Election Day - Time to Choose
As Tone and I looked down on the Napa Valley from the commanding viewpoint of the Rock, we couldn’t help but notice the new McMansion and attendant vineyard that had been scraped into the hillside below. This opulent and conspicuously ugly dwelling underscores all that is wrong with this lame and failing society. While a few make off with most of the wealth, the underlings who blindly support such foolishness continue to grovel at slave wages to fund the financial obesity of the greedy class whose compassion and heart have long since been trampled in the rush to serve their out-of-control egos.
It continues to be a stretch for me to understand how this country has traveled so far from the ideals that politicians continuously blabber about. The divide between the have’s and the others is becoming phenomenal in a society that prides itself on “democracy”. It is anything but that. It is a foolish arrangement that serves a few at the top and leaves the rest of the Wal-Mart shoppers thinking that they may also someday be wealthy, therefore supporting a system that ravages their minds, bodies and spirit. The poor will never have a chance in this heartless system. Egalitarian concepts are dismissed as the demonized concepts of socialism or communism. The workers are stressed and threatened. Most of the good jobs are being sent over seas and with them, our wealth.
It is truly amazing how utterly cowed the populace has become in this society. And what is so tragic is how badly our society has missed the human mark. Our humanness has been bludgeoned by the big stick of capitalism, moneyism, the worship of money over the value of life itself. There is such wealth available that it boggles the mind. To see how the wealth has been captured by alien forces is depressing.
So as we approach the election of 2004, it becomes daunting to realize just how far we have receded from our own goodness to a world of terror, tribulation and tyranny. It is inconceivable to most that it is perfectly OK to inflict death and destruction upon other peoples, yet our government has been doing it for centuries. It is so routine that most simply don’t even know or think about it, or care. This giant step in America’s fall from grace is likely to spell the end of our times. It is hard to imagine, yet is likely. We have the choice between a war-mongering, religious wacko and a very wealthy guardian of the status quo.
Where will it go? On this day, just a few before the election, I suspect the next week will produce fireworks as the two greedy parties vie for control of the wealth of this world. It is out of control and where it lands is anyone’s guess. For my money, the sooner this system collapses, the better. Perhaps then we can rebuild a world that takes into account the wealth of our diversity and the ultimate wealth the earth itself. I’m not holding my breath. Having been booted out of my own family, I see little hope for america and its system of avarice and cruelty.
This grim picture in my mind is amortized only by the occasional lightness of the human touch, or even the kindness of an animal in their simple and honest reply to a request for affection. The grim picture fades somewhat when I am able to turn the wheels of my bicycle and transport myself, temporarily, to a higher state of consciousness, where I come closer to being one with the universe. I give thanks for the blessing of that brief escape, when the stars are aligned and peace reins. Between rides it is a struggle to navigate the tricky waters that swirl and threaten to drown. It is an interesting ride.