NORTH COAST TIMES E A G L E , MAY/JUNE 2001
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HERE COMES YOUR GHOST AGAIN*
Years ago I was moving an old couch for a dear friend
who was many years my senior. The couch had been stored on
a porch for several years and had been exposed to quite a bit of
moisture. As I lifted an end of the couch I noticed a paper bag
between the cushions. I picked the bag up and began to throw
it aside, when my curiosity kicked in. I opened the sack and was
very surprised to find the likeness of Adolf Hitler staring me in
the face.
I showed the stamp collection in the bag to my friend
who said. Take it and see if you can get a couple of bucks
for it." There was something strange about the tone of her
voice, and I didn't question her about the stamps. It was
obvious, however, that someone had collected the stamps in
Nazi Germany and they had somehow ended up on Jeanne's
back porch. She would have been about 25 v4ien World War 2
ended.
Nearly all of the stamps were badly water damaged,
but the story they told was fascinating. There were stamps
commemorating Hitler's 55th birthday (April 20,1944), and
stamps meant to immortalize the assassinated second in
command of the SS (Heydrich). Hitler and Mussolini stood
looking out over a town, like shepherds of men, benevolent
leaders. The symbol of the SS was on another stamp. Images
of Hitler and swastikas were glorified throughout the collection.
As I looked through them, the strange tone in Jeanne's voice
didn't seem so odd
The troubled economy in pre-Nazi Germany was
partially responsible for one of the darkest times in history.
The German people were looking for something to blame their
troubles on, and a group of people who didn’t believe that Christ
was the Son of God made an excellent repository for the flood of
anger filling the country Today we wonder how a nation could
allow the manifestations of Hell on Earth. A nation of Christians
(among others), we wonder how another could allow entire
families to be starved, beaten, tortured and murdered.
Thirty-odd years I've watched the log trucks roll out of
Oregon's hills. The trucks have steadily become fewer and the
trees they haul become progressively smaller. Oregon's troubled
timber industry is one part of the weakening American economy.
People are rightfully afraid that our days of prosperity are
drawing to a close. The political and economic leaders who have
failed us are looking for someone to blame Unfortunately (for
our failed leaders) Americans don't collectively blame Jews
these days. Instead, a new immorality must be found: a group of
people different from most of us, or another species that stands
in the way of progress. The politicians are looking for scape
goats to blame their failures on. Fifty years from now, we will be
remembered as the people who were duped into blaming owls
and homosexuals for things they had no control over I look at
myself with the rest of you, and wonder: Can we really be such
fools?
All my life I've tried to understand the differences
between people. After all, it's a lack of cooperation that is
responsible for most of our problems. No matter how hard
I try, I can never understand people like David Duke. How
can people be so consumed with hatred and call themselves
Christians? Even atheists can see the hypocrisy that so many
self-proclaimed Christians are blind to Darwin would find
himself more welcome in Heaven than the self-righteous
hypocrites passing judgment around this country Although
I disagree with most of David Duke's philosophy, I believe
he chose the right political party to affiliate himself with.
David Duke seems to be part of the natural devolution of
the Republican Party.
Having no power, money or influence, I often wonder
v\4oy I bother worrying about guys like Duke, Lon Mabon and the
rest of the people Gandhi said would eventually fall. Then I think
of the alternative to opposing the oppression of free people. I
think of the real story behind those stamps, and suddenly I'm
very afraid, but very motivated Those of us who have known
Anne Frank and forgotten her have lost our souls with her
memory.
-ROBIN SAWYER (NOTE, 11/1992)
Quoted from Diamonds & Rust by Joan Baez.
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PAGE 5
them to the shoulder of the political road where they can rot in
the ditch wth the rest of the roadkill We're still driving, but we
need to know v\4iat we should hit and what we should brake for
Contrary to popular beliefs, almost none of the news
media reaching our eyes and ears is involved in the business of
providing us with useful information Some gets through, but the
main business of most periodicals, radio and television stations
is selling space for ads Take an example Say a town has built
a convention facility where events come, often placing ads to
promote the things they are doing The operators of the facility
can direct promoters and advertisers to the newspaper, often
placing ads themselves Does anyone suppose the newspaper
(or radio or TV station) is going to be receptive to reporting
anything that may offend the people who butter their scones?
Probably the greatest myth Americans believe is the
one about civil rights. You have no nghts unless you can afford
to defend them Let's consider free speech. Suppose you know
something about the government and want to tell people v4iat
you know So you tell people what it is you know and people
working for the government retaliate, maybe fire you if you work
for them Going a step further, suppose they admit they are
retaliating against you for saying things they don't want to hear?
What is it you are going to do to protect your right to speak
against the government without fear of reprisal?
The government has far more resources than you
do — the best lawyers money can buy, money to pay expert
witnesses, everything to launch a full scale attack on you.
You may be able to find a lawyer who will take your case on a
contingency basis, but the expenses associated with a lawsuit
are not covered under the contingency agreement, meaning you
must be able to at least be able to match the government dollar
for dollar If the case is a slam dunk or the lawyer really believes
in vtfiat you are doing, they may front you the expenses. More
likely they will invest little time and few resources into the case
as they try to settle out of court
If you happen to work for the government and are
covered under a collective bargaining agreement, the small
chance you have of defending the rights you are supposed
to have has been handed to the union. It should come as no
surprise there is really no contention between public employee
unions and employers If public managers give employees more
money and benefits, how much more are they themselves
entitled to?
Through the years I’ve always believed in nonviolent
activism, and still do today. But seeing the doors of our courts
slammed in the faces of those calling for what's right has left me
more sympathetic to those who throw bombs. Does anyone feel
it is right to shoot a woman in the back while she is holding her
child? No, of course not Admitting no wrong doing, the govern
ment gave Randy Weaver and his children about $3 million. I'm
here to tell you, the government does not give any plaintiff $50
if officials have not done anything wrong. Was the person who
shot the woman in the back held accountable? No.
One of the most blatant examples of how corrupt our
government is comes from Congress. With little to no money
for audits, the IRS has been instructed by Congress to focus
audit attention on the working poor — those who take the
earned income credit. Of course I'm sure there is some
grand justification for using limited resources to audit the
poor. Horrendous abuses of the earned income credit may
exist, low income folk taking terrible advantage of the rest
of us. More likely, Congress is redirecting the attention of
the IRS, much as a shoplifter might yell. "Hey look over there"
while putting pilfered items in a pocket.’
' • B -■
What are the great things we, as a species, have done?
We have cured and prevented illnesses, built great structures
and machines, harnessed much of our environment, created
conveniences unheard of only a few years ago What we haven't
done is decide what we are going to do about too many people
with too few resources to continue as we have. It does no good
to increase life expectancies if those who live long must live
broken and tired, separated from their families Without health
and vitality, life becomes an exercise without benefit.
The interrelationship between humans and the earth
cannot be ignored too much longer without dire consequences.
Even now it may be too late to avoid great suffering as the
barrage of chemicals and technology we have released into
the environment begin taking the toll on us we have taken on
other species We haven’t taken the time to fully consider the
long-term consequences of our actions, choosing to focus
instead on our immediate desires and things we perceive as
needs
Less regulation is not the answer The cattle rancher
with 5000 steers shitting in the stream does not care about
what goes downstream unless we make him swim down there.
Likewise, corporate profit junkies, without intervention, are not
going to do anything to limit their fix Good government looks
out for the interests of its people — in all respects There has to
be some give and take but balance can be the result of teetering
back and forth without falling one way or the other
Only a generation ago our resources seemed limitless,
like the buffalo Today we know they are finite, just like the
carrying capacity of this planet. We were raised after the buffalo
vanished from the plains, never knowing the great wonder we
might have known standing in awe as the great beasts roamed
before us. Today the buffalo are mostly confined to museums.
We must reflect on what we've lost, what it might have meant
to us and vtfiere we're going.
I think of tvw men: Bill Gates and a young man named
Chris McCandless who died young in the Alaskan wilderness.
McCandless, a man with more education than Gates, chose
to abandon his trust money, his car. and his upper class back
ground He became a hobo, wandenng about the country, living
simply, finally moving into the Alaska back country before dying
after making a mistake identifying a plant Chris lived his life on
his own terms, knowing freedoms most of us never will His life
was fast, but full. Considering Gates and McCandless, who is
worthy of our admiration? The operating system I am using to
type this is nice, but I managed quite well with a typewriter
before, and a pen pnor to that The pen and the typewriter didn't
become obsolete every year or so No, McCandless didn't give
me such handy things as cut and paste, but he gave me some
thing far more valuable the knowledge that people still exist
who are not afraid to stand alone for what they believe in Chns
would probably still be around and the world would be a much
better place if a few more of us had stood wth him rather than
Gates We know in our hearts where justice lies, what we need
to do now to make our legacy a good one — simplify Be it
creation, or the result of evolution, our world is home — one
home, one people, one gift to be passed along to our children's
children
Rob Sawyer is a long-time though infrequent contributor
to the NOTE Once a Seaside resident he lives in Hillsboro