Yes, We’re Dreamers; We Want Peace

As manifested poetically, “hold fast to dreams because when dreams die, life is just a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” It is good to have dreams for oneself; it is more wonderful to have dreams for Filipinos, for the world, and for the environment. But first, we must spend some time each day to reflect on the pains inflicted on both our fellow humans and the environment. In my reflection here in the USA for three months, upon reading books and hearing narratives on what modern-day American Imperialism has done and is doing in conquering more than half of the world’s resources and destroying the environment, it has become imperative for us first to free ourselves from the fallacies of life and religions. Indeed, the truth shall set us free from the prison of the EGO and must be replaced with compassion, love, and service which should be the essence of all religions.

I could not help but reflect on this truism upon hearing a one-hour talk on “The Myth of American Exceptionalism,” by an amazing professor at MIT, in the USA, Dr. Howard Zinn. He narrated how American Imperialism had conquered countries in the world, brandishing democracy and liberty and doing it in the name of God. This was true when the Americans conquered the Philippines in 1898 that came about because of the dream of US President then, Pres. McKinley. for the US to liberate the Philippines. Because of that dream, Pres. McKinley decided to attack and liberate the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule. To quote Prof. Zinn, “American soldiers committed murder and atrocities, killing some 600,000 Filipinos.” Philippine historians must rectify their narration of Philippine history. But before the Americans conquered the Philippines, they first attacked Mexico killing some 70,000 Mexicans, then annexing California and Texas which were before part of Mexico. The Americans continued their so-called expansion in the name of democracy and liberty, alleging to have been ordered by God Himself. Let us revisit some of these massive killings through wars:  in Korea, some three million Koreans were killed during the Korean War; in Vietnam, some 200,000 thousand were killed; in Cambodia, almost one-third of its population was massacred by Pol Pot. This was also true in Indonesia under President Suharto then For American Imperialism, the center of turmoil has been the Middle East to conquer precious oil in cohort with Israel, arming the “chosen people of God,” with nuclear power. Together they are doing ethnic cleansing, killing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, mostly civilians and children, and even poisoning the water system in Palestine. In fact, according to Dr. Noam Chomsky, the number one intellectual in the world, the US and the Israelites are the most feared countries to trigger a nuclear war. Such narration on the atrocities done by the US is just the “tip of the iceberg,” as Dr. Zinn stated as US imperialism is now in control of the Western Hemisphere, the Far East, the Middle East, and South East Asia including the Philippines, converting it as its US Military Base and its dumping ground of finished products and source of raw materials, following extractive economic paradigm.

Dr. Zinn did underscore such truism but was a little bit puzzled about what had happened in the Philippines. He categorically stated that” the brutality of the American soldiers done in the guise of spreading democracy and liberty had fooled the Filipino people as apparently, such was not done for democracy or liberty BUT TO EXPAND CORPORATE GLOBALIZATION AND TO CONVERT THE PHILIPPINES AS MILITARY BASES OF AMERICAN IMPERIALISM.” Isn’t it that US TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS CONTROL OUR ECONOMY in cohort with the oligarchs? Dr. Zinn even released the information that in several countries including the Philippines, the US supports dictators like what also happened in Thailand and Indonesia Dr. Zinn said that he was so surprised to hear then Pres. George Bush even gave a message in a National Assembly during his term as US President, firmly saluting the Filipinos for their sovereignty, liberty, and democracy but not a single voice rose in dissent. Indeed, how can we be an independent country when we are under American Imperialism? Dr. Zinn was puzzled why no dissenting voice was being raised against US Imperialism. Don’t you know Dr. Zinn that if a dissenting voice would be raised, he or she will immediately be “red-tagged”?

As no Filipino is rising against the Modern-day US. Imperialism, a people-powered movement called, “OCCUPY” is the first major public response to fifty years of class war. The movement that began in New York City on September 17, 2011, and rapidly spread to thousands of locations worldwide is not only spreading in the USA but in the conscience of people all over the world. Although those in the movement have been subject to widespread surveillance, infiltration, and mass arrests (some 7,762 have already been arrested), the international networks forged continue to develop projects and protests as an open-ended expression of its vision of democracy-center civil society. In their rallies, they have been shouting, “WE WANT A PEACEFUL WORLD; WE WANT AN EGALITARIAN WORLD; WE DON’T WANT WAR; WE DON’T WANT CAPITALISM, IMPERIALISM; WE WANT A DECENT SOCIETY.” Their advocacy is now reverberating worldwide as they contend that democracy in the United States is now on the brink of collapsing, which has long been replaced by AUTOCRACY & FASCISM. They condemn the regime of one percent, calling the fragment of one percent, the less than one thousand corporations, as the MASTERS OF MANKIND, the principal architects of government policies. For these “architects,” war is the health of the State, and would not hesitate to kill, even assassinating  Pres. John F. Kennedy then when he decided to stop the Vietnam War in the Sixties. Dr. Zinn also narrated that the order of attacking Al Quida and wars in the Middle East were done, invoking “order from God,” as declared by then Pres. George Bush. The “religion” of these Imperialists is “the market is always right,” sacrificing the people and the environment to the altar of Satanic greed and profit, to quote Dr. Noam Chomsky.

It is indeed a truism that abject poverty and unprecedented inequality have risen to historically unprecedented heights, declaring that because of abject poverty, many are already advertising the sale of their organs to survive. Worse, US Imperialism has put humanity on the precipice of extinction because of its nuclear power and the harm done to the environment due to climate change. Now the dream for a better world has loomed around the world, brandishing the truism that THE WORLD IS ONE COUNTRY, MANKIND ITS CITIZENS. No way should an empire create so many atrocities because we have one world, one life, and one God. That should be the message of all religions and every time egoic leaders use the name of God to attack, kill, to control resources or especially precious oil in the Middle East, religious leaders should belie such claim as God commands “Thou shall not kill.”

The ONENESS OF MANKIND, OF LIFE, OF RELIGIONS, if I may recall, has been the call of the Prophet, BAHA’U’LAH, the founder of the Bahai Faith sometime some three centuries ago somewhere in the Middle East. As a contemporaneous prophet, He knew then that such was the imperative call of the times to liberate the homo sapiens from another extinction but was not heard but instead met martyrdom. Indeed, he was correct as the homo sapiens have been captured by the EGO, becoming the most flawed of all of God’s creations that had caused the deaths of more than one hundred fifty million fellow humans and the non-stop destruction of the environment. A great portion of humanity is suffering from collective insanity, especially some world leaders. Worse, even using religions, and dogmas to kill millions as” ordered by God.” Don’t you know that Israel (the land of the so-called “chosen people of God,” is the number one most feared country now in the world, together with the US, that could trigger a nuclear war? Unless the homo sapiens become ESPERITUS LUMINUS (enlightened spirits), humanity is doomed. Let us therefore dream, then with our compassion, ACT AS ONE GLOBAL FORCE TO STOP CONFLICTS AND WARS TO HAVE PEACE as what is being done now by OCCUPY in the USA and globally!

As we reflect on the pains inflicted on humans and the environment, may I share the “Western Inscription” and I quote: “Heaven is my father and the earth is my mother, and even such a small creature as I find an intimate place in their midst. Therefore, that which extends throughout the universe, I regard as my body and that which directs the universe, I consider my nature. All people are my brothers and sisters and all things are my companions. . . One who disobeys the principle of Heaven violates virtue.  One who destroys humanity is a robber. One who promotes evil lacks moral capacity.; But one who puts his moral nature into practice and brings his physical existence to complete fulfillment can match Heaven and Earth.”

Indeed, it is only by restoring our ancient bond with the natural world that can we save Mother Earth from extinction. Peace, love, and compassion – let us all dream, accompanied by compassionate action — that is our reason for being. As you reflect, connect with the Formless, the Unseen Being, the Eternal – be the CONSCIOUSNESS, know who truly you are, not just form (body) but the Great Stillness & Vast Spaciousness IN ONENESS WITH ALL LIFE. Therefore DREAM, REFLECT & CONNECT!