The Canadian author of No Logo, Naomi Klein, along with the Indian activist/novelist Arundhati Roy (who, sadly, hasn’t been heard from in print for a while), and the Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano are, to my mind, among the freshest voices on Earth. By the very power of their words, they offer to place you in new eyes, to let you look at our world in new ways. I note that Klein is now becoming a regular columnist for the Nation. Below is her first piece and what a piece it is.
Who hasn’t felt the Bush administration’s urge to turn the United States into a vast, gated, locked down nation? But Klein says, no, we’re not simply talking about gated nations but the locked down continents of North America and Europe, each expanded beyond what might not long ago have been considered the outer reaches of their boundaries. If you’re not a Nation reader (even if you are), don’t miss this piece. Tom
The Rise of the Fortress Continent
By Naomi Klein
The Nation Magazine
February 3, 2003Well, it could have been true.
That’s what Senator Hillary Clinton had to say after finding out that five Pakistani men did not actually sneak into the United States through Canada so they could blow up New York on New Year’s Eve. Because they were never in the United States at all, and they weren’t terrorists, and the whole thing was dreamed up by a man who forges passports for a living.
At the height of the search for the professional liar’s imaginary nonterrorists, Clinton blamed Canada and its “unpatrolled, unsupervised” border. But even when the hoax came to light, she didn’t rescind the accusation: Because the Canadian border is so porous, she reasoned, “this hoax seemed all too believable.”
It was, in other words, a useful hoax, helping US citizens to see how unsafe they really are.
Well, it could have been true.
That’s what Senator Hillary Clinton had to say after finding out that five Pakistani men did not actually sneak into the United States through Canada so they could blow up New York on New Year’s Eve. Because they were never in the United States at all, and they weren’t terrorists, and the whole thing was dreamed up by a man who forges passports for a living.
At the height of the search for the professional liar’s imaginary nonterrorists, Clinton blamed Canada and its “unpatrolled, unsupervised” border. But even when the hoax came to light, she didn’t rescind the accusation: Because the Canadian border is so porous, she reasoned, “this hoax seemed all too believable.”
It was, in other words, a useful hoax, helping US citizens to see how unsafe they really are.