Friday, December 21, 2012 marks the end of the Mayan
Calendar. The World waits breathlessly to see if it means the end of the world…
I guess it does seem like the end of the world is pending
these last few days and weeks. We have the fiscal cliff waiting to plunge our
economy into a world-wide recession. The wealthy would see their taxes go up a
few % points, the poor and the elderly would see safety net programs slashed,
students and teachers would see funding decrease even further and the military
budget would be thrown to the wolves. Surely the folks in Washington will come
to their senses, compromise and save the day!
It might seem like the end of the world is approaching
after the tragedy in Connecticut. It was horrendous. It was unthinkable…but regrettably…not
so uncommon these days. We watched President Obama list the all too many mass
killings by deranged people with access to assault rifles and mega clips of ammo.
He read aloud the names of the dead first graders and said enough. He said we
could no longer live this way. Americans began to shout, “Make it stop! No more.”
Surely the folks in Washington will come to their senses and DO SOMETHING to
end the madness!
Well, unfortunately our leaders are not free to act in
our best interest. I know we elected them to represent us, but they are
beholding to organizations like the NRA (National Rifle Association), big
banks, large corporations and a guy named Grover. Grover? What to do? What to
do? We the people have the vote, but others have the money and it takes money
to get elected to office. Getting elected to office gives our leaders power and
privilege in our society. So Washington has become this place for large egos
and small, petty ideas. Will their better nature somehow prevail? Will we be
saved from oblivion?
Perhaps the Mayans had the ability to time travel. Perhaps
they traveled to our time and watched our politicians play their stupid
partisan games. Perhaps they saw how we valued having our guns more than the
safety, even the very lives of our children. Perhaps they saw the accumulation of
wealth and power by the very few in our society at the expense of the rest.
Perhaps they saw how we just did not get it. United we stand as a prospering
nation, the envy of the world, but divided we fall into depravity and ruin. Perhaps
they saw no hope for us, no potential for growth, for evolution, for change.
Perhaps they only saw our greed, our lack of compassion, our egos and our need
to win at all costs. Perhaps they saw how little we valued the lives of our
poor, our disabled, our elderly and our struggling masses. Perhaps they saw all
of this…and decided to pull the plug. They ended their calendar and left it for
us to find…and wonder.
Food for THOUGHT…
1 comment:
We are such an example of the benefits of democracy for the rest of the authoritarian world.
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