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Over the past several months I have found myself becoming more and more disturbed by the political chaos created through manipulation and gamesmanship between the Democrats, Republicans and Independents. I have watched with increasing frustration how the Republican Big Money Buddies have funded promotional ads that are complete fabrications with no resemblance to truth. It seems that almost no one is paying attention while our government is slowly, but more and more quickly, being wrested from the hands of the common person and given away to those who already control 95% of the wealth of America.
A long-time friend, Lloyd Agte, and I have exchanged numerous emails discussing what we see happening. We each have resources we depend upon for information we can trust to be accurate. Out of these discussions I found myself once again feeling the need to be even more outspoken about the political, policy and social/economic issues facing all of us. I did NOT want LifeCentering to be a blog about politics. I started it as a place where I could share how a person might deal with the variety of personal issues we all face, using as examples the personal ones I was working on in hopes of arriving at a better understanding and resolution.As those of you who follow my blog know, I have used it to express my political frustration. It has become clear that I needed another vehicle to express those opinions and allow LifeCentering to remain a vehicle for articles related to consciousness development and personal growth issues.
Lloyd and I are launching a new blog to serve as our voice about ongoing issues. Insight & Outsight can be found at: http://insightandoutsight.blogspot.com/
It is in early development but will soon have several beginning articles posted. We hope you will subscribe and follow our conversations. Better yet, we hope you will share your comments. Not everyone will agree with us, but as long as it is honest content we can all benefit from the exchange.
I hope you will take a look at the link following this article.
I know that many of you out there don’t have a lot of time to consider just what is going on in the division of wealth in this country.After all, if you are getting by on whatever paltry income you have, who cares?
A huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244.
Frankly, I am fed up with the continuing Republican efforts to increase the share of wealth for their big time contributors at the expense of the rest of us.What is happening in Wisconsin, for example, is the tip of an iceberg which looms before the ship of state and like the Titanic we are just as apt to slip beneath the waters of despair.I know it is not simply a Republican problem.Dems have their share of poor philosophical standards.
Over the past weeks there has been so much discouraging news concerning the total lack of fiscal responsibility with our representatives that I am exhausted just thinking about how to bring them all together coherently so they could be understood by everyone.
I give up on the big picture.But the details in the attached link will show you a great deal about who has the money and how it is being directed away from the majority of us.Notice the estimated net worth of your Congressperson.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I plan on being silent about the election results until I regain consciousness.One friend noted that I seemed to be able to type while unconscious.Caught again!
In the absence of my own thoughts (for now) I am sharing the comments of a long-time friend who is pretty much on the same wave length as I am.Here is what Lloyd Agte has to say.
Looks like I'll have to fill the gap, then. I hope a vow of silence is not accompanied by a spell of deafness and blindness! To wit:
We are hitched to a dying empire. We have not won a war since World War II. All others have been truce, withdrawal, or defeat, or stalemate. We will no longer be in the driver's seat as we were after WWII. The myth of each generation getting richer and richer by doing less and less (grunt work that is) has come to an end. The goal of the rich seems to be to acquire more wealth so that offspring don't have to worry about work and so that they can flaunt their "superior" class to an ever impoverishing nation. They need bread lines, people dying in the street of starvation, food riots, to really feel their superior position. As the wealth and power drifts into the hands of corporations, who have no responsibility to anyone but themselves, and the wealth percolates upwards in a class warfare that the super rich are winning, and there is less and less money in the hands of the middle and lower classes that create the demand for goods, our economy will continue to falter and we will continue to try to maintain our lifestyle by borrowing money from the Chinese who will soon have the most powerful economy in the world.
That was a powerful illusion of wealth that the middle-class, and upper class as far as that is concerned, and it even trickled down to the poor, indulged in with the housing boom and bubble. With nothing down and no credit and lies on a credit report, everyone thought they were getting richer, when it was just a house of cards. Now they want it back again. They LOVED that feeling that they were getting richer every day just because they had made the "wise" decision to buy a house. Everything inflated: price of lumber, housing material, permits, labor, petroleum, stocks, real estate, and on and on. It was a heady addiction and any drug is hard to give up. Obama's sober money priming machine slowly does its work, but like a spoiled teenager, American voters want it NOW. "Wave a wand and make me feel rich again," they shout. And the Republicans are there with their wands and their shills mixing among the crowd to pick the pockets of the middle-class and poor of what little remains.
So expect in each two year cycle a repudiation of those in power by the electorate who want to be restored to at least their illusion of masters of the world, and a constant escalation of material goods is their only means of keeping score.
Anyone who has followed this blog or my “Notes” on Facebook is aware that I do not have much use for the likes of Glenn Beck, Fox Noise, the Tea Party, or most of those who follow the rants of this narcissistic nut ball. (Friends and relatives excepted! –LOL) His visions of personal grandeur and self-importance make me want to hurl my breakfast.
That having been said I determined this morning that I might have to write an essay acknowledging the fact that Glenn Beck did in fact get his crowd together for the rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Never mind that this event, in my opinion, was a mockery of all that Dr. Martin Luther King stood for. However, I certainly recognize that he has tapped into the enormous sense of dissatisfaction with the way things are in society and government today. That does not mean I agree with any single word that comes out of his mouth.
I am not feeling particularly charitable, especially after reviewing the Katrina 5th anniversary programs this week and the reminder of how totally incompetent our government has become in most areas of our lives. And that is what really scares me. When unrest is further encouraged by those who are least sane, or least competent to understand the power of one negative assault after another on the public psyche, there is considerable concern about the possibility of someone finally lighting the actual fuse of revolution. When those seeking public office have as their mandate the course of exercising their “Second Amendment remedies” (read Sharron Angle of Nevada) if government does not do what they think government should do, we are in deep trouble.
There is no question many folks are very unhappy with what is happening in our country. I am very upset about many of the same things. But what I am most unhappy about is the failure of our politicians to demonstrate even a vestige of integrity or genuine concern, let alone any awareness, of the plight of an increasing portion of the populace. I cannot, will not, go into all of the aspects at the root of this dissatisfaction, except to say that the devastating financial divide between the “haves” and the “have-nots” is at the breaking point. There is very definitely a different philosophical base between the Democrats and the Republicans on this issue. That philosophy could be debated reasonably, but it is not.
Frankly, and here comes my basic negativity about things, I think we may have passed the point of no return when it comes to our ability to engage constructively with one another. I believe we have come to the point where many think it really is necessary to wear guns to rallies to showcase our opinions. We are almost at the point of the only argument being, “My gun is bigger than your gun!”
Some may be saying, “It is easy to complain. Why don’t you offer some alternatives?” I guess what I feel about that is my expressions of other ways of thinking, feeling, and living don’t seem to resonate with those caught up with the Glenn Becks of this society. I have stated my position in hundreds of articles over the years and in two books. So now I will just cop out. Of course that is not much better than the position of the radical right and left who complain and offer such radical alternatives that there is no room to compromise.
For anyone who feels strongly about what I have said, I invite your comments. You have as much right to your opinions as Glenn Beck does and as I do. Opinions are cheap, aren’t they? They require very little other than a means to state them.
Today I can actually cast a vote for a candidate representing the Independent Party. I will be joining 55,000 other Oregonians who finally can voice their choice for a candidate instead of having to sit by while the Democrats and Republicans held their primaries. This is a small beginning for what I hope will grow nationwide allowing us to move beyond the limitations of choice to what the party elders determine should be the ones for whom we can vote in primaries.
There are many minority parties in Oregon who seldom get the notice they deserve as they offer a variety of options not considered by the traditional electorate. In this new option candidates from these parties as well as the Republicans and Democrats can choose to be listed and voted for by the Independent Party members. It should be an interesting experiment. I will be voting via the Internet today!
One of the network channels offers a weekly news item on their program dedicated to persons who are making a difference in our sometimes-discouraging world of affairs. This effort to show bright spots in what is often a shadowy world of indifference and self-centeredness is certainly needed. When one news story after another can make one feel that there is little reason to be hopeful, little cause for celebrating our apparent successes, it is not difficult to understand why so many people are angry, disillusioned or just plain don’t care anymore!
I find myself slipping into that mood at times. After the tragic years of the Bush/Cheney administration and the long-lasting destruction caused by their narrow-minded aggressive tendencies, it will be generations before we overcome the devastating effects of their so-called leadership. Today, we need only look at the ruining of the environment in the Gulf of Mexico, the loss of livelihood of family businesses built over generations, the death of untold numbers of fish, fowl, mammals and other life forms to realize that our country (its politicians and business leaders) have abandoned the principles that made this country what it was on its way to becoming. I say on its way to becoming because we had only begun to realize the limitless capacity of our citizens to invent, build and deploy imaginative ideas and products for the benefit of humankind.
I am not a Tea Party person nor am I a sympathizer with most of what I see them display through their thoughtless accusations and actions. Really, some of these people must be from another planet! That we as a nation have come to the point where our mutual anger and frustration has taken on the psuedo leadership of dropout dysfunctionaries as Sarah Palin and the discredited John McCain only shows how far from understanding our democracy and its founding documents we have come.
I cannot even begin to put into words my disgust about the priorities our Congressional members have determined to be important. What I can say is that they are clearly based on greed and avarice. The money that controls our representatives and senators has become so much a part of their function that they can in no way continue to represent the people. They clearly are in bed with their financiers. Look at the literal bed-hopping of the Minerals Management Agency office in Denver, responsible for granting licenses and policing the oil companies. And, again, look at the Gulf disaster. It is government policy and lack of enforcement of big business that has largely been responsible for the chaos we are currently facing.
Even in the face of these catastrophes the Republicans maintain their belief that business does not need regulation. It needs to be left free to market action. This belief that business will self-control is an impossible dream when the unimaginable amounts of money to be gained are on the table, up for grabs for those who don’t give a damn about people or country! Don’t begin to disregard my comments as simply the rant of an unhappy Democrat. I am NOT a Democrat either. Neither of the two parties offers policies or purposes that are compatible with my own.
What I am in favor of is the real grass roots efforts of those who are free of party dictates. I believe wholesale change in government is necessary—Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court. Consistent with this concept is my belief in the need for a Constitutional Convention, the purpose of which is to re-evaluate the relationship of that document to the desires and priorities of we the people. The world we live in is a vastly different world than that of our forefathers. Just as any business with an operational procedures manual must regularly update that document so that it represents current priorities and policies, so must our government review and update our Constitution where necessary. It may not require any changes, but just reading it again should be a benefit. I recently picked up a copy and read it thoroughly. I keep it handy for when stupidity raises its ugly head so I can remind myself of what our founders really said, not what someone thought was in there.
The difficulty of bringing about change in our country today was clearly demonstrated following the last election. A majority of people said they believed in the change Obama promised. Unfortunately, we forgot that no one has the power to change anything where government is concerned. I fully supported Obama and I was also swept up in the belief that here was a person who could really get it done! Well, he couldn’t and he didn’t. Maybe his staff isn’t as good at managing government as it was in managing a campaign. It certainly does not help that the Republicans simply decided to withdraw from any role in governing. Saying “No” was all they had to do to stop change in its tracks. And of course we all know the Democrats are the original “bad news bears” whose way to handle differences of opinion is to form a circular firing squad. OMG, is this not clearly apparent to the general public? I guess not. And because I see no real powerful leadership, I am deeply concerned. I probably will not be around when the pillars of democracy tumble, as they surely will if nothing changes.
So, why should I care? Does anything really make a difference any more? I have to find my own answer to this question, as each of you who have continued to read this far along in this essay will have to do. It is not my nature to be negative. However, I am so totally disgusted with the apparent hopelessness of the situation that I just do not have an answer. I write. That is something I know a little about. I wish I were able to be eloquent enough, with opportunities sufficient to command an audience, that together we could begin to make the difference that will bring the true light of individual responsibility and strength of character to lead that is needed.
I am not going to give up. I think I will have to give up listening to the news, however.
Have you also noticed how many candidates running for office this time around are NOT identifying whether they are Republican or Democrat in their TV ads?
I’d be ashamed to say I was identified with either party too if I wanted to be elected. I think many citizens have figured out the ploy, but in case you haven’t, PLEASE research beyond the ads for who these people really are and who is paying their political bills.
Congress has the lowest approval rating in history—because they DO NOTHING if they can possibly avoid it. After all, committing to something may upset some of the fat cats who send them money. Yes, I know, some good acts have been passed, but the bottom line is that elected members of Congress have only one goal—getting re-elected—and if it takes lying to you and me to do it, by all means lie they will.
I am still trying to decide whether I will even vote for dogcatcher this time around. I am totally frustrated by the mess in Washington that we call Congress, the White House and most of all, the Supreme Court. I have voted in every election since I first became eligible. That’s a LOT of years! I have considered it a privilege to be able to voice my opinion by the marks I put on the ballot. And, like many, I mostly feel the representatives in my own state know what they are doing and truly represent MY interests. It’s those other guys/gals in other states who are fouling things up! Now I’m not even sure that is true. Maybe it IS time to throw them ALL out!
Whatever YOU decide, do it intelligently, which means STAY AWAY FROM THE FOX NEWS NUTBALLS! There! I’ve said it. Now you can do as you please.
