Jello Brain
Following the twists and turns of politics, wars and the global economy over a century can make you feel like your brain is made of jello, but with diligence it is possible to make some sense out of it.
Throughout recorded history we find examples where leaders should naturally have known the terrible outcomes of their choices, but did not. We also find examples of a population too busy to bother with the affairs of their state until their way of life was gone. Much can be learned about the nature of a nation by looking at its choices.
Our once great nation seems to be intentionally tearing down the very structure that once made it great. Successful attacks over the last twenty years on our Constitutional rights by the Legislature and Executive of the United States--with the limited response it received from our media corps and the general population--provides evidence to the present world audience and all future historians that America has progressed dangerously close to, if not beyond a capitalist-fascist-imperialist system.
Hypocrites
We have mistaken military might for the right to wield it. Our leaders prance like peacocks across the world theatre, making pitiful but threatening noises. They are like bullies on the playground. They ignore the agreements we have made with those who were once our allies, who look at us now and wonder who we are. Where once we held the highest moral ground, now we are listed with those countries known for human rights abuses.
Why are we not speaking out? Where is the patriotism I remember seeing as a young boy, when thousands would march in the streets against conditions less extreme than these? Is it true that those people became with age nothing more than the hypocrites they marched in the streets to protest?
We once impeached a president for wiretapping in a hotel in DC. We now have a law permitting the wiretapping of all of America. Why do we not ask more questions? Why has our voice faded to a whispered sigh on the wind? Who are we anyway?
My Little Town
I talk to people, here in my little town of about 14,000 - Reidsville, my home. We have some pretty smart people living 'round these parts but you know, they just don't keep up with this stuff. In their lives, they don't really have the time to keep up. That's what we elect people to do, to take care of all that for us.
Many people just don't understand, and don't want to understand, that those people they elected are the ones doing this to them. Some of them don't even recognize the problem.
I imagine that mindset multiplied across the fifty states and territories. It's not a settling thought. I have no doubt that eventually they will realize how out of control our politicians have gotten. I just doubt I will be alive to see it. And not certain I'd want to.
