inafa'maolek part 2
There are two parts of our consciousness on Guam which must be gotten rid of. 1. That we are isolated. 2. That we are too small.
While most people will state this things as if they are detatched unquestionable facts, the acceptance of these things feeds forcefully into the limiting ways we see ourselves on Guam.
These two points come from centuries of colonization by at least three imperial powers, Spain, Japan and the United States.
The by product of most colonial missions, is the indoctrination of the colonized with not just feelings of inferiority, but crucial needs and desires to depend on the colonizer. So on Guam, we see ourselves as being very very small, very very far away, therefore the only real way that we see ourselves connected with the rest of the world, is through the United States.
But because this relationship, this connection isn't innocent, but instead part of our colonial and colonizing relationship, it helps us see this connectedness in very specific and narrow ways. So the military? HUNGGAN! Connected, firmly and proudly!
But what about the fact that the United States is the largest polluting country in the world and is leading the industrial world's efforts to globally warm the world? Global warming is leading to the slow by steady melting of the earth's icecaps, which puts places like Guam and other islands (in particular atolls) in serious danger.
All the talk about dependency on the military, the desperate need for it, conjures up conversations about Guam's survival. Isn't this issue just as pertinent? Isn't this about Guam's survival too? We aren't, however supposed to see this. As a colony, we are socialized to perceive ourselves in relation to the colonizer in certain ways, and while we can react and resist, few people on Guam today seem willing too.
But then in another way, the fact that human beings can separate the possible social and environmental consequences of their actions from its economic bounty is just another testiment to the power of modernity!
While most people will state this things as if they are detatched unquestionable facts, the acceptance of these things feeds forcefully into the limiting ways we see ourselves on Guam.
These two points come from centuries of colonization by at least three imperial powers, Spain, Japan and the United States.
The by product of most colonial missions, is the indoctrination of the colonized with not just feelings of inferiority, but crucial needs and desires to depend on the colonizer. So on Guam, we see ourselves as being very very small, very very far away, therefore the only real way that we see ourselves connected with the rest of the world, is through the United States.
But because this relationship, this connection isn't innocent, but instead part of our colonial and colonizing relationship, it helps us see this connectedness in very specific and narrow ways. So the military? HUNGGAN! Connected, firmly and proudly!
But what about the fact that the United States is the largest polluting country in the world and is leading the industrial world's efforts to globally warm the world? Global warming is leading to the slow by steady melting of the earth's icecaps, which puts places like Guam and other islands (in particular atolls) in serious danger.
All the talk about dependency on the military, the desperate need for it, conjures up conversations about Guam's survival. Isn't this issue just as pertinent? Isn't this about Guam's survival too? We aren't, however supposed to see this. As a colony, we are socialized to perceive ourselves in relation to the colonizer in certain ways, and while we can react and resist, few people on Guam today seem willing too.
But then in another way, the fact that human beings can separate the possible social and environmental consequences of their actions from its economic bounty is just another testiment to the power of modernity!
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