one thing i´ve learned since being in guatemala is that we americans know nothing about this country´s recent history. care to guess what role the USA played in guatemala´s civil war, one which resulted in the massacre of hundreds of mayan villages? a hint: it´s very similar to the american influence in other latin american countries in this time period. in this particular case, agitation for equal rights by indigenous people was misperceived by the states as communism, and crushed brutally. reagan, in a speech during this era, referred blithely to the need to preserve "peace and stability" in the region. reagan´s strength as a leader was his ability to cast a struggle in black and white and thereby unify national will, specifically against the reds, but during this period a lot of very legitimate struggles were wrongly polarized and vilified. the US stood on the wrong side of many of these stories and continued speaking from a position of moral authority. it´s sort of a national tradition, and i wouldn´t be surprised if obama finds himself in this position too. because, let´s face it, a truly honest president wouldn´t last a day. americans fear truth, and in general would opt for ignorance, ease, and low gas prices over the human rights of people they will never see.
the american reach into latin america during the 80s was broad, thanks in part to the USAID program, and i am only familiar with a small part of the history. what i find hard to believe, however, is that i was never taught a word of it all through high school, not even in my AP history class. i just wonder what similar moral failures are currently going unreported by the american media and educational system (such as sudan, which in fact did happen on bush´s watch). my hope is that the internet will make it more difficult for superpowers to interfere on behalf of economic allies. the fellows i work with here in town talk to me often about israel´s war on the gaza strip, and i know they feel a strong solidarity with the palestinians. looking at the full page of photos of palestinian children charred in the fighting, it´s not hard to draw the comparison: a powerful, well-funded military engaging a badly out-matched opponent who has long lacked fundamental social resources.
i talk about this and know that i lack all the information necessary to examine the complete truth. but at the same time, it is this same feeling of being underqualified that keeps people silent and permissive. the silence starts at a personal level and creeps outward, through relationships and families, communities and societies. the timidity that kept my former guatemalan host family from asking me personal questions is related to the pure vacuum of honest information in the media and the schools, in the united states and abroad. and the world is now full of blogs just like this, trying vainly to promote open communication. my assumption is that there is little to no value in this, because our natural tendency to choose comfort and silence is the ocean and each pissed-off blog is a little sand moat.
but at least americans have the right to attempt conversations! i´ve come to value this and enjoy the openness, the willingness to engage that i find in fellow travelers. and maybe i´m wrong, maybe the cloak of silence and complicity is a generational thing...maybe folks like me, who grew up seeing self-indulgent pricks express their every feeling on MTV´s Real World, are part of a sea change, a period of more honest and probing conversation.
who fucking knows!
listen to a song, already. really, listen to it! it´s lovely. and then tell me that yes, you think it is the best thing you´ve ever heard.
