Good News

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.” – astute observer and comedian Groucho Marx

Election Year 2012: Why should this time be any different?

As the next US federal election approaches, the economy is in terrible shape: the national debt is out of control, many are unemployed and suffer real hardship. Who isn’t concerned about the future? Meanwhile politicians, news media talking heads, cultural icon Madonna, and other minions of the state proselytize their faith in our democratic system of government as they try to convince us that all will be well if we merely exercise our precious right to vote for those whom the party system designates worthy to rule us.[1] During every election we’re subject to constant brainwashing in schools and by the media about the importance of our democracy.  It’s not difficult to explain the perseveration of the American electorate in their peculiar belief that everything will be all right if only they just cast their ballot for the correct individual. “This time will be different,” is the American populace’s mantra, despite decades of evidence to the contrary.

Supposedly elections give voters a chance to change the direction our rulers are taking things. In 2008, when Obama supporters supposedly voted for change, did they realize the kinds of changes for which they were voting?[2][3] In 2008, did Obama supporters know they voted for a dictator who would maintain a kill list and would arrogate the power to murder anyone without due process? [4][5]

One certainty after this election, no matter for whom you cast your ballot for murderer-in-chief , people overseas will get more drone strikes killing civilians and more war from the US government.[6] And we US citizens will continue to say “goodbye” to more of our liberties as the state spies on us at will with impunity in the supposed land of liberty where we pretend we have a 4^th amendment protection from our government.[7]

Don’t Despair

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” - Matthew 6:25-34

For anyone paying attention, it’s easy to give in to despair while waiting to see whether our federal government will ever get it right, especially when Mitt Romney, the man who promises to repair the economic catastrophe exacerbated by Obama, picks Paul Ryan as his running mate. Paul Ryan, who as Congressman Ryan:

• voted for the $700 billion TARP bank bailout aka the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008,
• voted for Medicare Part D in 2003 during the Bush administration, estimated to cost nearly $1 trillion from 2009-2018,
• voted to bail out General Motors in 2008.[8]

But don’t despair, I have recently had my eyes opened and would like to share some good news.

Like a Thief in the Night

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.  But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.  So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” - Matthew 24:42-44

A thief in the night visited me on October 2^nd when I awoke floundering on the floor in the middle of the night unable to move and feel the left side of my body. I was taken to the emergency room at John C. Lincoln hospital where it became obvious that I had suffered a stroke which damaged parts of the right side of my brain.

Like many people, I thought I was acutely aware of how precious and fragile life is. Yet that night, I realized how I took my life for granted. I had never considered how quickly I myself could lose so much, so quickly without warning. After four days in the ICU at John C. Lincoln, I spent three weeks at Barrow Neurological Institute doing in-patient rehabilitation. I am now home and have started outpatient rehabilitation.

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’” Luke 12:16-21

After much time for contemplation during those three weeks, I’d like to share my reason for optimism with you.

Good Neighbors

“’Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’

“The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’”- Luke 10:36-37

During my treatment and rehabilitation, I met many highly-educated, caring, and extremely patient people working in the medical field. I was the recipient of boundless care and compassion: not only from doctors, nurses, therapists, nurses’ assistants and techs, cleaning staff, but also from men and women developing products to assist those with health problems. During this time, I witnessed many dedicated and caring people making the world a better place, not because their government had mandated they pursue their particular career, but because they chose a career of compassion and care. No politician or government tells them how to care for their fellow human beings and treat them as if they are members of their own family.

‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ – Matthew 25:40

At the same time, my family also had the benefit of the wisdom, good wishes, prayers, kindness, and moral support of many people I’m privileged to call friends. No law told these people to help or how to help my family unless it was one written on their hearts by their maker or taught to them by their parents—their charity was, and continues to be, given freely from their hearts. It is also something for which I can never sufficiently express my gratitude.

During the last month, the world did not stop operating outside of my small area of existence. Just as most people go about their business daily without intervention by the state, most do not wait for the state to solve the problems of the world. Many work in their own way to make the world a better place while quietly going about their own business; just as anyone does an honest day’s work to satisfy their customers or their employer.

My good news is simple and nothing earth-shattering: the world can be a better place if we don’t wait for the state to do it for us and don’t put our faith in charlatans. The solution is each of us caring for each other, one person at a time.

___________________________

[1] “Madonna Booed for Urging Concertgoers to Vote for President Obama,” October 28, 2012, (Accessed at http://www.extratv.com/2012/10/28/madonna-booed-for-urging-concertgoers-to-vote-for-president-obama/ on Oct 31, 2012).

Madonna said, “Seriously, I don't care who you vote for ... Do not take this privilege for granted. Go vote.”

[2] “Five Specific Questions Journalists Should Ask About the Drone Strike Policy,” by Robert Naiman, (Accessed at http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/10/26-0 on October 26, 2012).

[3] “Obama Makes Unprecedented War Powers to Kill by Drone Permanent,” by John Glaser, October 24, 2012, (Accessed at http://antiwar.com/blog/2012/10/24/obama-makes-unprecedented-war-powers-to-kill-by-drone-permanent/ on Oct 31, 2012).

[4] “President Romney Can Thank Obama for His Permanent Robotic Death List,” By Spencer Ackerman, October 24, 2012, (Accessed at http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/disposition-matrix/ on Oct 31, 2012).

[5] “Plan for hunting terrorists signals U.S. intends to keep adding names to kill lists,” By Greg Miller, Washington Post, October 23, 2012, (Accessed at http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/plan-for-hunting-terrorists-signals-us-intends-to-keep-adding-names-to-kill-lists/2012/10/23/4789b2ae-18b3-11e2-a55c-39408fbe6a4b_story.html on 31 Oct 2012).

[6] “In Foreign Policy Debate, Romney Capitulates, Agrees With Obama,” by John Glaser, antiwar.com, October 22, 2012, (Accessed at http://news.antiwar.com/2012/10/22/in-foreign-policy-debate-romney-capitulates-agrees-with-obama/ on Oct 31, 2012).

[7] “In Supreme Court Case, Obama Tries to Block Challenges to Illegal Surveillance,” by John Glaser, October 29, 2012, (Accessed at http://antiwar.com/blog/2012/10/29/in-supreme-court-case-obama-tries-to-block-challenges-to-illegal-surveillance/ on Oct 31, 2012).

[8] “Paul Ryan’s voting record: Big-spending conservatism,” By ANDREW RESTUCCIA and SEUNG MIN KIM, Politico, Aug 14, 2012, (Accessed at http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79688.html on Nov 1, 2012).