TO A DISENCHANTED FRIEND


Right you are indeed (no pun intended).

Over the years I’ve said to some (perhaps even to you) that I do not see much difference in the core goals supported by both the elephants and the donkeys.  However, I do still believe that some Democrats recall and hold dear the spirit of FDRs New Deal that led to Social Security and decades later to Medicare.  These programs and their derivatives have without doubt vastly improved what otherwise would have been very impoverished lives for millions of Americans.  Although most politicians will whitewash the harsh and ever returning realities of capitalism, I continue to believe that the interests and needs of those who are far from financially independent are better protected under Democratic rather than Republican administrations.  In a choice between two equally distasteful candidates, I will continue to cast my vote and to give my financial support to the one who is less likely to dismantle or to destroy Social Security and Medicare.  My advice to others is to do the same.  Casting a protest vote that may ultimately lead to the election of someone who is prepared to dramatically reduce or eliminate our Social Security checks is definitely not in our best interest.    

If for no other reason, most Democrats are likely to continue supporting those programs that support the less fortunate out of their guilt at having riches and benefits far beyond any that they may have imagined someday having when they first came of age.  On the other hand, many Republicans are far more likely to care less about such matters.  The elephants generally have their main focus upon whatever actions are necessary to allow the maximum extraction of profit from any imaginable economic activity for the owners of the companies engaging in such commercial activities.

It is of course true that the reality behind official government statistics almost always is worse than what those official releases seem to imply.   Propaganda and marketing is after all usually vast exaggeration whether coming from the Right, the Left, or the Middle.  At the same time for most citizens (many pressed by the demands of 24 / 7 jobs) official statistics are all that they see in those brief moments when they find time to read or view what the publishing and media outlets provide.  And those providers of information are of course owned by the “folks" whose pockets have been very well lined by the profits of private enterprise.  One would never expect them to bite or in any way harm the hand that continues to feed them so lavishly.

I served three years in the U. S. Army, completing my service in 1964.  However, like you, I began a skeptic and ultimately became an opponent of our country’s war in Vietnam.  I have never been a great admirer of our country’s march to financial, political and military empire that has continued to unfold since then.  I oppose violent action unless such action is undertaken in self-defense and in immediate response to an attack that is actually in progress.  For many my position places me in the dustbin of history along with the “isolationists” who were so prominent in the American political scene prior to World War II.  So be it.    

Some say that the greatest motivation is driven by greed or by fear.  War and violence would immediately end if every human being was willing to go to his death or to her death rather than lift a hand in violence against any other human being.  How many of us are willing to watch a brutal tyrant murder our child if we fail to submit to the will of that tyrant?  Are any of us are capable of that?  I highly doubt it.

Fortunately, absolute submission to tyranny is seldom required on the road to a much better world that may benefit each one of us.   
   
To discover the real battle that must be won to defeat and to overcome the barbaric madness in which nations and terrorists engage everywhere in the world we have no further to look than into our own minds and hearts.

What is the requirement for individual contentment and happiness?  

Would peace, quiet, lack of hunger, adequate shelter, sufficient clothing, timely access to education, transportation, healthcare, and guarantee to employment with compensation high enough to pay for those things do the trick?

If every human being enjoyed that kind of security, would criminal behavior diminish and the parade to war be less urgent?  The question almost answers itself.

Are the basic necessities needed to provide a healthy, an informed, and a long life enough?  Or do we need more?

Perhaps a century ago in America we may have reached the point where we had the productive power to produce the goods and services required to meet the basic needs of all citizens.  Today there is no doubt that America has the productive power to meet those needs.  So what changed?  What made that challenge impossible to meet?

Wall Street, Marketing and Madison Avenue entered the picture in a big way.

Americans have been relentlessly bombarded (with only slight hesitancy in bad times) with messages claiming that their identity, their self-worth, and their sex life are dependent upon continually having bigger, better, and more.

"Don’t be silly,” many may say.  “They are only ads”. 

Are American corporations spending billions of dollars each year on advertising that fails?  Of course not.  They are spending money for advertising because it works.

Does Mom (or Dad these days) ever look at a fashion magazine?  Has anyone failed to get the news that the best and most expensive universities will lead to the highest paying jobs?  Before 2007 did anyone believe that real estate prices did anything except go up?  Is there a recreational vehicle, a European tour, a vacation home, or a Caribbean cruise in anyone’s future? 

Given all you do or have done, you deserve special consideration and treatment.

Even the most progressive and socially conscious among us have responded to the lure of special extravagances.
 
If we Americans are willing to admit that our desires are influenced by others, we are beginning to get the idea. 

Since luxury has its price, there is a significant cost to our tendency to indulge ourselves in exciting experiences and to buy the most wonderful homes, cars, and latest gadgets.

A year ago CNBC reported that in 2030 there will be 3.2 Billion people living on less than $10 a day.

One price of living in luxury is the poverty that many around the world and millions in our own country must suffer.

I have paid that price and enjoyed many of those luxuries.

How about you?

Perhaps we should think it over more carefully.