There is a certain sampling of people who just don’t get it. How many will it take until they know that enough is enough? Our information has been managed in such a way that two wars have been conducted in the last three years and the deaths of our soldiers and other people have been submerged in other factoids that are designed to hold our attention – perhaps the love lives of our superstar actors and actresses. Why are we shielded from the numbers of dead from these events?
Too many have died in too many conflicts that show that we are addicted to war and its retribution. “How could I let him get away with that?” That is the question you hear on the school yard. It is the same question between nations that should be spending their time in preparing for the cold winter seasons that lie ahead in a world of global warming. When will we stop our dependence on oil?
How many storms sweeping onto land or brushing by from out of the oceans will it take before we take them seriously and stop sacrificing people who do not know how to take care of themselves and carelessly squat in land that should be left to crocodiles, snakes and disappearing wildlife. These need the marshes and swamps to keep their lives vibrant among the interlopers who sweep all away in order to build their subdivisions. Better yet, how many storms will it take before those whom we elect to represent our interests actually begin to represent our interests? Our Congress is still thinking in terms of giving more money to people who have more money. Tax refunds and tax breaks for those who do not need them while Americans at home and abroad are hurting are offensive as well as destructive to American values of equality and justice.
How many times will justice be perverted in order to avoid equality? How many “Americans” will “get theirs” and say “to hell with the rest” for they have gotten their biggest slice of the pie while there is hunger in the greatest nation in the world? When will they realize they live in the same world as those who suffer from names such as Katrina and Rita?
How many disasters in the form of earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados and tropical storms does it take until people wake up that the government will do nothing for them for they have elected people who care only about filling the pockets of the rich and have abandoned the poor?
The answer, my friend is that there is a blowing wind that sometimes turns ugly and we have no defenses against it. There is rumbling under our feet and we are sending smoke signals up into the stratosphere that surely will one day force us to take another look at who and what we are.