clark suprynowicz

Hello from Oakland, Ca. --

We were on the east coast, in Connecticut, my wife & I, when the Trade Center was hit. We had planned to go to NY just a few days later. We had (and, thankfully, still have) a friend who was staying in the Marriot Hotel at the base of the Tower when the first plane struck. He was touring with a band, Jim Campilango & the Ten-Gallon Hats (the rest were staying uptown & are safe) A cop in the lobby told our pal to get the hell out and go north, which he did. I imagine that cop may now be among the missing, among the dead.

Though no-one we know personally has been killed, it has been & continues to be a sad & anxious time for everyone we know. We're all kind of in shock. And the newest source of concern is the Bush administration's apparent eagerness to make some grand gesture.

Lobbing missiles and sending in ground troops to the Terrorist Country Du Jour will do nothing, of course, but make things worse. What will be the results of this kind of escalation as regards Israel, for instance? If we're to proceed without inviting serious and prolonged unintended consequences, I believe any reaction must be measured and contained. There is no grand gesture that can ameliorate violence. But we live in a time obsessed with control. It is very hard for people here in America, so used to making a phone call, downloading a program, passing a law, sueing someone -- hard for us to say "This is all there is to be done. Only this."

But the military, the CIA, the Bush administration, are clearly seeing these events as an opportunity to forward their agendas. Fear is a great lubricant.

The question that seems to have no answer needs to be asked more honestly: Why are we subject to attack? Why, for that matter, are citizens of Belfast, or Jerusalem?

Missing from discussion in the national media is any recognition of our addiction to petroleum, or of World Bank and IMF policies that have for decades made government insiders wealthy, paved the way for American business interests, and stepped all over the cultural and religious traditions of the nations we are planting our big, oily feet in. There is no linkage to "Globalization," the cutting edge of good old-fashioned imperialism, continuing to impoverish while promising prosperity.

I am not advocating what is called appeasement, but, rather, a good, hard look at what we have done to help engender such fury. This is the logical partner to punishment; to ask what caused the crime. Religious fundamentalists represent the most extreme and insane form of an outlook that is not insane or extreme. We have to ask what they are seeing, what they are on the receiving end of.

I notice that I am employing the word "We" much too freely. It is, we all know, citizens of the U.S., of Europe, of Ireland, of Afghanistan and Pakistan and Iraq, that will be in the line of fire as powerful interests maneuver for political gain, to be seen as effectual, to line up where the advantage is. And so, when I write using the word "We," as if the United States were you, or I, or Colin Powell, I fall into a trap. It is dangerous and obfuscating to confuse what we want with what our allegedly elected government wants.

"We" - I believe - are ready to drive less, to pay more for shoes and groceries, to live with a reduced GNP and flatter stock-market growth, if that gives us a more peaceful, equitable planet. "They" - the increasingly indistinguishable U.S. government and it's corporate interests - are not. They have much more to lose. It is very much in their interest to have us rally together under one flag. And it's become all too easy to finesse this maneuver, as the media has become little more than a lectern for the party line.

I can recommend

http://www.pacifica.org/

as a good source of alternate reporting on these issues. It's the web-site for our local community radio station here in the San Francisco Bay Area. You can also go to Global Exchange:

http://www.globalexchange.org/

I hope these terrible events draw us closer together, all of us, and that our range of views are heard where they must be heard. As hard as this last week has been, with such pointless waste of life, it has been even more difficult to witness the way in which the (televised) debate in this country has so narrowed as to exclude views that I see (speaking for myself) as prudent or wise.

This letter is, in part, a response to an open letter from Eve Beglarian in New York. It's good of you to offer to post our letters, Eve & so I offer you this.

All the best to all our friends and neighbors --

Clark Suprynowicz Oakland, Ca.


	Hello from Oakland, Ca. -- We were on the east coast, in Connecticut, my wife & I, when the Trade Center was hit. We had planned to go to NY just a few days later. We had (and, thankfully, still have) a friend who was staying in the Marriot Hotel at the base of the Tower when the first plane struck. He was touring with a band, Jim Campilango & the Ten-Gallon Hats (the rest were staying uptown & are safe) A cop in the lobby told our pal to get the hell out and go north, which he did. I imagine that cop may now be among the missing, among the dead. Though no-one we know personally has been killed, it has been & continues to be a sad & anxious time for everyone we know. We're all kind of in shock. And the newest source of concern is the Bush administration's apparent eagerness to make some grand gesture. Lobbing missiles and sending in ground troops to the Terrorist Country Du Jour will do nothing, of course, but make things worse. What will be the results of this kind of escalation as regards Israel, for instance? If we're to proceed without inviting serious and prolonged unintended consequences, I believe any reaction must be measured and contained. There is no grand gesture that can ameliorate violence. But we live in a time obsessed with control. It is very hard for people here in America, so used to making a phone call, downloading a program, passing a law, sueing someone -- hard for us to say "This is all there is to be done. Only this." But the military, the CIA, the Bush administration, are clearly seeing these events as an opportunity to forward their agendas. Fear is a great lubricant. The question that seems to have no answer needs to be asked more honestly: Why are we subject to attack? Why, for that matter, are citizens of Belfast, or Jerusalem? Missing from discussion in the national media is any recognition of our addiction to petroleum, or of World Bank and IMF policies that have for decades made government insiders wealthy, paved the way for American business interests, and stepped all over the cultural and religious traditions of the nations we are planting our big, oily feet in. There is no linkage to "Globalization," the cutting edge of good old-fashioned imperialism, continuing to impoverish while promising prosperity. I am not advocating what is called appeasement, but, rather, a good, hard look at what we have done to help engender such fury. This is the logical partner to punishment; to ask what caused the crime. Religious fundamentalists represent the most extreme and insane form of an outlook that is not insane or extreme. We have to ask what they are seeing, what they are on the receiving end of. I notice that I am employing the word "We" much too freely. It is, we all know, citizens of the U.S., of Europe, of Ireland, of Afghanistan and Pakistan and Iraq, that will be in the line of fire as powerful interests maneuver for political gain, to be seen as effectual, to line up where the advantage is. And so, when I write using the word "We," as if the United States were you, or I, or Colin Powell, I fall into a trap. It is dangerous and obfuscating to confuse what we want with what our allegedly elected government wants. "We" - I believe - are ready to drive less, to pay more for shoes and groceries, to live with a reduced GNP and flatter stock-market growth, if that gives us a more peaceful, equitable planet. "They" - the increasingly indistinguishable U.S. government and it's corporate interests - are not. They have much more to lose. It is very much in their interest to have us rally together under one flag. And it's become all too easy to finesse this maneuver, as the media has become little more than a lectern for the party line. I can recommend http://www.pacifica.org/ as a good source of alternate reporting on these issues. It's the web-site for our local community radio station here in the San Francisco Bay Area. You can also go to Global Exchange: http://www.globalexchange.org/ I hope these terrible events draw us closer together, all of us, and that our range of views are heard where they must be heard. As hard as this last week has been, with such pointless waste of life, it has been even more difficult to witness the way in which the (televised) debate in this country has so narrowed as to exclude views that I see (speaking for myself) as prudent or wise. This letter is, in part, a response to an open letter from Eve Beglarian in New York. It's good of you to offer to post our letters, Eve & so I offer you this. All the best to all our friends and neighbors -- Clark Suprynowicz Oakland, Ca.
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