When I do think about the Terrorist actions of 9/11 and even the recent bombing of a building in England, I first think that it is easy to understand the activities of the bombers. They are motivated by some powerful emotional forces. Among them, there is the religious assertion, that they are doing an act that will bring them to heaven; their minds are under the influence of ancient prejudices and bigotries. Another motivation, one that seems a thousand times more just and sufficient, is the understanding that the United States and other Western nations have soldiers on the homeland of their sacred ground. They feel that their home is the land that rightfully belongs to the people who have lived there for over ten thousand years. And it is this land that is being violated by alliances and aid given to Israel, U.S. or U.N. interference, or by exploiting the people for their labor and natural resources. In the past, the United States and other Western nations sold weapons and arms to the one part of the Middle East's population that had the worst intentions for the region. The fanatics and suicide bombers were given their ammunition from the United States. And after all these years, the United States goes back in, to claim territory and oil from a dictatorship that it was responsible for setting up. Of course the bombers, the terrorists, and the international soldiers have a fine reason to detest the United States and its government.

     The games the governments of the world have been playing have gone on for thousands and thousands of years. In the past, the United States sent its soldiers and troops to die in a foreign country simply so they could declare defense as an act of war. That was the case in the Mexican-American War, as well as the Spanish American War of 1898. Manifest Destiny is a philosophy that has created slavery and destroyed indigenous people. World War 1 was caused by a bunch of bureaucratic European states squabbling amongst each other over old prejudices and slanted opinions. It was caused by the violent treaties they agreed to and the ability of the government to force young men in to war. To end the so-called Great War, the war that was to end all wars, a treaty was created by Western powers and Germany was forced to sign it. The economic and political sanctions that were put on this country were so unjust, cruel, and oppressive, that it was the cause for some people uniting and forming a Fascist government. That would be the cause of World War 2. In Vietnam, Cuba, and Iraq, it was the same story: the United States government created an antagonism or conflict with the indigenous people, and then used their reaction to that attack as the excuse for invasion. And every time, we always find out ten to twenty years later that the government had ill intentions. It was not really about creating liberty for these people, because right now after U.S. intervention, they are the slaves to Nike and Adidas factories. What the governments of the world have been doing for centuries seems to surprise the people of today. It's a simple pattern that just a brief understanding of history will confirm. The governments will always oppose the will of the people; it will always work to bend and otherwise subvert their intentions.

     What is it that motivates governments to military efforts? What is the intention of those who wage war and ask for confidence in their battles? We all hear their words, we all see their posters; every one of us is witness to the massive program of propaganda that the government has underway, in the form of centralized control of major media outlets and book distributors. There is a ruling class that demands these wars. It is the most privileged caste of our social strata that supports these wars. They are the ones who receive an enormous amount of slave labor, forced through economic treaties and totalitarian governments. Vast quantities of oil, land, ores, timber, and other natural resources are freed up from international embargos. There are new sources of labor and capital to be exploited, at the cost of the people and the environment. What the natural inhabitants once called home for forty thousand years is now called "annexed territory" by the invading force. Has a war ever done anything for poverty? Has a battle ever hindered world hunger? Wars have destroyed homes, businesses, schools, hospitals, museums, libraries, everything. And as these things are necessary for the day-to-day existence of modern society, war has done much to create social ills and increase poverty. With a new and near endless supply of cheap labor, jobs are outsourced and the western working class sinks lower and lower in to Capitalist slavery. The observant mind will see clearly that to go to war with another nation is to aid in the destruction of your own people and culture. The state, in declaring war and raising legions upon legions, is only serving its own interests, that is, the interests of the ruling and authority class. The government works hand in hand with big business and corporate interests when it comes to setting economic policy. And for this reason, the world has always suffered. Our people have died in foreign wars, and the survivors come home to a very painful economic recession.

     With this kind of activity on part of the United States, there is no difficulty to see why our reputation is so disrespected in the international community. That is not to say that other nations are innocent and have no blood on their hands. On the contrary, every state, whether European or American or Asian, will always be guilty of these crimes against humanity. While the Terrorists of 9/11 and other bombings had plenty of reason to be agitated by the activities of the American military, I still have somber feelings when I think about the bombings they committed. I can imagine myself in the place of any of those Americans being killed in those massive explosions. I can see myself saying, "This is not my time. I am not ready to die now. There is so much that was awaiting me in my life." I can imagine everyone else in that building feeling and saying the same things. I can see them all unsure of what to do, knowing that they are condemned to death, and knowing also that there is no escape. We will all be consumed in flames and ash as we die side by side with complete strangers who are doomed to the same fate. I can feel their terror. And if I were to die in their place, and while I may be unsure of what I should do in my last few moments of life, I know that I wouldn't want my memory to be used as a reason to bomb others. I would be horrified by the cruel patterns of human behavior if the attack was used as a reason to launch another attack against many other buildings, killing thousands of innocents and destroying millions of homes. Yet, that is what is happening. Civil Rights are curtailed, our basic freedoms are under attack by congress everyday, and these deceptive policies are crept in to office under the guise of Patriotism: to desire that which is beneficial to your people and to no other people.

     Patriotism is the religion of the state. It teaches citizens to become self-sacrificing to accomplish the needs of the state. The interest of the government in military efforts becomes synonymous with the interests of the people. To invade a foreign land and destroy a foreign people, and to be slain by your sworn foe in defense of your government's war, becomes the highest form of virtue. These are the conditions of a nation engulfed in the passions and prejudices of Nationalism. The more I investigate the literature, the art, the poetry, the music, the culture and ideas of different people, the more I am convinced that there are no true fundamental differences between nationalities and races. The same passions that give birth to our intentions in America are not essentially different at the core than the passions of other nations or cultures. Do the poets of other lands write with a much different heart than our own poets? If an artist comes from a different region of the world than you, does that mean his artwork has no relation to the artwork of your own people? When we look at these different cultures, do we find that their romantic relationships are devoid of compassion, that their fathers and mothers have no affection for their children? Are there not class and social conflicts in these foreign lands, just as there are here? In times of war, the leaders of these nations send their poor to die in battlefields so that the rich can subsidize the wealth of the new country. In so many ways, all human beings of all cultures demonstrate the same patterns of human behavior. All of this understood, how could we ever say that we should value our own nation over another? Why should we unite as people arbitrarily born in one country? Why are we not uniting as people of this planet, working together and cooperatively, in order to eliminate all socials and poverty?

     The guise of Patriotism is ushered in to all the pews of civilians of a particular nation, in order to motivate them to hatred of other people and love of their own people. Patriotism puts people against each other. It creates conflict, battle, war, pain, death, misery. It has never been the prophet of better times. In no instance has love of one's country ended war or helped to end poverty and world hunger. Patriotism has always been the precursor to so much pain. And for this reason, I think it must be eliminated among the common people. The spirit of Nationalism is promoted in newspapers, magazines, television, and in every form and mode of public communication. To love one's own people, as the greatest example of good citizenry to the world, is an idea that is associated with justice, peace, and equity. But there has never been a politician who said, "Let us work together as Americans, to end poverty," or "Let us work together, as a single nation, to harmonize world relations." The only message that has accompanied Patriotism is the idea of militarization and destroying the way of life for a different people. This sense is giving to the public not for its own benefit. It never comes with the intentions of motivating public spirit to solve its own problems of crime or disease. It only comes as an enemy of the public, to give them the disgusting intentions of causing death and misery for another people. And to fulfill this disregard for other cultures, the public sacrifices its young sons and its endless labor, so that "our flag earns its glory." This sight is simply one of disgust.

     What are we fighting and dying for? That is the question that many ask when it comes to any sort of armed conflict. The governors and rulers of the state know this. And they will always provide you with the greatest reasons for waging war. We are always told by our elected officials that we are engaging in war as a defensive measure; it will help protect us from the enemies of our way of life. Of course our government will feed these lies to the people. The people themselves have been humanized by art and liberated by their right to opinion and thought. While they might have their slights, their faults, their errors, I can certainly agree with they have become a great deal more humane and open-minded than our situation one thousand years ago. All governments always have the desire to motivate these people to war and armed confrontation, advocating thousands of deaths of people in a foreign land. And to realize this desire, the governments have always started and encouraged wars on the basis of accomplishing justice or removing some foreign tyrant. We are all aware of the interests of the ruling class. The politician is cheap: he is subservient to the will and power of money interests. His vision of his country is determined by the information and ideas fed to him by the highest wealth-owning groups. They will separate themselves off as an individual class, and they will force politicians to promote the interests of this high class, as though they were the interests of the people. The great wonderful republic that has been prophesized by our philosophers has been turned in to the plutocracy, of the wealthy class holding its power over the struggling people. What is the cause of war? It is the over ambitious political party that has power over the government and holds the people in its debilitating paralysis called Patriotism.

     The governments of the world engage in war solely for conquest. When there is a defense of a country, it is most often initiated and maintained by the people. If there should ever be a doubt to the truth of these two principles, then I ask the reader to examine the result of all the wars. Once a nation has conquered another territory, by conquest and threats of violence, does it liberate its people and deliver them away from poverty? Examine the case of the British Empire and its dominion over India. It is a history of thousands of people killed, beaten, and tortured in public by British soldiers, and it is the story of their revolt against their oppressor, led by Gandhi. Examine also the case of the United States government, and its dealings in the slave trade of Africa. Did the state exploit Africa by enslaving its population? Using some argument about "the greater good," our philosopher-kings explained to us why our ideas were wrong and theirs were right. Once out of slavery, did the government treat the members of the African race with kindness, decency, and justice? Certainly not. It was the long struggle of Martin Luther King and so many other fighters against the government that won the rights and liberty of the people. And today, whenever our leaders and our rulers speak, whenever the columns of authority shake, we are told that our wars and government are for upholding justice, and not undermining it. But our history books always tell us, that it is only the governments that set up slaveries, hand in hand with the wealth-owning class, and it is always the people who must rise up and fight against the government, so that they can have a true liberty. After every suppression of public spirit, the government comes back, and attempts to establish itself as a supporter of these public ideals, but their interests are always the same.

     I remember someone once telling me that war was responsible for solving "Communism, Fascism, Nazism, and dictatorships." As far as for "solving Communism," I can only assume that this person meant Imperialist Communist nations, such as the U.S.S.R.. First, there was no war that caused the U.S.S.R. to fall. Second, the Statist Communist nations like Cuba and China are indeed changing their cultural and social ideas, but this change was not instigated by any war. And third, genuine Communism implies the abolition of the state, and the creation of mutual social relationships. It is the solution, not the problem. In regards to "war solving Fascism," or Nazism, I think the reverse statement is true: Fascism is the cause of war. The leaders of that movement, Hitler, Franco, Hirohoto, and Mussolini, worked along the principle of using military and racial pride in order to create a luxurious and nationalistic empire. In contrast, Fascism is not solved by war; it creates war. And, as far as war being responsible for abolishing Dictatorships, this statement is generally untrue. Good, peace-loving people can never advocate war. It is always the brutish, unfriendly dictators of enslaved communities that push for military action. It is by coercing the public in to fighting for corporate wealth that allowed for dictatorships to thrive and grow. Again, we find that dictatorships are not eliminated by wars, but they produce them. In every military effort, there is first a war on the people of the imperialist government, to hinder those who would support peace efforts, and to arrest any who refuse to serve their country by murder. Once the will of the people has been enslaved, they are marched in to war, to fight and die for a cause never explained to them.