The Tragic Cost of Hatred and Misunderstanding

All too often we forget that we do not live in a vacuum. We deny the fact that our "democracy" is too often controlled by money, more money than the majority of us can fathom. The powers that be know that it is far easier to demonize and blame others for our tragic failings than to take responsibility for our own mistakes and change in ways that can fix the problems that we have created ourselves. Our figurehead leaders are put in a difficult position because they have at least a glimmer of understanding about the immense power that the fortune 500 companies wield. Right now, today, the non-financial S&P 500 corporations are sitting on enough capital
(in smaller amounts it is called dollars)to fund another bail out like the one we taxpayers are on the hook for. We spent money that we do not have to save their asses and in return, they have taken that much cash back out of the economy. Why do we let them do this? Because we value "freedom". I contend that the freedom to do wrong is not protected under our constitution but try to find someone willing to take on the big dogs. The right-wing of our government feels that those dollars, which were created by exploitation of "resources", including human ones, investors and profit margins, is theirs to do with what they will. Well, if a mere 500 companies have the cash on hand to float the American people a loan to get things moving again, wouldn't it help them to do it as well? In fact, even a zero interest loan to the government would benefit them more than they could calculate because it would help break through the log-jam that is facing our economy today.

Those who keep telling us that the government is the problem are only fomenting hatred of any system that might have a chance of working. I am thoroughly amazed at the number of working poor who feel that the government is taking too much from them, because that is what come career businessman has told them. Most of these people get a full refund of federal taxes withheld at the end of the year anyway! The misdirection of our collective attention would strike awe into the most smooth and successful magician. If we could see through the smoke and mirrors, we would find corruption and collusion from the local level all the way up to the top rungs of our industries. Government is always in the terrible position of having to "play nice" with the most vile and reprehensible characters. The "regulated community" as most government officials refer to it is made up of folks who feel entitled to whatever they need to make a profit. Frequently, these organizations feel that they are not only entitled to everything they want, but justified in taking it because they "create jobs". Sadly, the other unspoken truth of the matter is that these corporate leaders often feel that they are better humans than the rest of us and therefore have the equivalent of The Divine Right of Kings. Calvinism dies hard amongst those who can use it to justify pollution, exploitation and degradation of the very communities that they exist in.

Lest I forget to mention, these entities usually support local non-profit organizations, but it seems a bit disingenuous when the same folks who bring in and release to the community the largest amounts of toxic and carcinogenic compounds turn around and support the walk for breast cancer research, or that the same companies that require mothers and fathers to work late donate to the Boys and Girls Club to help fight juvenile delinquency. Hundreds of bad actors placate the public by making donations to noble causes. Strangely enough, these funds are written off pre-tax, which results in under-funding programs that the government tries to support.

Few realize the deductions allowed business on a daily basis, or the huge sums that skate by as non-taxable. Everything with corporate logos printed on them, from hats to shirts, to uniforms, to pencil holders, "freebies", frisbees, pens, pencils, packaging, etc. think of all the things that you see that have a logo on them...all deductions pre-tax for the corporation. Is there a benefit to anyone by allowing this one deduction? Since most of these give-aways are cheap plastic crap from China, I suppose someone in China benefits, but why would our government subsidize their industry?

Understanding these issues goes a long way to unraveling the mess that has been made of our political and social lives. When we begin to see the falsehood and rhetoric behind the most commonly used words such as "freedom" and "patriotism", we can begin to sort out the true meanings of these words and define them for ourselves, rather than taking them as code words for something bigger and more occult. Hatred flourishes when ignorance is in the mix. That is why ambassadors and statesmen are usually from a more educated class. I, in no way, want to sound prejudicial, but the fact is that ignorant people have been and will continue to be graduated from Harvard and all he Ivy League schools. Being educated is not like filling a vessel with water, prejudice, hatred and misunderstanding exist in all of us to some degree, they act as holes in one's vessel, allowing truth to spill away and lies to be contained within. Stemming the flow from one gaping hole often leads to partial patches over other holes as well. We begin to learn when we realize that we really know very little. The worst thing that education has ever attempted to do is to send people in their late teens, to College, directly out of High School. Who knows more, and knows that they know it, than a High School senior? Two years of community service, or military training would go a long way to curing many of those misconceptions.

This week, The Red Cross has had to curtail efforts to bring relief supplies and equipment into Pakistan. After a month of suffering, along with millions of others, a tipping point has been reached. The refugees began attacking aid workers, making it unsafe for the Good Samaritans. What has happened during the past month has been mostly, nothing. We forget that the Pakistani people are just that, people. We have been told recently that their government is supportive of those that we righteously hate. Do we forget the atrocities that our own government carries out in our name? The truth of the matter is that our enemies are leading relief efforts on the ground, exhibiting for the local populace who "cares" about them, while we withhold aid and stand in awe of the catastrophic flooding. It took a few days to begin putting relief into Haiti, but after a full month, humanitarian aid was flowing into that area relatively freely. The longer we wait to "do the right thing" in Pakistan, the more loyal to our enemies their people will become. Instead of a few corrupt and powerful government officials and a cadre of military leaders who support our "enemies", the displaced people and refugees will note that the hands that sustained them during this current crisis were the same color as theirs, and that the politics of hate has merit.

We cannot afford to have an entire country, one that has nuclear weapons of it's own turn out to be a terrorist state. We must begin to understand that we are all one, brothers upon the same Starship Earth. In spite of the fact that the vast majority of Pakistanis wanted a woman, educated in the West, to be their next leader, a fringe militia, frightened at the prospect of losing their power, murdered her. The people love what we stand for, but if we acquiesce now, many will lose faith that there can be a path to a better life. The moral high ground is neither if we cannot lend a hand to those less fortunate, those suffering the costs of our unbridled greed, and those who bear most heavily the weight of our failure to understand basic principles of freedom and democracy.

When the majority becomes cold, heartless and misinformed, all is lost for our country. We need to develop more leaders who are willing to stand up for truth and justice, stop the rhetoric of scarcity & competition, and get on with the process of educating ourselves instead of relying on well-funded elites to give us more smoke and mirrors instead of reflections of stark reality. The truth may be difficult to look at from time to time, but it is what it is, and we play a big pert in it. I cannot presage what the next meaningless distraction that we will be fed will be, but I assure you, it will be designed to keep us from seeing what is really going on right under our noses.