Yes, disillusioned...

Yes I’m disillusioned. It isn’t about where to live or what country is better than America. That tactic is the type used to distract people from the facts of what has happened here in the USA. We were a republic founded on basic human tenets that have been evolving in western society for thousands of years. Our democracy was a culmination of human clarity with regards to human dignity.
It has become a polarized country where the extremes of the political spectrum dictate the course of our future. Both sides claim to be sanctioned by god and trust that they have the right to impose their beliefs on others. The truth, the way forward, is as it has always been a moderate, middle of the road compromise that takes the best of both sides of the discussion to maintain our core freedoms and beliefs.
It is amazing to me that the argument becomes, “where else would you live”, or “America is the greatest country in the world”, which is just hyperbole designed to galvanize weak minded, ignorant people, that have no understanding of history or are incapable of thinking for themselves. During their education the importance of history is never explained to students and how it gives context to our place in time. The USA is just the latest of places of which people felt the need to migrate to. It used to be where hunting grounds were teeming with animals, or where learned men gathered to listen to each other’s ideas, or where people could just live without the threat of others invading them.
In our short history of just over 200 years, we wiped out entire native civilizations, fought a war over state’s rights (their right to enslave people), despoiled our own air, water, and land, waged wars based on lies, convinced everyone that owning things is more important than being sensible and honorable, and corrupted the very values and freedoms this country was founded on to nurture.
In every discussion about our economy the word “growth” is the core factor for the good health in this regard. It is repeated until any that listen to it become inculcated with the message. It is a form of brainwashing, used to great effect by Rovian neo-conservatives, to justify its ulterior motives, which is to subdue, control, and manipulate the citizens of this country into subservience. Unchecked growth in nature most times results in nature pushing back in ways that the growth does not anticipate. In humans it is cancer, in economies it is recessions and depressions, in nature it results in the massive die off of the offending entity after it has depleted the host environment.
What I am most offended about is the drumbeat of capitalism, entrepreneurship, and consumerism. That these activities are the epitome of human evolution and their ends justify all means. This attitude is the driving force behind the destruction of public transportation, the super sizing of homes, and the Hummer, which in turn has culminated in our dangerous dependence on foreign energy sources. This dependence then justifies the military industrial conglomerate that is tasked with maintaining, protecting, and usurping those supplies. In turn the consumerism that promotes growth (cancer) is allowed to flourish. The problem is for most American citizens, that we are saturated with material goods, as far as it pertains to consumer markets. The result of this is our manufacturing and electronic based services are exported and outsourced, which are euphemisms for given to other countries. This is done to create new middle classes that are not saturated with material goods and they become the new viral consumers. It is also the reason why illegal immigrants are tolerated and allowed to continue. It is also the reason why all the regulations earned by our American labor are not enforced overseas, along with the lack of controls in the manufacturing process, and the destruction of the labor movement in this country. Thus growth for corporations in every sector is maintained while the standard of living diminishes for a majority of American citizens, and supposedly the standard of living in other countries is improved. If we were to try to lift the rest of the world to the apex of our standard of living, well it just isn’t possible, nor in retrospect should it be an aspiration.
Yes I’m disillusioned.

What would Jesus Charge, Socialized medicine advocate, or Hippocratic Heretic

For all the arguments against President Obama's health care reform it caused me to consider the many aspects of Jesus's teachings and professions.
What would Jesus charge to heal the sick, as he did, and what would the patient's co-pay be? What the heck would the code be for Lazarus? Would Lazarus have to pay for the rest of his life?

Would lepers be charged more because they were lepers? Did Jesus refuse to heal those that could not pay? Did the purported prostitute Mary Magdalene have employer provided health care? How much of Judas' 50 pieces of silver go to health care?

Did Romans, because they were roaming, have to pay more because they were out of network? And are they the ones responsible for the roamin' charges on cell phones? And did Jesus refuse outright to treat Romans because they crossed over the border illegally?

What would Jesus think, as a carpenter, of splinter groups of Christianity? And since he made crosses, was this technically a pre-existing condition for him?

As a Fisher O'men, (amen), did he qualify anyone as a dangerous catch? Would he have thrown anyone back? And do you think he would eat seafood from the Gulf of Mexico after the spill and release of oil?

As a Bouncer (money changers), could he have healed himself if he had thrown his back out, and if not, who the heck would he go to see, not a Pharisee I'm sure, to get healed?

As a Speaker, Preacher, Storyteller, why didn't he ever have a Crystal Cathedral, podium, or arena? Most of his sermons seemed to have been standing room only. Would God have been his TicketMaster also?

How much of a Military did Jesus recommend when turning the other cheek?

Another Matyr to Sanity

To Tyler Clementi and his family bless you all in this time of hurt and pain. There are and there never will be anything that can heal this.

To those that preach, criticize, and condemn him for his nature, your time will come when you will have to answer for it. That which cannot be defined or described, god, will apply his levy.

To all of those that profess their beliefs through their religions be it Christian, Muslim, Judaism, Hindu or what have you, and harbor hate in their hearts for any of god's children, or foster through their support wars, your hypocrisy will stand out most of all, it is evil from the very source of all evil...and you all are more on the side of evil than that of good...

Sir Thomas More's Quote, Philosopher, Statesman, Author...Saint

"When statesmen forsake their own private conscience
for the sake of their public duties
they lead their country, by a short route,
to chaos"

Me lie, you lie, we all lie, and people die...

Since the justification for going into Iraq, WMDs, the Iraq-Al Qaeda link, and the imminent threat caused by the Saddam Hussein regime was non-existent, how do we resolve and absolve the crimes committed by our country against humanity?

If we as a people, citizens of the United States, allow murder in the name of our defense then we are not worthy of our heritage, legacy, or presumed sense of superiority.

It is not by chance that action, sanctioned by our belief in god and our self-proclaimed belief of god's belief in us, has resulted in a diminished world, diminished freedoms, and squandered opportunities to lead. When led by fearful emotions, inculcated by the steady drumbeat of leaders with ulterior motives, the result is a population of cowards who deserve not, that which was won by honorable actions, the American Legacy.

The so called political leaders, Bush, Cheney, Rice, and Rumsfeld with the hands of the military corporations controlling their words and actions brought us back in time 50 years, when lies brought us to Vietnam. Where is the hue and cry now, where are the brave and fearless, they linger and wallow in the mess of their possessions and the satiety of their excesses.

At what point do people become sell outs? How and when do the rationalizations overwhelm the underlying good nature of people where they can then justify the corruption they enable?

At some point the noble ideas of creating a world that benefits the most people while destroying the least amount of the world has been left far behind in our rear view mirrors in the name of capitalism. Our economic model is based on rampant unchecked consumerism in the name of promoting capitalism. And this is not to say that the best aspects of capitalism cannot be appreciated though they cannot be if they inhabit only the far end of the spectrum.

Consumerism, entrepreneurship, businesses, and corporations are representative of capitalism’s success but these exist because our system allows them, they exist because citizens have allowed them in their present form. They are not possible without the support and collusion of citizens that provide the engines that make them possible they are marketed to us, propagandized, and their value to our lives an inculcated mantra of things we can’t live without to the exclusion of everything else. It is a symbiotic relationship and ignoring this fact, taking the capitalist constituency for granted, is what brings us to the brink of anarchy.

The hubris, I need to create a word that defines prideful hubris, that the champions of capitalism possess totally ignores the contribution, resilience, and faith of the people which endure despite their exploitation. To listen to those on the far right talk all that is good in our nation resides solely in realm of capitalism.

The greatest accomplishment of this uber-capitalism is the elimination of accountability. By leaving tort reform unresolved, occasionally paying it lip service, along with escalating the costs of, and ubiquitous applicability of, insurance, the once sanitizing act of responsibility is taken out of our society as a way of identifying and eliminating corruption. The evil aspects of human nature, the worst of which are the exploitation of our fellow global citizens and earth’s resources, are now sanctioned and accommodated through the equation of costs divided by benefits. There no longer is any value to holding anyone accountable for anything. The payoff happens the parties involved are placated with monetary awards and the cost of all of it is dissolved into the vast wealth of our consuming passion labeled capitalism.

Home of the free, Really?

Home of the free, really?

We are not free from fear it is fed to us by our leaders on a daily basis. It is the reason we illegally overthrow governments under the guise of protecting our country from small groups of fundamentalist religious fanatics. The fear mongering has depleted our national defense capabilities, eroded the very freedoms we proclaim as our reason for the illegal wars, and has compromised our economy through borrowing and increased deficits.

We are not free to speak our minds or debate because our views will be used against us to limit our opportunities. You and I are not free to have opinions lest we will be ostracized. We are not free to worship unless it is the Christian religion that has become the de facto religion of this country.

We are not free to live in our homes without an annual tax lien imposed by our government to “support” social services. And if anyone has seen our school systems you can see how well that has worked for us.

We are not free from the corruption in nearly every sector of our society crimes are committed by corporate officers.

Food producers do not maintain adequate control of their processes as evidenced by salmonella, e coli, and the colossal mistake of industrialized farming causing us to rely on the high cost of transportation and single providers.

Banking and financial companies are constantly guilty of fraud and abuse, creating financial trading vehicles that are impossible to understand and manage.

Corporations receive federal subsidies in way of contracts that are not negotiated, not regulated, not verified, and with no accountability for failure to deliver. Especially sacrosanct defense (offense) industries, when profits lag, start a war.

Mine safety, oil rigs, ships and vessels, pipelines, transmission grids, drug companies, schools, food processing etc. all sectors are unregulated, not scrutinized, and cheat on their process controls.

Insurance companies can change their policies indiscriminately. On the Gulf Coast, insurance companies cancelled wind policies for homes below I 10 immediately following the hurricane seasons of 04-05. Then there were few storms for the next 4-5 years. They request a rate increase to make up for the money they would have received in wind coverage which would have been all pocket money because of the low hurricane incidents.

Insurance companies lobby for seat belt laws, the resultant windfall, fewer damages paid for injuries is not refunded to policy holders or realized as reduced cost in policy charges.

There has been no tort reform or caps on insurance awards, why, because the capitalist pyramid scam only works when the cost of insurance overwhelms the money paid out in awards. We all lose, insurance have a license to print money.

We still wage a war on drugs, when, to hold a decent job you need to take a drug test. Another “war” to maintain and subsidize the defense industry sector, or corporate welfare.

How absurd is it that employees have to sign vows to behave ethically, when we are surrounded by corruption at every level of leadership?