By the standards of time, the history of the USA and the society and governmental framework is extremely young. And indeed in the midst of our geopolitical infancy, we became pretty fast learners. < Look Ma, I'm a big girl now!>After all, we went from rolling over and learning how to put our feet in our mouth, to the 'terrible twos' in record time. And although we are not the meanest bully in the play-pen, we still don't always play well with others, often spreading the germ of consumerism and blanket stupidity with every touch of our snotty little fingers.
Am I proud to say I am an American? Hell, yes! Do I always agree with our government? Hell, no! Can I openly criticize the establishment w/out risk of imprisonment, or even death? Yeah, Baby!! It is my right, and as long as our fearless leaders continue to uphold the Bill of Rights, I will do so proudly and loudly. Can I get an Amen? ! I can't hear you!!!
Okay, back to the lesson.
Surprisingly, these short 200 plus years have found this fledgling democracy balled-up, loaded and far flung to the top, like a political superhero. A trebuchet load of sticky, melting pot insanity, held solid in a shiny bucket of democratic jingoism (that's right, look that baby up!). A place where every dude and chick is equal under the law! Unless of course, some of the old farts still in charge say you aren't. Which really flips Franklin's wig, if you know what I mean. Bill of Rights be damned! 'We're older and wiser, and you're not. So there! Nanny, nanny poo-poo.' (--worrisome, isn't it?--)
With age comes experience, but not always wisdom. j.o.
We try desperately to hold ourselves to the high standards of our forefathers by upholding our sacred, and malleable Constitution. That is, unless it doesn't fit the political (read monetary) agenda of the day. So, we continue to cling to a comfortable binky of bull poop, despite the stream of falsities diametrically opposing the good intentions of those tri-cornered and bewigged idealists that birthed this now spoiled, overweight toddler of a nation. A nation of rug-rats throwing temper tantrums.
We have lost the ability to look inward, and to "....only speak the twooth, Kwischton!" (Sorry, got a little Moulin Rougey there for a moment.) All better now. Moving forward.
Instead, we prefer to be spoon-fed our facts, running full boar in our saggy diapers of superiority, again and again, into the baby gate of truth. Still refusing to notice that there's a handle on that gate! (Guess what, it unlocks the door to the rest of the house!) A latch designed to keep our exposure restricted to only what our fearless parentals of government allow we should be capable of knowing. (Maybe we'll just tire ourselves out and take a nap.)
While we suckle on the teet of government control, we delay our development; comfortable and completely oblivious to the truth. So how will we get the truth, you query? Not from the talking box. Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, they all want us subjugated as well. It makes their jobs easier. They hype the blood and guts, the dirty laundry of national tensions, and reap the benefits of lucrative ad revenue. But almost single-handedly, the media has effectively brought the thinking mind to an abrupt, and screeching halt. The 'War on Drugs' is a glaring example of this phenomenon of misinformation.
Ignorance is not bliss. It is merely ignorance. j.o.
We Americans have had our ups and downs over the last 2 centuries or so, but as we leap forth into the great unknown of the newest millennium, we seem to be back-peddling away from our bright future. We are no longer able to learn from our past mistakes. Instead, our logic has become skewed by corporate lobbyist, religious agenda, media spin, and the weight of the 'good 'ol boy' system that refuses to let go of irrational thought, shrugging off the logical reality of what most informed Americans already know.
I refer to this retrograde logic as "Stagnation of Perspective". Adequately defining the ability to allow oneself to remain happily miss-informed, acquiring a perspective of comfortable ignorance instead of seeking out the facts, and questioning the source of information being forced down our throats.
Where does this stand-still of independent thought become screamingly evident? It resides comfortably on it's laurels of selective mis-information, and is exemplified by the DEA in form of the 'War on Drugs".
Now is the time to cut the umbilicus, unlatch the gate, and stir the stagnate waters of comfortable thought...
...Stay Tuned for Part Deux
