I am writing for the benefit of the righteous, the high and the mighty, the self-sanctimonious, the Bible thumpers and those who are so quick to disparage the working class and the poor by the hollow and empty words, “If they would go out and make something of themselves like the rest of us they wouldn’t be where they are.” Now, I ask you, how in the hell do you know that? Your hypocrisy provides a convenient cover for your callousness and lack of conscience. It conveniently permits you to ignore human suffering and rationalizes your selfishness and greed. It sanitizes all of your ugliness and avarice so you can live with yourselves in pious self-satisfaction. You define your religion in your own terms so you can live with yourself, actually believing you are one of God’s chosen ones, instead of the despicable wretch you actually are.
How many of you are upright members of mainline churches so you don’t have to rub elbows with those of a lesser station in life, insulating each other from what you really are? Last night it was bitterly cold where I live. One, lone church in the community, operating on the fringe of mainline religions, whose pastor looked rather like what we used to call a “hippy” took notice. He was very young, with a boyish face, a meager beard and kind of on the “nerdy” side. But, guess what? He mobilized his church, chartered a bus and went to the streets and a neighboring city to pick up the homeless and bring them to his church so they could have a hot meal and sleep in out of the cold for one out of how many nights of absolute misery. One of his parishioners went out and spent six hundred dollars of his own money, purchasing underwear and socks. Another went out and bought fifty sleeping bags with money out of his own pocket for some of those who would be returning to the streets the following day. These common folk simply cared. Where were the mainline churches and synagogues? They were either silent, or were shuttered and bolted in order to protect their assets from the potential ravages of what might seem like unsavory trespassers, who could somehow damage or disturb the clinical sanctity of their facilities housing the symbols of their religious piety.
In my time, there were hobos or bums, but they were few in number each, I am sure, with his own story. Homelessness was not a social phenomenon on a massive scale until the imbecilic and snobbish Reagan’s established the first imperial presidency at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, only to be followed by those of like mind (or worse) all of whom have somehow made the very worst of our human nature seem respectable. It has enabled us to allow the institutions to shift their focus from the very people who put them in office to those who buy their favors through ill-gotten gains, literally stolen from the society of which they are a part. It has enabled us to become so abysmally complacent that we don’t have a clue as to what the reality around us really is, nor do we have the moxie and courage to do anything to improve the situation for all of us. Our national credo seems to have morphed into a unified cry of “Hooray for me and fuck you!” with God’s blessings, of course. We have allowed ourselves to be distracted from the reality around us by such vital issues of national interest as Sarah Palin pretending to know what is going on, Tiger Woods dipping his wick, Dancing with the Stars, etc. Ever so much more pleasant than the stench of all that is going on and, in reality, literally destroying our way of life and shredding the fabric of this country.
How many of you “successful” types were investing in a stock market out of control because of its reliance on slave labor, and the complete dismantling of our industrial base that shipped jobs overseas from under those who only sought the means to earn an honest living, pay their taxes and support their families? How many of you disparage those same people who are now working in fast-food businesses and other menial jobs because those are the only industries left for them to earn a meager living and attempt to ascend the socio-economic ladder to a better life? How many of you have disparaged labor unions because they dare to want a better life that will only come about through collective bargaining? If you need a reality check, compare the statistics regarding the standard of living for working men and women with those of the top one percent of the population in the United States over the last thirty years. If that doesn’t cause you to pull in your horns, you are either blind or stupid. But, you look the other way while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce champions the wholesale fleecing of the consumer public by corporations, huge conglomerates and patently dishonest business practices, all of which enhances your stock portfolio, and satiates your appetite for cheap goods flooding the American economy from overseas pockets of human misery, the likes of which you can’t even begin to imagine, much less feel.
Not everyone comes into this world on an even footing. Differences in our genetic makeup, the social and economic start we get in life, and our access to an education all mitigate against any semblance of real equality among us.
Some mistakenly equate a college education as a legitimate claim to more of the nation’s wealth. Not so. A college education offers no such guarantee any more than inherited wealth. As the old saying goes, “If you send a jackass to college all you have at the end of four years is an educated jackass.” The skills emanating from a vocational aptitude are as essential to a healthy society and economy as are the ill-perceived importance of most of what comes from academia. If you want to level the perception of yourself, contemplate for one brief moment the notion of equality and the extent to which you are at the mercy of your family physician, lawyer, accountant vs. the mechanic that fixes your car, the carpenter that builds your house and the electrician that ensures a safe and reliable supply of energy to every convenience you depend on in your daily life. A college education does not guarantee an educated result. By the same token, mastery of a technical discipline does not necessarily reflect the same discipline as that of an intellectual pursuit. Both, however, can and should rightfully claim an essential role in a healthy society.
What we most need to keep in mind is that the essence of our character is tempered, not by our station in life, but by the fires of adversity life has handed us, and which we have endured and survived. At the end of the day, we all, in some way, must earn our place by what we give to society rather than what we take from it.
In the time I have spent on this earth, I would have to say that I have found more inherent decency, honor and character among those who labor by the sweat of their brow than I ever did among those in the executive suite and the boardroom. I could count on a working man to be far less vulgar, more true to his word and less scheming than I ever could from those who regard themselves as part of the educated elite. Those who boast of having “made it,” deceive themselves by not realizing, in the end, all they really did was sell their souls.
I would not presume to speak for another’s system of beliefs. However, I have chosen to believe that, at the moment of our birth, God plants with each of us the essence of His Divine Grace, like a seed that will, if nurtured and cared for, one day germinate. Within that seed is the human manifestation of unconditional love, forgiveness, acceptance and understanding, from which comes a hope and charity that is forever with us. That is what our human decency is all about. So long as that hope is within us, therein lie the finer aspects of our human nature, there for us to call upon at will. That is what gives us the courage and determination to stare down evil, be it within us or outside of us. So long as that is a viable part of our individual and collective make-up, there is hope for the human race. Without it, there is only fertile ground from which to reap every conceivable evil known to mankind, and the seeds of our ultimate demise. Surely, we are better than that.
Given all that I read, see and hear, I am convinced that this nation is on a collision course with destiny, predicated on the cataclysmic forces coming to bear because of the insatiable greed, decadence and depravity of the political, social and economic institutions that are totally out of control and that are in the hands of the plutocrats, oligarchs, corporations and their government minions. Lest those in power become complacent because of their perceived superiority and control over those sworn to protect the nation, do not forget that the oath they took was to “defend and uphold the Constitution,” not the ruling elite. Let us not lose sight of the fact that the Constitution belongs more to those oppressed than it does to the oppressors.
My biggest fear is that we have no idea how much more people can be expected to bear. The Democrats and Republicans are different in name only, seeming to offer only meaningless latitudes and platitudes, while they busy themselves with their own vested self-interests. While we still have the time to change things through peaceful and lawful means, I don’t see that we have any alternative but to look to a third political party that is founded on and upholds the highest standards of honesty and integrity we can imagine, and the leadership to make it happen. The time for hot air is long past. We don’t need any more empty promises, lofty speeches and grand deceptions. The common wisdom is beyond all that. People know the reality we face and how remote the possibility is that much will flow from those who have profited so handsomely at our collective expense. In the extreme, I am reminded of a cartoon I once saw where two vultures are sitting on a branch of a dead tree. One says to the other, “Patience hell. Let’s go kill something!” You can only blow smoke up a man’s ass for so long before fire starts coming out of his nostrils.
We need a real leader and a statesman with a higher calling to inspire us, repair this nation and restore the democratic principles upon which this fragile republic was founded.
Chuck Hagel, where are you now that we need you?
Cowboy Bob
December 13, 2009
How many of you are upright members of mainline churches so you don’t have to rub elbows with those of a lesser station in life, insulating each other from what you really are? Last night it was bitterly cold where I live. One, lone church in the community, operating on the fringe of mainline religions, whose pastor looked rather like what we used to call a “hippy” took notice. He was very young, with a boyish face, a meager beard and kind of on the “nerdy” side. But, guess what? He mobilized his church, chartered a bus and went to the streets and a neighboring city to pick up the homeless and bring them to his church so they could have a hot meal and sleep in out of the cold for one out of how many nights of absolute misery. One of his parishioners went out and spent six hundred dollars of his own money, purchasing underwear and socks. Another went out and bought fifty sleeping bags with money out of his own pocket for some of those who would be returning to the streets the following day. These common folk simply cared. Where were the mainline churches and synagogues? They were either silent, or were shuttered and bolted in order to protect their assets from the potential ravages of what might seem like unsavory trespassers, who could somehow damage or disturb the clinical sanctity of their facilities housing the symbols of their religious piety.
In my time, there were hobos or bums, but they were few in number each, I am sure, with his own story. Homelessness was not a social phenomenon on a massive scale until the imbecilic and snobbish Reagan’s established the first imperial presidency at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, only to be followed by those of like mind (or worse) all of whom have somehow made the very worst of our human nature seem respectable. It has enabled us to allow the institutions to shift their focus from the very people who put them in office to those who buy their favors through ill-gotten gains, literally stolen from the society of which they are a part. It has enabled us to become so abysmally complacent that we don’t have a clue as to what the reality around us really is, nor do we have the moxie and courage to do anything to improve the situation for all of us. Our national credo seems to have morphed into a unified cry of “Hooray for me and fuck you!” with God’s blessings, of course. We have allowed ourselves to be distracted from the reality around us by such vital issues of national interest as Sarah Palin pretending to know what is going on, Tiger Woods dipping his wick, Dancing with the Stars, etc. Ever so much more pleasant than the stench of all that is going on and, in reality, literally destroying our way of life and shredding the fabric of this country.
How many of you “successful” types were investing in a stock market out of control because of its reliance on slave labor, and the complete dismantling of our industrial base that shipped jobs overseas from under those who only sought the means to earn an honest living, pay their taxes and support their families? How many of you disparage those same people who are now working in fast-food businesses and other menial jobs because those are the only industries left for them to earn a meager living and attempt to ascend the socio-economic ladder to a better life? How many of you have disparaged labor unions because they dare to want a better life that will only come about through collective bargaining? If you need a reality check, compare the statistics regarding the standard of living for working men and women with those of the top one percent of the population in the United States over the last thirty years. If that doesn’t cause you to pull in your horns, you are either blind or stupid. But, you look the other way while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce champions the wholesale fleecing of the consumer public by corporations, huge conglomerates and patently dishonest business practices, all of which enhances your stock portfolio, and satiates your appetite for cheap goods flooding the American economy from overseas pockets of human misery, the likes of which you can’t even begin to imagine, much less feel.
Not everyone comes into this world on an even footing. Differences in our genetic makeup, the social and economic start we get in life, and our access to an education all mitigate against any semblance of real equality among us.
Some mistakenly equate a college education as a legitimate claim to more of the nation’s wealth. Not so. A college education offers no such guarantee any more than inherited wealth. As the old saying goes, “If you send a jackass to college all you have at the end of four years is an educated jackass.” The skills emanating from a vocational aptitude are as essential to a healthy society and economy as are the ill-perceived importance of most of what comes from academia. If you want to level the perception of yourself, contemplate for one brief moment the notion of equality and the extent to which you are at the mercy of your family physician, lawyer, accountant vs. the mechanic that fixes your car, the carpenter that builds your house and the electrician that ensures a safe and reliable supply of energy to every convenience you depend on in your daily life. A college education does not guarantee an educated result. By the same token, mastery of a technical discipline does not necessarily reflect the same discipline as that of an intellectual pursuit. Both, however, can and should rightfully claim an essential role in a healthy society.
What we most need to keep in mind is that the essence of our character is tempered, not by our station in life, but by the fires of adversity life has handed us, and which we have endured and survived. At the end of the day, we all, in some way, must earn our place by what we give to society rather than what we take from it.
In the time I have spent on this earth, I would have to say that I have found more inherent decency, honor and character among those who labor by the sweat of their brow than I ever did among those in the executive suite and the boardroom. I could count on a working man to be far less vulgar, more true to his word and less scheming than I ever could from those who regard themselves as part of the educated elite. Those who boast of having “made it,” deceive themselves by not realizing, in the end, all they really did was sell their souls.
I would not presume to speak for another’s system of beliefs. However, I have chosen to believe that, at the moment of our birth, God plants with each of us the essence of His Divine Grace, like a seed that will, if nurtured and cared for, one day germinate. Within that seed is the human manifestation of unconditional love, forgiveness, acceptance and understanding, from which comes a hope and charity that is forever with us. That is what our human decency is all about. So long as that hope is within us, therein lie the finer aspects of our human nature, there for us to call upon at will. That is what gives us the courage and determination to stare down evil, be it within us or outside of us. So long as that is a viable part of our individual and collective make-up, there is hope for the human race. Without it, there is only fertile ground from which to reap every conceivable evil known to mankind, and the seeds of our ultimate demise. Surely, we are better than that.
Given all that I read, see and hear, I am convinced that this nation is on a collision course with destiny, predicated on the cataclysmic forces coming to bear because of the insatiable greed, decadence and depravity of the political, social and economic institutions that are totally out of control and that are in the hands of the plutocrats, oligarchs, corporations and their government minions. Lest those in power become complacent because of their perceived superiority and control over those sworn to protect the nation, do not forget that the oath they took was to “defend and uphold the Constitution,” not the ruling elite. Let us not lose sight of the fact that the Constitution belongs more to those oppressed than it does to the oppressors.
My biggest fear is that we have no idea how much more people can be expected to bear. The Democrats and Republicans are different in name only, seeming to offer only meaningless latitudes and platitudes, while they busy themselves with their own vested self-interests. While we still have the time to change things through peaceful and lawful means, I don’t see that we have any alternative but to look to a third political party that is founded on and upholds the highest standards of honesty and integrity we can imagine, and the leadership to make it happen. The time for hot air is long past. We don’t need any more empty promises, lofty speeches and grand deceptions. The common wisdom is beyond all that. People know the reality we face and how remote the possibility is that much will flow from those who have profited so handsomely at our collective expense. In the extreme, I am reminded of a cartoon I once saw where two vultures are sitting on a branch of a dead tree. One says to the other, “Patience hell. Let’s go kill something!” You can only blow smoke up a man’s ass for so long before fire starts coming out of his nostrils.
We need a real leader and a statesman with a higher calling to inspire us, repair this nation and restore the democratic principles upon which this fragile republic was founded.
Chuck Hagel, where are you now that we need you?
Cowboy Bob
December 13, 2009
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