Thursday, December 3, 2009

Corruption

Corruption

 

   We live in a time of official corruption. The list is a long litany of shame: Loss of representative government; replaced by representation sold to the highest bidders; Loss, not of the right to vote but the right for elections to be verified and honestly counted; Abrogation of Congress’ Constitutional responsibilities, given as gifts to the ever ascending “Unitary Executive”; “Personhood” of the corporation, whose “right of free speech” issues a "gag order" for the common citizen; United States patents of living matter, owned and controlled by big business; Violation of US law by government executive order; Courts and justice whose outcome is dependant on how much money the accused is able to spend; The loss of Habeas Corpus; Official torture of the accused; Wanton pollution of the air, rivers, streams, oceans, and land for profit; Exploitation of indentured slaves in sweat shops on US soil; Vast sums of untold wealth robbed from the people and spent on endless senseless wars and military hardware; Endless political bickering, venom, and ignoble blather; Sensational and vile “entertainment” of the populace accompanied by a moral stupor.

   This crescendo of rottenness … this corruption of the “Great Experiment” is not unlike the loss of the Roman Republic in ancient times when Julius Caesar, while mouthing all the platitudes of democracy, made himself the Emperor and forever changed the course of Roman and world History.

   To change all this seems virtually impossible, but it could happen with changes in attitude. Lessons in Civics should be required at all levels of American education. The religions institutions of all faiths could reduce their emphasis on “deciphering” the future and concentrate on this rule: “…do unto others as you would have them do unto you…”, Concentrate on the “weightier matters…”  

 

Judson Malone

 

   

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