LACKING VISION, NO DREAM

Well, not sure we have had one in recent times. When I was growing up, the American Dream was to have a house in the suburbs and a two car garage; a one car garage if you were blue collar; a house if at the bottom of blue collar; a meal if you were really poor. You were supposed to love your job, your family and you had to save to send your kids to college so they could one day get their house and two car garage. That was really about it. Oh, of course you went to church.

Hmmm, not really a great dream, is it? Americans have lost their vision and have no dream. We do not even seem to ask what we, as a people and a nation, want for our future. Instead, we are caught up in the mechanics of life and have lost the dream of life. The debate on gun control is not a vision, but rather a diversion from saying we want a society where we are safe from harm from one another. The debate over Social Security and Medicare/caid cuts does not say we want all to be able to have freedom to live a long healthy life. Those wanting to revise the tax code say nothing about what a tax system should be. The arguments over CO2 emissions does not say we want a pollution free environment. Our economic fiascoes say nothing about having sustainable economies in which all have free access to prosperity. The list goes on.

This problem is symptomatic of the loss of individual dreams and visions  which, taken together, create the national vision. Most just want to make it to the next day. Most pray they don't get sick or fired. Most would, indeed, sacrifice the environment for a job. Most hope their kids will hurry up and grow and move out.

Without a vision, a dream, a road map, there is no clear direction we, as individuals or the collective, wants to go. If you don't where you want to go, chances are you'll never get there. Battles in congress will continue to plague us because we are hung up on the mechanics of life. Wall Street will continue to rule our lives because we are afraid to reach for something different. Truly, there may be more than one road to reach a destination, but you have to know where you want to go. Until a destination is chosen, many will have us detour to places that simply make no sense, and that simply may be our downfall.

Don't let the bastards get you down!

 

I had a disheartening conversation with an acquaintance of mine a few days ago. Being well educated, she has followed the antics of the banks, the economic fiascoes, political idiocy in congress, the constant denial about climate change, Monsanto and the GMO conspiracy, and the general head in the sand affliction being experienced by so many.

She said, "I give up. I'm going to close my doors (I think she meant in her mind, not home) and just not listen anymore. There's nothing I can do anyway."

I told her that if she did that, then THEY win. They have beaten you into submission and that has been their plan all along. Like, "Your vote doesn't make a difference" as a tool to keep people from voting while they line up their faithful at the ballot boxes.

So, she may have just been having a bad day, but with all that is happening in the world, don't let the bastards get you down. THEIR hope is that as issues drag on and no actions are taken, people will forget about the problems and/or just give up in frustration, thereby, they keep control. This is not a time for indifference or complacency. I have heard others say that since nothing happened on 12/21/12, all of this Earth change must be a bunch of bunk. That is so far from the truth and so much is changing that if you are aware, it makes your head spin. But you see, THEY wanted people to believe that changes were going to be a ONE DAY event. And, since nothing happened, there are obviously no problems. That was their spin many have fallen prey to this lie.

Keep watching, stay alert, stay tuned, that big lady has not even begun to sing ... yet.

The least of my brethren

One cannot help but feel despair for the animal horrors we hear about in Africa. The slaughter of elephants and rhinos can't help but pull at the heart strings. Closer to home, shelters are overflowing as the burdens of economic shifts deter people from giving man's best friend all of the comforts and care they deserve.

If we look at this even closer, we can see that the way we treat our animal cousins reflects the way we have been treating each other. From human trafficking, senseless killings, and the far rights assertion that most of us are just dead weight on the government dole, it is clear that we lack what the term humanity should imply. And yet, where are the outcries? Where are the demonstrations against such wanton cruelties to ourselves and our fellow creatures? Sure, some things are being done, but given the magnitude of the escalating problem, one can only hope that many will join the soft chorus that calls for an end to the violence.

It was said, "What you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me." All of life is our brethren.