The Power of Apathy
June 27th 2010 12:28
Understanding the story of being American is having the direct knowledge of living in a country that doesn’t always get it right and the will of the people to stand up against popular opinion or the status quo to fix things.
This is the spirit that drove men like Martin Luther King Jr. and women like Susan B. Anthony to challenge the powers that be when government was not living up to words in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Each and every citizen has been engrained with the knowledge of the tragedies that have taken place in the United States of America when common sense is removed from the equation.
The common sense that has been repeatedly ignored throughout history to give equal rights to all human beings no matter their religious affiliation, race, gender or sexual orientation.
When it comes to these things most citizens of the United States of America get it.
They understand the dangers that come when a society is unbalanced and the will of certain groups are put before the needs of the many.
If this were a simple conversation about loving thy neighbor or standing on the pulpit to preach about tolerance this would be easy.
An easy conversation that would gloss over the more dangerous aspects of apathy in modern society…
The apathy that comes with the “not in my backyard” but turning our backs on everywhere else mentality when problems that come from inefficient government with it’s eyes set on promoting corporations over the people becomes a reality to citizens who were unaware of the how the decisions of their elected officials would effect their health, livelihoods or way of life.
Their health, in the epidemic of the Massive Bush Administration era Energy Bill that gave companies the right to drill for Natural Gas free of any concern for environmental precautions and the effects on the systems of drinking water across the nation…
It is bi-partisan decisions like this that have happened and still continue today that have resulted in polluted oceans with no solutions, destroyed eco systems, an unhealthy food supply and dangerous precedents.
For some, this may be a new revelation while for others this may be a recollection to certain pieces of a muddy puzzle but an introduction to the bigger picture.
The bigger picture that is about more than a failure of government to conduct proper inspections on the ticking times bombs that supply the United States of America with their favorite drug of choice in crude oil.
To truly look at the bigger we have to go to places where most citizens are afraid to look.
Places that include the pastime of family dinner, the holiday cookout and the four legged furry creatures we share our homes and hearts with.
We have problems in this country that are bigger than any racial conflict, gender discrimination or battle for supremacy between democratic and republican political philosophies and it is making us and our children sick.
Sick in the physical sense and sick in the way we think about major issues that are happening before our eyes.
The problems in the food industry are rampant as news about e-coli outbreaks and the changes that have come about with the advent of new diseases and effects of prolonged exposure to chemicals in our food have consistently hit the airwaves sparking public outcry with the end result consisting of nothing more than a finger pointing session at the particular companies involved as opposed to taking an in depth look at the industry.
An industry that is making millions upon millions of dollars off of shortcuts, cutting back on nutrition and increasing the portions of tainted meat…
Tainted meat filled with steroids, hormones and fecal matter without any regard to the welfare of the people consuming it or the animals used to produce it beyond only offering the necessities that will keep them alive.
In the issue of the way we allow companies to treat the livestock that eventually end up as food for our children it is about something more than the rights of animals.
It’s about the way we respect ourselves and our families with the knowledge that the food we are feeding them is made for profit and not with the thought of doing what’s best for the consumer.
This is the same thinking that goes into the creation of puppy mills as the lust for the designer dog overshadows the story of grit, survival and perseverance that happens every day in pounds across America with millions of dogs and cats possibly having their last nights sleep on this planet.
There are too many times when we are ready to grab our pitch forks as a society against a man like Michael Vick who funded and supported an industry built on money and cruelty but lack the ability to ask the tougher questions about what the companies we support are doing to prevent the torture and tainting of the animals that end up on our dinner plates.
The way we ignore these issues is by building walls.
Walls around the way we show love for the dogs and cats who live in our homes but block out understanding for animals who are considered livestock having feelings of pain, loneliness and depravation that comes from the life of a chicken who is born in a cage, lives it’s life in a cage crowded with other chickens, only knows human contact through injections of hormones and steroids and ultimately gives it’s final breathe before having it’s head sliced off with a blade along an assembly line.
The purpose of this week’s conversation is not to convert any particular person to a life of veganism or vegetarianism.
Its purpose is to open up minds to the deeper conversations beyond the flashes on the nightly news of animals covered in oil in understanding the tragedies that are happening right under our noses.
Tragedies that will one day come to your backyard because of a law that is backdoored through Congress to eliminate a corporation’s legal responsibility to the citizens of the United States of America or the Planet.
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Please also Click the links of our Advertisers to show your support for the movement that is not about a fantasyland where everyone agrees with each other but one where we can at least come to table of understanding to find a better way.
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Join me for a discussion of current events and background conversations on my weekly blogs.
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This is the spirit that drove men like Martin Luther King Jr. and women like Susan B. Anthony to challenge the powers that be when government was not living up to words in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Each and every citizen has been engrained with the knowledge of the tragedies that have taken place in the United States of America when common sense is removed from the equation.
The common sense that has been repeatedly ignored throughout history to give equal rights to all human beings no matter their religious affiliation, race, gender or sexual orientation.
When it comes to these things most citizens of the United States of America get it.
They understand the dangers that come when a society is unbalanced and the will of certain groups are put before the needs of the many.
If this were a simple conversation about loving thy neighbor or standing on the pulpit to preach about tolerance this would be easy.
An easy conversation that would gloss over the more dangerous aspects of apathy in modern society…
The apathy that comes with the “not in my backyard” but turning our backs on everywhere else mentality when problems that come from inefficient government with it’s eyes set on promoting corporations over the people becomes a reality to citizens who were unaware of the how the decisions of their elected officials would effect their health, livelihoods or way of life.
Their health, in the epidemic of the Massive Bush Administration era Energy Bill that gave companies the right to drill for Natural Gas free of any concern for environmental precautions and the effects on the systems of drinking water across the nation…
It is bi-partisan decisions like this that have happened and still continue today that have resulted in polluted oceans with no solutions, destroyed eco systems, an unhealthy food supply and dangerous precedents.
For some, this may be a new revelation while for others this may be a recollection to certain pieces of a muddy puzzle but an introduction to the bigger picture.
The bigger picture that is about more than a failure of government to conduct proper inspections on the ticking times bombs that supply the United States of America with their favorite drug of choice in crude oil.
To truly look at the bigger we have to go to places where most citizens are afraid to look.
Places that include the pastime of family dinner, the holiday cookout and the four legged furry creatures we share our homes and hearts with.
We have problems in this country that are bigger than any racial conflict, gender discrimination or battle for supremacy between democratic and republican political philosophies and it is making us and our children sick.
Sick in the physical sense and sick in the way we think about major issues that are happening before our eyes.
The problems in the food industry are rampant as news about e-coli outbreaks and the changes that have come about with the advent of new diseases and effects of prolonged exposure to chemicals in our food have consistently hit the airwaves sparking public outcry with the end result consisting of nothing more than a finger pointing session at the particular companies involved as opposed to taking an in depth look at the industry.
An industry that is making millions upon millions of dollars off of shortcuts, cutting back on nutrition and increasing the portions of tainted meat…
Tainted meat filled with steroids, hormones and fecal matter without any regard to the welfare of the people consuming it or the animals used to produce it beyond only offering the necessities that will keep them alive.
In the issue of the way we allow companies to treat the livestock that eventually end up as food for our children it is about something more than the rights of animals.
It’s about the way we respect ourselves and our families with the knowledge that the food we are feeding them is made for profit and not with the thought of doing what’s best for the consumer.
This is the same thinking that goes into the creation of puppy mills as the lust for the designer dog overshadows the story of grit, survival and perseverance that happens every day in pounds across America with millions of dogs and cats possibly having their last nights sleep on this planet.
There are too many times when we are ready to grab our pitch forks as a society against a man like Michael Vick who funded and supported an industry built on money and cruelty but lack the ability to ask the tougher questions about what the companies we support are doing to prevent the torture and tainting of the animals that end up on our dinner plates.
The way we ignore these issues is by building walls.
Walls around the way we show love for the dogs and cats who live in our homes but block out understanding for animals who are considered livestock having feelings of pain, loneliness and depravation that comes from the life of a chicken who is born in a cage, lives it’s life in a cage crowded with other chickens, only knows human contact through injections of hormones and steroids and ultimately gives it’s final breathe before having it’s head sliced off with a blade along an assembly line.
The purpose of this week’s conversation is not to convert any particular person to a life of veganism or vegetarianism.
Its purpose is to open up minds to the deeper conversations beyond the flashes on the nightly news of animals covered in oil in understanding the tragedies that are happening right under our noses.
Tragedies that will one day come to your backyard because of a law that is backdoored through Congress to eliminate a corporation’s legal responsibility to the citizens of the United States of America or the Planet.
Are you a Fan of this Conversation?
Discussions like the one you have just read can not continue without your support.
Agree or Disagree, Please help to move this conversation forward by Voting and Leaving Your Comments at the Bottom of the Page.
Please also Click the links of our Advertisers to show your support for the movement that is not about a fantasyland where everyone agrees with each other but one where we can at least come to table of understanding to find a better way.
To get more of the story join me on my Social Networking Sites and “Like” my Facebook Fan Page by following the links below.
Join me for a discussion of current events and background conversations on my weekly blogs.
Follow Me on Youtube
Click here
Facebook Fan Page
Click here
Friend me on Facebook
Click here
Friend me on Myspace
Click here
Follow Me on Twitter
Click Here
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