July 30, 2009

I was just reading a post where someone talked about how fucked-up this world is, (although they did not use those exact words.) But we have traveled all over the world and you know what? The world is not fucked-up. America and numerous other places are fucked-up. For the purpose of time, and so this doesn’t become a novella, I'm going to stick to America for this essay.

As I watched the "Obama health Insurance plan" go down in flames, (as it should,) I thought about how far down this country has gone in my lifetime alone, and how much worse it's going to get. The economies of almost every developed country have been attacked and destroyed by greedy men in New York City and Washington, D.C. (Though they didn’t do it alone. They had help from dishonest real estate brokers and mortgage companies all over the U.S.) And what did our government do to these remorseless and greedy bastards? They threw more money at them. More of our money. Now Goldman-Sachs is recording record profits while hundreds of thousands of hard-working Americans are out of work, and many have lost their homes. The politicians in D.C. will play at "investigating" these corporate criminals, but nothing will happen.

"Fighting fire with empty words
While the banks get fat
And the poor stay poor
And the rich get rich
And the cops get paid
To look away
As the one percent rules america.."

(From the song; "Spreading The Disease" from "Operation Mindcrime" by Queensryche.)

Those prophetic words from a rock opera that exposes the sickness in this country are better than anything I could write at this moment. (The word "america" is not capitalized on purpose.)

Because the country my parents taught me to believe in and work at making better no longer exists. Barack Obama is just another political whore. He may have been "the lesser of two evils" compared to McCain/Palin, but I've been voting for "the lesser of two evils" my entire life and I'm tired of it. The words "Democrat" and "Republican" are meaningless, as are the words "conservative" and "liberal." They have become either labels or insults depending upon the forum.

The stolen election of 2000, the 9/11 attacks, the torture of innocent people, and two more endless wars in the Middle East weren't enough for the greedy and the bloody. Those with real power weren't happy until they brought the economies of every modern country to its knees.
It's not complicated or hard to understand at all. Corporate power and individual apathy have nearly destroyed this country. The corporations, through their K Street lobbyists, have polluted our government to the point that it may not be recoverable. And the apathy and indifference of the American people have allowed all of this to happen.

A truly good man (or woman) does not stand a chance of ever becoming a Senator or President, regardless of his/her skin color. By the time they have climbed far enough to reach for that golden ring they have already sold their integrity and their soul.

America has been (rightly) named "The United States of Amnesia." We don't listen to the warnings, we forget the past, and we are apathetic to the present. Is it any wonder that children today feel hopeless? For their innocence and lack of experience, young people often see things more clearly than their elders do, and they see no future. (Unless they are born into wealth and privilege.) The other 99% have little chance of ever truly succeeding.

Our media has been sold to the selfish and greedy corporate influences that are sucking this country dry. Americans who still bother to watch TV are constantly sold a line of bullshit by unpleasant pundits who scream at each other over scraps and call themselves "journalists." All the while the corporate fat cats watch and gloat. They have destroyed our educational system and polarized this country so there can be no unity. Everyone has staked out a hopeless position and blinded themselves to anything other than their own narrow beliefs.

And the corporations love your apathy, almost as much as they love your fear. You are doing exactly what they want, and to thank you they are taking everything away from you. Even the brightest and most intelligent among us are under-employed. At the same time we are creating a permanent under-class, expanding poverty, homelessness and despair. This will continue until your apathy and your fear run out, which means that nothing will change for the better, because your apathy and fear are endless.

Nearly every important thing I was ever taught about this country is a lie. Instead of children killing and dying in one Vietnam, our kids are fighting and dying in two Vietnams, for a country that will abandon them when they come home broken in mind, body and spirit. While I admire the patriotism of our young soldiers, I weep at their naïveté. They are sacrificing their lives for men and women who don't give a damn about them, and never will. War is about money and power – usually in that order.

As for the weak and the sick – too fucking bad. Nobody cares enough to do anything about their plight. It's that damn apathy again.

Real justice is out of reach for most of us. The (White) and wealthy walk away from their crimes while the (Black and Hispanic) poor do the time in the brutal prison-industrial complex we have created through our fear, our knee-jerk reactions, and our hate.

I wish I didn’t believe in reincarnation, (which I firmly do,) because that means I'll keep coming back to a world that grows darker with each passing day. I treasure my friend's children and love them, but I'm glad I haven't brought a child into this world. What kind of America would my son or daughter inherit? I'm not one of the 1%.

Much of the other 99% remain hopelessly deluded. They are either blinded by our mass media, religion, or dreams of success that will never come true. Millions of people flock to Los Angeles in the hope of becoming famous, and maybe 10 per year will "make it." And even if they do, they just become part of the problem. The rest will either end up victimized or bitter. Still others believe they will win the lottery, or follow some other scam artist in the hopes of a "free ride." All remain apathetic and fearful.

Even this essay, which merely points out what "everybody knows," (as the great Leonard Cohen put it,) is useless. My words may make some people angry at me, while their anger should be placed where it belongs. The mass media, the corporations and the government are the ultimate trifecta. They will continue to take from you and me until there's nothing left.

What if every worker who has lost their job in the last eighteen months were to march on Washington, demanding economic justice? They would probably scare the politicians, and if they scared them enough they would be killed, just like the Civil War veterans who marched on the capitol demanding the return of their farms. If the apathy and fear ever run out, (which I doubt,) the corporations will have the government use the military to kill everyone who threatens the status quo.

John F. Kennedy and his brother, Robert. Dr. King. Those were men who threatened the status quo, and look what happened to them. I seriously doubt our children are even taught about those brave men who risked their lives for justice in America. "No child left behind" my ass. "No child taught critical thinking or truly educated" is more like it.

But my words mean nothing. My words will not change a thing.

Grab as much love and joy as you can in this world, (without screwing someone else in the process.) We will never have decent health care for every American. We will never have economic and social justice. And in the end, this modern Rome will end up like its historic namesake.

Or have they stopped teaching ancient history as well?

# posted by Phillip T. Alden @ 5:03 PM