Everywhere is War
“Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war. And until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation, until the colour of a man's skin is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes. And until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race, there is war. And until that day, the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship, rule of international morality, will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued, but never attained... now everywhere is war.”
(Popularized by Bob Marley/Haile Selassie I)
The news is filled with talk of war. Russia attacking sovereign nation Ukraine. It is insane. It is horrible. and it only reinforces the reality that war is everywhere.
We have been fighting a global pandemic for over two years.
Hundreds of years fighting systemic and structural racism, greed and corruption of government, media, health care and more. Battling every facet of this country for justice.
In Texas, we are fighting for trans rights, abortion rights, the right to reads book and have power when it is too cold out- in addition to the racism, greed and corruption.
The war between left and right has been brutal for five years now.
This broken system is ready to collapse.
We need it to collapse.
and yet, it is so scary. It is so scary because it will go down fighting tooth and nail. It does not care how many innocent lives it brings down with it. It is the macrocosm of every terrorist attack, every domestic abuse case, every act of violence.
We must confront it. We must fight it.
The opening quote honors the war we are all fighting everywhere.
The closing one, calls in the war we need to be fighting.
Where do you stand?
“Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness – and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we’re being brainwashed to believe.
The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling – their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability.
Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them.
Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”
(Arundhati Roy)
