A delusional Russian dictator who wants to restore the ‘greatness of the motherland’ is needlessly slaughtering women and children, and destroying hospitals, schools and people’s homes 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 the United States, 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 the table and a roof over their heads or obtaining necessary medical care.
We have two camps of people in our government. Those who function from the basis of me, myself, and 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 all the members of our human family.
So do we politically only care about ourselves and no one else, or do our political decisions account for what’s in the best interest of our neighbours, fellow workers, children and the elderly?
Political delusions
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 was all kinds of fraud going on in the vote counting. In point of fact, the presidential election of 2020 was deemed to be the most honest election in our history.
This person then attempted to have votes switched from the real count to a different one in one state, so he would have won that state’s vote when he’d 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 so he could stop the orderly transition of power that has been the American tradition since the beginning of our country. In fact, he committed sedition. His supporters even threatened the Vice President with death if the Vice President didn’t make sure it looked as if the fraudulent candidate had won the election. History books are filled with the January 6, 2021 ransacking of the U.S. Capitol, including information about those who were injured and died while defending our political and constitutional institutions.
Today, we have elected members of Congress selling out the public. These folks, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz, care about their power and control over the 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 would translate into people in the military going without pay, social security and Medicare payments being withheld, and food programs for the poor ceasing to be available.
These self-serving ‘public servants’ don’t care about keeping people safe from being killed by someone who decides to randomly shoot people at a public school, at a store, at a place of worship, or on a bus or another means of public transportation. At the present time, when we say goodbye to a loved one in the morning, we have to consider that we’ll never see them again because someone decided to shoot them in a public place.
How will we view our fellow citizens?
We have to decide whether we’ll view people as objects, things or concepts, or as beings with needs, feelings, awareness, empathy and compassion. Our political world is dependent on honesty and trust. How can we make decisions about important issues if we can’t believe what we’re being told by our political leaders?
Our democracy depends on 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, “How will people suffer or benefit if we take this particular course of action?”
Are our fellow citizens to be treated as a means to an end, or as essential to our very survival?
The Dalai 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.
The Dalai Lama also says,
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.
"СВЯЗАННОЕ ЧТЕНИЕ" THE INDICTMENT: One American citizen’s response»
изображение: Governor Tom Wolf
