Anymore, elections seem to run together. United States needs to adopt European ways; in England, persons running for office can only campaign for six weeks. I say if you can't sell yourself in that length of time, then too bloody bad.
As I continue to find old essays in my archives, I am happy to share them.
*****
9 June, 2012
Checked Facebook, evening of 31 May [2012]; a friend had posted a networking opportunity occurring that very night. The event was BEER WITH BLOGGERS. So, I went and met some very interesting people.
Because this is an election year and because of the times in which we live, many of the bloggers have a political agenda, which, I suppose, can be said of us all. One fellow had been in Wisconsin so long, he was qualified to pass petitions there. He has a vested interest in their election. Since Michigan is a neighboring state, the recall attempt is making big news here too.
I spent a couple hours just listening, seeing what I could find out. One can glean quite a bit, when people are *ripe for the picking,* so to speak. The subject of unemployment and some side effects was under discussion. A fellow, affiliated with local Gray Panthers, was saying homeless shelters in the area turn away a thousand people a day, on average! That represents a lot of needy people. It seems pretty much the same all over.
I often wonder what keeps the "haves" from sharing their abundance with the "have nots." Not just the "obscenely" wealthy, though they would never even miss it. Even those of us who think we are "poor" live in what many would rightly deem luxury.
At work the next morning, made conversation with the night watchman. We spoke of killing machines. At the blogger meeting, one fellow said, If you kill someone with a knife, it's personal. A gun is a little more removed. Next morning, Noel and I spoke of drones which require only "the push of a button" to become activated.
Killing is now impersonal, sanitized. That is a grave danger, because it robs people of their worth and dignity. At the same time, it absolves the perpetrator of consequence and/or guilt. I believe much of what is wrong with the world stems from the apathy toward the inherent value of individuals.
We are killing ourselves in to the bargain. When we have little or no regard for our fellow planet-dwellers, our own sense of worth becomes inevitably diminished. It begins by being distorted.
Many in the Baby Boomer generation feel as if we are in a time warp. There are things we perhaps only imagined, such as cellphones and computers. Other things which seemed a "given," like a weekly newspaper, are slowly disappearing.
Invariably someone argues this is the price of progress. I would submit not all change is "progress," just as it is not inherently evil. But really, people, let's think these things through!
But, I digress. We were talking about distortion, so-called progress and the value of life. The point I really want to make is this: those who do not hold the same ideals are no less human than we are. Therefore, we cannot indiscriminately kill them.
Life in all its glorious diversity should be celebrated, revered, cherished. Can we please just do that? Thanks for trying and for hearing me out.
***
My late sister's take on progress was, "Onward, forward, ever downward." Sadly, there is still a deplorable lack of affordable housing. A recent statistic shows that many people are homeless because their rents were higher than their incomes. We need unions and living wages.
No comments:
Post a Comment