The other day I was listening to President Obama speak, I think that I only listened to a few minutes of his speech because, for the first time, I felt as far removed from our government as a peasant from a King. I did not feel the normal antigovernment sense of corruption, greed or hypocrisy, no, I felt as though their lives, their reality itself is so far removed from the lives and the realities of most of the people that it is impossible for them to represent us. I have heard statements like, “No one will go hungry in the United States”, perhaps they honestly don’t know that most of us are already hungry, homeless, or hanging on by too thin a thread to want to hear one more word about what will be done or is being done for the future, when today for so may is all that we have.
Everyone is fighting over where the money is going to come from to feed the hungry, who will have to sacrifice to shelter the homeless, and what pocket the money will come out of to heal the sick. These arguments, these concerns, are so inhumane. It is as though they are talking about wasted shelter for the poor whose jobs have gone overseas, wasted food for the hungry, whose companies have downsized to increase profits, and waste on the biggest luxury of all, healthcare for those whose insurance refuses to cover their lifesaving treatments, or those who have been dropped because we were too sick, or just lost coverage because again, no job.
There is an almost psychopathic disconnect between those who are supposed to be served and those who are supposed to be serving. People are dying of starvation in the United States of America. People, who, surprisingly enough would love to work and do not seek charity, are dying of starvation, exposure, and lack of adequate healthcare, not because they are lazy, but because of the rules instituted by the government that favor the nameless, bloodless corporations over those American Citizens who have names, families, and red blood flowing through their veins. The founding fathers would be inconsolable having believed that they were truly creating a light for the people of the world to find a place where only the desire and willingness to work, to contribute to this nation were necessary to secure life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
This government has become more distant and detached from the people than any monarchy that our forefathers laid down their lives to fight. This entire government, every branch, is diametrically opposed to the spirit of men who founded it. It is a disgrace for any lawmaker, to stand, and speak before the people of this country about what they will do. It is an insult to assume that entire cities and towns without food and employment have two to four years to wait for help to trickle down. There is something very very wrong. To me, it is shameful, too many Americans, through no fault of their own, have been robbed of the tomorrow our government promises to deliver help in, they do not have enough food, enough shelter against the elements, or enough medical care to hold out until tomorrow. It is no different than when the dying sue a health insurance company for live saving treatments, and to company keeps them in court knowing that if they stall long enough, the plaintiff will die.
And what does this say to the world, that our forefathers so hoped to transform into one world that was, “of the people, by the people and for the people”? This was the one port imagined, designed and built, for the sole purpose of bringing dignity, respect, and equality to mankind, and it is corroded, because the spirit from which it was built that which held it together has been allowed to rust, neglected beyond repair. And the spirit is us.
It is still our country, we can still bring it back, but only if we are willing to stop believing promises, any promises, and start demanding action, healing, not on wall street, but on our street.
God Is An Ocean 