Over the past few months, it has become increasingly clear that some major changes are taking place in the world at large and, as a result, in my own microcosm. The changes are a long time coming and are needed, and they are a result of a society that has gone wildly astray. I have certainly played my part when it comes to irresponsible spending, but irresponsibility appears to be a word that is extremely fitting for modern times. That things have gotten to this point, indicate a general public that has spent many years with their collective heads in the sand allowing CEOs, politicians, and other leaders to run roughshod over us, dismantling systems of checks and balances, without a strong, organized cry of protest. Despite the results of turning a blind eye, a look at the news these past few days has me wondering how on earth I'm supposed to wade through the cesspool of stories of extraordinary greed, corruption, and cruelty, and what can I do? It's incredibly difficult to stay informed without becoming the walking raw, exposed nerve that I seem to have become these days.
In the past couple weeks, we've been pummeled with news of the crisis in the economy, unbelievable stories of extreme greed and white-collar theft featuring the faces of such people as Bernard Madoff and John Thain, outlandish corruption such owners of peanut companies who knowingly sell deadly products and new evidence that two PA judges received million in kickbacks for sending teenagers to jail, and wildfires in Australia-possibly the result of arson-that killed hundreds of people and countless animals.
I haven't been spared in my own sphere, like I had been before in difficult economic times. As of last weekend, I am the only person in my immediate family who has not lost their job. My husband, sister, brother-in-law, and mother have all lost jobs in the past year. My father was laid off twice in the past few years, the first time losing his “career” job at a company where he’d worked for 30 years. I, on the other hand, have managed to hang on to a job that I hate – but at least I have one.
While I can understand the opinion of some that we “deserve” a depression, I don’t think that line of though understands the full ramifications of that possibility. In the 1920s, people stood in soup lines and looked for support from local family. Today, families are spread far apart, and soup lines are likely to be replaced by forced entry and being gunned down for a can of soup.
So, where do we go from here?
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