okay, okay... so, i tend to get a little pissed off

but if i get mad and hold it all in it does me no good and it does no one else any good... if i allow my anger, pain, confusion, and other countless emotions to bottle-up inside of me, i'd explode. also, i feel that by sharing my ideas and feelings with other people that maybe it will help them to learn, understand themselve, understand other things, etc. etc. no, it's not that i think i'm all-knowing and that other people are dumb... not at all! i just feel that communication is necessary, and hopefully when i open my big ol' mouth, other people will too, and then what happens? we're sharing ideas! when ideas are shared, people grow, world-views are shaped better, and we all feel a hell of a lot more comfortable... this page is/will be about my ideas as expressed in my zine(s), on posts on the internet, through letters/emails, or just something i feel like rambling about on this page..... it's whatever i want... just be open-minded, and i will too... if you have any comments, email me at BInterbang@hotmail.com.. XXXOOO - Ben

tim mcveigh, militias, & all that warm fuzzy stuff

Tim McVeigh was convicted for the bombing in Oklahoma City. No surprises. Talk arose in many circles that this was a "conspiracy" by the government, yadda yadda yadda. I heard this discussion once within a circle that I often pay special attention to, which I vaguely refer to as "the scene."

Someone was talking about how this was an incident which typified the government's crackdown on its citizens. This same person attacked the government's and media's supposed use of the bombing as an open door to criticize militia groups, and also argued that attacking militias is unjust. "They're standing up for the first amendment, blah blah blah."

First of all, these militias are not the flag wavers of the first amendment. Rather, they are white supremacist revolutionaries who are aiming toward the establishment of a fascist regime which will be controlled authoritatively by white male protestants, exclusively. They believe that people of color are genetically inferior and advocate the use of segregation (in the most tame of instances) or even eugenics and genocide (more often, and in the more extreme). They believe that queers should be killed along with Jews (who they seem to think control the media -- odd, isn't it, that they supposedly control the media, yet so many anti-Jewish sentiments and discriminatory stereotypes are perpetuated in the media?). They believe that a woman's place is in the home and that "the man of the household" should keep everyone in line. They are not advocating freedom of speech and expression, or any kind of freedom for that matter. They are only advocating the domination of white anglo- saxon protestant males. The only kinds of free speech they seem to like is the kind aimed at recruiting people for their fascist coup and at advocating the mass murder / genocide of people of color.

Secondly, the existence of the reactionary militia movement is created, promoted, and maintained through the power of the white power structure, ruled by far right capitalist white men. The legitimacy of characters like Sen. Jesse Helms, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Oli North, Pat Robertson, Pat Buchanan, Lyndon LaRouche, et al. provides for the steam behind the more underground, so-called "fringe" movements such as the militias, the Ku Klux Klan, and other neo-fascists. The legitimacy of these social and political "leaders" itself legitimizes the groups that do not go to the same lengths to mask their similar ideologies.

Lastly, if anyone is to pick out examples of government and media crackdowns on individuals who are fighting for freedom and trampling on the rights of people who are fighting for justice, pick another figure in recent news: Geronimo Pratt, the American equivalent of Nelson Mandela, the political prisoner held the longest in the United States, former Black Panther, and Black liberation activist, who for 26 years has had his rights trampled upon, his freedom stripped away form him, only because of his beliefs and his willingness and ability to inspire and lead an uprising of oppressed peoples. Or, pick Mumia Abu-Jamal, jailed unjustly for some 16 years while the government is trying to murder him, also for his beliefs. How about Leonard Peltier, for being part of a movement that nearly successfully defended itself from tyranny in the U.S.?

Tim McVeigh is a fascist. He and the militias will kill people because of the color of their skin in their efforts to establish a Nazi state. Geronimo and Mumia and Leonard are fighting for justice and equality. Pretty distinct difference, it seems. But, so many people are making the error in labeling McVeigh and his neo-Nazi comrades as freedom fighters, while in reality they have set goals as institutionalizing their beliefs of white superiority through the policies of the fascist state they intend to build after their revolution.

What is more admirable?:

*** Tearing down barriers that are used to discriminate the "us" from the "them," the black from the white, etc.

or

*** Reifying and institutionalizing (through militaristic revolution and then state control) barriers, drawing lines between the "us" and the "them," often making efforts to exterminate on of these groups.

The first is the characterization of admirable leaders (or, more aptly, freedom fighters) like black liberation activists Geronimo Pratt and Mumia Abu-Jamal. The latter is the description of Tim McVeigh and the members of militias. Why it is that anyone, especially someone oriented within "the scene" that advocates equality, would hold up such figures as McVeigh I'll never know. But, it is the obligation of us all to rectify the situation by casting a true light on the reality of the militia movement through discussion, leaflets, flyers, pamphlets, etc. And, we need to counter these forces, no matter what level of organization they take for in, with whatever level of action is necessary to eliminate them.

give me a face a face carved out of granite expressionless stoic set in stone give me eyes that don't cry pluck out my bloodshot soul windows what did you feel nothing what did you feel give me lips devoid of venom lips that don't form screams of anger and anguish give me a mind untwisted by life not marred not scarred by bad data rip my face off.
- elizabeth herz
"easter island"
off "God's Chosen People" on Old Glory Records

I try not to be angry. I try to smile and be happy, but something's always inside me, tearing at my guts, burning my brain. Perhaps it's regret. Maybe it's just stress. It could just be that I need to sit down and relax. I wish I could speak with cordiality, be more open to outsiders, try to be more understanding.... "Give me lips devoid of venom / lips that don't form screams of anger and anguish." Sometimes I think it's hopeless, that I'll always shut people out when I'm so quick to lash out at those that express ideas and words I don't understand, that I can't comprehend.. I feel the need to communicate with people who toss around very basic culturally ingrained hatred and intolerance, make them understand that they're just carrying on a lot of bullshit tradition, that their words are unfounded. But I can't. I hear this, and all I feel is rage. I wish I didn't have to feel, because it seems that all my emotions are shutting me off, shutting me out of this outside world, this existence outside my safe little community, my circle of friends.

objectification..

It is often said that pornography "objectifies women" or "degrades women," meaning that it lowers the status of women from human to subhuman. The fact that a person who is erotically portrayed or seen as sexually attractive by another becomes an object has much more to say than that sexuality and attractiveness has become distorted. The dehumanizing factor does not lay in the erotic imagery, in sex or attraction. When we say that something or someone is "objectifying women," we are often oversimplifying things. This reflects on our entire culture and how most people see something they think they want or need. Everything is objectified. Everything is assigned value by its use to someone. That is what has molded the minds of a vast majority of people in the world.
Slavery in America, because almost all slaves were Black and almost all owners were white, forced most so-called "democratically minded" Americans to assign the value of a Black slave according to his or her usefulness to his or her owner rather than his or her shared humanity with people of all colors. A Black man was "chattle" (or so-defined) when it came to justifying ownership of him; a slave was 3/5 of a man when it came to determining population. We define whatever we can according to our own selfish needs. This justification has scarred our culture, and we, to this day, have retained this "dehumanized" image of Black men and women.
We do the same with non-human animals. Our carnivorous diets and dependence on animal research has taught us to view the value of a non-human animal in terms of its use to humans. A living non-human being is not valued in terms of its very existence, but instead in what way its existence can benefit that of another species of animal: homo sapien.
Our consumerism, our throw-away culture, our rampant eco- destructiveness has forced us to justify our behavior by viewing the earth and its resources in accordance with the value it can have in serving us. We will use up, destroy, and turn this beautiful land to shit, and glibly say that it's okay, after all, this land belongs to us and we're using this land for our benefit.
When this is where our culture stands, where everything is objectified, it is no wonder that nearly all sexuality has turned toward the same kind of objectification. "The object of my love," "the object of my affection," and "the object of my lust," are common phrases, and are often very correctly stated, because the person saying it probably does, at least in some part, think of that person as an object. It has it's most profound affects when women are objectified by men, as it only furthers the oppression of women by men and provides even more for its justification But it is crucial to recognize that women objectify men and women, and men objectify men. We all objectify one another, and it's no wonder when everything's value is egotistically determined. It is one thing that is most central to our culture: what can this/you/it/he/she/that do for me? . . . And, it's fucking disgusting.