I don’t know about you, but I have had a belly full of the politics of the last couple of years. To classify the myriad factions of functional idiots and lunatics that now comprise the Republican Party, compounded by the milquetoast penchant for “bi-partisanship” and “compromise” that appears to be endemic among the ranks of the established Democrats in both house of Congress and The White House, and the egregious assault on the doctrine of “fair and impartial” responsibility to the American people from the Supreme Court have all had their part in making an absolute mockery of the Constitution and American Democracy.
It doesn’t take a lot of effort to conclude that corruption is rampant in all branches of government, bought by the patently illegal behavior of Wall Street, international corporations, and the total absence of conscience by big business and the lobbyists who peddle their influence and power. At the end of the day, it is the majority of “real” Americans who take it in the shorts by all they have wrought against the common good. They seem to cling to the faint hope that this nightmare, too, will pass and there will be better days ahead. Fat chance of that happening any time soon! The entire apparatus that is supposed to be serving the interests of the electorate are so insulated that they blithely ignore that fundamental commitment, do exactly as they please with impunity, with never a qualm of conscience and a sense of duty.
Of course, the mantra underscoring the entire social, political and economic debacle is a perverse belief that worshipping at the altar of a “free market economy” is the panacea that will cure all our ills. How can any sane person buy into that nonsense? A free market is built on a foundation of competition which, in and of itself, is simply a form of violence aimed at those who have neither the means nor the will to engage in that joust of competing goals with any real hope of a fair outcome. That, in turn, breeds a hotbed of very simplistic solutions to extremely complex problems which, in turn, creates mistrust, blame and hostility between opposing points of view among the populace. From the victors come alliances with those espousing extreme religious and social doctrines that are anything but rooted in scripture and in our system of religious beliefs. The results are the paragons of virtue and human compassion such as we see in the likes of Herbert Norquist, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and all of those others held up to us as the real gurus protecting society from the human parasites who dare to want their fair share of the pie. The counter to all of that is the cadre of liberals who want to cure all our ills by simply dismissing the legitimacy of our system of laws and relying, instead, on some ingrained notion that a supreme will knows better. All that flows from that fount of innate wisdom is an end unto itself. That, too seems to be at odds with a collegial relationship we have every right to expect from our public servants and political leaders.
Regardless of how one might wish to redefine the role of our religious heritage, it is still a fundamental influence that is there to guide all that we do. It is not rooted in a system of beliefs that champion violence but, rather, it champions democratic principles that work for the common good and rests on government by the will of the people. Unless my mind deceives me, I recall that that system of beliefs taught us “that which you do unto the least of my brethren you also do unto me.” It is from that same source that we were taught that “the meek shall inherit the earth.” It was Christ who chased the money changers from the temple. How do those few admonitions square with the rabid and vituperative exhortations that come from the religious hate mongers who claim to have a special insight into what “God” intends for us in His name? How in the hell would they know? I believe they put words in the mouth of God to suit their own evil intentions and sordid behavior. It doesn’t take much effort to see through all of the scatology that passes for their brand of virtue. Despite their persistent efforts to have us believe that God talks to them or reveals His wisdom to them on a regular basis, I don’t think so. Rather, I am more inclined to believe it is a manifestation of self-induced delusion that play into their own prejudices and the hatred that feeds into their perverted attempts to justify all of their ignorance and venom leveled against those who dare to challenge them. All of those bible thumpers who have managed to fall from grace and confess their transgressions, notwithstanding, perfection and real virtue seem to have eluded them. Take Ralph Reed as an example. Now there is a real emissary of Divine Will.
The history of this country is rife with violence in one form or another. It seems to be an ingrained part of our fabric as a people and, frankly, we are the poorer for it.
From the time the first pilgrims set foot on the soil of the New World, we have been engaged in an ongoing pursuit of conquest against Native Americans. Our forefathers took their lands and their hunting grounds. We cast them as “savages” in order to justify our plunder of what was rightfully theirs. We engaged in a wholesale assault on their system of beliefs and the norms of their societies. We wantonly murdered them and rose up in righteous indignation when they dared to defend themselves and what was rightfully theirs. We were not satisfied until we had drastically reduced their numbers and all they stood for to rubble. The U.S. Indian Service has done an effective job of confining them to reservations on what is some of the poorest and most remote land in the United States. All they seem to have gotten from the government is an inept and corrupt bureaucracy that has done more to serve their own biases and sense of power than to serve those who depend on them. They live in abject poverty. Were it not largely for the Roman Catholic Church and other missionary organizations, they would still be freezing to death in winter and living on the edge of starvation as a way of life. Their schools and any real attempt to assimilate them into the “American” way of life would not have happened. Why would any of us even remotely entertain the notion that these people want to live as they do, plagued by having to live at the subsistence level, and numbed by chemical agents to dull their minds, and psychological assaults that have quite literally broken their will? Why do so many of us still presume that, for some unknown reason, they are genetically inferior when it comes to intellectual ability and the desire to better themselves? Where is the benevolence and charity from America’s millionaires and billionaires that could establish factories on their reservations, teach them the vocational skills necessary to make those enterprises viable and enable them to be proud members of the American Dream? I just don’t see it happening any time soon.
I don’t quite understand where we got the idea that brutal competition, be it in business, industry or a sport was a virtue. Why do we derive such pleasure from the brutality of contact sports and champion our right to buy into it in all its forms for our own enjoyment?
Why have we, historically, marginalized every minority group or nonconformist among us and subjected them to ridicule, persecution, and blatant discrimination? Why haven’t parents and teachers gotten together much earlier to fight the horrors of torment, persecution and physical violence against those who are born gay or deformed or lack the physical attributes to be a star athlete in whom we could dote and vicariously live the glory of their moment in the sun? I think too many of those who should have shown the courage and conviction not to allow those things to happen buy into those same prejudices and choose to opt out of any effort to right those wrongs. Parents should play an important role in the affairs of the schools to whom they send their children, but at the end of the day, the school should be run by those they employ, and it is their expertise and commitment that should take precedence.
All of those who seek self aggrandizement, regardless of the form it takes, nothing justifies exploitation of the human condition for the sake of enhancing ones own sense of superiority. Greed, in all its forms, is simply wrong. It is patently evil. It is morally repugnant. Take note all you bible thumpers; no matter how you may choose to rationalize your warped perceptions of reality, all that you espouse is simply an affront to the loving God to whom you profess allegiance.
Greed is insatiable. Those who have given their souls to the endless pursuit of riches have no redeeming virtues. At the end of their life’s journey they are quickly forgotten. They leave it all behind for their rapacious progeny to fight over. They will dutifully pick up the torch and continue the legacy that has set us all on a journey of self destruction. They are the ones who will hasten our race to where climate change will reach the point of no return and our common fate will be sealed. They are the ones who will continue the legacy of raping the environment, destroying our food supply, impoverishing our children. They are the ones who deny the horrors of all they pursue in their quest for more and more and more. They are the ones who will never stop to realize that they, too, will share the same fate they have inflicted on all mankind and this magnificent Earth.
“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.” --- Macbeth (Act 5, Scene5)
Let us not succumb to the folly of believing everything we hear and are told. Let us reclaim the right and the responsibility to question, question, and question.
Mitt Romney and the entire cadre of Republicans who have sought the party’s presidential nomination are frauds. They lie and deceive us with abandon, mindful only of the greed that feeds their desires and that laces the palms of those who serve as their minions.
The jury is still out on Barack Obama. I am not convinced that he is a man of the people. I am still mindful of all the campaign promises he failed to honor and his haste in casting aside what was intended for the good of the country in favor of “compromise” and “bi-partisanship.” Where is the leadership that we should have had and still so desperately need? I just don’t see it.
Regardless of who is elected in 2012, I don’t see much hope for the average American unless we buckle up, get moving and never give up. Until we, the people, get serious, take a keen interest in and an active role in politics, our government and what is being done in our name, we have no grounds for raising the bar and demanding anything better.
The standards of morality and all its manifestations are absolute. We must insist that all those who claim the right to represent us never compromise on what is surely inviolate. That is the challenge for statesmanship and the stuff of true leadership.
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
May 6, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment