Reply #28: Micheal 1166, thank you for being a part of the DU family [View All]

[schrodingers_cat]

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the input from people from other countries. In my limited grasp of the german language, I believe that 'pest' can also be translated as 'plague', and I think that many of us feel this about the current form of patriotism in this country. Right after 9/11, the feeling of pulling together after the incident was true and pure, not just in america, but in many countries. But it began to take on a different face, as the corporate owned media transformed it into something that to most of us here is now repulsive and terrifying.
I was just in Berlin, and my friends were asking me how we were letting this happen, and why we weren't turning out in the streets to protest. And I had very little to answer. I could talk about how we do turn out in the streets, but can only get lots of people out in the big cities. And I can talk about how the media will not cover our protests, and how we are labeled as extremists. And I am ashamed that I don't have a more comprehensive answer. And I ask myself, as I hold on to a job for dear life that many other people would like to have, whether I can afford to put it on the line, and go to these midweek protests, and stand up for my conscience? And I wonder where I stand between 'mitlaufer' and 'gegener', if that is the correct word in your language.