By Nico Rahim

I love the United States of America.  I love the people, I love the land.  From the densely populated coasts—both of which I have lived in for some time—to the barren landscapes of the interior and far north.  I love that I can say “Fuck George W. Bush!” in print or in the streets without finding my life in grave danger or imprisoned for my political views (at least long term, police like handing charges for disorderly conduct that require a petty fine).  Sure, I might be put on a government list and illegally wiretapped, but try telling Hu Jintao to fuck off in Beijing or Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, you’ll be liable to get run over by a tank and erased from history.

People who read this publication may find the views to be radical; I find them to be common sense.  To many they may be radical simply because they are views contrary to those they are continually exposed to by the mainstream media.  On the other hand, to many self-proclaimed radicals my professed love for the United States may be taken as a betrayal to any sort of revolutionary movement.  

Just as you can’t choose your family, you cannot choose the country you are born into, and like one’s genetic make up being fully determined by one’s unchosen parents, one’s social conditioning is largely determined by their unchosen country.  I’m an American.  Sure, I may have an Arab last name and no one in my family came to the New World before 1900, but a denial of country—while not being a total denial of self—would be a denial of my history.

Half my fellow country men and women voted for George W. Bush in the last election, against their best interests—but I hold no personal spite toward them—I  mean—shit—these people are my parents.  You want change?  Do you want something better?  Then stop saying “no” and start saying “yes.” 

People can read Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States and think that America was founded by a bunch of chauvinistic, elitist, racist assholes—all of which may be true—but taking up arms against the crown and establishing something resembling a democracy was no small feat.  There are many skeletons in American history, but at least most are not in the closet.  I will not say no to the past but say yes to the present.  There is no point to history other than what we make of it.  Hegel’s Spirit of History is only an individual’s spirit—greatly influenced by an individual’s social conditioning—projecting itself on a sequence of past events.