Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Is America Morally Bankrupt? Degrees of Separation

In our country, over the last decade or so, the zeitgeist can be characterized as a unique combination of robotic selfishness, that is driven by complex fears, and maintained by a denial of any knowledge or data that would dissuade the behavior. Blinders, energy drinks, and treadmills.

Realistically, we all have to make a living and provide for our families. I have a friend who writes computer code for major banks and some municipalities. He is a decent man, works hard and though we have not discussed it, I'm reasonably sure he never considers the workers he is displacing.

Today, American corporations are doing well and expanding overseas. They are hiring overseas. The markets are doing well. Yet many, many Americans are unemployed or underemployed. One consequence of sustained high unemployment will be an increase in poverty from the bottom up, in this country of ours. Note: I am not one to advocate tariffs.

Florida should serve as a lesson for the rest of our country. An economy based primarily on recycling people for other states is not a good thing for most.

As the degrees of separation diminish, things change. Americans act "morally" when their own physical or psychological preservation, or the preservation of those close to them, requires it.  Comedy Central's Rally to Restore Sanity, Oprah's recent statement that Americans are too smart to elect Sarah Palin President, and the inception of the No Labels movement- which incidentally was started by young members of both parties, illustrate that the Revolution of Sanity in America may be underway.

Finally, I have been bemused for sometime by the fact that the most un-American politicians wear the loudest American Flag lapel pins. Don't they manufacture oil derrick or dollar sign pins?