Monday, January 29, 2007
Target of Resentment
Yielding to ethnic minority demands for self-determination, many of Europe's centralized governments have over the last three decades created a system of local home rule. In contrast to the political passivity, nonresistance, and resignation of most Americans to centralized state malfeasance, ancient nations such as Basques, Scots, Welsh, and Catalunyans have rejected subordination to this form of unjust domination.
With the exception of Native Americans, there is little resemblance to the European regional diversity movement within the United States. This is not to say, however, that there is no dissatisfaction amongst the American majority, only that the disaffected have yet to define an effective remedy for the malign neglect of their corporate state. Functioning in essence as a criminal enterprise in which taxation without representation has become institutionalized in central state structures, the US Government is a huge target of resentment for the millions of Americans without healthcare, jobs, pensions, or access to quality education; it remains only for them to articulate and act on these grievances.
The part intellectuals have in the process on both sides of the Atlantic is to help develop a conscious sense of self and the right to participate fully in society's affairs. By elaborating in the present a more worthy identity, they can help transform social frustrations into positive values that underpin future social movements for economic opportunity, educational attainment, and social advancement.
With the exception of Native Americans, there is little resemblance to the European regional diversity movement within the United States. This is not to say, however, that there is no dissatisfaction amongst the American majority, only that the disaffected have yet to define an effective remedy for the malign neglect of their corporate state. Functioning in essence as a criminal enterprise in which taxation without representation has become institutionalized in central state structures, the US Government is a huge target of resentment for the millions of Americans without healthcare, jobs, pensions, or access to quality education; it remains only for them to articulate and act on these grievances.
The part intellectuals have in the process on both sides of the Atlantic is to help develop a conscious sense of self and the right to participate fully in society's affairs. By elaborating in the present a more worthy identity, they can help transform social frustrations into positive values that underpin future social movements for economic opportunity, educational attainment, and social advancement.
