Unlikely 2.0


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Editors' Notes

Maria Damon and Michelle Greenblatt
Jim Leftwich and Michelle Greenblatt
Sheila E. Murphy and Michelle Greenblatt

A Visual Conversation on Michelle Greenblatt's ASHES AND SEEDS with Stephen Harrison, Monika Mori | MOO, Jonathan Penton and Michelle Greenblatt

Letters for Michelle: with work by Jukka-Pekka Kervinen, Jeffrey Side, Larry Goodell, mark hartenbach, Charles J. Butler, Alexandria Bryan and Brian Kovich

Visual Poetry by Reed Altemus
Poetry by Glen Armstrong
Poetry by Lana Bella
A Eulogic Poem by John M. Bennett
Elegic Poetry by John M. Bennett
Poetry by Wendy Taylor Carlisle
A Eulogy by Vincent A. Cellucci
Poetry by Vincent A. Cellucci
Poetry by Joel Chace
A Spoken Word Poem and Visual Art by K.R. Copeland
A Eulogy by Alan Fyfe
Poetry by Win Harms
Poetry by Carolyn Hembree
Poetry by Cindy Hochman
A Eulogy by Steffen Horstmann
A Eulogic Poem by Dylan Krieger
An Elegic Poem by Dylan Krieger
Visual Art by Donna Kuhn
Poetry by Louise Landes Levi
Poetry by Jim Lineberger
Poetry by Dennis Mahagin
Poetry by Peter Marra
A Eulogy by Frankie Metro
A Song by Alexis Moon and Jonathan Penton
Poetry by Jay Passer
A Eulogy by Jonathan Penton
Visual Poetry by Anne Elezabeth Pluto and Bryson Dean-Gauthier
Visual Art by Marthe Reed
A Eulogy by Gabriel Ricard
Poetry by Alison Ross
A Short Movie by Bernd Sauermann
Poetry by Christopher Shipman
A Spoken Word Poem by Larissa Shmailo
A Eulogic Poem by Jay Sizemore
Elegic Poetry by Jay Sizemore
Poetry by Felino A. Soriano
Visual Art by Jamie Stoneman
Poetry by Ray Succre
Poetry by Yuriy Tarnawsky
A Song by Marc Vincenz


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If Bush or Guiliani Had Been Stoltenberg
by David Swanson

The murder spree in Norway was apparently the work of a Norwegian, not a group of foreigners, and for various other reasons the comparison is not exact. Nonetheless, it's tempting to wonder how many people would still be alive today if George W. Bush or Rudy Giuliani had spoken after the 9-11 attacks as Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg just did.

You'll recall that Bush immediately spoke of a "war against terrorism," claimed to have been attacked for being a beacon of freedom, announced that we were all filled with anger, and decreed that we would make no distinction between terrorists and "those who harbored them." "The people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!" he promised.

Now take a 60-second tour of an alternative universe by substituting "the United States" for "Norway" in Stoltenberg's remarks:

"Today the United States was hit by two shocking and bloody and cowardly attacks. We still do not know who attacked us; much is still uncertain. But we know that many are dead and injured. We are all shocked at the evil that has struck us so brutally and so suddenly. This night demands much of all of us. And the days that follow will demand even more. We are prepared to face up to this. The United States hangs together during critical times. We mourn our dead, we suffer with the injured, and we comfort relatives. This is about attacks on innocent civilians. . . . An attack on all of us. I have a message to the people who attacked us, and those behind them. This is a message from all of the United States: You will not destroy us. You will not destroy our democracy nor our quest for a better world. We are a small nation, but we are a proud nation. No one shall bomb us into silence or shoot us into silence. Nothing will frighten us out of being the United States. This night we will comfort each other, talk with each other, and stand together. Tomorrow we will show the world that the United States' democracy grows stronger when it is challenged. We shall find the guilty and hold them responsible. The important thing tonight is to save lives, to care for the victims and their loved ones. I would like to state my recognition for the work of the police, the medics, and all the other people who currently do such formidable work to help others, healing injures and saving lives. We must never cease to stand up for our values. We have to show that our open society can pass this test, too, and that the answer to violence is even more democracy, even more humanity, but never naïveté. That is what we owe to the victims and to the those they hold dear."

Imagine.

Not "we will destroy you," but "you will not destroy us."

Imagine opposing fear rather than celebrating it.

Imagine proposing more democracy rather than working "in the shadows" with "the gloves off."

Now, I know that Norway is taking part in illegal U.S.-led wars. I know the Nobel Committee went to Oslo and gave a peace prize to a warmonger. I know that once foreigners had been ruled out as culprits, President Bill Clinton went and gave a decent speech in Oklahoma City. There is much to praise and condemn on both sides of the pond.

But Norway, with less wealth than ours, cares for its people. It has a higher life expectancy and a higher living standard. I don't mean for the private-jet-to-summer-camp set. I mean for everyone. Norway has healthcare, retirement security, vacation and parental leave, and firmly protected rights in and out of the workplace. And it responds to national trauma with relative sanity.

My grandmother could speak Norwegian. I've visited my extended family there. I have to wonder with embarrassment and shame what got lost in the emigration. Should the Statue of Liberty be shipped over to Scandinavia at this point? There's a difference between blaming wars on mythical hatred of freedom and actually being free.


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David Swanson is the author of War Is A Lie and Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org and works for the online activist organization RootsAction.org.


Comments (closed)

Rose
2011-08-01 17:25:20

Norways per acpita income is one of the highest in the world.
It's funny when you say Norway cares for its people. obviously there was some sort of disconnect when getting mental health care for Anders Breivik. His father had not seen him in quite some time and it seems that he spent much time alone. Also in the text a mother sent to her daughter who survived the attacks, she mentioned how norwegians seldom say "i love you" and how "clever Americans were for saying that and how she was going to say that more often. Seems the two countries have much to learn from each other.

Michael
2011-08-08 18:50:20

Rose said: "His father had not seen him in quite some time and it seems that he spent much time alone."

So what? The same thing can be said of millions of people worldwide, but it doesn't make them mass murderers. You can't blame the state of Norway for not *intervening* and providing mental healthcare to a man because he spends time alone and doesn't often see his father.

Sounds like a nightmare society.