This Has Gotta Stop Somewhere

Most of the American people don't vote regularly. They don't go to church regularly. We don't have a draft anymore, so most American boys don't go off to the military. Most Americans don't get a college diploma. The Go Go post war days are over. Most Americans don't migrate across the country searching for their dreams. They make their life in the same city or town where they were born and raised.

Maybe, when they think about it, most Americans feel patriotic or religious or ambitious but they don't think about those things all that much. Mostly they think about getting the things their families need, having a nice life and a secure future. They socialize with their friends. They play games. They pursue individual interests. They aren't bitter, xenophobic, hyper religious, gun nuts. They don't fear illegal aliens. They don't think the country is in danger from radical Islamists. They don't need America to be a super power or a shining city on a hill. They would rather have a nice fishing hole, with water the kids could swim in, than a condo on Maui.

Leaders feel they must "address" the people of America and tell them what is expected of them. That's total bullshit. The leaders are not "the government". They are not the "church". They do not make and enforce the "law". The people are the government. They are the church. They are the law. It doesn't matter if they vote. It doesn't matter if they go to church. The people define the institutions and traditions of America according to the way they live and work and interact with each other.

We have reached a point, in this country, where the top of the pyramid is out of step and out of touch with the bottom. The government refuses basic services, because they have other priorities and then lies about the reasons why. Business and industry sells the people an American dream they can't afford and don't really need or even want. Religious leaders tell the people how to be good, when there is nothing really wrong with them in the first place. Anybody that speaks up too loudly gets cut off from the institutions that they are a part of and the rest of us go along with it. This is a really bad thing. It's got to stop.

The President and politicians need to stop asking for blind support and listen to the voice of the people. The Pope, when he visits next week, needs to stop telling his flock what God is telling him and start listening to what God is telling the flock. Business needs to work at supplying the people with the things they need and not the things that provide the biggest profit. They need to understand that people work to live, not live to work. We all need to understand that a healthy environment and renewable resources are a necessity of life and not something we can put off until we can "afford" them.

Most of the people in America think that the country is on the wrong track. If the majority think that, then by definition, it is true. Our leaders have answers to all our problems but they are the wrong answers. We can get better answers from any bum on the street, from any little old lady at the senior center. We can get better and more honest answers from ourselves. Let's listen to ourselves.