BROUGHT TO YOU BY SNOWWOWL.COM A NON-COMMERCIAL NATIVE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL WEBSITE

Groupthink New To This Country? July 26, 2004 Susan Bates

I recently read an article written by Barbara Ehrenreich and published in the NY Times, in which she said that the phenomenon called "groupthink" is the reason for the Iraqui war. Citing standardized school tests and the concept of team players, Ms Ehrenreich says she blames the events of 9/11 for the current outbreak of "groupthink." She further says that "this nation was not founded by habitual groupthinkers. But it stands a fair chance of being destroyed by them. " Here I beg to differ. "Groupthink" was alive and well when the first white colonists stepped off the ships. Believing in the concept of Manifest Destiny is what gave these intruders the "permission from God" to kill as many of the "Heathen Savages" as they could in order to possess the land and untold riches the inhabitants of this paradise possessed. How else can you justify the burning alive of helpless women and children locked in a church? Or priests passing out smallpox infected blankets so whole villages would be wiped out? We talk about the horrors of the Jewish concentration camps of World War II. but the models for those camps were the concept of Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal policies. Tiny babies were declared prisoners of war and imprisoned along with their families and forced to march on the "Trail Where They Cried." I know there were many people who hated what was happening, but they weren't strong enough to overcome "groupthink." Standing up for one's beliefs is hard - especially if they go against mainstream thinking. (I saw a statistic that said approximately 50% of the whistleblowers in this country lose their jobs.) But letting others think for you is downright dangerous. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> With God on Our Side by Bob Dylan Oh my name it is nothin' My age it means less The country I come from Is called the Midwest. I's taught and brought up there The laws to abide And that land that I live in Has God on its side. Oh the history books tell it They tell it so well The cavalries charged The Indians fell The cavalries charged The Indians died Oh the country was young With God on its side. Oh the Spanish-American War had its day And the Civil War too Was soon laid away And the names of the heroes I's made to memorize With guns in their hands And God on their side. Oh the First World War, boys It closed out its fate The reason for fighting I never got straight But I learned to accept it Accept it with pride For you don't count the dead When God's on your side. When the Second World War Came to an end We forgave the Germans And we were friends Though they murdered six million In the ovens they fried The Germans now too Have God on their side. I've learned to hate Russians All through my whole life If another war starts It's them we must fight To hate them and fear them To run and to hide And accept it all bravely With God on my side. But now we got weapons Of the chemical dust If fire them we're forced to Then fire them we must One push of the button And a shot the world wide And you never ask questions When God's on your side. In a many dark hour I've been thinkin' about this That Jesus Christ Was betrayed by a kiss But I can't think for you You'll have to decide Whether Judas Iscariot Had God on his side. So now as I'm leavin' I'm weary as Hell The confusion I'm feelin' Ain't no tongue can tell The words fill my head And fall to the floor If God's on our side He'll stop the next war. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

RETURN TO SUSAN BATES PAGE