Terrorism and 9-11 Attacks – Page 5 – Glen's Parallax Perspectives

Substitute PEACE instead of our militaristic foreign policy

December 4, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The U.S.’s militaristic foreign policy does NOT work. It makes problems worse and causes more problems. It wastes money. The document linked here explains why we should replace our militaristic foreign policy with a commitment to peace, human rights, and other good things. Notes for Substituting Peace Instead of the U.S.’s Militaristic Foreign Policy Near the end of that document I explain the reasons why we should replace the U.S.’s militaristic “National Security” model with a NONVIOLENT model of “TRUE Security.” For a one-page summary distinguishing these two models, see this link: “TRUE Security TABLE” […]

PART 2 of “Choose a Better Worldview to Build a Better World”

November 30, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Our nation and world are in a horrible mess. The December 2018 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV series examines how to solve the problems. A person or an entire society has a “worldview” — a way of seeing reality — that strongly directs their behavior and public policy. The worldview that currently dominates the U.S. government and society has caused escalating greed, corruption, cruelty, oppression, war, and other bad things. Instead, we need to replace that worldview with its opposite — a worldview that is humane, compassionate, peaceful, fair to everyone, and environmentally sustainable. An unjust society seeks to […]

A psychiatrist thinks we should treat alt-right bigotry like a disease.

November 25, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The psychiatrist in the article linked at the end of this blog post thinks we should treat alt-right bigotry like a disease. This would help us understand how to use public health methodologies for a solution to alt-right bigotry.. He says alt-right bigotry is not technically a discrete medical disease, but that “there are good reasons to treat bigotry as a public health problem.” He says, “some of the approaches we take toward controlling the spread of disease may be applicable to pathological bigotry: for example, by promoting self-awareness of bigotry and its adverse health consequences.” “[W]hat if, in an […]

Outreach ideas for hard, scary issues

October 30, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

It is hard to inform and mobilize the public about hard, scary issues such as nuclear weapons, the climate crisis, and Trumpism’s escalating fascism. Typically, we throw facts at people, but people too fearful and powerless to open themselves up psychologically to hear those facts, let alone act upon them. The document I wrote and linked below can help the public empower themselves to work on serious issues, including the hardest and most frightening issues. In order to really engage the public on these hard and frightening issues, we must deliberately strategize how to address the public’s fears, feelings of […]

De-Militarize U.S. Foreign Policy

October 28, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

In 2016 I created a workshop to help people understand the U.S.’s violent foreign policy and see how we might de-militarize it. I created a handout for people to use during the workshop, and so people anywhere at any time can walk themselves through the process. Here is a link so you can do that: De-Militarize U.S. Foreign Policy — WORKSHOP Handout for Participants and Others

“Let’s Understand the Islamic Faith”

October 1, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The October 2018 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV series helps us understand the Islamic faith. Islam is the world’s second most popular religion, but most Americans who are not Muslim do not understand it. Many of the things Americans think they know about Islam are not actually true. I invite you to watch this TV interview with three knowledgeable, articulate Muslims so you will gain a clear and accurate understanding. See the link below to watch the program — and the link below that to read a thorough summary of what we said and a list of sources for […]

U.S. govt’s “best and brightest” keep pushing us into unwinnable wars

September 22, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

For many decades U.S. foreign policy has been bi-partisan, reflecting the needs of U.S. business corporations around the world, and grounded in the myth of “entitlement” and “U.S. Exceptionalism,” the notions that the U.S. is unique in history in being the world’s ultimate savior, and therefore not bound by international law, and not subject to the constraints and realities that have confined other nations that were not the one Beacon of Liberty to save the world. The elite people who have shaped U.S. foreign policy for many decades share those assumptions, even if they have educations from elite universities and […]

Larry Mosqueda’s insightful article explains the immigration crisis

July 27, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

On July 27, 2018, Larry Mosqueda published at CounterPunch his new article about the current immigration “crisis.” His article corrects the misunderstandings that are widespread throughout the U.S. government, mainstream media, and the general public. He invites us to share it with other people, so I’m sharing it with you through my blog, www.parallaxperspectives.org. You will be able to read it in the August 2018 issue of Works in Progress, Olympia’s progressive monthly newspaper. See a paper copy or www.olywip.org Here is the link to read it at CounterPunch: https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/27/on-the-origins-of-the-current-immigration-crisis-at-the-border/

Stop the Endless Wars. Repeal the 2001 AUMF.

July 27, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

For decades the Cold War allowed our nation’s militarists — and the weapons manufacturing corporations that fund them — to stampede the U.S. media and politicians and public into decades of recklessly wasteful military spending, including several wars and proxy wars and thousands of nuclear weapons. They said that this is Priority #1, so we could not afford bold efforts to end poverty, take care of the environment, or do other crucial work. When the Cold War ended, those same vested interests — our nation’s militarists and the weapons manufacturers — and conservative elements that opposed solving our nation’s social […]

U.S. Militarism Promotes Gun Violence. To reduce gun violence here, reduce military violence worldwide.

July 10, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

“Climate deniers” refuse to acknowledge the human causes of the climate crisis. Likewise some people try to blame gun violence on far-fetched causes such as popular music or pornography, even though those are common in other rich nations with very little gun violence. Deeply embedded in U.S. culture is an excessive willingness to use military violence. The U.S. has a long history of mistakenly thinking that violence solves problems. The U.S. has started wars to dominate other nations, especially since the 1898 Spanish American War. In the past 120 years the U.S. military has overthrown dozens of nations. We have […]

Trump’s military threats actually STRENGTHEN the govts of Syria, Iran, North Korea

May 26, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

When a nation is threatened with being attacked by another nation, the population rallies behind its current leader, even if that leader is bad. Syria, Iran and North Korea have bad leaders. But it is better to support a bad leader than to be conquered by the Trump and the U.S. Therefore, Trump is actually strengthening the bad governments of Syria, Iran and North Korea.

Since World War II ended, the U.S. President has gained nearly dictatorial control over foreign policy

May 26, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

It was bad enough when previous presidents were in power. But after 9-11-2001, it has gotten worse. Congress passed the “Authorization to Use Military Force” (AUMF) and keeps supporting it. This is virtually a blank check for a president to make wars or do virtually anything anywhere if it is about “fighting terrorism.” Now Trump makes the AUMF’s implications even worse. The problem is THOROUGHLY BI-PARTISAN. Senators Corker and Kaine have introduced a bill that they say would tend to solve the problem. The article at the link below says their bill would NOT solve the problem. The article also […]

We must DEBUNK “the Myth of Redemptive Violence.”

February 24, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

U.S. culture has long perpetuated what has been called “The Myth of Redemptive Violence.” Look at the plots of movies about the Wild West, about cops & robbers, about spies, etc. Nearly every movie ends with a big shoot-out in which “the good guys” use violence to defeat “the bad guys.” The U.S. assumes that our military is “the good guys” and we can use violence to defeat “the bad guys” just like in the movies. The problem is that reality does not work that way. The U.S. LOST the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Violence is also PROFOUNDLY […]

Military “solutions” are really the problem!

February 24, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Military “solutions” are really the problem! Instead of solving problems, military violence actually makes problems worse! It causes more threats to us and weakens our national security! Military violence provokes more people to want to attack the U.S.! Militarism creates new enemies faster than we can kill them. Militarism is a “domino theory” in reverse: the U.S. keeps spreading chaos into more and more countries. Sometimes high-level reports from the Pentagon and CIA conclude that militarism is doing this. (Indeed, the term “blowback” came from the CIA before Chalmers Johnson wrote a great book by that title.) Since 9-11-2001 the […]

“Pakistan: What Are the Realities?”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s June 2010 TV program is about Pakistan. The US war in Iraq seems to have dropped out of the news, but are those problems really solved? Or has a sleight-of-hand maneuver of public relations trickery shifted our attention from the “bad” war in Iraq to the “good” war in Afghanistan? And why has the US war in Afghanistan escalaated into Pakistan, where the US is attacking people – including many innocent civilians – in a country that is supposed to be our ally? The American people are long overdue in understanding Pakistan and the realities […]