignant:

"It is very important for the establishment, that uneasy club of business executives, generals and politicos, to maintain the historic pretention of national unity in which the government represents all the people and the common enemies overseas, not at home, where disasters of economic sole war are unfortunate errors or tragic accidents to be corrected by the members of the same club that brought the disasters. It is important for them also to make sure this artificial unity of highly privileged and slightly privileged is the only unity, that the 99% remained split in countless ways, and turn against one another to vent their angers.

"How skillful to tax the middle class to pay for the relief of the poor, building resentment on top of humiliation.

"How adroit to bus poor black youngsters into poor white neighborhoods in a violent exchange of impoverished schools while the schools of the rich remain untouched and the wealth of the nation, held onto stingily where children need free milk, is drained for billion dollar air-craft carriers.

"How ingenious to meet the demands of blacks and women for equality by giving them small special benefits and setting them in competition with everyone else for jobs made scarce by an irrational, wasteful system.

"How wise to turn the fear and anger of the majority toward a class of criminals bread by economic inequity faster than they can be put away, deflecting attention from the huge thefts of national resources carried out within the law by men in executive offices.

there is much to be done. and it can be done.

image via here.