The more that I experience life in today’s world, the clearer things become. I have spent the past nearly two months recovering in bed from leg injuries. As I lie in bed watching the news, hearing commentaries from different perspectives, things boil down to two areas of thought. The first is that Donald Trump is a delusional, limited human being, who is unable to go from an idea to a realistic consequence in his thinking process. His love affair with tariffs is a good example of this He ‘loves’ tariffs. And he fails to see that tariffs cost the average American a tax on products that raise the prices of goods in the marketplace.
He indicates, during the COVID pandemic, that the way to cut down on the number of people who are being diagnosed with COVID, is to reduce the number of people who are being tested for carrying the COVID virus. In April of 2021, he added that injecting bleach might be a cure for those who are suffering from the virus.
He wants to change things in every sector of American life. He fires essential people in necessary fields without considering the consequence of such firings. He gets rid of those who safeguard us and our nuclear stockpiles and those who protect us from inclement weather patterns only to realize how essential these folks are to our general welfare as a society. He wants to do away with public education so that he can control the narrative that defines who we are as a national community.
He wants to treat all immigrants as ‘those who are poisoning the blood of our society.’ He has a decided racist focus on all who are other than white skinned. He fails to consider how immigrants serve a valuable role in our work force and that, in fact, we are a country that is made up of immigrants. My ancestors came from England, Sweden, and Germany.
He views women as little more than ‘eye candy’ and the as sexual toys as was captured on the Access Hollywood Tapes. He disregards the fact that he has given his oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and disregards our due process safeguards. In fact, he has attempted to destroy virtually all aspects of our country that makes it the special place that it is. And, to add the frosting to the cake, he considers our veterans as ‘losers and suckers.’ He wants to do away with health care and veterans retirement support programs, school food programs, school health care programs, Special Education Programs, our Social Security system, essentially all support programs provided by the government to assist and meet the needs of our citizens.
What is easy to realize is that we are a community of individuals that values the lives of our fellow citizens. We are, at our best a gathering of souls who believe in ‘treating others as we would want to be treated.’
The Dali Lama has written ‘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 core of our existence. Therefore, we need to cultivate a genuine sense of responsibility and a sincere concern for the welfare of others.’
He continues ‘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 as human beings, we 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.’
