Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Eduardo Galeano Says:
“I don’t feel there is anyone who is voiceless. Everybody has something to say, something that deserves to be heard by others. So I never shared this attitude of becoming the voice of the voiceless. The problem is that just a few have the privilege of being heard. I’m not a martyr, not a hero. We all have the right to know and to express ourselves, which is nowadays very difficult as long as we are obeying the orders of an invisible dictatorship. It is the dictatorship of the single word, the single image, the single tune, and perhaps it’s more dangerous than other dictatorships because it acts on a world scale. It’s an international structure of power which is imposing universal values that center on consumption and violence. It means that you are what you have. If you don’t have, you are not. The right to be depends on your ability to buy things. You are defined by the things you have. It’s like you are driven by your car. You are bought by your supermarket. You are seen by your TV screen. You are programmed by your computer. We have all become tools of our tools.”
Excerpted from “Louder Than Bombs” by David Barsamian, a highly recommended collection of interviews with a wide range of thinkers, writers, activists, etc. Order it here: http://www.southendpress.org/books/bombs.shtml
Copyright © 2005-2007 Mickey Z.
