Since 2001, we gave in to fear and allowed the people we call “leaders” to manipulate and bully us into giving up the rights we always felt compelled to die for…Freedom and Privacy.
We believed them. We trusted them to do the right thing for us and for our nation. We believed they were protecting us, more specifically, our way of life. And yet, we have stood back and watched as our privacy has been invaded, our freedom sold to a potential enemy, because when you become heavily indebted to anyone, essentially, they own you. We, the citizens of the United States, never want to be owned by anyone.
Other than good health, there is nothing more important than freedom and privacy. Those two entities are not privileges that we can ever take lightly. They are human rights; yet, as we have observed, many nations forfeit those rights to “leaders” acting on behalf of their nation’s best interest.
China comes to mind. As well as any nation subjected to authoritarian dictatorship. I ask these questions…how can millions of people allow a small group of men to own and control them? How can that small group of men control a military that is paid for by the hard work and contributions of those millions of people, cause them to live in fear and forfeit human rights given to all humans: the ability to make our own choices, to come and go at will, to feel that no one is dictating our private lives?
We are living the beginnings of that experience. We are placing all of our hopes in a “new” leader, to save us from such a fate. And yet, we know that no one man or woman can save us, should have to save us, because we have the power to save ourselves.
Gas gouging, privacy invasion, inflated prices, combined with a failing infrastructure, increasing natural disasters resulting from environmental damage — these are all calamities that we have the power to resolve.
The final question is … will we wake up in time to save ourselves? Because, right now, we are napping, watching people take advantage of our way of life in a sedated state of unbelief. They are just men. A few men. We are numbers. Big numbers.
We may think we are the tiny little Davids, and they are the giant Goliaths. But the reality is, we are the giants giving up to tiny tyrants. Believing they are acting in our best interests. What will historians write about us? About the choices we made or allowed to be made for us?
Do our current leaders have all the answers? Are they right? Will the future show that they made the right decisions for us?
The past speaks for us. Some of our leaders made good choices when they included us in the true sense of equality and human potential, i.e. FDR’s ‘New Deal’, JFK and LBJ’s ‘Civil Rights’ Enactments.
Other leaders acted from selfish gain at the expense of all others. We are still paying retributively for those choices, through emotional beliefs that divide us racially, genderwise, sexual preferences, and politically; as well as economic inequality, i.e. one percent elite vs. the rest of us. Those choices crippled the masses. It crippled our power. Because their selfish, robber baron greed divided us and continues to divide us, making it easy to distract and conquer, allowing them to control everything.
The simple answer to this query is…would we want another country to invade our nation for our natural resources, pillage and rape and steal and decide how we should live? If the answer to that is no, and it has to be no, then why are we allowing our leaders to do it to others?
First do no harm. Do we have a right to take what is not ours for our future security? What are the consequences down the line? Are they using foresight or greed? Do we want it to happen to us?
There is a saying, ‘what goes around, comes around’. And, since everything in life is a circle, or cycle, it appears to be true.
We should always proceed with foresight and human compassion, because we are all human beings sharing one planet, one home. We should always always always, a thousand always, find a way to compromise until there is a win/win for all concerned.
And when we come up against a negotiator who refuses to compromise to a common end, then the nations of the world, e.g. the UN, and the people of the world, should step in and evaluate the best outcome and make a final decision. If there is resistance at that point, there are options, such as boycotting that negotiator.
Human life is too precious. It’s all we have and when we take it from others, well, live by the sword, die by the sword.