Beyond Deplorable

Were I to be asked how things are in the United States of America at the present time I would have to reply, “They are quite beyond deplorable.” In fact I would say they are even worse than the synonyms:

CHEAP, CRUDDY, CONTEMPTIBLE, DESPICABLE, DIRTY, GRUBBY, LAME, LOUSY, MEAN, NASTY, PALTRY, PITIABLE, PITIFUL, RATTY, SCABBY, SCUMMY, SCURVY, SNEAKING, SORRY, WRETCHED.

One is hard-pressed at the moment to find anything positive to consider. Unemployment is far too high and shows few signs of improving very soon, if at all. Millions of American citizens are still without health care, and the situation could easily become worse virtually overnight. Our economy is not doing well, except for the few huge corporations reaping unprecedented profits. Congress has a popularity rating somewhere beneath a snake’s belly. Our educational system is a shambles and on a path to get even worse. Global warming, the most serious threat to our lives ever is mostly being ignored. Many, if not most Americans have lost faith in government, and especially in the Supreme Court (and for good reason), Perfectly sensible environmental protections are slowly being eroded by greedy profiteers, partisanship in government is at an all time high, and we appear to be a nation involved in permanent wars. On top of that we have a monumental national debt, there are serious attempts to deny people their right to vote, obesity is a national scandal, women’s health is under attack, as are unions, food stamps, a minimum wage, and respect for the Office of the Presidency is at an all time low (you are apparently not supposed to be President while Black, or Attorney General either, for that matter).

The source of most if not all of these deplorable conditions can be traced in my opinion (that I refuse to describe as humble) to the criminal conspiracy that used to be the Republican Party. To a lesser extent, but also at fault is the Democratic Party. Our most important elected Officials on both sides of the aisle have been and are being bribed to do the bidding of those who are supplying them with the funds to help keep them in office. Rather than serving the public as they should be doing they are merely serving themselves. They are all involved in what is essentially a gigantic conspiracy to convert our supposedly Democratic Republic into a full-blown Fascist government. The Supreme Court decision to allow Citizens United is most probably the last act necessary to bring this about. Remember, Fascism comes about because of a marriage of corporations and government, and that is precisely what has been building here in the U.S. for a long time. I have no doubt any longer that this is true. A few gigantic international corporations now have annual budgets that far exceed those of most nations, and being international basically render the concept of nation states obsolete. Those who accept their money and go along with their demands become part of the elite that is busily exploiting both labor and nature to generate as much profit as possible with little or no regard for the damage being done or the long term consequences of their greed.

These corporations, and their component enterprises have discovered how to make a profit of virtually every necessary human activity. They have privatized our prisons, our schools, health insurance, energy, our food supply, “wars,” and even attempted to privatize water and air. Labor, land, and even money have been turned into commodities that are traded, bought, and used in the same way they trade pork bellies and beans. In this savage, competitive system of social Darwinism there is no place for compassion, fair play, social contracts, or even basic human decency.

For those involved in this massive conspiracy no means are too despicable to attain the ends they seek. The best example of this is the behavior of the Republican Party in the past couple of decades. Unable to get what they want through the ballot box they have engaged in a totally unprecedented program to get their way. As the (supposedly loyal) minority they have simply refused to participate in governing at all, thus bringing government to a standstill where nothing can be achieved. They believe that if they can bring down the Obama Presidency they will be rewarded by being returned to power. No previous political party has ever before just refused to participate in the governing of the nation, to prevent any positive actions to be taken to improve the problems that inevitably face the nation, no losing party have ever previously been the disloyal minority. If Obama falls he will be replaced by a figurehead President who can be depended on to do what he is told to do. Interestingly enough, Obama is not really much of a threat to them as they will load the House and the Senate with enough of their own people to be able to control him, and will be able to exert so much pressure that he will be constrained to act on their behalf whether he wants to or not. As I believe this is true I find it somewhat puzzling that they are willing to spend billions if necessary to keep him from a second term. But, then, I guess billionaires can afford to play what is to them penny ante games to satisfy their desire for power, sort of like pitching pennies for bragging rights. It has all become far beyond deplorable. There may still be a glimmer of hope, but it is a tiny glimmer at best, and may die completely in 2012.

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always.

Mahatma Gandhi