Our Country in
Pain, Shame, and Moral Decay
“Yes, that is the way it is. It is a tough
world, competitive. If you want to get ahead, to succeed, you do what you have
to do. When you go to work in the morning and leave the little woman and kids
or little man and kids at home, they expect you to take care of them, feed them
and provide for their futures. Yes, of course, many persons with less power
than us, a lot of families working financial and health problems, the poor and
disadvantaged, even our veterans will have to suffer.” I heard this yesterday from
my neighbor who was plunking a ‘vote for’ sign in his front lawn, later from a
colleague at the office, and then again today in a car repair shop and a
restaurant. I was struck that for some reason these positions were spoken
defensively and defiantly. Why the polemics, the need to justify what for so
long has been an undercurrent driving most Americans?
I asked for an explanation during these
brief but surprisingly combative encounters hoping to find what was behind
their spiel. Where did this obvious resentment, hate, noxious swirl of
reactionary, self-serving narcissism come from, this vindictiveness that is
creating a frightening stench in our country? Hearing even more snide and
decadent statements, I concluded, “Forget love and compassion because America
has been decaying with pro-materialistic, secular immorality, and a lessening
of relevant religious leadership by many who have forgotten that their purpose is
to serve, and not to promote their own
authority or that of the institutions to which they belong.
Sadly, I hear increasing amounts of venomous
lies and abuses most every day on the radio and TV, as well as, manipulation
rhetoric that includes, “Whether by enemy fire or friendly fire, there are
always casualties; people die.” Have you noticed how often words like these are
spoken by persons in a matter of fact manner, no signs of empathy or remorse to
be seen?
If this reality bothers you, as it does me,
you may find yourself sharing your disappointment and deeply growing concern
for our country as it leaks out; no, bursts out pent up disgust on persons who
were once thought of as our neighbors. It is as if we have been thrown overboard into a swamp of power
and profit possibly never to find our way back to the warmth of family
belonging, the warmth of sharing ourselves at the table or , for some the
warmth of the hearth.
I
haven’t kept score but it seems that half of the people some of us share these
fears and observations with agree with us and react with a common sadness and
frustration. For me, I might as well be talking to myself in a mirror. Then
there is the other half of the people with whom you might have shared your
feelings. This can be like talking to strangers with minds so closed that their
obsession with immediate lashing out and personal gain have built a new society
of masters and lesser beings. We used to call these beings slaves, serfs and
the like while showing no empathy, no sense of responsibility for those who
suffer. Then again, maybe what I see is still worse with so little compassion
given to those who for many reasons have become the innocent casualties. Is it
more painful for the parents or for the children of the middle class and poor
to experience this ugly half look and cold talk, thrown at them impatiently and
with a smug smile of superiority?
It is almost a cliché how the second half of
people you find that are closed to common good and compassion justify their
statements and actions with an amazing lack of critical thought. How could so
many who claim they are educated be so naïve, so oblivious to the pains of the
great depression and major recessions, the needless and cruel wars, and the
increasingly visual suffering of so many human masses being shown in real time
on TV in our homes or on devices we carry in our own hands anywhere? Then
sounding like they are reading from a common script, they say, “You do what you
have to do to get ahead, and that is the name of the game,” Are such persons
acting as if they are really trying to explain the facts of life. Oh, I hope
this is just a passing time in history, another vile time for us humans, with
the help of God, of course, to resolve. We have done so in the past, and we
must do so today.
In my watching and discussions with people
from different walks of life recently, I unfortunately hear things like, “Somebody
put it in simple terms, a scientist whose name I can’t remember, ‘survival of
the fittest’. Not only that, but when you have big money, you invest and that
creates jobs. I am tired of the whining, wimp-talk about people losing their
jobs and homes, their kids not getting a real education, and millions being
denied health care.” This time in our lives, in our history, there are not just
speed bumps to cross; there are mountains to climb.
I told this to one challenging individual
today who retorted, “Is that true? Listen, success means being an insider where
the power and money are, the touchdown, and the winner who gets the spoils,”
essentially the same words claimed earlier by the person at the office.
“Let me be clear about what you call success
and happiness,” I returned the challenge. “Maybe you will be happy and maybe
not, but won’t your touchdown cause many families in our America
Naturally, there was a counter-challenge, “Hello,
I learned that too, but my family and friends convinced me we are capitalists,
not socialists or communists. My dad lived the way you said and did he make it
to the top the same as a capitalist? Really…Sorry what’s your name? Do you mind
if I call you dummy? You are one of those who say you’re responsible and doing
your best, but get real! If you worked harder, bit the bullet and made the hard
choices, hung around with successful people at dinners, parties, board rooms,
and at the nineteenth tee; ah, forget it. I can see you’re an elitist or one of
those expecting a hand out, another entitlement. You must have missed a class
one day.” The person’s face flushed but showed no empathy, only contempt even
stating that he expected me to expose those he pays to keep the government from
enforcing checks and balances, not to mention passing new laws that might keep
the wheelers and dealers from a new, shady investment, another home, or more
power and profit.
“When you amass great wealth, and that could
take all your life, then what?” I probed keeping it simple because the discussion
was becoming antagonistic rather than exploratory.
“What? Huh! Then I get old and my friends
and the people who know of me will smile, maybe be jealous; not what I can
expect from you n’er-do-wells! What then, do you mean retire?” the person
responded bluntly.
“Yah, what then?” I mean finally retire,” I
continued. “What about Lazarus at the door?”
“Who the hell is Lazarus, and what door?”
“How about feeding the hungry, clothing the
poor, healing the sick…,” I was abruptly interrupted.
“Oh, boy. Now are you going to talk
religious stuff, God? Let’s talk real
world,” the person reacted with what seemed like a question-statement. “You
people make me sick,” he first hesitated and then vented in disgust. “I pay
taxes, give to charity as my tax documents prove, hire my share of workers and
will pay for their health care as long as they are employed by me or until the
laws are changed. Let’s see your tax returns and see who gives the most, you or
me?”
I was getting nowhere. It was like talking
to a stump. “Just one more question, please? The way I see it, the pendulum of
history never stops; we fight the same wars, with the same tribes, in the same
places; the rich get richer and eventually there’s a revolt and with a revolt
there is death. Do you see we are polarizing again into no-denying class
warfare right here where we are standing? Look around. It is happening all
around the world, but this time we don’t have millions of people, we have
billions.”
http://drjim-fullyalive.blogspot.com;
“How the Family Goes, So Goes Everything” by Dr. James McMahon
