Which Way We Going?

(NASA Photo of our sun)

It is the center of our Solar system. And, not surprisingly, it looks nothing like you.

Priorities. Prioritizing. It's critical to the successful management of any undertaking. It assigns an order of importance to things. It requires decision, which operates on a perception of importance. It's not a difficult thing to do.

Fifteen years ago one in every fifteen hundred children born in America would suffer some form of Autism. 1 in 1,500. Today the statistic is one in every one hundred and ten. 1 in 110.

Let's prioritize. How important is this?

$300 Million Dollars. That's how important it is. That's the money our Government gave (in total) to deal with the matter of Autism. $300 Million.

$300 Million dollars is a lot of money, but then so is $100.00. Don't believe me? Next time you're broke imagine what you could do with a hundred bucks. $300 Million is a lot of money. It's also an insufficient amount of money. 1 in 110 children. In my view the increase in Autism is a national crisis. And by crisis I mean CRISIS. A plague. A national disaster.

Research and care and support are necessary. $300 Million . Inadequate. Superficial. Pathetic.

$300 Million. What was the amount our Government gave to Wall Street? Anyone remember? What was the amount spent - in real money and in borrowed funds - to wage war? Anyone remember? What was the amount spent on the last Presidential Campains? Anyone remember?

$300 Million. 1 out of every 110 new Americans.

I really don't need a calculater to figure out that $300 Million is woefully inadequate. Do you?

Priorities.

Hmm.

Disposable People

"At any given time," an Economist explained, "fully ten to fifteen percent of America's population is unnecessary."

"Unnecessary?"

"I know it sounds terrible, but... Yes. Unnecessary. Expendable."

"Expendable?"

Heavy sigh. "Look," he continued. "I'm not saying it's... Ok, it's callous, to be sure, but... It sounds terrible, I know." Another sigh. "But it's true. It's just the way it is. Those are the facts."

Unnecessary. Expendable. These are words that denote worth, value. To hear them applied to human beings is rather startling. Shocking, actually.

"It's an acceptable figure." the man continued. His eyes widened then he quickly added, "And by that, I mean the numbers. Ten to fifteen percent. I don't mean to imply that it's acceptable from... from... a moral standpoint."

His face flushed red.

"Unnecessary. Expendable. Disposable?"

It took a moment, and three more shades of crimson to color his face before he nodded his head slowly. "It's a sad fact of life, but a fact nonetheless."

I scratched my head not knowing what to say.

"But, they do serve a valuable purpose." he hurriedly added. "They are a good, necessary buffer. For the workforce. For the economy. For economic growth."

More words would not make this a more palatable concept.

"Look. It is the way it is." He set his jaw and stared at me, somewhat defiant.

Unnecessary. Expendable. Disposable.

"And what do we do with these unfortunate ten to fifteen percent?"

"That's not a concern of capitalism." he answered. That's a societal concern... a moral issue. It's not an issue in the study of capitalism. It has nothing to do with capitalism. It's not a factor."

"Not a factor?"

"No."

"I see."

"I mean... It's a factor for those involved in social issues, or... who have humanitarian concerns, or... It's not the concern of true capitalism itself. That's all I'm saying."

Indeed.

Money, Money, Money, Money.

Having survived the Bush-Cheney regime, I watched (with great hope and expectation) President O'Bama's administration move into 1600 PA. Avenue and begin a new chapter of American history. My expectations were high, to say the least. But, like many others, I find myself growing somewhat anxious and skeptical as each day passes.

"Yes we can!" It was a battle cry for change. Sadly, the words seem more and more just another hollow political campagn slogan, designed to ignite the voters support and to offer the promise of hope - but little else.

Change - real change - seems a distant, and somewhat impossible, dream. At least if one thinks government will effect the change. It won't.

Foreclosures continue at unprecedented rates, unemployment continues to rise, and continued economic collapse looms on the horizon in the form of (collapsing) Commercial Properties and budget shortfalls. Hard times.

We have not seen the worst, even though we're told we're on the rebound. Little has changed. The big banks continue giving outlandish bonuses to themselves (this time the average is $700,000.00) while the residents of 'Main Street America' struggle even more. They continue to lobby effectively in Washington D.C., thwarting any real chance of reform. And, our elected officials seemingly find no difficulty in accepting the millions offered in campaign contributions ($209+ Million so far in 2009).

Is there any hope - real hope - that change can happen? You betcha! And it is coming. Not from government, however. It never does. It's coming from where it always comes: the people. Our government is fractured; broken and ineffective. Our people, however, are not. Granted, they've been used and abused - and many are battered and bruised - but we have always risen to the occasion when required to do so. And we will now. Watch for it. It's coming.

I have great faith in America. And by 'America', I mean Americans. We the People.

2008

Man of peace?

Georgie-porgie recently acknowledged that he knows many consider him to be a war monger, but – he considers himself a man of peace; a peacemaker. That, of course, explains the $20 Billion arms deal he took to the Saudi’s recently in order to help negotiate lower oil prices. Nothing screams peace like cluster bombs and missile systems.

The advent of 2008, like most new years, offers a chance (a hope, a wish, a prayer) of change. And though a fresh start may be the wish, new beginnings rarely prove fruitful when governed by old tactics and desires.

As the celebration of the new year fades I wonder just how much change will be realized. Can America do the right thing? Will it? We live in a society that is motivated by financial markets and financial gain. The saddest thing about that is that most see no problem in that belief. Capitalism, it is thought, is the ideal. But is it?

(Recommended reading: Capitalism and Schizophrenia is a two-volume theoretical work by the French authors Deleuze and Guattari. Bloodthirsty Bitches and Pious Pimps of Power by Jerry Spence.)

I suppose it’s a matter of how much more we deem our value over the value of others. And make no mistake, we do – as a society – view ourselves as ‘more valuable’. It doesn’t sound nice, but it’s true. And I find that interesting considering we view ourselves to be a Christian nation. Doesn’t the Scripture tell us to ‘esteem others over ourselves’? It’s the classic ‘do as I say, not as I do’ syndrome. Something Americans have refined to a fine art. We proclaim high ideals, however, in practice we deceive ourselves. In short, we choose to believe the lie. Why? We do not torture. It’s a lie, but we continue to perpetuate that lie. Again, why? Mr. Huckabee promotes a Constitutional Amendment ‘more in line with God’s will’ (according to him) which completely sets aside the great theological issue of grace vs. works, showing himself to be a very poor biblical scholar but a good polarizing politician. And some accept his proposal as good and moral. Why?

I recently looked through a widely used history textbook used in American public schools. I found it interesting to note that not once was there cited any occasion in which America made a mistake. Interesting. Not once since our inception as a free nation have we erred or done a wrong thing. Believable? No. But each year we continue to teach our children the same (ridiculous) stories. Why? Because the stories are more palatable than the truth. If we taught our children the truth, we might find a generation of Americans standing up in unison screaming “Stop. Wait. Unfair”. That, of course, would be unacceptable.

I know many might claim I’m off on another diatribe of America-bashing, but that would be simplistic and untrue. What I am doing is calling for Americans to be honest, to tell the truth. Didn’t Jesus tell us that the truth would set us free? (Us and a great many others around the world who are currently suffering under the weight of American intervention.) Oh, in case you didn’t know, He also said “You cannot serve God and money both.” Was he lying? Or just a poor capitalist?