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Guided
By Corporate Voices
To
the Editor:
Any
analysis of the structure of the world situation leads to
some kind of analog to the theory that the West—the multinationals,
the arms industries, neoconservative (fascist?) security states,
the WTO and the World Bank, and so on—used and use their power
to create terrorism. They obviously desperately need enemies
(now that the Cold War is over). And it is convenient to label
all resistance from those you oppress terrorism. So Stephen
Leon’s implication [“An Intelligence Question,” Comment, Sept.
9], that the Bush regime knew of the Twin Towers catastrophe
before it happened, has been put forth both subtly and overtly
by progressives many times. It is too plausible to be stifled.
I’d like to propose an idea, which may get around the chief
objection those on the Right use to quash such theorizing.
The unprogressive always say they think this hypothesis too
extreme, too horrifying, too far beyond the humanity of Beloved
Leader. It’s not worth considering—never mind that our rulers
kill some 40 or 50 thousand a year with car culture, or 18
thousand from lack of health care, or thousands from war,
pollution, worker injuries, medical malpractice, food poison,
blah blah etc., and never bat an eye.
However, if our leaders are acting unconsciously, to fulfill
programs which exactly suit the needs of corporations, this
answers the objection. If they are unconscious of their motives
and deeper programming, then moral culpability is null.
I think these blokes have been brought along, bred and educated
by a corporate system which has been in place for centuries,
and which is evolving to greater and greater sophistication
and autonomy, and I think they have been selected by the corporations
to perfectly carry out the corporate agenda. They are not
really their own persons, but “corp-o-men,” hive beings without
free will.
All our leaders are creatures of corporate culture. Look at
Cheney, or Rumsfeld. Even Bush, in his coke-addled way, has
been brought up as the perfect spoiled corporate rich kid—looking
to repeat the joys of his youth, ready to do anything to regain
that high. This is one way the corporations keep control.
I firmly believe in evolution, and not just in biology. It
seems to me any set of information transactions that exhibits
variation and selection, be it subatomic particles or a social
system, can undergo evolutionary change. And it seems to me
that corporations are the newest evolutionary entities. We
poor humans are like the tiny mammals that scurried out of
the way of the dinosaurs as they crashed through the primeval
jungles. Now we have to stand back for the Corpozillas.
So I don’t believe that Bush or Cheney or Wolfowitz had a
direct hand in the Twin Tower deaths; but I do believe that
the social structures they serve favored this terrorism—through
the Carlyle Group, through the bin Ladens, through the House
of Saud charities, through oil, and through too many multinational
corporations to name or keep track of. I think the corporations
want and need terrorism, and are setting the conditions that
wind up getting people tortured, and sexually humiliated,
and cause our leaders to invade countries and kill people
and then fail to take the most basic and simple measures against
terrorism in this country. This ensures a never-ending supply
of terrorists and acts of terror, which in turn keeps defense
spending up at the $500 billion mark, the oil flowing, and
the police-state (corporate) power growing.
But I don’t necessarily believe that Bush or any of them know
that this is what they are doing. They have been selected
to behave in this way, in our brave new corporate world, and
are unable to entertain any other options. It’s also worth
remembering that the media are corporate, too, and are busily
programming us to go along with the agenda. And, just as the
neuron doesn’t know what the brain is thinking; it’s all unconscious.
Nothing human is in charge.
Jim
Connelly
Schenectady
To
the Editor:
Frank
S. Robinson states, “I don’t believe any U.S. president .
. . would ever intentionally sacrifice American lives to advance
his personal political interests” [Letters, Sept. 16]. Unfortunately,
that is exactly what George W. Bush is doing in Iraq right
now.
Dan
Wilcox
Albany
Fighting
the Machine
To
the Editor:
David
Soares’ recent victory in the Democratic primary [“Primary
Shake-Up,” Sept. 16] has been celebrated around the region
as a blow against the Democratic machine that controls our
fair city—it has even been heralded by The Nation.
No doubt it would be a significant victory if Mr. Soares were
to win the general election and immediately refuse to enforce
the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
However, we should be far more skeptical that the defeat of
a machine candidate here or there has sounded the death-knell
for the machine. Even if every machine candidate were to lose
to an insurgent Democrat, we would still be faced with a city
completely dominated by Democratic officials. Though they
might be a more benign regime than the current one, would
there be meaningful voting reform so as to make elections
competitive?
This is the true test of the insurgent campaigns of David
Soares and Margaret Walsh. If Mr. Soares is willing to take
a stand on the Rockefeller Drug Laws, will he stand up and
support instant-runoff voting or proportional representation,
simple changes that could bring the edifice of the corrupt
Democratic power-structure tumbling down, opening up breathing
room for more democratic elections? This will benefit the
minority, working-class constituency he is attempting to represent
by giving them more chance to choose candidates with a platform
that represents them, and it will be another significant institutional
reform that a nationally known campaign could bring to prominence.
I call on Mr. Soares to take the next step towards defeating
the Democratic machine and become an advocate for meaningful
voting reform.
Peter
LaVenia
Co-Chair, Albany County Green Party
Albany
Corrections
We
omitted the photo credit for the photo of Bill Rainbolt [“Trust
Us: We’re Majors,” Newsfront, Sept. 23]. The photo was taken
by John Whipple.
Also in “Trust Us: We’re Majors,” [Newsfront, Sept. 23] the
name of one of the new professors was incorrect. It is Thomas
Bass, not William Bass.
Clarification
Bill
Rainbolt’s statement in “Trust Us: We’re Majors,” [Newsfront,
Sept. 23] that no other SUNY university center has a journalism
major gave the mistaken impression to some that no SUNY school
has a journalism major. Rainbolt was only referring to the
four “university centers” of Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo,
and Stony Brook. Several other SUNY schools have journalism
majors. Though our quote was accurate, we regret the confusion
it caused.
Metroland
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Metroland reserves the right to edit letters for length; 300
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Columns
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