The weight of current events is burdensome. I am mainly a positive soul. Recently, however, I’ve developed a Debbie Downer angst. Here’s why.
First, America is racist and fails to own the issue. That is the reason behind the White Supremacy movement. Of course, it is more complicated than that, and it involves more than white and black struggles. America has always struggled with ethnicities different from the norm, whatever group that is. Of course, it has been European stock throughout our history.
Native Americans were viewed as the enemy and marginalized, killed, and driven away to desert reservations where they withered and wasted away. Sad, horrendous, our own holocaust. Yes, mankind is capable of holocausts over and over again. We have our own proof. Right here in our own country.
And we messed up again with African Americans with the slave trade, plantation economics, and the Civil War. We still didn’t learn our lesson and engineered another holocaust in our midst. We got very good at covering it up to protect our own conscience. But facts are facts and African Americans died on our soil. Terrible numbers of victims. Generations of victims. Vestiges remain today as reminders. Our souls are stained with their blood and suffering. The suffering continues.
Second, America is selfish and self-centered. Individual wants are continually felt to be more important than national or global concerns. We take valuable minerals from other parts of the globe to sustain our way of life and industry. Yes, we buy them from other nations, but we deplete the planet’s riches with little concern about replenishing the storehouse or figuring out what to do when the supply runs out. Similarly, we pollute the air, water and soil because of our culture, economy and birthright. We are the primary cause of climate change. Other nations are also guilty of this, but they are late to the scene compared to America. China and Russia are primary polluters along with America. Others as well.
When confronted with this reality, most people shrug it off and leave the solutions to others. “What, me worry?” Evidently, as long as we get what we want at the moment, that’s all that matters. Everyone else be damned.
I think this is deplorable and we must change. We need to own our problems and manage them. It is the responsible thing to do. It is what good, loving people do. We do not need to be saints. Just adults.
Third, Global Climate Change is real, and most people have their heads buried in the sand. This is an existential threat. If we fail to manage this issue we will die. It will take generations to accomplish but die we will. The planet will become unlivable. Don’t believe it? Ask a geologist to explain the facts of life our own planet has survived. Eons of time are involved. Our planet has not always been habitable. In fact, it is a miracle we are here today. But guarantees of future are not included in our deed of residency.
If we allow climate change to destroy our habitat, we are then responsible for destroying our own lifeform. It really is that simple. Deny it if you must but own your conclusion and understand what it means for you, your kids, and their kids.
These three issues are the big ones we need to address. But we don’t address them, do we? Oh, we talk about them, write about them, and foam at the mouth about them. But we don’t fix them. We don’t face the consequences and use our intelligence to make amends ands build a sustainable future for us all.
The interdependence of each of us on all of us is the real message here. And that goes for the global community as well. It is pure logic and commonsense.
Evidently, America doesn’t have much commonsense.
January 20, 2020
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