Steve Brouwer is one of the nation's best front-line reporters from the ongoing class war.  You won't find any academic evasions in this book. The operative terms are "robbery" and "piracy," and the message is,  "Wake up America, and reclaim your country before it is too late!                                                Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed

"Robbing Us Blind," published in 2004, was my contribution toward trying to stop the re-election of George W. Bush.  I spent a good part of the year talking to various audiences and showing a slide show based on the book.  "Robbing Us Blind" is fun because it features the terrific illustrations of cartoonist Matt Wuerker --- and it is serious, because it documents the disturbing economic and social realities of life in the United States in recent decades.  "Robbing Us Blind" demonstrates how a reactionary, right-wing movement led by the Bush Gang undermined our democracy while transferring vast amounts of wealth from working Americans to the highest reaches of the corporate upper class. Too bad we didn't manage to throw the crooks out.     

In late November of 2004, while others were mourning another dismal performance by the Democratic Party, I sought solace by heading south to meet some other people who have been victimized by the Bush Gang, the citizens of Venezuela.  My kids packed a Robbing Us Blind t-shirt in my bag, and I was able to give it to a very friendly and generous guy I met in Caracas.  He loved it.  

Over the past two years, I have traveled to Venezuela three times and spent a total of eight weeks in different parts of the country. I have met all sorts of people and the large majority are enthusiastic about their participation in "el proceso bolivariano," the Bolivarian Process. They are very busy creating a new society and very happy to talk about it.

 

My intention -- two years ago -- was to start writing a book about about grassroots participation in "el proceso."   This hasn't happened yet, due to a variety of circumstances, but I have managed to collect a lot of material about people's daily lives in Venezuela.  Anyone with a modest knowledge of the Spanish language (and my Spanish is very modest) and a willingness to listen would be able to learn similar things by visiting Venezuela.  Unfortunately, the major media in the United States have generally avoided reporting on the positive economic, social, and democratic gains being made by most ordinary  Venezuelans; instead they have emphasized the biased points of view of upper-class Venezuelans and U.S. State Department officials who are opposed to the Bolivarian Revolution. 

  

I'm happy to share some of the material I have collected on this website in hopes that it can contribute to a more accurate understanding of what is happening in Venezuela.  Surely North Americans have no reason to fear the Venezuelan nation, but they should question why the Bush adminstration is so adamant about maintaining a hostile posture toward Venezuela.  Please go to the Venezuela and the Big America pages above to learn more. (You are free to re-use any text and photos as long as you acknowledge the source.)

 

In solidarity,  Steve Brouwer