There are two topics on my mind for today’s blog so let’s see which one wins out. The first is about the citizens of this country who are much too passive about what is going on and seem to have given up hope for something better. The only protesting has been the Tea Party people who are crazed in their anti-government, anti-tolerance, anti-compassion stance of the world. The anti’s can’t be the guiding force for our future, yet they keep on trying. We need the force of social criticism that is also about seeking solutions of a better world.

Looks like I am not going to get to the second issue today because there is a big charge in me and I need to let my social critic have its say. Look around you, are things the way you want them to be? Are you willing to do something about what’s not working? I am sure I have asked that of you my readers already. Let me share with you some of the concerns I think are costing us dearly as people, as a nation and as a planet.

Issues of real concern:

People everywhere are struggling financially except for those that have much wealth. This is a nation and really a world of haves and have-nots. The middle class truly is eroding away as we run up our dept trying to make it. People are loosing their homes, barely getting by, dealing with rising medical costs, and for most of us life seems on the edge. While 5-10% of the people are living in wealth so exaggerated that it is clearly wrong. Yet we don’t demand that are economic system change. Is it an issue of not deserving or are we so programmed to do as the media tells us and not to question what is going so wrong?

The corporate rule of this nation and the global economy is not working except for the very wealth. The money influence in Washington DC is obscene. Our laws support corporations over our basic rights. The people we elect don’t represent us, they represent their funding sources. This is so obvious and yet we don’t seem willing to do anything that will make a difference.

We are in a war in Afghanistan that the majority of people in this country are opposed to and yet we allow it to continue. This war is breaking our nation’s financial back and we sit passively by as if we feel powerless. People are dying over there as I write this for a cause that is unclear at best. How come do you think we ignore what is going on or choose to look away?

Our medical system is not about caring for people, it is about making profits. If we get sick and use up our sick time we are screwed. If the insurance doesn’t want to pay our claims they don’t and we go broke trying to get them to do what is their responsibility. The CEO’s and management teams of the medical products, the drugs companies, the insurance companies, are making huge salaries and collecting huge bonuses and we scrape by. Does that seem right to you? Yet we swallow these injustices and go on without demanding real change.

Many of the people have become so passive, so willing to follow without questioning the talking heads on the airways that they act exactly like sheep being led off the cliff of their ignorance. The Rush Limbaugh’s of the world lie endlessly and rationalize it and many just accept what they say as if there is an ounce of truth in their arrogance. Turn off talk radio and seek your own truth.

Free unchecked capitalism is what we tried in the Clinton and Bush years and it worked great for the wealthy families of America and around the world but left this huge financial mess. Now the party out of power is lobbying for a return to the mess. Are these guys idiots or are we?

People who try to question what is going on get attacked, people who attempt to point out where they see problems often face legal charges. Have we lost a sense of hope or are we drowning in fear and anger?

More and more people blame government which is certainly not working well yet our government is a clear reflection of the influence moneys, the narrow minded partisan fighting of our elected officials, and of course us. It is a mess because most of us are not involved in any constructive way.

It is 90 degrees at 6pm last evening as I write this. I am both hot from the heat and hot under the collar because I am very uncomfortable with the way our nation is heading while we watch from the passive sidelines. Do you and I feel powerful enough to do anything about the circumstances of our lives or the plight of our nation? What are we willing to do? Should we just sit there and let the profit seekers rule? Should we watch our safety net be eroded away by the government haters who really are just greedy? There are so many questions to be asked and so many opportunities for us to come up with creative solutions that will make a positive difference.

Things to do:

Stop watching the nightly news and go searching for the truth.
Stop using credit cards if you can
Stand up for what you believe in
Go green
Stop listening to talk radio
Support people organizing for their rights
Stand up against hatred, prejudice and intolerance
Stop going to churches that are dogmatic and judgmental
Stop giving money to politicians until they represent us
Write your elected officials daily about your concerns
Support bailing out Main Street and demand our money back from Wall Street
Stop buying insurance and form health care collectives
Stop buying houses so the market will come down even more to realistic prices
Remember when you buy cheep goods, the workers are often taken advantage of.
Buy local and support your community economy
Work to protect our water supply, our air, our farmlands, our seed supply and everything you think matters
Stop taking medications that are ruining your long term health, be your own healer
Explore alternative medicine
Boycott corporations who don’t respect people, who damage the planet, who take away benefits, who pay management huge wages and employees barely enough to get by own
Question all those who claim to be experts and who really are just full of empty opinion
Stop blaming and complaining and take positive action instead
Question the status-quo
Join an organization you believe in and get involved
Advocate for the homeless, the hungry and the less fortunate.
Make having a compassionate open heart a priority
Make having an open mind essential
Seek each day to be more conscious and kind

Isn’t it time we got so involved in ways that we make a real difference? Do we really have freedom of the press and freedom of speech? Find out by exploring both and be a social critic when it is needed but also be part of the solution.