How long will this all be allowed to go on? How long will
the people wait, how much more can they possibly put up with. I mean day in day
out the middle class, or “Main St” get pummelled, pounded, exploited, ripped
off and rorted. They watch almost helplessly as governments around the world
impose Austerity on their people, they legislate and support bank bail outs,
build bombs and defence systems while the poor curl up in a corner with their
life savings tucked into a garbage bag and sleep using a step as a pillow.
As an Australian living here in the USA it brings me to a truly sad view and perception of where the world is headed. It is obvious that the world truly has lost its moral compass and that the system is broken.
As an Australian living here in the USA it brings me to a truly sad view and perception of where the world is headed. It is obvious that the world truly has lost its moral compass and that the system is broken.
To walk out of a grocery store while it is snowing and see a lady with her dog and a sign “can you help me, I have no food, home or hope” breaks my heart. As I park to walk into the grocery store I ponder how many people have seen the lady and ignored her message to help? How many don’t give her a second thought? How many consider helping but don’t?
I often buy her a warm soup if I notice her there, I was raised to be that type of person. I am proud to have been taught that life lesson, it truly is a valuable one. I have fond memories back home of going to the greyhound races back home with my father. Part of our visit to the races included feeding the homeless on the way out, 10 hotdogs later and sometimes a few bucks.
Where is the compassion now? We have a world built on the motivation of personal wealth where greed is almost idolised and money is worshipped. We live in a world where the apathy and hopelessness rules behaviour, where we now render our ability to help a little as useless.
A friend of mine recently pointed out some states here in
the US are legislating that a $120 license must be paid for an individual or
organisation to feed the poor. I remember when I read his message thinking that
he could not be right on that, but he was. WHY???
WHY when there are no jobs, at least no good ones. WHY make it difficult for an individual to extend the hand of hope to the hopeless? What ever happened to being fair and just? Why do politicians seem to act for themselves whilst preaching they represent their constituents’ best interests?
Governments co-opted by corporations in a relationship so
incestuous it has me reaching for the bucket to puke. The news is cringe worthy
at best as viewers are force fed the lies in an absolutely insulting manner. It
truly is difficult to find a neutral news source, everywhere you look the result
seems binary when it comes to where you get your news and in your political
choices to determine government or president.
CNN is designated for the lefties and Democrats, Fox news for the righties and Republicans. Media and politics are dominated by corporation dollars which in turn drives the bias. It appears to me however that this growing disconnect between politics, the media and the general populous is taking its toll. The natives are getting restless!
I am beginning to feel that the world as we know it is about to go through a revolutionary shift. There is a collective evolution taking place that is ushering in a new zeitgeist or spirit of the age. Technology and the use of social media assist in building momentum as people of like minds bond and chat, sharing ideas, thoughts and emotions. Facebook and Twitter allow collective think tanks and a platform for open forums that assist in connecting people globally in a way not possible less than 10 years ago.
Metaphorically speaking I see the Global Financial Crisis as the fuse and social media platforms/vehicles as the match to light the fuse to mobilise the next revolutionary movement. For those of my readers that disagree on my views that a revolution is in the not too distant future need only look at the edgy reporting Time Magazine is giving the topic.
We are now 2 years or more on from 2011 when Time Magazine made their person of the year “The Protestor”. We have seen governments overturned, protests in the streets of Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland and Iceland just to name a few. In the USA there was Occupy Wall St where for the first time income inequality and the incestuous government/corporation relationship triggered outrage.
Below is Time Magazines front cover recapping 2011.
It seems that “Main St” went to occupy “Wall St” in a
protest over tax payer bank bailouts which funded exorbitant CEO bonuses along
the way. The protests also brought discussion over tax laws that appeared skewed
to the wealthy, protectionist policies from cheap imports and also the minimum
wage debate.
The Occupy Wall St movement was a show of how social media could be used to garnish support quickly and also appeared to signify a shift in attitude on the need for change. I believe the global protests, marches against austerity and movements like Occupy Wall St are the prelude to the real revolution that appears to be gaining momentum.
Tracy Chapman was “talkin about a revolution” in her song 20 years ago. I cannot help but listen to those lyrics and think she is right.
Below is a youtube clip of the song and lyrics. I suggest
you click, listen and read.. then ask yourself after reading my piece, was
Tracy Chapman right but just 20 years early?
No comments:
Post a Comment