WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?

DISCLAIMER
When I sat down to write this blog, I was feeling slightly curmudgeonly. I am currently feeling more curmudgeonly. A few minutes ago, my fingers experienced some type of strange independent lives just long enough to hit the wrong keys in the right sequence needed to delete what I had written. I am not prolific. I am compelled to write. I don’t “enjoy it” so, dear reader, I ask your forgiveness and pardon.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH US

1.Corporations now rule our country and most of the world. Political parties do not offer any solace, justice, or give voice to those of us in the middle class. Political parties only offer us choices between levels and flavors of evil.
How would you like your political views voiced by your choice of the Big Two?

A: Republicans: An understanding of the forces at work within (and on the fringes of) the Republican Party is important and a rather easy course to ace.

If you want to see the true nature of modern American politics: naked corporate greed; the international exporting of capitalism’s most sinister aspects including the endless search for cheaper labor at any moral price; the creation of synthetic “moral” non-issues created purely as motivation to get Republican voters to the polls (DODT, gay marriage, new rules to provide assurance of accurate birth records of presidential candidates etc) is on display at the front of the parade in the Republican party. No reason to dig or investigate or analyze.

Just find a good spot on the parade route, wave your flag, and watch the floats go by. “Oh look, there’s a float with Karl Rove holding one of those gigantic checks signed by CHINA. How cute! Has he lost weight?" It is all right there.

How can anyone continue to suggest that we shouldn’t tax the rich because it will not “allow” the wealthy to buy new machines, open factories, and create jobs? Trickle down economics? Bullshit. The Middle Class in America is dying and the uber-rich are becoming uber-richer. They are not spending the money they have saved on taxes for the last ten plus years on creating new products or putting Americans to work.

Ronald Regan’s trickle down economics only worked for those at the top who needed to take a long satisfying piss. If you felt it hit your head, you are in trouble like 97% of us are.

If you were doing the pissing, all I can say is “Nice aim!”

If anyone reading this passes by Ronnie Regan’s tomb this week, can you give it a quick look and make sure the old bastard is still in there? I thought I saw him in a wheelchair in a photograph of a Tea Party event.

B. Democrats. The only discernible difference between the mainstream dems and the mainstream repubs is that the Dems at least talk about some of the issues important to those of us who do not belong in the top 3% club. The few true idealists in the Dem party are laughed at by those who run the party and gather and dole out the money. Many of these idealists do believe, as Arianna Huffington (READ HER NEW BOOK “THIRD WORLD AMERICA") does, that the brutal and open attack on the middle class can be stopped or at least exposed.

The mainstream Dems go along with the Republicans and treat true Democrat idealists as left-wing lunatics, socialists, and non-patriots. They get to talk but nobody really listens.

One of the more subtle aspects of the capitalistic system (the whole system, not merely the economic model) is the role of “freedom of speech”, “freedom to protest”, and “free elections”. These freedoms all serve as “pressure valves”. They rarely lead to change.

If we get “mad as hell and can’t take it anymore”, we can put on our finest Uncle Sam hat, hop on a bus (not sure who is paying for the gas here) and go march in Washington while Beck-Palin and other great students of history and finger-painting, put on a Tea Party show: all style and absolutely no substance.

If we feel that the economic powers of the world should do the right thing and forgive third world debt, we can put on our tie-dyed shirts and sandals, and protest the meetings of the main economic powers. This is a youth-fuelled trip and seems to be mainly about expressing rage, re-creating some of the successes of the sixties etc. Also, these situations are great places to hook up with others who “get it” and can spend endless hours engaged in deep discussion of how to change things and bring down “the system”. Great times and an excellent opportunity to party, maybe even get laid.

Of course, the more serious protests (THINK G8) take place a considerable distance from the actual meeting place in order to “assure security” but mainly to insure that none of the leaders have to be exposed to anything close to truth.

The Democrats are owned by the same folks who own the Republicans.

The Two Party system now serves one purpose: to kill off the middle class and allow the super wealthy to accumulate enough cash so that they will have a stake when China (or someone else we owe trillions of dollars to) asks Washington for the deed to the country: “Hey, we bought you fair and square. Give us the deed”.

There is a way to set things right in the US and in the world. So far I have only been able to come up with this:

SMOKE AND MIRRORS

1.The endless battles between Democrats and Republicans are pointless. The battles and debates should be taking place between the heads of corporations, lobbyists, those who control wealth, and those whose lives are being destroyed, belittled, minimized, and stolen by policies intended to increase profit for corporations while an entire class of Americans (used to be called the Middle Class, now referred to as “apartment dwellers”) pay the price by being overworked (or unemployed),uninsured, and placed in a position in which children are raised in tense, volatile, numb, and inattentive home environments due to the demands and pressures placed on parents by the struggle to at least appear middle class.

2.If we all spent 20% of our “free time” researching and taking part in political and social causes/efforts at change which reflect common, human, humane, and life-affirming values, we could right all of the wrongs in our country quickly. We could move the world in a life-affirming rather than a death-awaiting direction.

By “free time” I am referring to the time we currently spend at silly rallies, watching movies, playing video games, obsessed with sports, hypnotized by media coverage of “celebrities”, mindlessly wandering “the internets”, drinking, drugging, churching, trying to avoid the ravages of advancing age, the time we spend consuming and creating music, etc.

These activities primarily interfere with our ability to “get it”. There are exceptions which actually shed light on some of the darkness we face.

When we overly-engage in one or more of these activities, we are choosing the juicy steak rather than “reality” ala “The Matrix”.

Most of us enjoy some or all of these activities. Diversions are great.

The creation of art (whether it is a painting, a rap song, a video game, creating or watching a film etc.) adds to our human-ness. Years of dedication and practice which result in amazing feats of athletic prowess are to be admired and enjoyed as manifestations of what these human bodies can do.

I am as guilty as anyone else. Going forward, I am going to try to spend at least 20% of my time researching and taking part in causes which resonate with me.

MY PERSONAL DILEMMA:
The more I learn about how insurance companies, corporations, and governments work, the angrier I get. I don’t like argument as sport any longer. I don’t like feeling angry. My spiritual path is based on the knowing that we are all one with Source/God. How can we be different from that which manifested us into being? (Thank you W. Dyer and many others).

The spiritual path I follow, generally reveals anger to be weakness and a function of ego; a desire to always be right as characteristic not of a truth-seeker but one who always insists on being “right” : an egoist.

This is not an effort to put down anyone’s spiritual beliefs or path. I just personally do not believe that God has a favorite football team, country, political party or beer.

I do believe that when we are in alignment with Source, we speak and live compassion, empathy, love for all (regardless of any of the dozens of ways we humans have chosen to separate ourselves by religious affiliation, political beliefs, racial attitudes, etc).

I also believe that when we are forced to act in violence for a cause that is clearly in alignment with Source/God(stopping a Genocide, for instance), then those of us with the required skills, courage, and commitment to right action should never celebrate or find joy while we kill or afterward. We should treat each death (theirs or ours) as a tragedy and renew our commitment to ensuring that we make changes which will eliminate the need for future violence.

Those of us who do not take part directly in such necessary violence should ensure that those who do (including their families) are taken care of in every possible way and that their insights and revelations are used in considering future non-violent ways to solve problems.

Namaste!