Sunday, July 18, 2010

The prescribed nonsense of modern life, disparity and terrorism

Is This Love (Bob Marley song)Image via Wikipedia
I suppose people want to believe they are with the good guys and are fighting the good fight.  But the reality is not so, and for most the idea of looking at it straight on would cripple them.  Are we sheep or are we human beings?

So much of what we enjoy here in Canada and other first world nations is dependent on the subjugation and suffering of those in the third world.  Even with in our own nations we have an ever widening gap between the rich and the poor, the have and the have not, those on the outside and those on the inside.  This relates not only to class divisions but also to politics.  Private special interests of corporations dictates our politics, laws and our societal ethos more so than the actual needs of Canadians, the environment, and a just and fair world.  As the G20 leaders are so quick to dismiss, the economy is indeed central to all these goals.

Our current economic system is based on the belief that resources are infinite, which is a rather infantile imagining of the world.  Even children, if given a brief overview of the system, could point out that there is a limited amount of resources contained within the planet.  Yes there are renewable resources, but the main resource currently being exploited is oil and it is not renewable nor infinite.  Not to mention the huge environmental and health costs involved in it's extraction and use.  Economists don't like to factor in these kinds of costs, colateral damage as they would call it, just another ugly truth that would expose their pseudo religion as a fraud.  You may claim this statement as rhetoric, but with the way economists adhere to economic teachings it's as if it is sacred text.  And as history has shown, recent and past, it is a bust and boom cycle that benefits those at the top, and then those of the lower and middle class are hardest hit!.

The World Bank, setup to supposedly help troubled economies, or others such as the European Union come into these nations and dictate that pensions, salary's, and social services be cut before they will lend assistance.  Basically, because of the high risk dealings that financiers, economists and bankers engaged in, the people have to pay and the elite feel no pain. On top of this we see corporate welfare, such as in Canada where corporate taxes were reduced by 13%, and in some provinces an increase in taxable items was instituted (HST in Ontario and BC) on the citizenery.  All of this is in line with neo-liberal economic policy's that Stephen Harper, and every other first world leader, adheres to so religiously.

We also see an exporting of labour and manufacturing to third world nations where the labour market and environment is more easily exploited, so we here in the west can buy really cheap stuff.  http://www.storyofstuff.com/   But at the same time this undermines any production here and thus undermines our labour market, a market where we see the poor having to work multiple jobs with less and less benefits and/or further reliance on social assistance.  Social assistance that does not permit the participants to eat healthy creating a cycle of poverty and a burden on an already underfunded health care system.

Lets not also forget the economy of arms, weapons and machines of war.  If we look at the world and see all the conflicts going on, well somebody has to make all theses weapons, sell them and thus make a profit.  Whom do you suppose that somebody is, Cuba? Afghanistan? Burma?  No, it is first world and emerging economies such as the US, Canada, UK, Russia, China, India etc..,.  And man business is good!  They get to sell arms to both sides of a conflict, they are such swell guys to sell to everybody like that!

It is the exploitation of third world nations, the disparity of wealth and self interest that is the breeding grounds for attacks against the first world.  Are these terrorists or freedom fighters?  And this question isn't just one to be asked of "them" but of ourselves as well.  All we have to do is look at the evidence and history to see the shortsightedness of self interest, greed and ignorance.  What we need is character and integrity "Most people can bear adversity.  But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power".  Robert G. Ingersoll.  We in the first world nations have the power, maybe I'm jaded and pessimistic but what I'm seeing is that we are  greedy and don't want to give any of it up.  And if we can't see the suffering right in front of our face, then as the saying goes "out of sight and out of mind".  The biggest part of the battle, of bringing these truths to light, is how do you combat the constant bombardment of the material life that is sold to us, which apparently leads to ultimate happiness & fulfillment, as well as the propaganda put forth by corporations and governments (they are pretty much one in the same).  The idea that we are so righteous and good, and that it is the other that causes all the problems.  The problems, more often than not, are self inflicted and/or purposly engineered to keep power where it remains and the subjugation of everyone else.  As a wise sage once said "You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.  You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes."  The Matrix.  There is a better way that will lead to equity for all, a clean environment and peace.  The choice is with the individual, "emancipate your self from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind." Bob Marley.
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1 comment:

Ann T. said...

Dear BGC73,
I want to thank you for coming to my blog and leaving such a thoughtful comment. Heck, my comment back should probably have been a post.

I am glad to meet you. I don't know how much we will ever agree on, but I am always glad to know thoughtful pople exist in this world.

Sincerely,
Ann T. Hathaway