Feeding the Beast

Black Friday is behind us and Cyber Monday is breathing down our necks. It seemed this year that

black Friday lasted the whole month of November. I remember the days when people lined up in the freezing cold, blankets and chairs in tow, to get the best deal on a big screen TV, computer or the sought after toy of the year. It was the hunter mentality, enduring hardship to realize the exhiliation of bagging that mammoth. Not so much any more it seems. Internet shopping offers deals all year and who wants to wait for hours in front of Best Buy when you can order online in your jammies? Not me, that's for sure. Besides, do we really need more stuff? Do we really want to go on an exhausting shopping frenzy only to get something for the sake of getting something? No doubt that obligatory something will go back to the store the day after Christmas. One step forward, two steps back. Not to mention the horrific credit card bills that arrive in January. Nope, not me.

Maybe I am at that age when stuff just doesn't seem that satisfying. Maybe because we cleaned 40 years worth of accumulated stuff from a family home that "stuff" has lost its luster to me. How much "stuff" do we actually need?  Remember George Carlin's routine about stuff? What made it funny was the truth it told! I think that in this capitalistic nation we have been sold the bill of goods (pun intended!) that it is our civic duty to shop, stimulate the economy and keep America great. That is the beast I am talking about. The economy is alive and hungry and will ravage our civilization if it isn't fed.  Or so we are  told. The Economy no longer seems to be serving the people, the people are serving it. I realize it would be a difficult transition from the frenetic consumerism of today to a less stuff filled world, but I think the shift would be worth it. Benefits would include fewer products produced and discarded, and the satisfaction of repurposing goods. There would be fewer pushy commercials urging us to buy things we don't need. I can feel the peacefulness descending on me as I write this.

So Black Friday is becoming a dinosaur and cyber Monday is everyday. They are as outdated as the semi-annual sale of my childhood.  Call me the Grinch, but I can say that I am not sad to see it go.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS everyone!

Who you calling a migrant? Huh?

Can we clarify something, please! This morning a news article talked about a federal judge temporarily blocking the Trump administration from denying asylum to migrants who illegally cross the southern border. What are we talking about? This statement clearly mixes apples with oranges. 

People that cross the border to work are often called migrants and this country has had, like it or not, a symbiotic relationship with them. 

Some are legal, many are not. They have harvested our crops and we have paid them a fraction of what a US citizen would get. They have no social security numbers so any benefits they could get would be minimal if at all. They are not a drain on our economy, they support it, often at their own expense because that is better than starving. This year because of administration policy that changed and many crops rotted in the fields. Sad for everyone.

mi·grant

/ˈmīɡrənt/

noun

1.

a worker who moves from place to place to do seasonal work.

synonyms: immigrant, emigrant

A group of people, that legally seek asylum are called REFUGEES. Not migrants. Not illegal.

ref·u·gee

/ˌrefyo͝oˈjē/

noun

a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

It is our humanitarian duty to offer refuge. It is not illegal. These people go through

channels. Can we please stop calling them migrants and respectfully call them what they are? REFUGEES.

I don't expect Trump to change his tune because he is pushing a fear based agenda that "illegal migrants" are bad people and we need to keep them out. Maybe Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric would like to go pick tomatoes? 

But I respectfully request that the media get it right and stop parroting what gets erroneously repeated. 

REFUGEES. They deserve a chance to find asylum here. 

Remember "Truth, Justice and the American Way"?

Truth, justice and the American way was the motto for Superman. While I wasn't alive when he was conceived of in 1938, I remember as a kid watching George Reeve play Superman on the TV screen doing good for all.

Benjamin Moore in a July article for The Chicago Tribune says this:

Superman was the first superhero to introduce Americans to a new role for their government. ...Superman's first appearance in 1938 showed him combating social issues. 

Delivering justice, protecting family and stopping corruption, Superman represented the newly expanded New Deal state. ...Superman vowed to use his powers only to advance the greater good and fight pervasive social ills. He had an infallible moral compass and an unquenchable desire to make the world a safer place.

The Superman generation had ideals and a sturdy moral compass. My parents willingly did their civic duty, cared about justice, fought for the little guy and believed that government cared about and for us. Maybe it was naive and idealistic, but it got this country through the depression and two World Wars. It wasn't perfect, we disagreed a lot, but we also listened and worked at solutions to problems. 

What happened to us? Truth, justice and the American way seems to have been forgotten. As a country, those ideals which have truly made America great, have been assaulted, mocked or forgotten completely. My greatest fear right now is that ideals (truth, courage, goodness, compassion, justice and mercy) do not matter anymore. We are bombarded with lies, propaganda, and misinformation on a daily basis. It's a lot of work and sometimes impossible to uncover what is actually true. It's enough to make heads spin and hearts break. The latest episode transforming Brett Kavanaugh from an alleged perp into a poor victim is just the tip of the iceberg. 

I'm searching for the silver lining in this mess. The only one I can come up with is that things have to get bad before we take action. Maybe things need to come apart before they can change. We have recognized that our country, and perhaps the world, is off course and heading into a ditch. Our chant for years has been "CHANGE!". Obama ran on change. Sarah Palin mocked change. Now we have a version of change. Our prayer has been answered, but maybe not in the way we were hoping for. Last night my husband and I were watching Empire Games on Netflix. The Roman Empire was a bloody time filled with conspiracy, power grabs, mentally ill sadistic kings and assassinations. I said "Whew, makes me feel a little better about what's going on today."  Maybe we are the tiniest bit more civilized than ancient times, or maybe we are just more sophisticated in our cruelty. 

History is cyclical, a spiral, actually. Empires come and go, we war and fight, and power changes hands. There are moments of peace and times of brutality. Patterns repeat, but always from the higher ground of greater awareness. We are slow learners. Robert Thurman, a worldwide authority on Buddhism and spirituality, told us that even though things seem to never change we are steadily moving forward in a positive direction, albeit slowly.  We may not see it in our lifetime, but he believes we are progressing and I hope he is right. 

So here's the silver lining: Times like this teach us the greatest lessons. We have power and authority over how we relate to everything that comes at us. Do not let social media, pundits or politicians disturb our peace! When we can find peace in turbulent times, we learn that our true nature is goodness. Anyone can get swept away at a rally. But who are we really? What do we believe in? John A. Shedd said, “A ship in harbor is safe — but that is not what ships are built for.” Marianne Williamson reminds us that we were made for these times. It's up to each one of us! We have the ability to choose our path and courage to navigate rough waters.  So take heart, learn everything, and let us be the best humans we can be. While we are at it, hug the kids, mow the lawn, run for office, eat a cookie, volunteer our time, and VOTE our conscience. We are all in this together.

FYI...

Center for Action and Contemplation
Valarie Kaur Revolutionary Love

Make Those S##thole Countries Great Again

Dear Mr. President.
We are a nation of immigrants. Your family is not Native American, sir, and immigrated to the United States in the 1800's, seeking a better life, as many did. They all came from what you now refer to as s##thole countries...Ireland, Italy, Poland, Russia, Germany. Yes, we have heard the story of your grandfather Friedrich. Sadly he did not add to the quality of life here in the US, but instead took

Friedrich Trump

advantage of the Gold Rush and "pursued a colorful career providing food, liquor and women to miners". After making his fortune, he came to settle in Queens, NY. When he married a Bavarian woman and she became homesick, he tried to reinstate himself as a Bavarian citizen. But because he had avoided military service, a familiar Trump story, he was denied and deported.

Friedrich said in his pleading letter:

We were confronted all at once, as if by a lightning strike from fair skies, with the news that the High Royal State Ministry had decided that we must leave our residence in the Kingdom of Bavaria. We were paralyzed with fright; our happy family life was tarnished. My wife has been overcome by anxiety, and my lovely child has become sick.

Why should we be deported? This is very, very hard for a family. What will our fellow citizens think if honest subjects are faced with such a decree — not to mention the great material losses it would incur. I would like to become a Bavarian citizen again.

Sounds familiar to the plight of many that you, Mr. President are seeking to cruelly deport back to their s##thole countries on grounds of little more than a parking ticket. You would prefer immigrants from Norway. The United States of America has been a sanctuary  since the very first immigrants set foot on this land, escaping religious persecution, taxation without representation, famine, war, poverty and death. People do not leave their beloved homes, their cultures, their families on a whim. They do so to find a way to survive, to live safely and freely,  to have an education and a better life. THAT, Mr. President is why we have always been a country that welcomes those less fortunate from s##thole countries. THAT is why we are an amazingly innovative, ingenious, hard working and creative melting pot of cultures and beliefs, skills and talents. Or in the words of Emma Lazarus immortalized on The Statue of Liberty gracing New York Harbor: 

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

People don't leave countries that care for them, provide healthcare, safety, and a sound quality of life, such as Norway does. Why you would think that anyone would leave their home in Norway to come here and face the violence, bigotry, discord, and disregard we are now known for is beyond me. You want to make America Great? Perhaps you could rethink what that exactly means. It does not mean going back to the 1950's. It's not about lucrative deals. It's not about coal or oil. It's about caring for people and the quality of life we live. It's about healthcare and education. The way this country is going I can imagine refugees fleeing it in the years to come to gain access to a better way of life elsewhere. We hope that we would be welcomed and make helpful contributions. Maybe you could use executive time to do some research, read, listen to people other than Fox and Friends, open your mind. Because right now Mr. President, the only person I would like to deport is you.

Have a MAGA day.

Reference:
https://www.snopes.com/trumps-grandfather-bavaria-deport/