A celebration of the harvest, a time set aside to say thanks for what we have, and to give some serious thought to what we want. Despite the Patriot Act, we are still the one nation that prides itself on personal freedoms and our elections are not fraught with the corruption of so many other countries. All, of course, is not rosy: an economy that is filled with danger from arrogant bankers and other Wall Street sharks; potential wars and conflicts in the Middle East; leadership, and a lack of, that is more prone to represent those that pay the most rather than those that vote; and a huge denial from too many that our world has been seriously damaged by the industrial revolution and our dependence on carbon based fuels.
Many of these problems have large fangs and are about to bite us in our posteriors soon, and others, with equally large fangs, will do their biting over a long period of time, but all can be corrected with proper leadership, education, and effort. Congress and the president need to force oversight of banking, investing, and trading, for starters. Those involved in those trades need to be forced into situations where simple ethics are the controlling factors.
Remember when you got your first license to drive? “This license to drive is not a right, it is a privilege, and as such, can be taken away.” Or words of a similar nature were probably explained to you. Trading, lending, developing are not rights, they are privileges, and the rules need to be re-written and enforced. For the money industry to have imploded as it did indicates a complete lack of oversight by those in charge. Was it accidental? As is so often said in any investigation, follow the money. Those responsible for the oversight were put in office by large amounts of money from the trading, lending, and development industries.
The Occupy Movement, while indicating an involvement by citizens is going after the wrong people. How many of those throwing bricks and rocks at the cops have voted for a representative to serve them? Those are the scoundrels, those in congress and other high political office. The economic gurus are doing what they do because they can, because they bought the necessary representation. To paraphrase: “it’s Congress, Stupid!” Too few people take the time or make the effort to discover where the campaign money comes from. Campaign finance laws and rules are written by those campaigning, so to follow the money has been made as difficult as possible.
It isn’t a case of not understanding science when politicians say that a warming of the earth isn’t really happening, it’s a case of who is paying them to say that. There is no such thing as clean coal. There is no such thing as a burning petroleum product not giving off tons of carbon dioxide. As long as our major industries and life styles are based on carbon based fuels, we will continue to warm the atmosphere until there is another mass extinction. It won’t be dinosaurs that will disappear, but well over seven billion humans, which then will create a new source of oil a few million years down the line.
The mess in the Middle East is so intricate and involved, it has to be a safe bet that we will have a standing military presence for many years to come. It started following WWI when the British simply carved up nations, gave them names, and left. That problem was exacerbated following WWII when the state of Israel was created. And, actually, it all began back in the Crusades eras. Between political Tomfoolery and religious zealotry, it’s more than doubtful that anyone alive today will see peace in the area.
At the Gunn household, there are many things for us to be thankful, among them good health, no wealth, warm fires, and a full pantry. Our harvest this year didn’t match that of last year, but we have much canned and frozen, we have enough in the wood pile to reach what should be spring, we have children that we love and cherish, and most important, we have each other. From us, have a happy Thanksgiving.
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