Ah, the smell of fireworks in the morning! Just a few questions for us to mull over on “our” birthday:
If we say we value our Christian culture and moral values, how can we turn our backs on Syrians, Haitians, Guatemalans, Mexicans or other human beings who come here seeking freedom and our American way of life?
If we value Law and Order, how can we turn our backs on Palestinians on the West Bank who everyday are chased from their homes or the invasion of, our turning our backs on and the defiling of a Pro Western European democratic nation of 30 million Ukrainians under constant threat of death and destruction over the last four years? Or the videotaped shootings, murder and cover up and overt smearing of multiple American citizens and other human beings simply attempting to legally and courageously stand up for their fellow human beings’ rights on the streets of their hometowns across our America?
Or the corrupt usurpation of our federal Department of Justice, created more than a century-and-a-half ago to ensure our laws are fairly enforced to all our benefit?
Or the willful, illegal, megalomaniacal renaming of, grifting on, and/or destruction and defiling of our national monuments?
Or the constant, ham handed economic, political and/or military threats, cajoling and taking advantage of partners, allies and innumerable fellow nations around the world?
Hey, I could go on for a while here, but I’ve only got 650 words, so let’s move on.
Let’s think about it as citizens. If we’re well to do, do we simply turn a blind eye to the suffering of millions of our fellow human beings? Is that what Jesus preached? Is that what our mothers taught us?
If we feel like we’ve been on the short end of the political and/or economic stick and now we’re somehow “getting over” because “those folks” are “finally” getting “their comeuppance”, does that actually do us any good?
This beautiful nation we claim to take so much pride in, was founded by immigrants. And its economic engine, growth, strength, moral values and will have always been driven by immigrants, from every corner of this world. First to till its soil, then work in its factories, then create world-changing inventions, art, music and ideas which have provided the will, drive, energy, courage and vision which has not only made us what we’ve become, but have lifted up folks from everywhere around this world of ours.
Folks, human nature’s a strange beast. We bust our hump to put food on the table and get ahead, then when we’re comfortable and “accepted” and we’ve got a place “at the table”, we look at folks just off the boat, or plane, or truck and say, they don’t speak the language, they look different, they act different, they’re going to take my “piece of the pie”. Whatever.
But you know what? It’s darn convenient we’ve got these talking heads on social media, in our pulpits, at the corner bar and of course in Congress trying to scare us about “them” while they pass laws that make it harder for us to make a living, while billionaires and now trillionaires lounge on their mega-yachts and in their multiple penthouses around the world as they pay off “our” representatives and create, lift up and manipulate talking heads who glibly regurgitate their scripts while their puppeteers laugh at and thumb their noses at “our” laws, social norms, faith and morals.
Hey, folks, human nature as exhibited by virulently acquisitive, amoral, if not immoral human beings we’ve allowed to gorge themselves on our nation’s riches and our labor would seem to be a pretty good reason for doing everything we possibly can to grab hold of and take back our representative democracy on this our 250th anniversary of freedom.
Yep, just have to love the smell of fireworks in the morning!
