Jesus Was Neither Alone Nor Was He the First

Just so you know some human history, Jesus wasn't the only--or even the first--god said to have risen from the dead. Actually, far from it.

Jesus: Just One More Dying 

and Rising Savior

History records many dying-and-rising saviors. Examples from the Ancient Near East that preceded the Jesus story include Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, Adonis, Attis, and Baal.

Dying-and-rising god

A dying-and-rising, death-rebirth, or resurrection deity is a religious motif in which a god dies and is resurrected. "Death or departure of the gods" is motif A192 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, while "resurrection of gods" is motif A193.

Examples of gods who die and later return to life are most often cited from the religions of the Ancient Near East, and traditions influenced by them including Biblical and Greco-Roman mythology and by extension Christianity. The concept of a dying-and-rising god was first proposed in comparative mythology by James Frazer's seminal The Golden Bough. Frazer associated the motif with fertility rites surrounding the yearly cycle of vegetation. Frazer cited the examples of Osiris, Tammuz, Adonis and Attis, Dionysus and Jesus Christ.

Frazer's interpretation of the category has been critically discussed in 20th-century scholarship, to the conclusion that many examples from the world's mythologies included under "dying and rising" should only be considered "dying" but not "rising", and that the genuine dying-and-rising god is a characteristic feature of Ancient Near Eastern mythologies and the derived mystery cults of Late Antiquity.

And what is religion, anyway, if not a huge denial of death? An attempt to explain "what comes after." It only stands to reason that we want our god or God or gods dying and coming back, just to prove what we want and that it can be done, that this life isn't all there is. There's no better example or reason for this than that we want to deny death and dying.
Just saying.

That said, if you're into it, if you celebrate Easter, have at it. Enjoy.

Happy Easter.

Whatever gets you through.

Links:

The pagan roots of Easter

The Ancient Pagan Origins of Easter

Goddess Easter: Celebration of the Spring Equinox

Ēostre 

Easter 

A Little Holiday Perspective

A bit of human history for y'all.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

On This Day, September 2

For whatever reason, I thought September 2nd to be a day of significance. With that in mind, I thought I'd put together a few highlights from the date, down through the ages. Partly fun, partly educational, partly historical significance. Hopefully enjoy.

490 BC - Pheidippides, Greek hero and inspiration for the modern marathon, dies

44 BC - Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion.

- The first of Cicero's Philippics (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of them over the next several months.

1649 - The Italian city of Castro is completely destroyed by the forces of Pope Innocent X, ending the Wars of Castro. (I love that. Pope Innocent)

1666 - Great Fire of London begins at 2am in Pudding Lane, 80% of London is destroyed

1732 - Pope Clement XII renews anti-Jewish laws of Rome. (Don'tcha' just love those oh-so-innocent Catholics?)

1864 - Union General William T. Sherman captures and burns Atlanta during US Civil War

1894 - Forest fires destroy Hinckley Minnesota: about 600 die (I can't even fathom that one)

1901 - VP Theodore Roosevelt advises "Speak softly & carry a big stick"

1902 - "A Trip To The Moon", the first science fiction film, by film great Georges Méliès released

1919 - Communist Party of America organizes in Chicago (It didn't really catch on. Not permanently, anyway)

1936 - 1st transatlantic round-trip air flight

1942 - German troops enter Stalingrad

1944 - During WW II, George H W Bush ejects from a burning plane

1944 - Holocaust diarist Anne Frank was sent to Auschwitz

1945 - Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam independence from France (National Day) (Years later, Americans would learn nothing whatever from France's loss and exit from Vietnam and instead, attack the country)

1946 - Nehru forms government in India

1957 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1962 - Stan Musial's 3,516th hit moves over Tris Speaker into 2nd place

1962 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR

1963 - Alabama Gov George C Wallace prevents integration of Tuskegee HS

1963 - CBS & NBC expand network news from 15 to 30 minutes

1964 - Keanu Reeves birthday, Beirut, "actor"

1969 - Ralph Houk signs 3-year contract to manage Yankees at $65,000 a season (think things haven't changed a lot?)
        - The first automatic teller machine (ATM) in the United States is installed in Rockville Center, New York.

1971 - Chris Evert & Jimmy Connors win their 1st US Open tennis matches (Chris who? Jimmy who?)
         - Also his, Jimmy Connors', birthday, 1952

1972 - Rod Stewart's 1st #1 hit (You Wear it Well)

1973 - J. R. R. Tolkien, British author (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings)--as if you had to ask--dies of an ulcer at 81

1982 - Rolling Stone Keith Richard's house burns down

1987 - Donald Trump takes out a full page NY Times ad lambasting Japan

1997 - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Montreal Canada on CHOM 97.7 FM (and we still haven't gotten rid of him)

2005 - Bob Denver, American actor (Gilligan of "Gilligan's Island"), dies of complications from treatment for cancer at 70
So now, get out there, kids, and enjoy your September 2nd.

Jimmy Carter, analyzing elections, needed here in the States

I've been listening to NPR this week as former President Jimmy Carter has been overseeing Egypt's elections.

Wow. What a great guy. What great work.

I don't know of another president who, once out of office, did so much for so many with his time and energies.

This is the 90th election Mr. Carter and his Foundation has overseen.

Good for him.

And in the case of each of those elections and nations having them, good for them.

But you know what?

The time has come, it seems obvious, that Mr. Carter's efforts to see to it that elections are run fairly, honestly and justly comes all the way back home to his own nation, here, in the U.S. of A.

Ever since the election of 2000, at least, when that one for our nation leader--our president--was so obviously at least manipulated, if not out-and-out stolen, it's been clear that our elections need 3rd party, unbiased oversight.

We've already got Republicans writing and passing all kinds of legislation in several states, at least, disenfranchising their citizens and possible voters. It even happened here in Kansas and Missouri.

It's been documented how African-Americans, in particular, all across Florida, had their votes ignored or thrown away, in past elections.

And now it seems to be happening yet again in Florida:

Florida telling hundreds of eligible citizens that they are ineligible to vote

Here's just four brief, different examples from the article:

- 1638 people in Miami-Dade County were flagged by the state as “non-citizens” and sent letters informing them that they were ineligible to vote.

- Of that group, 359 people have subsquently provided the county with proof of citizenship.

- Another 26 people were identified as U.S. citizens directly by the county.

- The bulk of the remaining 1200 people have simply not responded yet to a letter sent to them by the Supervisor of Elections.

We need election oversight here in the United States.

Please, Mr. President, bring your people and efforts back home where we sadly, badly need them.

Links: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/jimmy-carter-says-despite-violations-in-egypts-presidential-election-vote-acceptable/2012/05/26/gJQAtkMZsU_story.html; http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/05/27/491012/exclusive-florida-ineligible-to-vote/?mobile=nc; http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/05/27/when-you-cant-win-cheat-election-fraud-from-coast-to-coast/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_v._Gore;http://world.std.com/~cme/html/election2000.html; http://gadfly.igc.org/politics/dissent.htm;http://www.stripersonline.com/t/847402/what-if-obama-v-romney-is-bush-v-gore-close

Those 3 students released from Egypt?

One was from right here in Missouri: Mo. student gives more details on arrest in Cairo "It was the most frightening experience of my life, I believe," Derrik Sweeney said. Speaking to The Associated Press by Skype from Jefferson City, Mo., Sweeney said the evening of Nov. 20 started peacefully in Cairo, with Tahrir Square "abuzz with ideas of democracy and freedom." Who knew? Link: http://news.yahoo.com/mo-student-gives-more-details-arrest-cairo-204345883.html

THE Hallowe'en mask of the year, 2011

You either get it or you don't.

On the biggest problem of Muslims

No, the biggest problem of Muslims is not that they exist.  Don't be a hater.


The biggest problem of Muslims is that there are two sects of Muslims in the world, as we all know--Sunni and Shii'a--yet in too many countries and situations across the world, they kill each other.


Get that.


They're both Muslims.


They both have nearly identical beliefs on what they and most people, really, consider to be the most important issues in the world and life but a bit of a difference between the kind of Muslim they are and all of a sudden they can't abide the other type Muslim.


I won't go into a detailed account here of their differences but I will put this one quote up on the differences of Sunni and Shii'a Muslims:  


Sunni and Shia developed different political beliefs regarding the leadership after the death of Prophet Muhammad PBUH. All those who are in favor of Abu bakar, Umar and Ottoman ,the first three caliphs, are called Sunnis and those who believe that leadership only belonged to the family of the Prophet call themselves Shia. Shia Muslims believe that Ali was the legitimate successor and eligible as the first caliph since he was the cousin and son- in- law of the Prophet.


If you would like more information on the differences between these two types of Muslims, go to the links at bottom.


Anyway, it's insane.  It is truly insane.  It's psychotic.


Keeping all that in mind, here are some statistics on Muslims:

Islam is the world's second largest religion after Christianity. According to a 2009 demographic study, Islam has 1.57 billion adherents, making up 23% of the world population.^[1][2] 

Did you get that?  Nearly ONE QUARTER of the world's population is Muslim.  Added to that is the fact that they are also one of the fastest-growing populations of the world, too.

More:

Islam is the predominant religion in the Middle East, in northernAfrica^[3][4], and in some parts of Asia.^[5] Large communities of Muslims are also found in China, the Balkans, and Russia.^[6] Other parts of the world host large Muslim immigrant communities; inWestern Europe, for instance, Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity, though it represents less than 5% of the total population.^[7]

Approximately 50 countries are Muslim-majority.^[2] 

A demographic study conducted by the Pew Research Center in October 2009^[1][2] found that there are 1.57 billion Muslims around the world, accounting for roughly 1 in 4 people.

The vast majority of Muslims are Sunni, while an estimated 10 – 13% are Shi'a.^[2

Okay, so why do I mention this right now?  

I bring this up because of this quote below, from The New York Times "Quotation of the Day" today and because of the state of the world right now, both in some isolated countries and, more specifically, the country we just blew up and have to put back together--Iraq--and now the one we're starting to blow up--that is, Libya, as well as too much of the Middle East:

"I think all countries probably would like to see Libya remain a unified state. Having states in the region begin to break up because of internal differences is a formula for real instability in the future."  --DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT M. GATES

Looking at the "bigger picture" of the Middle East countries that are right now breaking apart--Libya, Tunisia, Bahrain, etc.--and, we hope, getting Democracy with a capital "D", at the heart of each of these countries are these Muslim people of both sects and their inability to tolerate and so, live with one another.  

I think it is incumbent on all Muslims, worldwide, to push stringently for all of them to no longer even want ill of the other sect, let alone to kill or want to kill the other, first.

That seems obvious enough but I haven't heard this happening.  I'm not aware of anyone pushing for this.

Second, I think it is also incumbent on the rest of the world--all religious and non-religious organizations, all political parties, all politicians, everyone, everywhere, to push for this one-quarter of the world's population to, again, not have it in their heads that they can or should kill or want to kill or even to wish ill on anyone in the other sect of their faith.

This needs to happen and it needs to happen immediately, ladies and gentlemen, all across the world.

It especially needs to happen in the Middle East, where their own countries need to pull together so they can form countries that works together for the benefit of all their own people and that of the world.

Any thing less is more insanity.

Links:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Muslim_population

http://islam.about.com/cs/divisions/f/shia_sunni.htm

http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-sunni-and-shia/

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&site=&source=hp&q=difference+between+sunni+and+shiia&aq=&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=b26d2f4496b7882f

Quotes of the day

“If people are not afraid of the dictatorship, that dictatorship is in big trouble.”  --Gene Sharp, author of “From Dictatorship to Democracy,” also founder of the Albert Einstein Institution


"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."  --President Franklin Delano Roosevelt


"You say you want a revolution?"  --John Lennon  


(keeping in mind, "...if you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me out.")


Have a great weekend, y'all.

For Americans now

Note to America:  Egyptians just successfully pushed their government and leaders to make sure they gave them true democracy and democratic government.

Looks like it's time for us to "walk like an Egyptian."

Just sayin'.


Enjoy your Sunday, y'all.

Next up on the "Democracy March": Algeria

You saw it here first:

Algeria braces for pro-democracy protest


ALGIERS, Algeria – Hundreds of police began taking up positions the night before a pro-democracy protest march in Algiers by militants who have vowed to defy an official ban.
 
The planned march on Saturday is aimed at pressing for reforms to push this oil- and gas-rich North African giant toward democracy.

The weeks-long uprising in Egypt that forced Hosni Mubarak to abandon the presidency after 30 years was bound to fuel the hopes of Algerians seeking change — as did the "people's revolution" in neighboring Tunisia. A month of deadly uprisings there pushed Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile Jan. 14.

However, many Algerians fear any prospect of conflict after years of a brutal insurgency by Islamist extremists that has left an estimated 200,.000 dead. There is no specific call by organizers of the protest march to oust President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

With scattered strikes and clashes, including five days of rioting in early January, the atmosphere in Algiers has been tense.

There have been numerous copy-cat suicides, and attempted suicides, in Algeria like the self-immolation attempt by a young man that set off the Tunisian protests in mid-December.

The Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, an umbrella group of human rights activists, unionists, lawyers and others, insists the march will take place despite numerous warnings by authorities to stay out of the streets.

Buses and vans filled with armed police were posted at strategic points along the march route and around Algiers, including at the "Maison de la Presse," a small village in Algiers where newspapers have their headquarters.

The daily El Watan said Friday that barrages were thrown up on roads leading to Algiers, apparently to stop busloads of potential demonstrators expected to descend on the capital.

In a clear bid to placate militants, Algerian authorities announced last week that a state of emergency in place since 1992, at the start of the Islamist insurgency, will be lifted in the "very near future." However, it maintained a ban on demonstrations in the capital. Authorities offered to allow Saturday's demonstrators to rally in a meeting hall.

The army's decision to cancel this nation's first multi-party legislative elections in January 1992 to thward a likely victory by a Muslim fundamentalist party set off the insurgency. Scattered violence continues.

It doesn't sound as though this one is going as well as the one in Egypt.

Here's hoping it goes well.


Enjoy your weekend, y'all.

Link to original post:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110212/ap_on_re_af/af_algeria_protest

And by gosh, just like that, Mubarak is out after all

Yeehaw.  Another despot bites the dust.

Democracy protests bring down Egypt's Mubarak

By Paul Schemm And Maggie Michael, Associated Press

CAIRO – Fireworks burst over Tahrir Square and Egypt exploded with joy and tears of relief after pro-democracy protesters brought down President Hosni Mubarak with a momentous march on his palaces and state TV. Mubarak, who until the end seemed unable to grasp the depth of resentment over his three decades of authoritarian rule, finally resigned Friday and handed power to the military.

"The people ousted the regime," rang out chants from crowds of hundreds of thousands massed in Cairo's central Tahrir Square and outside Mubarak's main palace several miles away in a northern district of the capital.

The crowds in Cairo, the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and other cities around the country erupted into a pandemonium of cheers and waving flags. They danced, hugged and raised their hands in prayer after Vice President Omar Suleiman made the announcement on national TV just after nightfall. Some fell to kiss the ground, and others chanted, "Goodbye, goodbye."

"Finally we are free," said Safwan Abou Stat, a 60-year-old protester. "From now on anyone who is going to rule will know that these people are great."

Okay, so question to Americans:  What are WE doing to get money--the big, ugly, corporate and wealthy people's money--out of OUR government?

What have you done lately?

To quote John Lennon:  "You say you wanna' revolution?"

Link to original post:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110211/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt

Oh, that Egyptian President quitting thing? Fugghedaboudit!

Egypt's Mubarak transfers power to vice president

By Maggie Michael, Associated Press

CAIRO – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced he is handing his powers over to his vice president, Omar Suleiman, and ordered constitutional amendments. But the move means he retains his title of president and ensures regime control over the reform process, falling short of protester demands.

Link to original story:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110210/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt

Possible great news for Egypt and Egyptians

The good news is that the reports are, this morning, that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak may resign office as soon as today.  The people, it seems, are winning.  The power is/was with the people.  That's pretty terrific.  They wanted change, they pushed for it and now it seems it's coming.

The bad?  The military is stepping in. 

CAIRO (AP)  Egypt's military announced on national television that it stepped in to "safeguard the country" and assured protesters that President Hosni Mubarak will meet their demands in the strongest indication yet that the longtime leader has lost power. In Washington, the CIA chief said there was a "strong likelihood" Mubarak will step down Thursday.

State TV said Mubarak will speak to the nation Thursday night from his palace in Cairo.

The military's dramatic announcement showed that the military was taking control after 17 days of protests demanding Mubarak's immediate ouster spiraled out of control.

We'll have to see where this goes.  That may not be a necessarily bad thing, if it's only temporary.

Additionally, there's this Vice President and former army general and intelligence chief named Sulamein who is possibly/likely taking over in which case, the people may not completely have their country back yet.  We'll have to wait this out and see if/how that works.

"...a democratic transfer of power is not what Omar Suleiman appears to have in mind.

Not only has Suleiman failed to engage seriously with any of the key demands of the opposition but he has begun to darkly warn that the "intolerable" protest action must be speedily brought to an end. And so the Administration has found itself having to scold and berate the man Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last weekend hailed as the leader to oversee the transition."

The Egyptian people made this happen, of course.  It will now be up to them to push for serious, deep change that allows them to elect their own leaders.  Their work is only just begun.

In the meantime, over here in the States, we need to push for our own change that gets us true, deep, stringent campaign finance reform so we get and keep corporate money and the wealthy people's money out of our government, along with all the lobbyists.  That and we need to shorten our election/campaign season to 3 or 6 months so it isn't also corrupted.

All that, too, is up to us to push for.

I don't see it happening any time too soon, unfortunately.

Say, what time does NASCAR start, anyway?

Link:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110210/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599204814800;_ylt=AjP7hH.sGNFmNOh1OnhPTl.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTM4cWM0c2pyBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMjEwL21sX2VneXB0BGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDNwRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDc3VsZWltYW53aGVu

Someone tell the CIA about Facebook, please

There was an article in the paper yesterday about how the CIA may have failed the country yet again.  Check it out:

US intelligence on Arab unrest draws criticism

By KIMBERLY DOZIER 

The Associated Press

3:34 p.m. Friday, February 4, 2011

WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence agencies are drawing criticism from the Oval Office and Capitol Hill that they failed to warn of revolts in Egypt and the downfall of an American ally in Tunisia.

President Barack Obama sent word to National Intelligence Director James Clapper that he was "disappointed with the intelligence community" over its failure to predict the outbreak of demonstrations would lead to the ouster of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunis, according to one U.S. official familiar with the exchanges, which were expressed to Clapper through White House staff.

There's more, too:

Senior US lawmakers questioned Thursday whether the CIA and other spy agencies had failed to give President Obama adequate warning of the crisis in Egypt...

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D.-Calif., chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said after the hearing that the intelligence community's performance was "lacking."  She said she was particularly concerned that the CIA and other agencies had ignored so-called open source intelligence on the protests, a reference to posts on Facebook and other public websites used by organizers of the massive protests.

Did you get that?

The CIA, with all their millions and millions of dollars didn't see the revolution in Egypt coming because they disallowed or ignored posts on Facebook.

Are you freaking kidding me?

And these are the rocket scientists, so to speak, who are keeping our country safe?

I don't think so.

Then, check this out:

A senior CIA official testified that spy services had warned the administration late last year that Egypt's government could fall.  "We warned of instability," said Stephanie O'Sullivan, who had been nominated to become the nation's No. 2 intelligence official.  But, she said, "we didn't know what the triggering mechanism would be."

Okay, so you wouldn't "know what the triggering mechanism would be" but once you come to that conclusion--that it's unstable--don't you keep your eyes and ears out for any and every sign it might fail?

Holy cow, people.  The CIA doesn't know to watch Facebook and Twitter.  What?  Because it's free and that couldn't possibly hold any information unless it costs millions of dollars?

Why do I not feel safe?

They didn't see the fall of the Soviet Union and other situations,now they miss this one.

What do they get right?

I'd love to know.

Link:  http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/us-intelligence-on-arab-827363.html

Egypt: Another 80-year-old dude who had to go

What is it about these 80 year olds lately?

First it was Charlie Rangel of New York.

Then it was Ike Skelton.

Now it's Hosni Mubarak.

All of them 80 year old guys trying desperately, pathetically to hang on to power for power's sake, it seems.  Or for their ego.  Or something.

I understand and I'm sympathetic to their situations because no one wants to both admit it's the end of the line, so to speak, and go away and give up power but really, you have to be realistic and each of these guys didn't face up to reality until it was forced on them.

Other notes on the Egypt situation:

--It's great that this all started with the young people in Egypt.  I love that.  It's the way it usually happens, true, but it's just reassuring to me, anyway, that the energy and ideas came from the students and young people.  I like that;

--Seeing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell agree with both Secretary of State Clinton and this Obama Administration on the whole Egypt situation is refreshing because in the first place, they are, in fact, saying what needs to be said; second, we need to stand together as a country on this and third, because it must kill him to agree with them, the pointy-headed pinhead.  (Oops, did I say that?);

--It's cool how this revolution in Egypt and the preceding one, in Tunisia, got going from Twitter and Facebook;

--At the same time, it's a bit scary that these both got going on Twitter and Facebook.  There's a bit of anarchy to it all that seems to somewhat threaten all political structures, internationally, potentially;

--Finally, Mubarak's finally appointing a Vice President in Egypt is 1)  Far too little, far too late and 2) pitiful and pathetic, really, because he appointed the former head of their intelligence agency.  That is hardly any open democracy or any good, big step in some right direction.

Charlie Rangel's and Ike Skelton's situations weren't really big deals in terms of power.

Here's hoping things go well and smoothly in Egypt, in a good, reasonably smooth transition to healthy, representative democracy.

Links:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/world/middleeast/30-egypt.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/world/middleeast/30military.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/world/middleeast/30voices.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/world/middleeast/30suleiman.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha22

We don't know our history

If you know anything of history--our history, anyone's history, really, the history of humans and humankind (I'm going to be "pc" here, live with it), you have to know that mankind has been built on the rich and wealthy--the very wealthy, frequently--taking advantage of and living on and because of, the poor and, frequently, the very poor.

If you study humankind's history, you will learn this.

Think of it--history as far back as we can go.

Go back to Egypt, Egyptians and the pyramids. Who do you think built those? We all know who did. The poor; slaves, likely.

If you've watched "The Tudors" on Showtime lately, you can see the wealthy--"Royalty"--living on and because of the poor, what we call "serfs". It still goes on today, as we all know.

Watch the series "We Shall Remain" on PBS and see if you don't see the materially and financially poor aborigines--Indigenous Americans--exploited and beaten down, killed, by people with more money and material goods.

If you've seen this other series, "Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People", you've seen how the poor were horribly expoited, again and again by corporations and the wealthy, frequently absentee owners.

Think of the Aborigines of Australia. It was the same situation. The financially poor, used, abused and thrown away by the newer, material society.

And we call that "success".

And yet we don't learn anything from this, either. We don't hold back the corporations; we don't keep the coal companies from their mountaintop removal; we don't conserve nature; we don't protect our waterways.

We don't learn that we don't need to have the wealthy continue to exploit all the rest of us, pollution or no pollution.

We don't learn.

I'll tell you, we'd better start. We'll all benefit from it.

Links:
http://www.wholeearth.com/issue/1120/book-review/270/night.comes.to.the.cumberlands
http://appalachiafilm.org/
http://www.sho.com/site/tudors/home.do