dreams & lies
“What are your dreams?” after hearing only Arabic coming from Entisar, the English on her tongue jolts us. “What are your dreams” she demands as she paces around the stage, pointing at first to one of us, then to the other. We all respond immediately, including my heart, to a fault: “World Peace”, “elimination of violence”, “ending this war and all wars”. I’m visualizing a country & world run by Amazons. “My dream” she speaks in English again, “is to have water tonite for my child”. A hush falls over us while we sip on her energy, her words and our dreams turn to fog and dissipate.
Later I realize we all responded with a lie. The bare truth is our first foremost frantic dream is to continue our life they way it is – our work, our home, our job, our family. I realize Entisar isn’t talking about what are our lofty, down-the-road kinds of dreams. She meant our day-to-day dreams – the dream of having a job to go to, a home to live in, activities for our children, school or training programs, moving to a new place or enrolling in a new class, dating a new womon, getting groceries, hitting the light switch and having electricity.
You know, our daily lives. I realize we are all – the continuum of the privileged all - living so very many of our dreams in this country – our dream to live in a ‘nice’ neighborhood, our dream to have a job, a car, a tv, etc.; our dream to have children we can feed and clothe and send to ‘good’ schools and give lessons to.
Is it fair - has it ever been fair - that we, by accident of birth, are provided for, have the opportunity for, and are allowed to live so many of our dreams while so many other humans, by accident of their birth, are so deprived of their merest dreams of survival? But even more pertinent, how can we keep cashing in on these dreams – now that we know the whole truth - at the horrific, violent expense of so many women and children in Iraq today? (not to mention the violent expense of so many in this very country – but that’s another blog)
Entisar was telling us that the dreams of the women in Iraq have been shattered and demolished by u.s. for 3 years now, at the very least. I am asking us, the women of the u.s., to try our damnedest to find a way to put aside our dreams, our 'life as usual' for one month, 30 days for a Lysistrata-type action - I believe that if/when we get thousands of women willing to spend 4 weeks of our lives surrounding congress, this war will end - or at the very least the next war will not start.
People do this ALL the time in other countries where it costs them so very much more than it would cost even the poorest of us. But it is not the poorest of us I am appealing to. Nor the sickest or even the youngest and oldest - just the rest of us 'average' u.s. americans. I challenge us all to work harder, to somehow find the energy, the resources to give more.
WE are the bottom line of this war - it is for us, for our life style, for our country that we are murdering & destroying in Iraq. I truly believe that bush could not do this without all of our complicity - to varying degrees, but complicity no less. Make the commitment to come to Washington D.C. for one month, beginning Mother’s Day, May 14th, and staying for a month or as long as you can. Peace, Sam
Later I realize we all responded with a lie. The bare truth is our first foremost frantic dream is to continue our life they way it is – our work, our home, our job, our family. I realize Entisar isn’t talking about what are our lofty, down-the-road kinds of dreams. She meant our day-to-day dreams – the dream of having a job to go to, a home to live in, activities for our children, school or training programs, moving to a new place or enrolling in a new class, dating a new womon, getting groceries, hitting the light switch and having electricity.
You know, our daily lives. I realize we are all – the continuum of the privileged all - living so very many of our dreams in this country – our dream to live in a ‘nice’ neighborhood, our dream to have a job, a car, a tv, etc.; our dream to have children we can feed and clothe and send to ‘good’ schools and give lessons to.
Is it fair - has it ever been fair - that we, by accident of birth, are provided for, have the opportunity for, and are allowed to live so many of our dreams while so many other humans, by accident of their birth, are so deprived of their merest dreams of survival? But even more pertinent, how can we keep cashing in on these dreams – now that we know the whole truth - at the horrific, violent expense of so many women and children in Iraq today? (not to mention the violent expense of so many in this very country – but that’s another blog)
Entisar was telling us that the dreams of the women in Iraq have been shattered and demolished by u.s. for 3 years now, at the very least. I am asking us, the women of the u.s., to try our damnedest to find a way to put aside our dreams, our 'life as usual' for one month, 30 days for a Lysistrata-type action - I believe that if/when we get thousands of women willing to spend 4 weeks of our lives surrounding congress, this war will end - or at the very least the next war will not start.
People do this ALL the time in other countries where it costs them so very much more than it would cost even the poorest of us. But it is not the poorest of us I am appealing to. Nor the sickest or even the youngest and oldest - just the rest of us 'average' u.s. americans. I challenge us all to work harder, to somehow find the energy, the resources to give more.
WE are the bottom line of this war - it is for us, for our life style, for our country that we are murdering & destroying in Iraq. I truly believe that bush could not do this without all of our complicity - to varying degrees, but complicity no less. Make the commitment to come to Washington D.C. for one month, beginning Mother’s Day, May 14th, and staying for a month or as long as you can. Peace, Sam
posted by Xan @ 11:37 AM
1 Comments:
At 16/5/06 10:30 PM,
Anonymous said…
Inspiring and so right on
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