Brian’s Blog

Category Archives: Brian’s Blog

THE PRETEND SOCIETY (Originally written in march 2012)

November 17, 2016 – 11:26 pm

I was once a young man, very much like the young men and women who have gone to Iraq and Afghanistan as US military soldiers. I grew up believing in the red, white and blue. I believed that the United States had a sacred mission to spread democracy around the world. Viet Nam was my […]

By brian | Also posted in Brian's Blog, The Most Dangerous of Rogue Nations: The United States, Uncategorized, Challenging Traditional Patriotism | Comments (0)

The Gated Society: The US love affair with incarceration, solitary confinement and torture

October 7, 2016 – 2:41 pm

I live in a country (the USA which in 2013 has 315 million people) that imprisons more than 2.5 million of its citizens on an average day in more than 9,000 jails and prisons, boasting the highest per capita detention rate in the world by far – 800 prisoners for every 100,000 people. [Prisoners in […]

By brian | Also posted in Brian's Blog, The Most Dangerous of Rogue Nations: The United States, Challenging Traditional Patriotism | Comments (2)

The Indian Problem

March 18, 2016 – 5:52 pm

I grew up in central New York State where the Iroquois Indians had resided for generations before they were in effect virtually wiped out during the Eurocentric Revolutionary War. The problem turns out that they were Indians, not civilized “Americans”– they lived collectively instead of as individuals with private property. The policy became “kill the […]

By brian | Also posted in Brian's Blog, The Most Dangerous of Rogue Nations: The United States, Challenging Traditional Patriotism | Comments (1)

PROHIBITED GOVERNMENT RECRUITING

March 10, 2016 – 1:02 pm

The most egregious offense of federal agents, i.e., military recruiters, is that they are recruiting young people who, it can be reasonably predicted, will have a great probability to be ordered to participate in illegal wars and occupations (crimes against peace, and possibly crimes against humanity) and to target civilians and civilian infrastructure (war crimes). […]

By brian | Also posted in Brian's Blog, The Most Dangerous of Rogue Nations: The United States, Challenging Traditional Patriotism | Comments (8)

Shame is the Wool IN our Eyes

February 10, 2016 – 10:04 pm

Shame is a silent and serious impediment to good health, to a healthy identity, both individual and culturally collective. However, it is usually so deeply hidden from our consciousness we are unaware of it. Many of us grow up in shame-based upbringings (violence or regular put downs) which leave their mark on our psyches, impacting […]

By brian | Also posted in Brian's Blog, Envisioning Nonviolent Revolutionary Alternatives, Philosophy, Religion & Ecology, Challenging Traditional Patriotism | Comments (1)