An Act of Patriotism?

In the 21st century, cloning is the least of our worries. Rather, are we molded in the image of the BIA or worse — gasp! — ourselves?

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By Garrett Brennan Stewart

The Culture, (speaking as an individual in regards to my tribe, the Diné), has been manipulated to fit the 20th Century U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs mold, which has apparently warped the basic idea of "Culture" in this, the year 2003 CE; which has rended it more an extension of Societal Hierarchy in subservience to the greater Structure, the United States of Amerika, than an autonomous, dare I say Anarcharial Philosophy in which one's actions are their responsibility, in the form of them as individuals, their families, or Clans, and most importantly, NO flags of legalese to hide behind (Nationalism).

Nationalism takes the most basic form of solidarity, Regional identity (location and Ideology) and weaves every living, breathing human being; whether they be man, woman, or child capable of their own Definition of Life, into a primary colored flag where lines are drawn for the sake of those at the top; in our case, National Capitalist Amerika; the whims of Corporate Conglomorance, where the Federal Government acts the "buffer" for those that really run this country.

Believers of National Sentiment among my tribe is about the national average of 90 percent. So if you read this and say to yourself, "That ungrateful bastard! Talkin' Trash about my Country! My Identity!" Then, I feel bad for you. For it's my assertion--as with other folks who are mislabelled as Commies or Liberals, fringe cultists, or disgruntled Tupperware salespeople -- that the racial ethnicities within the Regions that make up the Nation in question (pick one, for they all stand for the same basic Idea: Control) are too complex to be categorized callously as "Products" of their particular State, Region, or Nation; let alone be viewed/controlled by another's definition of "Politics" or "Sovereignty" as demographic cattle.

I dunno, maybe I'm giving Humanity way too much credit as a being which can outgrow the need for the security blanket and fighting over who makes the school yard rules in this, the McGlobal Village.

I guess the ideas for such linear generalization(s) of what we call Identity stem for the basic need to simplify a problem ,which paradoxically, makes it more complex than it really is, or what it appears to be.

Post script: This is a first in a continuation of social observations of Postmodern Life on the Rez, where the issue of Identity or Perception thereof, dictates the fate of a nation within a nation in Decline...who better than the janitor to know a mess before it happens?

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About the author
Stewart, 4/4 Navajo ("Better Red Than Dead"), is an Artist by Day and a Janitor by Night. His higher works can be viewed at www.geocities.com/hooghanhozhoni

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