Now Playing - 'Get your War on'
This was in the early months following the attacks of 9/11/01 when the Bush White House had just begun tightening its grip on American freedoms and right-wing voices had just started becoming the louder ones. Not many people spoke up against government's illegal actions partly due to an illogical belief that America could do no wrong but mostly because of fear. Fear of the unknown terrorist as well as fear of America's own destructive power. And then the crafty acronym P.A.T.R.I.O.T Act was hurriedly put into effect. These were the first steps being taken by the U.S government to destroy the American constitution.
Pre-emptive strike was the buzzword, attacking Afghanistan to free its women was the hottest noble cause and attacking Iraq because Saddam and Osama were really the same person was considered plain and obvious truth. The department of Homeland Security with its color coded signals was setup and selling security apparatus was the next best business to be in. Everything was gung-ho and nuke 'em bumper stickers were the rage.
My apolitical views were rapidly becoming political as I was coming of age. I was unlearning everything I was taught to believe and beginning to really question "education" and its prejudices. Instead of Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman or Jagdish Bhagwati I was now voraciously consuming Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Upton Sinclair, George Monbiot and Gandhi. My understanding of our world was undergoing a radical shift. I was discovering everything too rapidly and that's when I encountered the satirical comic strips by David Rees - "Get your War on".
Those of us in America at that time must remember how palpable the fear and its consequent change was. Amidst this bizarro world, Rees' strips were a caustic reminder of how stupid we were getting. Time has proven how disastrous this "War on Terror" has been but the stupidity hasn't stopped. More and more countries in the world, including India have jumped onto the "me-too-a-victim" bandwagon. Governments have used terrorism as an excuse to strengthen their own political base, pass laws like POTA in India, skim ridiculous amounts of money in the name of fighting terror and the masses have subserviently bowed in response just to get a false sense of security. No one in the world is safer today from terror attacks, if any thing has changed, it is that we've had more attacks since the so called "War on Terror" began.
Well after 7 years, 23/6 has animated the "Get your War on" series and maintained the lo-tech clip-art look of Rees' masterpiece. I'm glad it is not your Hollywood adaptation. I hope it helps provide a building block for new readers to begin questioning their own presumptions and prejudices about their society.
Here's the promo and the first episode but keep checking for updates as the complete series will be animated over time.
