Friday, August 24, 2012

Have You Ever Been Lied to?


Have you ever been lied to? 

Has anyone ever made you a promise, and then flagrantly bailed on you? And to further add insult to injury, have they sat there and straight-facedly made up nonsensical excuses as to why they left you twisting in the wind and gone so far as to suggest that it might even be your fault that they let you down…after insisting that you could count on them? 

Have you ever trusted someone with something you held very dear, only to have them ruin it utterly, with no intention of replacing it, and not only no apology for what their careless treatment of your property resulted in, but the gall to send you a bill for the damage?

Have you ever had someone steal your property, and when caught with it tries to insist that it was theirs and they had a right to it?

HOW DID IT FEEL? Take a moment and ponder that.

I assume you are getting a picture in your mind, and I’m going to hazard a guess that this does not describe a person that you are currently close to – or that you even allow in your home anymore. And if you do, I’d be willing to bet further that the other people in your life are telling you that you are not wise to associate with someone who treats others so very poorly. 

If I am right on this point – that the majority of people prefer not to be treated in the above manner – then I don’t get it. 

I don’t get how we can sit and even consider for a nanosecond voting for anyone in this current election – or why, indeed, we have allowed our nation to be taken over by a system that treats us –DAILY and EXACTLY – the way I have described above. Repetitively. As if we have no choice. As if voting for the “lesser of two evils” is a legitimate vote. Something like, how would you like to die: Being stabbed or shot in the heart? Take your pick! Not even offering something more humane like lethal injection. 

I am not a democrat. I am not a republican. I would be ashamed to be aligned with either one of these “parties”. They lie. They cheat. They steal. They do so forcefully and unapologetically. They view the public as the “huddled masses” and treat them as such. They are preparing places to herd the public when we have had enough of their bullshit, and realize that we have sold our birthright for a bowl of their stew.

Now, it’s not like anything I’m saying is new. You’ve heard it all before. You know it’s true. So….what are you going to do about it? Seriously…what are WE going to do about it? At some point someone has to step away from the gaming table and expose the fact that the dice are loaded. They are…we know it. But we are just having such fun arguing over who stacked the deck, aren’t we?   

We have as a nation become fat, lazy, ignorant, and drunk. Yes…even the white collar workers who did such oh-so-important jobs today, pushing pencils and papers and computer keys so that they could bring home the bacon and subsequently send it back out - plus interest – to the banks for their cars and homes and educations and insurance and utilities and toys if there was anything left over. And of course while you are totally preoccupied and consumed with your consumer lifestyle, more has been stolen out from underneath you. 

But it’s not just you that’s been ripped off. It’s your children and your grandchildren. Have we become so short sighted that we think that if we continue in this direction there will be ANYTHING even remotely resembling the life you have enjoyed left for them? Do the math…there won’t be. 

So let’s review. Our monetary system is completely shot, and I do mean completely. It is a debt structure that mathematically speaking can never, ever, ever, ever, ever….be paid up. Ever. It is a debt that keeps on taking. Research it if you don’t believe me. 

Our political system is criminal. It’s unfair, unsafe, heartless, and costs way too much. We need representation from “THE PEOPLE” – someone who works a job like everyone else, goes to Washington to represent their neighbors, and comes home and goes back to work. Pay politicians a minimum wage for the hours we need them, give them the two $10 meals per day voucher that they so generously give to the Medicare recipients, a $60 a night motel voucher and let them have the same public health benefits they have bestowed on us, and see who REALLY wants to be a politician. Let me tell you, it wouldn’t be worth the headache for the career politicians we have now. 

Our brand of capitalism has gone horribly, horribly wrong, to the extent that we are invading other countries and killing human beings in the name of it. That is a worship of the worst order, and don’t’ kid yourselves – we worship our worthless money. 

Our stewardship of this – the one and only planet that we have – is beyond shocking. I, too, giggled at Al Gore’s attempt to wake us up to this…until I dug a little deeper. We are at a frightening precipice environmentally and at risk of planetary suicide.  And we don’t seem to give a shit.

Our educational system was great for the Prussian Army – but is and continues to be an EPIC FAIL when it comes to educating our people. And we’ve politicized the whole sorry mess to the point that the PTA is nothing more than a coffee klatch. Even the kids get that it’s a tremendous joke and are starting to feel ripped off. 

Okay – the list is much longer, but you get the point – and I’m asking again: WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? 

Here are a few options for you:

#1: “Oh, it’s not so bad. You are just having a bad year. Things will get better. Just you wait and see. By the way, did you know that the new television season starts in September? Some really cool shows on!” 

#2: “Oh, my god! Grab your pitchforks and torches! Let’s start a riot!” 

#3: I’m glad to see someone finally said it. I agree. Now, I’m just a common person here in America, but this is the truth and we need to do something about it. We need to wake up and speak about this stuff while we still have free speech. We need to talk to our neighbors, our Facebook friends…our network of people. We need to start discussing this stuff. NOT arguing – we already have that within our fucked up two-party system. No, what we need now is discussion. We can have different opinions – and a great discussion contains lots of them and the intelligent minds behind them have the chance to explain why they believe what they believe, and have the chance to compare the logic and reason. No insults, no threats, no mud-slinging. We are intelligent people, and in the face of a crisis, we need to keep our heads together to find solutions for the WHOLE. Think Red Cross, here.

Well, yeah, I’ve chosen door number three. Things need to change and here’s where the tone is going to change. It’s not all doom and gloom. Yeah – there’s a fair amount of that. But I am not without HOPE. 

I have HOPE because I look back at the history of this nation. We ARE the greatest experiment in humanity ever. Look at what we were able to accomplish with our creativity and minds! A chart of our technological advances is mind-bogglingly exponential in it’s growth, and why will that stop? It won’t, unless we suppress the great up-and-coming ideas, inventions and innovations, or destroy the very planet upon which we live, either by depletion or war. Barring that, we will continue to think great thoughts, and invent great things. 

But what things? Example: We need to reduce and ultimately replace the combustion engine. It’s using up oil, which is a limited resource, and in the process of our overuse of oil, we are killing our atmosphere. Who do know wants to invent a new kind of transportation? 

Sticking with this example, who knew – we already have numerous proposals out there. You’ve probably even heard of or seen them. Then why don’t we utilize them? What’s with the hush-up? You know, the presidential limo has indestructible tires. Why don’t we all? 

Well, because Firestone and Goodyear have probably bought and paid for political representation to prevent anyone for dipping into their profits by offering a more sensible replacement. 

The oil industry is the primary motivation behind most of the wars ongoing on the PLANET. The military machine is also a money machine. (Google the Carlyle Group). 

Good people of the planet, we are being sung a soothing lullaby by the media which has also been bought and paid for by the financial and political powers that be. We are blissfully – or perhaps intentionally – unaware of the stranglehold we are in. How long will you stay asleep? 

Here’s a fun experiment. How about NOBODY votes this year? Hypothetically, if nobody voted, what do you think would happen? There is, after all, no real choice here. The political powers have fed us the divisions of the parties  to keep us bickering amongst ourselves, but have ignored the ways in which they are both the same: To control the people, the world, and it’s resources and finances. 

What if we want something completely different? If we do, we need to figure out just what that might be, and get together on a plan of action. Yes…there are a LOT of problems to be solved – but you know what? WE are a LOT of people, and there are a lot of brains and creativity among us to do the job: 

IF we are allowed to.
 IF we will wake up to the problem.
 IF we will turn off our TVs and tune out the mainstream media.
 IF we will put aside our differences for the good of the whole. 
IF we will come, and reason together. 

Start by educating yourself. Share your knowledge. Start a discussion group. Start a co-op. Talk to your neighbors. Be willing to be viewed as a bit crazy…(trust me, it’s not so bad, and you get used to it)…knowing that the wise before you were proven not to be such fools.
  
Realize – and I know you do – that one man does not run this country. It’s a cartel of very wealthy corporations that have purchased your leader for their interests, most of which are destroying the planet we call home and the people we call family for corporate gain. 

There is only one thing that will stop that, and that’s an educated, unified, aware We The People – who are not democrats nor republicans, but AMERICANS who want their country back.

 We want to establish justice without all the inane laws that only make lawyers rich; secure domestic tranquility with having to lock up people who are utilizing their right to free speech; provide for the common defense without having to take all the guns away and implement martial law; promote the general welfare by diverting some of the wealth to care for our aged and infirm, exploring cures to diseases without having to sell our souls to the FDA; and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity by giving our children not only an education that educates the whole person instead of just their left brain, but also by preserving the planet and resources upon which we depend.

I’m only one person – but I am part of the whole. America is just another empire in the history of the world, and just because you may not be feeling any pain from your lazy boy or your computer screen does not mean it’s not about the fall, and fall hard. Ignoring it will not stop it. Waking up to it, and doing your individual part just might. I can’t tell you what that is, but I can tell you it’s NOT scenario #1 above. 

In case you haven’t heard it before:
 If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always gotten.
To do the same thing repetitively and expect different results is the very definition of insanity.
America is not changing direction…it has already changed. 

Wake up. 
Think about it.