Saturday, November 02, 2024

The Upcoming Presidential Election – November 5, 2024



I must proclaim at the outset that this election cycle has been the most bizarre, surreal, unsettling and disturbing environment for a national Presidential election that I have ever experienced. I never would have imagined the current political, social and cultural milieu that we are in as a people and nation when I first was eligible to vote.

It has taken on a distinctly Orwellian character where lie becomes truth and truth lie. Where misinformation and purposeful misdirection has become the norm. Where one candidate Donald Trump, in particular, is seemingly incapable of even a glimmer of personal integrity – devoid of any recognizable moral compass. Where social media has become a conduit of falsehood, overt bigotry, hatred and mean-spiritedness. This aspect has gotten so severely distorted that death threats directed at those who hold differing views have become commonplace.

In this nation’s relatively brief history as a democratic republic, it would have been unthinkable that a person of Trump’s character, diminished intellect, morally bankrupt aspirations would have ever been considered as “presidential material.” This is a human being who has clear and unambiguous clinical symptoms of suffering from mental illness. This is an individual who is a convicted felon and actually attempted, as a lame-duck president, to unravel the results of a presidential election that he clearly lost.

To add to the apparent national insanity is the fact that a majority of the Supreme Court, two of its justices have shown clear evidence of conflict of interest and unethical behavior, have ruled that a sitting president apparently has the authority to take actions aimed at undermining the very foundations of democratic government. This ruling effectively supported the ability of Donald Trump to run for re-election thereby giving the fox free access to the chicken coop.

How did all this come to be? How is it that we could be on the threshold of electing a person totally unsuited and incapable of being in a position to use such power and authority? How is it that we could, as a people, consciously choose to put into power an individual who has clearly asserted with pride and determination his natural affiliation with autocratic rule – with national leaders of the likes of Vladimir Putin of Russia. How did we come to this place where we could effectively participate in our own undoing as a free and democratic people?

There is no singular answer to these questions. We do know, of course, that this type of convergence of forces is clearly recognizable in the history of human civilizations. Also, it is patently clear that a sizeable proportion of the American people have been effectively excluded from the “American Dream.”

We do know that national wealth is skewed heavily towards those who have a hold on wealth and power. We do know that our perception of ourselves as a prosperous people is more an illusion than a tangible reality. Too many of us have felt excluded for too long. This reality has left a residue of fear and insecurity that can be readily exploited by those in positions of inordinate wealth and power. Those in such a position who are decidedly unscrupulous understand how to manipulate these feelings to their own advantage.

There are additional aspects of the American character and psyche that are contributing factors. As a people, our emphasis on the primacy of the individual has had a marked impact on the sense of our participation in community life i.e. the Commons. This proclivity to pay overweening attention to self has diminished our capacity to care for others.

Also, our tendency towards the use of aggression and violence to address personal and communal problems has made us insensitive to the plight of others. This has been made apparent as exemplified by the overwhelming personal possession of arms and armaments and their use or threatened use.

Lastly, the continual use of horrific violence in our history from the institution of slavery, the near genocide of Native American populations and foreign policy objectives that have exploited our vast national arsenal of weapons of mass destruction has, in my mind, exacerbated our capacity for violent aggression as an accepted means to resolve problems.

In conclusion, if we possess any real aspirations to address and correct these underlying issues there is hope that we can restore a sense of sanity and purpose in our lives as a people of these United States.

My Worst Fears

If my worst fear becomes real and a clear majority of American voters choose the likes of Donald Trump as their leader, then I have no real choice but to surrender to this new reality – for the people have spoken. However, I reserve the right to speak out for what is right, just and fair. I reserve the right to speak out against lies; against blatant violence and aggression directed against minorities, the innocent, the enfeebled and the weak. I reserve the right to remain true to myself.

In just a few days, it will become vividly clear whether the American people choose a path for the future that encourages truth, reason, intellect, compassion, fairness and justice, or one that finds comfort in bigotry, outrageous and provocative lies, repression, violence and hatred. That latter choice will certainly bring many days of darkness, chaos, senseless retribution, vengeance and grief.

It is not only in the United States that these kinds of stark choices are evident. It is my contention that the real source of this potential for unnecessary social chaos and dislocation lies within the architecture of the human brain. As humans, we have collectively failed to learn how to discipline the innate tendency of our lower brain to react violently and without reason to the conflict that necessarily comes with living in community with others, especially within a complex human environment.

I am inundated by great sadness and often overwhelmed by the undeniable reality that humans continue to make choices that ineluctably lead to unnecessary pain and suffering. Where the simple recognition that all peoples are members of the same human family would change everything.

Monday, August 26, 2024

Ode to Existence - Revisited

 



Ode to Existence

Revisited





Enmeshed and so often, entrapped

within this human world

distraction the norm,

conversation distilled into

a kind of relentless babble

born on the wings of bits and bytes,

joy equated with pleasure

and childish excitement,

happiness to be forever

pursued and hoarded like treasure,

a synthetic world of trinkets

and idle possessions,

heirlooms acquired,

building vast fortunes

of synthetic and finite illusions,

all with little consequence

all with little meaning.



And yet,

the reality of existence

moves along its

indefatigable path,

within the boundaries of

the wondrous cosmos.



Surrounded by the matrix

of the living world,

passengers aboard this fabulous spaceship

Earth,

caressed by capricious winds,

greeted by morning mist

tossed upon perilous water,

enlivened by sunlight,

subdued by nightfall,

intimidated by fearsome storm,

forever surprised by the intrinsic beauty

delicate intricacies of nature’s tendrils

that reach into every corner and crevice,

every delicate spring blossom,

every blade of undulating grass,

every tree no matter how massive or

diminished,

every creature within its domain,

every idle thought that triggers

perception,

every substantive or meaningless dream.



Surrounded by this most amazing

universe,

this most fabulous galaxy

decorating the heavens with

innumerable stars,

witness to the dance of the planets,

subtleties of light and dark,

to the wild configurations of

shape and form and texture and color.



Blessed with this most awesome capability

of the sentient mind

to uncover the mysteries of

the nature of things,

to explore the vast and inner terrain of

self,

to find meaning,

to explore possibilities,

to appreciate detail and

discover function,

to search for truth

and find it,

to know peace

and appreciate the essence of love.



Life is a voyage and a journey,

bounded by explosive birth

and the finality of death,

constrained by the

vagaries and vicissitudes

of unfolding time,

life is to be affirmed

by wrapped attention,

life is to be possessed

from moment to moment and

neither squandered nor abandoned.


Finally, I would like to finish on this optimistic note regarding humanity’s future -

There is a deep-seated and persistent hunger that manifests itself globally; this hunger is for a more equitable, just, peaceful and saner world. There are many communities throughout the planet that are working towards this goal in innumerable ways. These organizations are clearly growing in size and number and are becoming more and more interconnected. If this trend continues, it offers significant hope for meaningful change, for it may ultimately expand the idea of family beyond the rigid boundaries of genetic affiliation to encompass all of humanity. This is my fondest desire, for there is so much needless suffering in this somber world that humans have created for themselves.

There is a formidable wealth of imagination, ingenuity, intelligence, generosity and potential that is bound up in the lives of billions of humans whose lives are unnecessarily cut short or minimalized by poverty, disease, conflict, war and scarcity – all of which are wholly preventable.

If that cumulative potential were only released; if war was only made obsolete; if the untold wealth diverted to weapons and instruments of death was only redirected towards enhancing human progress, what a different world we would have. If those who have been taught to look elsewhere for salvation would only look to each other for answers, what a different world we would have. If only all of us would find peace within ourselves and reflect on the well spring of our own behavior, what a different world we would have. If only humanity would speak the word love and truly mean it and accept the implications of this kind of surrender, what a different world we would have. If only we would comprehend the emptiness of greed, prejudice and mindless acquisition, what a different world we would have. If only we would remove the blinders that obstruct our minds and see the beauty inherent in diversity and the universality and interdependence of all of life, what a different world we would have. This is my fondest wish.




Sunday, August 18, 2024

A Persistent Hope

In spite of this nagging sense of despair, I still remain hopeful – that hope lies with the next generations to follow.  I can summarize this hope in the following way.

There is a deep-seated and persistent hunger that manifests itself globally; this hunger is for a more equitable, just, peaceful and saner world. There are many communities throughout the planet that are working towards this goal in innumerable ways. These organizations are clearly growing in size and number, and are becoming more and more interconnected. If this trend continues, it offers significant hope for meaningful change, for it may ultimately expand the idea of family beyond the rigid boundaries of genetic affiliation to encompass all of humanity. This is my fondest desire, for there is so much needless suffering in this pathetic world that humans have created for themselves.

There is a formidable wealth of imagination, ingenuity, intelligence, generosity and potential that is bound up in the lives of billions of humans whose lives are unnecessarily cut short or minimalized by poverty, disease, conflict, war and scarcity – all of which are wholly preventable.

If that cumulative potential were only released; if war was only made obsolete; if the untold wealth diverted to weapons and instruments of death was only redirected towards enhancing human progress, what a different world we would have. If those who have been taught to look elsewhere for salvation would only look to each other for answers, what a different world we would have. If only all of us would find peace within ourselves and reflect on the well spring of our own behavior, what a different world we would have. If only humanity would speak the word love and truly mean it and accept the implications of this kind of surrender, what a different world we would have. If only we would comprehend the emptiness of greed, prejudice and mindless acquisition, what a different world we would have. If only we would remove the blinders that obstruct our minds and see the beauty inherent in diversity and the universality and interdependence of all of life, what a different world we would have. This is my fondest desire.

Thursday, July 25, 2024

Song of Despair

How long

before the clock of needless death

and true madness

finally stops ticking.



How long

before those granted power

stop condoning and encircling

applauding

those who proclaim the

right to slaughter the innocents

reigning death and horrific destruction

from the sky

reminiscent of the darkest days

of Vietnam,

condemning those who

recoil from such an extreme

desecration of life.



How long

before we speak out

loudly to

those who proclaim lie over truth

bigotry and hatred

over compassion, kindness

love,

before we reject

chaos, needless suffering and death and

choose peace and harmony instead.



How long

before

we understand

that without a moral compass

the human world will fall into

a hell of its own making.

Friday, July 12, 2024

A Divided Nation

Given the current state of an obviously divided nation, it becomes quite apparent that the world of modern humans is constantly inundated within the fabric of illusions that provide a false representation of the essence of our collective humanity. This artificial world is buttressed by a constant and torrential storm of information where the demarcation between truth and prevarication is ambiguous at best.

It is regrettable that after thousands of years of human civilization, the human species remains collectively driven by fear, suspicion, bigotry and hate. These feelings are powerful enough to propel humanity to unimagined extremes of violence and degradation. It is equally sad that although science has clearly demonstrated that all humans are members of the same species – the same human family, horrendous and destabilizing divisions over politics, religion, ethnic origins and imagined racial differences persist.

I personally have grown weary of all the unnecessary suffering that comes as a direct result of actions, both personal and collective, driven by hatred, bigoty, closed-mindedness, calousness, ignorance and a basic insensitivity to the human condition.

In my estimation the fundamental quality of being a sentient creature on this most remarkable planet is the ability to experience and appreciate existence. We all share this remarkable capacity to communicate with and understand each other. It is such a profoundly important gift to not only consciously experience existence, but also to seek to encompass and truly comprehend existence in all its many forms and aspects. A singular lifetime does not afford me the ability or capacity to embody all of existence, but at least, allows me to enjoy and participate in the adventure of living.

Monday, May 27, 2024

 



What Kind of World Will We Leave Behind?


I have been personally examining the possibilities that may lie ahead for the human species in the years ahead by attempting to extrapolate the more immediate impact of the kind of communal decisions and choices being made throughout the world during the current era. In this examination, I have chosen to look at what I consider to be a so-called “worst case scenario.”


From the perspective of the global political environment, I see some disturbing tendencies. There seems to be an unsettling rise in the popularity of autocratic rulers who have openly expressed a blatant attraction to fascistic principles even within the Western-style democracies. Important examples of this trend are evident in the policies and pronouncements of such leaders as Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Vladimir Putin of Russia. These leaders are currently involved in brutal and ongoing wars against avowed enemies that barely disguise an effort to expand their dominion.

These wars are taking such horrendous tolls on the lives of their powerless foes – the Palestinians in the case of Israel and the Ukrainians in the case of Russia. The toll of this savage aggression endured by ordinary citizens in each instance is sadly reminiscent of the behavior of the Third Reich during World War II. In addition, the popularity of Donal Trump in the United States as the 2024 Presidential election approaches is surprising and notable especially in regard to his often-stated affinity towards autocratic rule in place of adherence to the rule of law, and political democracy.

The underling reasons for the popular support for autocratic rulers and repressive policies and political agendas is complex and multi-faceted. However, it is my contention, that the essential driver for such tendencies is fear, and that fear arises from an internal sense of instability and uncertainty regarding the future for those who have assumed that they hold dominant positions within the social order.

In many ways this unfolding of events is terribly reminiscent of the cycle of the rise and fall of human civilizations that echo throughout human history. The unfortunate tragedy of these kinds of historic events in the present technological era is that so much is at stake in regard to the immediate future of the human species.

Autocratic rule does not bode well for the future state of humanity for a variety of reasons. The foremost of these is that the lie is used to supplant a striving for truth - the unmitigated use of falsehoods and propaganda to propel forward an arbitrary and inherently dangerous agenda is a proven tactic to purposefully exploit the underlying fear and uncertainty of the population. We have seen this in the case of Netanyahu who has allowed lawlessness on the part of Israeli settlers to terrorize unarmed Palestinians in the West Bank and elsewhere often resorting to burning down houses and shooting innocent individuals with total impunity, held Palestinians captive in Gaza for the last sixteen years and committed terrible atrocities against ordinary Palestinians in Gaza with merciless bombardment, resulting in tens of thousands of needless deaths, provoking mayhem and the likelihood of terrible famine in much of that very crowded region. We have seen the insidious nature of autocratic rule on the part of Vladimir Putin in Russia in his relentless pursuit of incorporating by violent means the Ukraine sovereignty into the Russian empire. Lastly we have seen the repeated use of the lie and callous and provocative propaganda during the presidency of Donal Trump who has more or less embraced a clearly racist ideology and who has contributed to the tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths in the midst of the COVID pandemic by downplaying the severity of the onslaught of the disease - disregarding the advice of public health experts and who proudly proclaimed that Climate Change is a hoax. This trend towards autocratic rule and its accompanying social and political repression is not isolated to the above examples – in fact, it seems to be a worldwide phenomenon.


If this trend continues throughout the human world, then the voices of peace, social and economic justice, equality of opportunity, reason and intellectual pursuits would be effectively muted and suppressed. The ultimate consequences of this predilection towards obeisance to autocratic rule and governance would prove to be unsustainable in the long term.

As has been repeatedly demonstrated in human history, pursuits of the intellect, science and broad-based thinking would be profoundly discouraged. As a result, the absolute need to address the overweening issue of Climate Change would have no traction. As a matter of fact, the conditions that contribute to this human-created problem would be seriously exacerbated. Climatologists have periodically enumerated the new reality that would emerge on planet earth if their warnings go unheeded. This would include the fact that regions of the earth that are inhabited by hundreds of millions of humans would be essentially unlivable due to the extreme heat and humidity. These would include regions in the Middle East, Asia, especially India and the African continent.

Should this calamitous situation become a reality, it would mean the forced emigration of huge populations of humans – the kind of migration that would certainly provoke horrendous conflict and would engender an unsustainable living environment for a substantial portion of the earth’s human population. This kind of impact precipitated by Climate Change is a major one, but certainly not the only ramification of unfettered and calamitous change. Others include the impact of rising temperatures in the world’s oceans leading to the probable extinction or diminishment of many species of marine life that currently provide a necessary protein source for many animal species including Homo sapiens. In addition, the change in climate would precipitate savage and unrelenting storms in many regions on the planet resulting in additional stress upon human survival.

The collective impact of these alterations on the living planet would likely result in the gradual and ineluctable diminution of the human population, ultimately resulting in and end to the technological age due to the degradation of the advanced infrastructure that is required to sustain it.


If this kind of scenario actually unfolds, the severely diminished human populations would most likely coalesce into tribal relationships over the ensuing generations. The lifestyles of these “New Humans” would conform to earlier neolithic ways of living if the state of the local natural environment supports agriculture or be more likened to a paleolithic culture should the local environment support a hunter/gatherer style of living. The net result would be a rich variety of tribal societies that may or not come into conflict depending upon the degree of competition for survival. In any case, the memories associated with technologically-based human civilization would gradually fade from communal recognition. In a sense, the human species would have been rebooted. It would take a prolonged interval of time before the living world fully rebounded from the trauma of human-caused environmental degradation. How humanity would evolve in such a setting is difficult to imagine.


Keep in mind that this vision is entirely speculative, and, of course, it is conceivable that humans in the current era could make choices that would significantly alter the future for the benefit of all creatures on this most remarkable planet. It is also conceivable that the ultimate outcome of a failure to act responsively in attempting to avert this kind of calamity may not be as dramatic or catastrophic as this bleak scenario describes. However, the future that does enfold will most likely result in a scale of pain and suffering that would have been totally avoidable if only humanity acted intelligently and cooperatively to avert a disheartening future. In the final analysis it is up to all of us to take significant action at the present time for the sake of future generations.

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

The Ghosts of Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler, that “remarkable” German leader, who in about 12 years (1933 – 1945) managed to engineer and inspire a most “remarkable” war machine that in the final reckoning was directly or indirectly responsible for the death of seventy-five million human beings throughout the world as well as the physical, emotional and psychological damage inflicted on so many in the post- World War II era. He was a madman who has been dead for almost eighty years, yet his ghosts still haunt humanity.

These ghosts have successfully populated the mind and spirit of current day madmen who have aspired to leadership positions throughout the world. Individuals such as Vladimir Putin of Russia, Donald Trump of the United States, Viktor Mihály Orbán of Hungary, Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Ali Khamenei of Iran have taken on this “glorious” mantle.

These individuals espouse and attempt to propagate those core values as established by Adolph –

· The imposition of autocratic and despotic rule over an entire population.

· Unbending adherence to lies at the expense of the truth.

· Arbitrary judgements and pronouncements at the expense of reason and the rule of law.

· The blind acceptance and belief of the absolute superiority of a particular ethnic group and/or ideology.

· The unrelenting focus on demeaning and undermining a particular group(s) usually a minority, those who express contradictory points of views, those who are a minority in terms of sexual orientation or religious affiliation. This kind of dogged antagonism is usually designed to inspire the loyal adherents to fascistic principles to act with malice and violence against the designated “scapegoats.”

· The use of collective punishment directed at those deemed inferior who rebel against the ironclad and autocratic rule that defines their existence and usurps their freedom. Current examples of this practice can readily be seen in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Israeli invasion of Gaza. These two examples reflect a careless brutality and total lack of respect for human life; for the safety and well-being of children, the elderly and the weak who are treated as less than human on account of their association with what is considered to be an inferior group.

At the end of his despotic reign, Adolph Hitler killed himself and left his native Germany in ruins. Strangely, it seems that the policies, as outlined above, still seem to have traction in this twenty-first century. The human world apparently has learned little from the clear and explicit lessons of the past.

Gaza - the New Holocaust



At the current time, February 14, 2024 it has been reported that over 27000 Gazans, mostly ordinary citizens, have perished – victims of the Israeli onslaught mostly from the air and the remainder murdered by Israeli soldiers. This ongoing war was waged in response to the attack of Hamas fighters on Isreali citizens killing an estimated 1200 indiviuals and the taking 0f hostages.

Although this terrifying attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians is deserving of a response, it must be remembered that the people of Gaza are essentially defenseless except for the Hamas fighters that are themselves no match against Israeli military power. In addition, the majority of Gazans are children and as a result, a staggering proportion of the dead have been children.

It is important to note that for 16 years the Israeli government with the help of the Egyptian government created a horrific situation in which over 2 million individuals were forced to live in a veritable prison in which they could not leave and a living environment in which the supply of power, medications, foodstuffs and water were arbitrarily rationed.

Many of the victims in Gaza perished as the result of bombardment from the air. Repeatedly the Israelis dropped 2000 pound bombs, weapons supplied by the United States, in the midst of densely populated neighborhoods. The level of destruction from these weapons resulted in the total collapse of many residential structures crushing men, women and children to death and leaving many victims with grievous injuries.

Eighty percent of the entire population of over 2 million Gazans were forced to abandon their homes and relocate attempting to find some safe haven within the Gazan ghetto. The Israelis imposed a prolonged siege on the entire population resulting in the forced scarcity of adequate nutrition, decimated water treatment facilities, diminished availability of a safe water supply and severely diminished access to fuel and therefore power.

Currently the Israeli government plans to forcefully evacuate over a million people from the last bit of Gazan territory that was considered safe. In addition, spokespersons for the ultra conservative wing of the Israeli government have begun to propose forcefully expelling Palestinian residents of Ganza and subsequently bringing in Jewish settlers with the aim of permanently occupying Gaza – reminiscent of what occurred in 1948 during the aftermath of Israeli-Arab War and creation of the Jewish State. This idea regarding future plans for Gaza might also explain the ruthless decimation of the Palestinian infrastructure in Gaza that is currently underway with no plans to restore what has been destroyed.

The saddest aspect of this current historic reality is that the methods employed by the Israeli government against Hamas and the people of Gaza reflects many of the techniques used by Nazi Germany during World War II including that of harsh and horrific collective punishment using overwhelming force against an essentially defenseless civilian population. This behavior also underlies the strongly held belief that Palestinians are somehow less than human and can certainly be imprisoned in such a dehumanizing environment over a prolonged period of time with no regard for the immeasurable harm that this does to the human spirit.

It is terribly ironic, that the Israeli people who had suffered grievously from the inhumane and reprehensible impact of the Holocaust are now responsible for a Holocaust of their very own making.