Friday, November 2, 2012

Money!

  The song from Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" keeps running through my head. I saw a news story about an N.B.A. player getting 80,000,000 to sign with a team. $80 million dollars! Wow, how many clothes and how much food would that buy? How many doctor's appointments would that pay for? How many dental visits and other needs would that supply? Now, I'm a sports fanatic. I was raised on Alabama football. I went to my first Atlanta Braves baseball game at 11 or 12 years old. I watched and cheered as Alabama made it's first trip to the NIT in basketball. This was way back in the early seventies when going to the NIT meant something. So, I do have an appreciation for sports and the entertainment that it provides in this nation. But, 80 million dollars. Wow, the other day I had to call some local church and other agencies to try and get a referral for a winter coat for a child. I watched as an older African American woman lived in a bad part of public housing and was afraid to go outside. I saw Jessie Jackson say he would like to cut Obama's nuts off and Al Sharpton primp for the t.v. cameras as he led another "cause" for the downtrodden. I throw up a little in my mouth when I hear the likes of Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter talk as if health care is a privilege instead of basic human need and right. Bible thumpers who don't want to let a woman choose what to do with her own body and want to pass government law or amendent to tell her what is legal. Yet, when I say what about feeding and clothing  and health care? The answer is "That's not the governments place and they shouldn't interfere." Let the church take care of it. Ya know what? There are some great church groups that do indeed try and take care of the poor. But, they run out of money and funds. They depend some on federal assistance in order to help the poor. We have a really weird society. One group loves ya while you are in the womb and protects the hell out of you. But, once you get out of the womb they say "let em eat cake." The other group treats you like you are no more than a "procedure" while you are in the womb. But, once you get out "IF" you qualify they will put you on a check and defend your right to laze around the rest of your life. Where is the balance? Where is the common sense? We honestly have enough resources right now in this nation to feed the poor and clothe the hungry and treat the sick. We also have enough laws to address discrimination and bring justice. But, it looks better politically to say one group is more precious than another. It's a hate crime to kill one and a simple ole "mistake" in judgement to kill another. I think all crime is a hate crime. Especially crimes of violence. We honestly should provide a way to let workers come across the border and get legal. We should also put illegal gang members and those who commit crimes under the damn jail. One side thinks that simply throwing human beings out will cure the problem. The other side doesn't seem to understand that you can't keep throwing more and more stress on the social resources without exhausting them. One problem is the two party system in this nation. I think we might do better with a parliament. Anyway, here's the trick to political power...or at least one of em. Pit one group against the other. Call one poor and downtrodden the other evil and an exploiter . That way you can breed resentment among the middle and lower classes. You can talk about the evils of abortion while you bomb the hell out of children in third world nations. You can ride around in a limo and talk about the evil "white" men who are destroying a culture. All the while branding anybody who thinks the culture is destroying itself a racist for bringing the subject up. You can talk about trickle down theory while the middle class trickles down to nothing. You can talk about restitution for past wrongs while letting people die in poverty. What's the answer? I don't know. But, I do know what the answer isn't. It's not blindly supporting a political party as if it were no more than a sports team. It's not demonizing any one group as if they are the sole problem of the world. It's not removing hope and faith in God from all aspects of public life. It's not imposing a belief in any one religion on people who have no faith or religion. These are all silly little ploys to keep peoples eyes off of the men/women behind the curtain. Anyway, rant of the day....Thank you for reading and I respect the right of all people to think for themselves. It took me a long time to be able to express my opinion without worrying about what the "church" thought or what the science teacher at school thought or what somebody else thought.

What you would not have done to you...Don't do to anybody else...The Buddha

I'm not a religious man..but if you're up there, save me Superman... Homer Simpson

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