How is it we've gone from healthy debate about health care reform to worrying about the safety of our President?Something is happening to us that is unsettling to say the least. Everyone seems to be mad at someone. It's gone way beyond simple annoyance. What's causing it? Is it the instant communication we now have available to us like Facebook and Twitter? Is it because there seems to be no such thing as objective "news" anymore? The fact that everything we read, hear or see is slanted toward the political stance of management? The fact that there are so many people like me, bloggers, offering up our daily opinions be they based of fact or not? Venting our frustrations more than praising where praise is due?
Whatever it is it's becoming epidemic. Everyone seems compelled to take a side be it rational or not. I see it all around me. I see the blogmeister of a local newspaper's community blog having to put people in the "cooler" for less than civil discourse about others participating in blog threads. I see loose knit communities of locals finding fault with everything local government does. I see that same government thumbing their nose at those groups. The broader the spectrum involved the more the circumstance escalates. It's ugly!
It has gotten so bad fringe groups like the neo-Nazis and militias are seizing on these frayed emotions to rekindle their influence. What we have is a cacophony of voices which everyone is contributing to yet no one is listening!
It seems to me we are all at fault to one degree or another. The media for insinuating intentions of those who have different opinions than their own. Politicians snarling and growling like a bunch of junk yard dogs. Citizens shouting at the top of their lungs just trying to be heard.
We have a war escalating yet due to pressure no new troops will be committed leaving those already deployed to the mercies of undermanned combat. That angers me. Yes it does.
Our homes are nowhere near the value they were a mere couple of years ago. We can't sell ours because we can't expect a buyer. That angers me. Yes, it does. Our savings and investments are no longer what they were when we retired; the foundation we were counting on for our retirement is dwindling and there is nothing we can do about it. That angers me.
I won't even start on health care. It isn't just the "death squads" that seem to have become its symbol. It's the vagueness of how it's written leaving it open to any interpretation someone wants to give it. That leaves we who are obliged to it vulnerable to the whims of whoever happens to wield the power at any given time.
At the outset race had nothing to do with the anger. It does now. When someone suggests people are fearing for the life of the President it automatically takes on the aspect of racism just of because of who he is. What a giant step backward!
It seems ironic to me that a country which rose up in the groundswell of hope and change have, in six short months, found themselves losing hope on a daily basis and fearing any more change.
That does not make me angry. The cause of it does. The fact of it makes me sad.
4 comments:
Great post! I can't even read the paper or watch the news. It's full of fear and anger. People do remind me of sheep. They believe everything all they read and all they are told. Think for your self. It's all building and is going to come raise it's ugly head soon.
I heard my son remark that he listens to nothing these days but classical music on his drive to and from work. What a change. He's always kept up with all the news of government. What happens when the debate coming to us over radio and TV causes young adults to turn their backs? What happens when the only voices left are the extremist voices?
There has always been a lunatic fringe in this country, but they've never had the organizing tool or internal communication provided by the Internet before, or the public mouthpieces like Beck or Limbaugh. That's why they're suddently so much more dangerous than before, methinks.
This debate has been so frustrating. I wish it could be about facts and leave the fear-inducting statements behind. I wish we could step back and say, "As a society, is access to health insurance a privilege or a right?"
Whether we like it or not, everyone accesses health care services. And we all pay for it in some way. The question is, do we take care of someone before their condition is terrible and expensive or do we pay for their preventive drugs and visits?
Post a Comment