A lot of folks have asked me to weigh in on the Trayvon Martin case.
But there’s not much to say, really.
Guilty or not guilty, violence, racism, and intolerance will not go gently into that good night. Not here, not anywhere.
Don’t kid yourself; the United States does not have a monopoly on these types of things.
In any event, it doesn’t matter what I think about this case. A young boy is dead and our nation is more divided than ever…
Although the amount of media this particular case received has really surprised me, and it got me thinking: “What if the media covered other worthwhile news stories they way they covered the Zimmerman trial?”
What If…
There’s no doubt in my mind that mainstream media sources are little more than tools of the establishment.
They facilitate the illusion of democracy by choosing sides, right vs. left, and pinning the two against each other.
It makes for great television, and it certainly puts the asses in the seats and money in the bank.
But what if the media, just over the past few weeks, had covered some other pressing events instead of the Zimmerman trial?
What if the media covered the connection between the White House and Monsanto like they did the Zimmerman trial?
Instead of a hooded black kid getting shot by a wannabe vigilante with a hard-on for Charles Bronson movies, the media focused on the president of the United States and his connection with a company that is slowly destroying our ability to protect and preserve the soils in which we grow our food?
The same company that “accidentally” contaminated wheat crops to the point where it’s no longer being accepted by some of this nation’s largest trading partners, thereby costing American farmers millions in lost business… the same company that bullies small family farmers with armies of lawyers and teams of cockroach lobbyists…
What if the media covered the hundreds of Americans being shot or killed every single day by an unethical drug war like they did the Zimmerman trial?
George Zimmerman was charged with killing a 17-year-old boy. Do you know how many 17-year-old boys are murdered every single day in this country as a result of what has now become a more than $1 trillion war on drugs?
And what about the corrupt private prison companies?
The corporations that make billions of dollars off the backs of taxpayers by going out of their way to incarcerate as many Americans as possible, regardless of whether or not they are guilty or innocent?
What if the media gave the same amount of attention to each individual soldier who has been killed in the Middle East over some bullshit war that never should’ve been started in the first place, much less continued under this administration?
Well, they couldn’t do that. There simply isn’t enough time in the day.
And that alone is a tragedy of massive proportions.
Seven Dangers to Human Virtue
Of course, I don’t mean to trivialize the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Such a tragic death of an American citizen is not something that should just be shrugged off.
But as the debates and hateful rhetoric from both sides continue to fan the flames of intolerance, other Americans are being slaughtered. Whether these deaths are drug-related, health-related, or war-related, no loss of life should be boiled down to a simplistic debate on a cable “news” show.
Although these days, it seems that’s all we get — almost in an effort to get us to accept immorality as the cultural norm.
Hey, it brings in advertisers, that’s for sure. And certainly oppressive governments find it hard to thrive where morality is expected and embraced.
So maybe one way to fight tyranny is by valuing all life while steering clear of what Mahatma Gandhi called the seven dangers to human virtue:
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Wealth without work
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Pleasure without conscience
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Knowledge without character
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Business without ethics
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Science without humanity
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Religion without sacrifice
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Politics without principle
Just something to think about the next time you find yourself pulled into a debate over the next heavily publicized tragedy designed to divide us instead of unite us.
Live honorably, live free…
Jeff Siegel for Freedom Watch
