beneath the surface

wow- i have a lot to digest. interesting discussions happen on the internet everyday- reminds me of staying up all night in college sitting in the hallway and talking about whatever we wanted to. stimulating and i haven't even had my cuppa yet. over at 'my crazy life' the discussion is whether to shield children from the realities of war- namely the holocaust- and at 'the future was yesterday' the discussion is racism and bigotry in america.

when i go around reading folks- whether it be any of the hot button issues- race, religion, politics, etc.- i see a common theme- political correctness. now, the left gets slammed for it all of the time- but i think it goes across party lines. no- 'PC' sprang from a dysfunctional country trying to bandaid our hurts instead of really fixing them. when many people look at america, they see a land of opportunities if one works for them; they see a chance at prosperity and 'the american dream.' when others look at america, they see a caste system in which wasps are the elite ruling group and leftovers are handed to the rest of the masses.

when i look at america, i see a hurting country. we medicate ourselves and have various addictions- gambling, drugs and alcohol, spending, eating; we play at war games and then go out and do the same thing to others in our country and around the world. we have non existent communication skills as a whole- evidenced by the numerous write ins to advice columns all over on how to handle simple issues; the divorce rate at 50%; the lack of diplomacy at the national level- you get the point. our infrastructure is crumbling around us- our roads, waterways, pipes and lines need to be updated. our housing stock in most cities is 60 years old as are our schools. we have no idea what to teach our children because we don't want them 'upset' out of their ritalin induced stupor because we don't want to parent them. we work 60 hours a week to drive an suv and have a 5 bedroom mcmansion. why?

the facade of america used to be pristine. we had streets paved with gold- instead of garbage- and we welcomed the masses to our shores. well, the facade has slipped. we are divided into various factions- skin color against skin color; gender against gender; red against blue. how can you consider us all americans when we can't agree that the constitution is america anymore? the facade has slipped and the world has a clear picture of who we are and what we stand for- torture of people who aren't us; human rights abuses; unfair trade advantages that favor only us; we bully and threaten like spoiled rich children. why? are we so far removed from what it means to be human- up there in our ivory towers- that we don't feel anymore? are we so medicated and 'comfortably numb' that nothing much matters? i think that's so.

look at things this way- and there is no comfort in this post- class lines don't matter. america is drugged out. poor folks have crack and alcohol; middle class folks got pot and alcohol; rich folks got prescription drugs and alcohol. and everyone is medicating the children. it's called control folks. propaganda and the power of suggestion almost worked this time. will we have time to get our shit together, get through rehab, and come out of the clouds before the next? what we have to face--and deal with-- and work through-- and change-- is- we are ugly, ugly people. we don't have to be but right now we are. the nice thing is that we can change this. we can start looking at the bigger picture and doing the right thing instead of the 'me' thing. but we have to start now. no- TUA- we are not all americans. some of us are americans in name only.