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The Zeitgeist Movement

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Response to the Media

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'Death of Osama Bin Laden'

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On May 1, 2011

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Pres. Barack Obama appeared on national television

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with the spontaneous announcement that Osama bin Laden,

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the purported organizer of the tragic events of September 11th 2001,

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was killed by military forces in Pakistan.

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Within moments, a media blitz ran across virtually all

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television networks, in what could only be described

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as a grotesque celebratory display,

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reflective of a level of emotional immaturity

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that borders on cultural psychosis.

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Depictions of people running through the streets of New York

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and Washington, chanting jingoistic American slogans,

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waving their flags like the members of some cult,

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praising the death of another human being,

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reveals yet another layer of this sickness we call modern society.

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It is not the scope of this response to address the political usage

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of such an event, or to illuminate the staged orchestration

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of how public perception was to be controlled by the mainstream media

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and the United States Government.

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Rather the point of this article is to express

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the gross irrationality apparent,

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and how our culture becomes so easily fixed and emotionally charged

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with respect to surface symbology rather than true root problems,

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solutions, or rational considerations of circumstance.

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The first and most obvious point

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is that the death of Osama bin Laden means nothing

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when it comes to the problem of international terrorism.

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His death simply serves as a catharsis

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for a culture that has a neurotic fixation on revenge and retribution.

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The very fact that the government which,

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from a psychological standpoint, has always served

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as a paternal figure for its citizens, reinforces the idea

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that murdering people is a solution to anything

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should be enough for most of us to take pause and consider

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the quality of the values coming out of the zeitgeist itself.

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However, beyond the emotional distortions and tragic,

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vindictive pattern of rewarding the continuation of human division

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and violence comes a more practical consideration

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regarding what the problem really is

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and the importance of that problem with respect to priority.

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The death of any human being is of an immeasurable consequence

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in society. It is never just the death of the individual.

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It is the death of relationships, companionships, support

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and the integrity of familial and communal environments.

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The unnecessary death of 3000 people on September 11th, 2001

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is no more or no less important than the deaths of those during

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the World Wars via cancer and disease, accidents or anything else.

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As a society, it is safe to say that we seek a world

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that strategically limits all such unnecessary consequences

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through social approaches that allow for the greatest safety

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our ingenuity can create.

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It is in this context

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that the neurotic obsession with the events of September 11th, 2001

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become gravely insulting and detrimental to progress.

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An environment has now been created where

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outrageous amounts of money, resources and energy is spent

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seeking and destroying very small subcultures of human beings

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that pose ideological differences

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and act on those differences through violence.

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Yet, in the United States alone, each year,

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roughly 30,000 people die from automobile accidents,

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the majority of which could be stopped by very simple structural changes.

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That’s ten 9/11′s each year,

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yet no one seems to pine over this epidemic.

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Likewise, over 1 million Americans die from heart disease

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and cancer annually, causes of which are now easily linked

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to environmental influences in the majority.

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Yet, regardless of the over 330 9/11′s

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occurring each year in this context,

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the governmental budget allocations for research

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on these illnesses is only a small fraction

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of the money spent on “anti-terrorism” operations.

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Such a list could go on and on with regard to

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the perversion of priority when it comes to what it means

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to truly save and protect human life

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and we hope there are many out there who can recognize

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the severe imbalance we have at hand with respect to our values.

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So, coming back to the point of revenge and retribution,

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this response will conclude with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King,

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likely the most brilliant intuitive mind when it came to conflict

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and the power of non-violence.

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On September 15th, 1963, a Birmingham Alabama church was bombed,

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killing four small girls attending Sunday school.

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In a public address, Dr. King stated:

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“What murdered these four girls?

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Look around. You will see that many people

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that you never thought about participated in this evil act.

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So tonight, all of us must leave here

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with a new determination to struggle.

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God has a job for us to do.

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Maybe our mission is to save the soul of America.

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We can’t save the soul of this nation throwing bricks.

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We can’t save the soul of this nation getting our ammunitions

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and going out shooting physical weapons.

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We must know that we have something much more powerful.

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Just take up the ammunition of love.”

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For more information, visit: www.thezeitgeistmovement.com