Giving the Finger to the Exploiters, Users and Destroyers
The NY Times Magazine ironically published an article called “The Opiate of Exceptionalism” or why, as I call it, that Americans seem to stick their heads in the sand when it comes to a civic discussion of sticky issues.
Positive thinking and Magical Thinking are two different things however.
As the article says, Carter was a positive thinker but he was crucified for bringing up problems because he thought they could be solved. Then they elected cheery Reagan who knew how to make people feel better about themselves and the country…a maximum magical thinker.
The problem with this is that politicos (aside from being bought off by lobbyists) then don’t have a popular mandate for dealing with the hard issues, eg. the financial system and the deficit, climate change, immigration, the “Drug War, gun control, military budget and continuing wars. None of these issues, were dealt with head on in any of the presidential debates.
People just don’t want to admit that there are serious problems in the U.S. and not only not talk about it but they don’t want to hear about it because it might upset their insular worlds. Candidates learned from Carter’s experience. If they do bring up these negative issues they are labeled “UnAmerican.” It’s called biting off your nose to spite your face.
http://tinyurl.com/9l8ozx5
Iceland, however is a good pragmatic example of taking the bull by the horns and making democracy work for the good of the country.
In the meantime I will sit on my veranda and watch the people in the park…with my music. And later finish packing in anticipation of my next trip to Asia to see my 3 sons.
But before leaving Oregon I will know how to vote and why.
I don’t think I would say that I exactly compartmentalize my life. As they say all politics are local and how we live our lives reflects the truth as we see it around us. So for example, living in Mexico I wouldn’t want to live a rich expat life in a fancy house and sacrifice my solidarity with the people as they struggle against impunity. And I see the value of the beauty in nature in the face of sterility of popular culture.
And as I travel I want to understand the lives of the people I am walking among. I find many parallels between Thailand and Mexico in regard to the accessibility of education for the poor and dispossessed. This informs the way I see my birth country.
So for me it’s a pretty integrated life but with an over-riding propensity for balance and most of all…laughter. As I say at the top of my blog…I travel to see what it reveals about the human heart and what we have become in this world. To look beneath the surface of things to the heart of each day. Does hope exist? Are people still falling in love? Or is everyone buying death as if it were cheap socks at a smoke sale?” I look for clarity. I look for signs of courage…of strength of conviction rooted in heart…in an authentic identity, in myself as well as in others.
I find it in the people on the street who are amazingly able to laugh and play in the face of impunity of their governments and they teach me how to do the same. Knowing they are there…but a kind of giving the finger to the exploiters, users and destroyers.
Tags: Reflections
Zoe
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