Thursday, August 16, 2018

A Plea for a Sane and Viable Future



The current administration under the aegis of a President, whose rantings describe an apparently emotionally juvenile and disturbed personality, has helped magnify the real politic of the US government.  Elected officials are supposed to be servants of all the people.  It has become abundantly clear that they serve the affluent and corporate class above all else.  How else does one explain the passage of a supposed tax reform bill that increases still further a massive transfer of public wealth to private hands.  How else would one explain the fact that the Supreme Court has codified the rampant and excessive ability of the wealthy to have unlimited access to politicians through campaign contributions and has effectively equated money with free speech.  How else would you explain a leadership that refuses to accept the expert advice from the scientific and professional communities that conflict with the entrenched fossil fuels industries that currently hold inordinate sway in determining national policy.  This underlying reality has naturally led to a corrupt government that responds primarily to the needs and interests of the powerful.  It has become acutely apparent that this is a disastrous way to “run a country” as diverse and necessarily complex and multi-faceted as our own.

Throughout human history, civilized society has always been susceptible to disruption and dissolution – it is a fragile state of existence.  Currently, the forces of repression seem to be on the ascendency.  The egalitarian and democratic principles upon which this nation has been built are definitely floundering.  The current holder of the office of the Presidency has definitively helped to accelerate movement towards a deeply divided nation in which cruelty, bigotry. blatant mendacity, intimidation and irrational behavior are apparently encouraged.  Science and scientists, journalism and journalists have been maligned and have on more than one occasion been described as “enemies of the people.”

The American people have been led to crossroads where a definitive choice is now available to us.  Either we listen to reason, pay attention to reality, i.e. real data, respect intelligence and balanced judgment, demand true equality and representation in government and make sound and informed choices at the polls; or, we continue on the current path to inevitable disaster.

We do not possess the commodity of unlimited time to be a country we can actually be proud of and that will apply its wondrous resources and human capital to fashion a nation that sets its sights towards the greater good for everyone – we are all part of the human family - rather than remain in the emotionally-charged region of the lower brain.  As sentient beings we can do better.

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