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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