What have we done lately? Have we had a successful national initiative since 1969 and the moon landing?If you look back at the recent years, our nation has achieved nothing in which we can take pride in as a nation; some wondrous act that people generations from now will study as examples for an enlightened, productive and just society.
I'm talking about the achievements such as: John Kennedy's challenge to land a man on the moon; Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, and the Civil Rights Act; Dwight Eisenhower's national highway program; Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, the victory in WWII, the G.I. Bill, and his vision for the United Nations; Theodore Roosevelt's Square Deal, and the regulation of corrupt and monopolistic industries; Abraham Lincoln's ending of slavery, and his superhuman effort to hold our nation together; and finally, the First Transcontinental Railroad, the Monroe Doctrine and the Louisiana Purchase.
Since July 20, 1969, when an American set foot on the moon, what have we done with commitment and pride?
Since that time, a materialistic corruption has ruled American policies. How else can we explain the incompetence, the scandals, the corruption, the waste, the giveaways to those with much, the convicted lobbyists and the no-bid contracts? My explanation is that some in government want government to fail, so that Americans no longer believe that great things are possible. A disengaged citizenry is easier to manipulate.
I have a different view from this. Here are our next great achievements: lift working families out of poverty with supports for transportation, health care, nutrition, child care, education, housing, and other basic needs; resolve conflicts, reduce violence, and defeat terrorism without preemptive war; institute a consistent ethic of life (reduce abortion, end capital punishment, and stop genocide); strengthen human rights and promote human dignity; protect our planet from the interests and activities that damage it (reverse global climate change and develop clean, renewable energy); skillful measures to strengthen families must become a personal and national priority (without scapegoating gays, immigrants, or people diverse race, faiths or ethnicity).
Forty years of nothing is enough. Better aspirations and goals await us. We have been and can be a better nation than this.
So don't believe the lie that government is the problem. We the American people are the government, and it is time that once again we use it for our own greatness and for the benefit of all peoples of our shared planet.
1 comment:
Our next great achievements...
We must try to live without causing unnecessary harm, not just to fellow humans but to all beings.
Veganism in practice means making a concerted effort to pass through one’s life causing as little harm as possible to any living thing. One cannot totally avoid doing harm to others; it’s the effort that counts. The real harm is done by those who don’t think, or don’t care, about the experience of others, human and non-human.
The exploitation involved in animal agriculture has lead to chronic human disease, environmental destruction, and a life of misery for billions of animals, and MUST be phased out if we are serious about our future, not to mention our morals.
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