Have you noticed lately in the U.S. that heartlessness seems to be on the rise?
How did we get here? I am not sure.Maybe this is not such a new thing but until now, no one proudly announced they were into cruelty. In the last Presidential campaign, however, suddenly it was all right to say "I just want to punch that fucker", because even candidates were saying things such as this!
With Donald Trump's win, it appears that the floodgates of hatred have opened wide and I am sickened by it.
Now, let's be clear: I am under no illusion that Democrats are faultless. Plenty of them have taken money from the insurance industry, Big Pharma, fossil fuel profiteers, defense contractors, and Wall Street crooks. There's nothing new under the sun about that! Most have also voted to extend the National Defense Authorization Act (repeatedly), prolonging wars that have killed or displaced millions of people. The money spent on wars has been at the expense of our own most vulnerable citizens. In spite of that, social programs continue to be on the chopping block, with the defense budget increased!
I am wondering why I did not put this on my "From America With Love" blog. Well, actually I know why I am here, on "Souls and Struggles". It is because I am struggling a lot lately to understand how these politicians and their supporters can be so heartless as to enact legislation that will harm millions of our own people. It has made my very soul feel ill.
Whether it is Mr. Trump pushing for an end to Obamacare, Rand Paul calling for even more cuts than Trump, or the likes of the EPA's Scott Pruitt allowing poisonous chemicals to be sprayed on our food, the agenda appears to be to kill off the poor and infirm, even children already living in poverty. In the wealthiest nation on earth, one out of five children live at or below poverty level and under this President and Congress, that number will only increase if the rest of us do nothing.
But, what to do? How do we confront this level of animosity for the poor, the mentally ill, the elderly, immigrants, and refugees(from countries we have waged war in!)? I wish I knew the Big Answer and could just implement it. But, for those of us with no wealth and no connections to seats of power, the dilemma is how to compete with big campaign donors for a "slice of the pie".
If anyone figures that out, please let me know.
In the meantime, all I can do is what I've been doing for the past six years. I will call my Senators and Representatives to urge them to care for our people, and to let go of evil and cruelty. It is ironic that these politicians point at other countries and cultures, saying they are "evil" or their people are all "terrorists", when these lawmakers are conducting a campaign of cruelty against Americans whom they are supposed to represent!
So, my friends, as frustrated as I feel at times, and as downright depressed as I get, I will not be able to stay silent-and neither should you! Remember the Arab Spring? Remember seeing protesters in Cairo go from a few to over two million? This truly is what needs to happen here-two million people marching in the streets, demanding "the war on the poor" come to an end, not to mention the wars being waged on the poor in other countries!
I think that day is coming and it both thrills and frightens me. But to sit this one out, to allow children and the elderly, the mentally ill, the homeless and our returning veterans to be abused by our own government-well, this just cannot stand!
I, for one, in order to be able to live in my own skin, to heal my own soul in any way, must say and do the right thing by calling these politicians out!
If your heart and soul are aching as badly as mine, I hope you will join me. We the People have a right to be heard and taken seriously, before a great amount of harm is done to our fellow citizens and the rest of the world, as well.
