http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/09/myth-america-a-stand-up-tragedy/

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Myth America: A Stand-up Tragedy
by Mickey Z. / September 19th, 2008

(To follow is a version of a talk I’ve been giving throughout 2008)

I’d like to preface my presentation with a little story about
September 11. Not September 11, 2001. September 11, 1973. On that
date, the US government helped fund and sponsor a military coup in the
South American nation of Chile. The democratically elected president,
Salvador Allende, was overthrown and killed. They said he committed
suicide…with a machine gun. In his place, the US propped up the
dictator, General Augusto Pinochet. Not surprisingly, under Pinochet
taking power, human rights violations in Chile skyrocketed.
Surprisingly, someone within the US power structure talked about it.

A man named David Popper was US ambassador to Chile at the time and he
sent a cable to the State Department about the human rights issues.
The Secretary of State in the mid-70s was none other than Henry
Kissinger. His response was short and sweet: “Tell Popper to cut out
the political science lectures.”

Now, I may not have anything approaching a college degree, but I have
taken one political science in my life. So I get it and, in a rare
case of synchronicity with the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Henry
Kissinger, I promise there will be no political science lectures here
tonight.

Okay, here we are, in the year 2008…or, as I’d prefer to call it, the
28th consecutive year of the Reagan administration. This is the point
in the evening when the speaker typically implores everyone to turn
off the cell phones. But, as far as I’m concerned, you can leave yours
on. This way, every time someone’s phone goes off, we can be reminded
of the fact that half the humans on the planet have never made a
single phone call.

Or maybe, when a phone rings, we can focus on these six simple words:
The Democratic Republic of the Congo. We’d do that because one of the
primary components of cell phone circuitry is a metallic ore called
Columbite-Tantalite—or “coltan.” Eighty percent of the world’s known
coltan can be found in African nation of The Democratic Republic of
the Congo (or DRC), which just so happens to be embroiled in a brutal
(even by current standards) civil war since the pre-cell phone days of
1994. Over time, all sides in the unrelenting struggles adroitly began
using the mining and sale of coltan not only to nourish the West’s
seemingly insatiable cell phone addiction, but also to fund their
inexorable mayhem. Civilian deaths in the DRC during this time—mostly
from war-related disease and malnutrition—are estimated not in the
hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands, but rather in the
millions…making it the world’s deadliest military conflict since the
Second World War.

And it gets worse. Just ask an Eastern Lowland Gorilla, the world’s
largest primate, found almost exclusively in the DRC. According to
National Geographic: “Following a decade of civil war in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, new estimates suggest that the
number of eastern lowland gorillas may have plummeted by 70 percent.
Conflict, illegal mining for a mineral used for electronic-device
components, and the growing bush-meat trade have all taken their
toll.” The UN Environment Program has reported that the number of
eastern lowland gorillas in eight DRC national parks has subsequently
declined by 90 percent. We can only hope that some enterprising soul
has already recorded the eastern lowland gorilla’s call so it can be
used as a ring tone long after they’re gone.

So yeah, go ahead and leave your phones on and enjoy your next text.

So here we are…in New York City in New York State in the white
supremacist capitalist homophobic patriarchy we call America. Or, as
it’s known by the indigenous crowd, “the occupied territories.”

Speaking of occupied territories, while I’m up here, let’s not forget
that each and every one of us is sitting or standing on stolen land.

Let’s not forget that with each minute that passes, the US government
spends one million of our tax dollars spent on war.

Let’s also not forget that on this planet of abundant resources, every
two seconds, a human starves to death.

That usually quiets the crowd and gives me a chance to remind you that
I am available for children’s parties.

Speaking of millions spent on war and too many people dying, I’d like
to mention a forgotten anniversary: August 6, 1990. To most people—
particularly activists—the starting date for the war in Iraq is March
19, 2003. However, to accept that date is to put far too much blame on
one party and one president. A more accurate and useful starting date
is August 6, 1990. Iraq invaded Kuwait—with US permission-on August 2,
1990. Four days later—at the behest of the US—the United Nations
Security Council imposed murderous sanctions upon the people of Iraq.
The war on Iraq began that day. ... (cont)