Observing the septic rantings of Rush Limbaugh and the senile and hollow cruelty of Pat Robertson, it fills me with utter amazement that humanity's better nature seems to be confined to the fringes, while the base, cruel stuff comprises the majority of what passes for acceptable interaction: scams, fraud, backstabbing, greed, special interests, tribal division, obfuscation, the elevation of the most deplorable instincts to prurient entertainment -- all are embodied in our broken economy, our perverted government, the nefarious reach of corporations and the pathetic state of our media.
In a world where the gulf between haves and have-nots becomes ever wider, the coin of the realm is indifference to the disadvantaged, genuflection to those ugly yet persistent qualities which seem to pass for standard behavior. But no amount of myopic pursuit of affluence can erase the fact that there are too many people who suffer for lack of health care, who struggle to put food on the table, who bend under the weight of a thousand burdens and unwarranted obligations created out of the mad chase for profit or power, both of which propel too many of our leaders, too many of our actions and undermine too many of our hopes.
It is mercy which needs to find purchase in the slick cynicism which defines the day to day business of being American; cherishing needs to become an essential activity.
To regard fellow human beings as soulless competitors, usurers, chumps and rivals for scarce food and fuel -- based upon the pap ladled into our gaping skulls every day -- that's the America we are being encouraged to live in, encouraged to be.
And still there are gifts to be had, though they pile up neglected and undistributed like relief for disaster victims hoarded by a craven government agency in heavily guarded warehouses:
Wisdom -- wrought by a reverence for history
Care -- the result of an abiding, simple humility
Sanity -- the consequence of an adherence to truth
All these qualities are given precious little bandwidth these days. It is all kinetic speed and frantic action and Now Now Now Now and no thought to all that once was, all that is supposed to inform and temper the present.
How can we allow this destructive mentality to find purchase again after so many glaring examples of failure? When will people -- Americans -- evolve to that next increment, when will that one tooth on the cog click into its complimentary notch, thus ensuring real progress in the pursuit of happiness, a pursuit that is our most basic motivation?
Careening faster and faster down the road casually labeled Progress, but which seems to be a greased slide to a Dead End, we are missing the essential qualities that would actively  raise us above our cruel predecessors and indeed carry us as a nation, and as a people, into a wiser, warmer world.
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Michael Rowe: The Never-Ending Horror of Pat Robertson
He's a pleasure to read.
...the coin of the realm is indifference…which seem to pass for standard behavior.
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Yes, they've normalized their dysfunction in our society.
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To regard fellow human beings as soulless competitors, usurers, chumps and rivals…that's the America we are being encouraged to live in, encouraged to be.
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We are getting to see what the world looks like through the eyes of the sociopath. There are many influences and factors contributing to the rise of this mental disorder within the American population:
* Childhood abuse
* Authoritarianism
* The rise of Ayn Rand's objectivism.
* Civic responsibility not being taught in public schools.
* Not qualifying the mental health of candidates running for elective office and therefore allowing a number of sociopaths into powerful positions in government.
* Not understanding how manipulation works, especially in our media and government.
* Not understanding how narrative neural structures are constructed unconsciously in the human brain.
* The progressive/liberal left is just starting to understand how to fight effectively against the corporatist takeover of the American government.
It may be difficult for some of us to understand that the vile behavior we see isn’t simply people deciding to make a bad moral choice. Their brains are wired differently from ours. They lack the conscience to comprehend why their own behavior is so offensive. So, there is no appealing to their better nature. They are broken. And this is a battle we’re in for our country.
- Tom
The *only* way the human race can move beyond the tribalism of which you speak is to recognize it as harmful, and yet so many Americans cling inexplicably to the notion that any change for the better challenges their essential "American"-ness. I saw a book titles "Have You Seen My Country Lately?" and read the back cover-- the author seemed to think that America has somehow become "lost" lately, and that "patriots" should be ready to take action to restore it.
To which I have to say this: if even discussing the iniquities and problems of our society is anti-American, then what on earth do these people mean by "American," anyway, not to mention "patriotism"?
Faced with those options, then I am definitely inclined to "imagine there's no country."
You give exceptionally good metaphor. For me, that "click" has never been better defined.
Your blogs (even if I've had a rare quibble from time to time) have consistently and perfectly depicted our descent into collective maddness. I wish to God that more people could (or would) hear you.
For those of us who can and do, please keep it up. You're like an island of sanity in raging sea of nonsense.
Great work with Argento on Jenifer.
Your writing and performance went to some sincerely creative and dark places.
Furthermore, your transition from empathy at the beginning of the film to pure despair by the end was superbly executed.
Thank You.
Here's to you, Mr. Weber. Yours is a sweet light.
So many of us are ready. Ready to leave behind this shallow pursuit of profit for the benefit of callous ingrates in expensive suits, slaving for the good of those who don't care to reciprocate. Ready to embrace each other, all of us, as human beings deserving of respect and dignity, including those with whom we disagree. Ready to forget oppressive and exclusionary religious dogma while remembering its basic tenets of forgiveness, humility and decency. Ready to tear down this Kabuki theater of political infighting and indiscretion, this daily masquerade designed to protect those in power from the burden of their responsibilies.
Ready to stop making heroes out of people who do harm. Ready to embrace reason.
We are here, we are many, we stand in stark contrast to the neanderthal ideologies espoused by those who claim to serve us but clearly have forgotten our values. We are ready.
BE KIND TO YOURSELVES AND TO EACH OTHER!!!!!!!
Measure all your actions against this tenet: how does my present action measure up on the KINDNESS scale?