When I signed into AOL Instant Messenger today, my browser was hijacked by the usual "Start Your Day With Meaningless Drivel Brought to You By AOL" page, and what did I see but a headline about Pat Robertson talking about how we need to kill Hugo Chavez. Wow. Wow. Double wow. So this guy is a Christian leader? A follower of Christ? The same Christ who said, "My kingdom is not of this world"? I keep going back to my Bible looking for the part where the disciples were called on to assassinate Caiphas or Pontius Pilate or Herod, but I can't find it. Pat, can you help?

The Christian right continues to amaze me with their vile potion of ethnocentrism, fear, and reactionary hatred. As a Christian, I just want to clarify for anyone who may be wondering: this sort of fear/war-mongering is about as far from the teachings of Christ as you could get. I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised. I was talking to my brother-in-law (who is a pastor in Minnesota) about this, and as soon as I mentioned the name Robertson, he replied, "How did he embarass Jesus this time?"

The Corporation

04.26.05


I watched this creepy documentary last night called The Corporation. Despite the fact that it made me want to move to a socialist country and start growing hemp, I think it was pretty well done. It was definitely educational. I realized that I have only worked for corporations since returning to the U.S. from Sweden. It was one of those realizations where I was like, "Wow, corporations, they are terrible and those people that work for them--how can they be so greedy?" but then I caught myself, "Hey, wait a minute! I'm one of those people and I'm not that greedy (i hope). I even liked that documentary!"

That mental hiccup reminded me of one of Chomsky's comments in this film, which was that the corporation itself is the monstrosity, not necessarily the individuals that run it or work for it. In fact, he said, the people who run the corporation may be really nice guys who are sincere about doing the right thing. His point was that the corporation itself was monstrous, so the offices those people occupy are necessarily part of the monster. Thinking of it that way was a new insight for me. Even when I don't agree with Chomsky, I like listening to him. Very articulate ... and clever.