After I posted the previous message, I remembered a few incidents that will
help illustrate the situation in the US for our non-US list members. If you
have a recording of the theme music from "The Twilight Zone" television
show, it would be apropos to play it while reading these accounts:
A couple of years ago I took a taxi downtown (in Fairbanks) to go shopping,
as my truck was in the shop for repairs. I struck up a conversation with
the driver, who was convinced that United Nations troops were preparing to
invade and take over the United States to make it a part of the "New World
Order" one-world government. He pointed to the marker decals on the reverse
sides of road signs, which he claimed were markers that the UN troops would
use to navigate during their invasion.
He lamented the fact that there were so many "faggots" (homosexuals) in the
US military that they would be unable to repel the UN invasion, and he
expressed anger at gun control advocates, who he accused of trying to disarm
Americans so that we couldn't resist the UN occupation. He said that he
planned to destroy road signs when the invasion began, to confuse the
invading UN troops.
Instead of laughing or getting angry, I asked him two questions that gave
him pause. "Why do you assume a global government would be tyrannical?
What would be so bad about a one-world government that was *of* the people
of the world, *by* the people of the world and *for* the people of the
world? If we all worked together as fellow Terrans, there would be
virtually no problem we could not solve." I could have knocked him over
with a feather, as his thesis had always been: one-world government =
totalitarian superstate. He flinched and then said: "Gosh, I never thought
of it that way." I then pointed out that democracy is spreading around the
world, which is encouraging trade in ideas as well as goods. "If a
one-world government is ever established," I said, "It will be because the
citizens of the democratic nations want it, not because their governments
force it upon them."
During the 1998 "Golden Days" festival, I had a booth set up in the town
square. I had interesting conversations with two rather bizarre locals.
One was an (American) Indian who was a very devout christian. He was
warning people about the "Grays" (the alien beings from outer space who are
supposedly visiting our planet in UFOs). "Them grays ain't from outer
space, that's just what they want you to believe. They're really demons
from hell!" As he walked away to spread his warning elsewhere, I thought to
myself: "If they exist, I hope for their sake that they never land in HIS
back yard..."
The other village oddity was a grizzled old man who found it very
significant that Michael Kennedy (a relative of Senator Edward Kennedy) and
California Congressman Sonny Bono (a pop music star turned politician) had
both died in skiing accidents within just a few months of each other. He
was convinced that their deaths were the result of some dark conspiracy. He
almost whispered (after looking around to make sure no one was within
earshot), "First Kennedy dies skiing, then Bono gets killed skiing too.
What do you think caused that?" I replied, "Uh, maybe they were both lousy
skiiers?" and laughed. At that, he angrily skulked off.
During the Y2K preparations last year, Jim Bohannon received many disturbing
telephone calls on his national radio program. Many people were convinced
that President Clinton planned to use the expected chaos as an excuse to
declare martial law, while others believed it would be the opening for UN
troops to take over the country. One memorable caller told Jim that he was
clearing away the shrubbery around his house to prepare for Y2K. Puzzled,
Jim asked what that had to do with Y2K. The caller replied, "I'm making a
clear field of fire so I can see to shoot my neighbors if they try to come
and steal my food." Jim was simultaneously shocked and amused at his
comment, and he used it as an example for the rest of 1999 when he appealed
for calm.
I'm not saying that most Americans harbour such weird beliefs, but a sizable
number of them do. The fact that such nonsensical ideas can take root here
is evidence that our educational system is in sad shape. Those of us in the
metrication cause have our work cut out for us!
Jason
