REVOLUTION IS IN THE AIR
As we get older we tend to realize that 100 years ago or 150 years ago was not way, way back like it once seemed. And 150 years ago Americans just like you and me were killing Americans just like our neighbors en masse.
We killed more of each other in the Civil War than were killed in both WWI and WWII combined. Often relatives were killing relatives. 620,000 of us were killed by us. Because we disagreed over how our government was running things. Until the mid-19th Century our government thought it was just fine to own and enslave human beings. To change this systemic madness required this horrible war. As we swear with the sincerity of life and death to support our constitution, no one is ready to admit that though the intent is clear it is not defined, and as such there are no adhering principles. As a result strong potential for our 2nd massive systemic failure is now in place.
Today’s era is fraught with a new brand of systemic danger and on one major front (the selling of the peoples’ well-being) the danger is indeed grave. In clear view of a severely flawed governmental system too many move forward like somehow our tragic state of affairs is related to certain individuals. It is not individual. It is systemic. Our declines are purely the result of American government failing on massive scale. Leaders, again, en masse did not protect our jobs, our rivers, our trees, our people, our health or our quality of life. They did not maintain our roads, bridges, tunnels, water supply, sewers, electrical grids, telecommunications, and so forth. And they did not provide or maintain the physical components of interrelated systems providing, economics, commodities and services essential to enable, sustain, or enhance societal living conditions. To be very clear what caused today’s environment is rooted in Campaign Finance design. The very selling of decisions for money to those few that gain. This election was about the system prevailing or voting for anything new. For enough to swing the election this was a no-brainer.
The government watched (because they allowed themselves to be bought) and allowed our infrastructure to deteriorate gravely. They watched and even had systems to reward moving jobs overseas. They did this in full few of the destruction of the Middle Class and in full view of Black, Hispanic and immigrant population expansion. They took our work to poor lands and exploited their environments. The greedy that bought and sold our lives (Politicians and Wealth) simply did not care about the consequence to others. They set the course toward third world living for America. It worked. For them. One percent of them own 50% of America.
Millions of Americans that not long ago were either in full pursuit of, or had the American dream now experience this third world progression. Their quality of life has gravely diminished in recent decades. Minority communities, especially Black and Hispanic were deserted. First and foremost we lock them up so fast for so little that the inhumanity is shocking to anyone that stops and looks. This makes half of the young men and many women undesirable to employers. Factories or large retailers or decent centers with a variety of quality shopping are glaringly absent from minority communities. Even Basic needs stores such as groceries and banks are seldom found. There is no work, few can afford a used car and if there is a bus service it is highly inefficient and seldom compatible with distant work locations. If you are handicapped and want call-a-bus their rigid cruel rules will not get you one block past their inefficient borders. Thousands of willing workers are confined by lack of transportation. The Middles Class remnants live in dismay at their loss. These are the places where the systemic wounds fester.
As those that are making it remove themselves in every way they can from this reality, it is still there, it is growing, it is festering and it is explosive. You could feel the systemic disrespect in the last election. If Trump had lost that may well have been the trigger. That is how close we are. All you need is the trigger. Revolutionary Momentum is already formed. It lies dormant just waiting for the trigger and overnight, the pain that caused Trump may well stir serious social disruption. The robbed middle class is where it will start. The poor will happily follow. When everything and every sense of fairness is taken from you, fighting back feels like the right thing. Greed forgot it is mostly the poor and disenfranchised that fight and fought our wars. These are our warriors. Greed has made a serious mistake. Momentum has the potential to spread like wildfire. When you take quality of life and hope and cause glaring economic inequality and greed and treat your people like they are stupid submissive pawns, you are giving birth to the end of your society. History is riddled with such failure.
The problem and the solution are so glaring it seems they blind us to their existence. Like failing to see the truck for the headlights. You cannot sell your Countries governing to the highest bidder at the expense of public well-being. It will never, never work. This one flaw, selling decisions, during this critical post WWII era made governing on behalf of the people impossible within the human condition. Greed is simply too common within the human condition for any government to succeed without addressing this weakness. Reckless campaign finance law not only robbed the value of government it turned government against the people. Government became a store for buying cheap easy money and selfish regulation. These failed patriots that run our land would decide multi-million dollar legislation for a few thousand dollar contribution. Public consequence did not matter. The price was a grain of sand on a beach to the rich. Unfair greedy hands should never have been given free and reckless access to America’s entire bounty. The greedy will take it all at any expense if you let them. Our recent history is the glaring tragic example.
What makes revolutionary danger today so grave is that we don’t recognize the problem. If full view of the clear and massive devastation to Americans on every imaginable front our Supreme Court which serves as a major disaster within the framework of our failing system, passed Citizens United which may well have sealed our revolutionary fate. The mustard seed that causes the appointment or Supreme Court Justices is also Favor for Favor. As they wade in their hypocrisy of fairness and integrity politics is the root of their decisions. The rich killed McCain/Finegold which just touched the surface of favor for favor. Two out of five American voters did vote for Donald Trump. Most, not because they believe in him or even like him, but because the systemic toxicity of the 535 that represent them is more repulsive. I am giving you the answer to the world’s woes in this little column and once again the tree will fall alone and silently into the woods. And the price is only the future of mankind.
Postscript: The top 1% of Americans own 50% of America’s bounty. The top 20% of Americans own 85% of the country’s wealth and the bottom 80% of the population own 7%. The richest 20 Americans have 732 billion. That is more than the bottom half of the population. Yes 20 people have more than 152 million. A repulsive awareness is stirring.
