Weathering The Storm In The Evolving Face Of Crisis
May 1st 2009 10:34
“Man is not imprisoned by habit. Great changes in him can be wrought by crisis -- once that crisis can be recognized and understood.”
~ Norman Cousins
~ Norman Cousins
There is no argument that our world is in a state of crisis. A crisis of biblical nature is consuming our environment, monetary systems, and health forever changing the way we live.
Like the children’s story of Humpty Dumpty, the greatest minds are trying to piece together the glory and grandeur that carried our civilization to new heights, but are doing nothing but missing the mark and stumbling along the way.
With no other choice but to lean back on the technology and mechanisms of familiarity these men and women, with the best education money can buy, appealed to the humanity of these groups only to be met with the same cold greed. The greed of cooked books and the same cloak and dagger gimmicks of taking government money only to raise the rates on the consumer.
The time has come for our government to talk tough yet again and make the people feel cozy.
At this point and time, the last thing the American people need is to feel cozy. What we need is the absolute raw truths in the situation without the spin of how everything is going to eventually return to the way it used to be.
The free money of the 80’s to build Star Wars programs and play War Games are a thing of the past much like the Tech boom of 90’s. We can no longer afford to live in nostalgia of the free credit system that gave us the American dream of a mansion and a vacation home on Boca Rotan.
A return to the lifestyles of yesteryear with a reliance on a credit society is at the root of this mess and a return will only carry us out far enough to boomerang right back to an even darker place than we are in right now.
The problem with the place our crisis is in goes well beyond the lost jobs, homelessness and despair. It goes straight to the fact that the average American still refuses to face the realities of the situation head on.
The reality of a Democratic Congress using fire sales to lace the pockets of campaign contributors who got us into this mess and a Republican minority who are content with only kicking dirt in their eyes when things go wrong.
In our history classes, we were fed stories of despair, genocide and loss much like the situations we see in the world today. The cookie cutter endings of the hero’s always coming out on top or an injustice being met with a just decision from our government instilled national pride for our country through the aspect of always eventually getting it right.
Glossed over in a haze of puppies and flowers was the struggle and the hard work that went into making these landmarks in history a reality.
The audacity to believe that a national election would be the cure for all of our problems is proof positive of the endemic deep rooted issues we have in our society.
The problems of false expectations and the resulting anger when the magic dust runs out.
We need a major overhaul in our lifestyles, but lack anybody in public office, pop culture or the media with the power or courage to stand up and say this.
School yard games are the order of business on Capitol Hill and the American people are getting the short end of the stick in this arrangement.
The arrangement that says it’s ok for a candidate to say all the right things about what’s wrong in Washington and put forth a plan of how he’s going to fix it only to turn around and play the same games.
The arrangement our politicians have with the food industry to recognize a problem only to sit on their hands and do nothing because they would rather not stir the pot with campaign contributors.
The unspoken arrangement the American public has with our politicians and media to let certain things go unless it’s an opportunity to make the other side look bad in a political discussion.
This day and age is a sad state of affairs and the cows are finally coming home on the issues we’ve been sweeping under the rug decade after decade.
The answers aren’t simple and I would be a charlatan if I sat here with an outlined plan of how we could make it all better.
My only focus is on opening minds somewhere beyond the left/right spin to reach a point of understanding in this crisis and beyond.
A point of understanding that is visible through the smoke screen of gun control and abortion focusing squarely on issues like our crumbling schools, national prosperity, the environment, health and finding a way to share this land with our fellow Americans.
When the dust clears and we share equal footing with Russia, China and other nations that don’t share our values of humanity and freedom it will be more important than ever for us to come together as a nation.
The time is now for this to become a possibility, but it is up to the individual man or woman and can’t be achieved by mandates or finger pointing. The only way this can be achieved is by pulling the hidden conversations out in the open and throwing all the cards on table without expectations or conditions.
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Comment by Eli Miller
No left, no right. Only middle. Open eyes, heart and mind to ALL points of view. America needs to accept the grey and embrace it. Listen and absorb what other people's views are. Really think about where they are coming from.
You're not a charlatan. You've actually laid out a plan of how to make it all better. It's right there in every post I've read so far that we must be open to dialogue and quit pointing fingers and learn to find middle ground as an EXTREMELY DIVERSE human race. That is the plan.