The twentieth century was rocked by devastation stemming from the arrogance shown by Adolph Hitler and the Nazis, along with the Japanese Empire of the day. It would be easy to believe, and I think many do, that a nation which played such an important part in defeating these two arrogant, abusive, murderous regimes would have an innate immunity from taking such an attitude itself. Yet somehow, it has happened. The behaviors of many American industries and the United States Government in relation to the people of many other countries, and, in many cases, to the citizens of the U.S. itself, demonstrate at least an equal amount of arrogance as that shown by the leaders of Germany and Japan prior to WWII.
As of this writing, within the U.S.:
- There is a higher percentage of citizens imprisoned than within any other country.
- Many of the prisons are being privately run for profit (slave labor).
- The attention and the energies of the Government are being inordinately spent in the service of the wealthiest small minority of citizens.
- Poverty, homelessness, and hunger are widespread and on the rise.
- For decades the U.S. has been spending trillions of dollars not on infrastructure and well-being here in the U.S., but on destroying lives and infrastructure around the world. Often further enriching the already economic elite in the process.
- There is a nationwide infatuation with stock prices and “profits” rather than genuine well-being.
- Millions cannot afford routine healthcare.
- Citizens are routinely and grievously fed information which is an outright lie, and if it is not an outright lie, often it is partial information presented in such a way as to mislead those exposed to it. This is done by the elected officials within the Federal Government, the CEO’s of many major industries, and too often by spokespeople for various governmental agencies.
- The press, the “fourth estate” has too often become little more than parrots of the misinformation put forward.
- For an elected official or other prominent business or entertainment personality to be linked in an incriminating manner to people engaged in human trafficking has become so routine it hardly raises an eyebrow.
- The pursuit of money has come to be apparently accepted as an excuse in and of itself for grievous abuses of people and our environment.
- “United we stand, divided we fall” has come to be replaced by “fuck you, I got mine”.
When faced with the abuses and the increasing cries of outrage, millions of Americans apparently accept it all with a complacent “it can’t happen here” attitude. Today, too often, being a proud American has come to mean being an arrogant American. To say this trend doesn’t bode well for the well-being of the U.S. is a horrible understatement. If the U.S. stays on this trajectory, the U.S. has nowhere to go but down.
I was born in the U.S., raised in the U.S., and live in the U.S. I have traveled a lot around the country. I have witnessed and experienced love, stimulating intelligence, positive human thoughts and attitudes and just plain human decency everywhere I have been. I cannot believe the greed, the callousness toward human life, the short-sightedness toward our environment and well-being, which are too often embodied and grievously displayed by those in prominent positions within government and various industries, and which are prominent within many of the ongoing policies and practices within the country, truly represent the heart and soul of the American people.
America desperately needs a reorganization of it’s operating principles. We can no longer sustain a country organized around what is good for mega-corporations and the wealthiest 1%. We need to prioritize the nation around what is good for human life, all human life. This includes fair wages, fair prices, affordable health care, affordable education, secure housing, clean water, nutritious food and a healthful environment.
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