A delusional Russian dictator who wants to restore the ‘greatness of the motherland,’ is needlessly slaughtering children, women and destroys hospitals, schools, and homes of people to claim that he has achieved his dream. In his wake he has left burnt bodies, severed limbs, destroyed families, starvation, illness, pain and grief.
In this country we have political ‘leaders’ who are more concerned with following their dogmas than caring whether or not people have to choose between putting food on their table or purchasing necessary medicine, obtaining necessary medical care or putting a roof over their heads.
We have two camps of people in our government. Those who function from the basis of me, my-self, my wants, and focus on what’s good for my political survival. Then, we have those who care about being a part of the human family and are concerned with what benefits the members of our human family. Do we politically only care about ourselves and no one else, or do our political decisions take into account what is in the best interest of our neighbors, fellow workers, the needs of children, the elderly.
We also have those in politics who are delusional, who assert that they have won the Presidency when facts have shown, and courts have ruled, that they have lost the Presidency. They assert that the election was stolen from them and that there were all kinds of fraud going on in the vote counting. In point of fact, the Presidential Election of 2022 was deemed to be the most honest election in our history.
This person then attempted to have votes switched from the real count, in one state, so he would have won that states vote, when he had actually lost the vote of the people.
This person’s final insult to our country was to attempt to prevent the actual, legal vote count from taking place and having the orderly transition of power that has been the American tradition since the beginnings of our country. In fact, he committed sedition. He even threatened the Vice Present with death if the Vice President did not make sure that fraudulent candidate had won the election. History books are filled with the January 6, 2021 ransacking of the Capitol, and those who were injured and died in defending our political and constitutional institutions.
Today, we have elected members of our Congress selling out the public. These folks, Marjory Taylor Green, Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Jim Jordan, and Matt Gaetz of our political world, care about their power and control over government. They don’t care whether the federal government goes bankrupt due to not raising the debt ceiling. Some of these people even think that shaking things up with national bankruptcy would be a good thing. That translates into people in the military would go without pay, social security payments would be withheld, Medicare payments would be withheld, food programs for the poor would cease to be available.
These self-serving ‘public servants’ do not care about people earning livable incomes, being able to put food on their tables, able to obtain necessary and essential medical care, putting a roof over their heads, being safe from being killed by someone who decides to randomly kill people on a certain day, at a public school, a store, at a place of worship, on a bus or other means of public transportation. We truly live at a time when we say good-bye to a loved one in the morning, we may never see them again because someone shoots them in a public place.
We have to decide whether we view people as objects, things or concepts. Or do we view members of our human family as beings with needs, feelings, awareness, empathy and compassion? Our political world is dependent on honesty and trust. How can we decide on issues if we can’t believe what we are being told by our political leaders?
Our democracy depends being able to discuss issues with respect for someone we might not agree with. The basic question to be asked when deciding on a political issue is, whether or not someone will be damaged by the decision, and how will people suffer by taking this particular course of action? Are we relating to our fellow members of our American family as beings with needs, feelings, awareness, empathy and compassion, or do we view human beings as objects, things or concepts? Are our fellow citizens to be treated as a means to an end, or as essential to our very survival?
The Dali Lama has written:
‘Whether one is rich or poor, educated or illiterate, religious or nonbeliever, man or woman, black, white or brown, we are all the same. Physically, emotionally and mentally we are all equal. We all share basic needs of food, shelter, safety and love. We all aspire to happiness and we all shun suffering. Each of us has hopes, worries, fears and dreams. Each of us want the best for our family and loved ones. We all experience pain when we suffer loss and joy when we achieve what we seek. On this fundamental level, religion, ethnicity, culture and language makes no difference.’
He goes on, ‘Interdependence is a fundamental law of nature. Our own survival is so dependent on the help of others that a need for love lies at the very core of our existence. This is why we need to cultivate a genuine sense of responsibility and a sincere concern for the welfare of others.
Or again, compassion and love are not a luxury; they are essential to our existence. Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community. If we are to survive, human beings must develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. We must learn to work not just for our own self, family, or nation, but for the benefit of all humankind.’ May we live with awareness and compassion. And may we survive as a species.
