August 18, 2001

So today, I'm at home vegetating on the couch for about four hours, goofed up on Advil, ½ reading The Reader & ½ watching this crazy British Sci-Fi show called Ultraviolet that was actually surprisingly good, when I hear the Air Force swinging its dick around outside my window. Even with brief thunderstorms, the show must go on. It's the annual Chicago Air & Water Show. Which I refuse to see. I don't want to contribute to the glorification of these weapons of death.

I imagine that if you were able to listen to all the conversations of all the people who went to see the show, the most overheard word would probably be "awesome." It's all about the Power. The Speed. The Noise. That's Awesome. "Awesome" is an old testament kinda world associated with a Vengeful God. The word "Awesome" originally meant inspiring Dread or Terror. It then evolved to mean inspiring a mixture of Dread, Veneration and Wonder. "Awesome" also signifies submission and fear caused by authority or power.

Well, I am not in awe of these machines. I hate them. They should not be entertainment. And the act of paying fealty to these machines is just good old brainwashing. To make people proud of "American" power. To impress them with technology. Forget the death. Death is hidden behind clean sparkly surfaces. Overhead, flies Power. The audience is beneath, submitting. The military is God. We kneel beneath Him; we pay homage to His power. It's an S&M bondage fantasy.

I'd be all for this tax-cut (or a more progressive version of it) if the money was taken directly out of the military budget instead of where it's going to be: Human Services. Future generations are going to pay for it. If there are many future generations to come. It's long been time to re-focus from war to peace. From U.S. Vigilanteism to U.N. peacekeeping. We should be spending on SIDS not SDI.