Toward A More Fertile Earth

The consciousness of the need for change in the social and economic conditions that generate great wealth for a few while keeping the many in poverty is growing. The contradictions inherent in the perpetuation of hope and despair in our social and economic relationships must be resolved... and soon. The societal dysfunctions bred by this pressing antagonism, which threatens to obliterate our commitment to civility, cannot be wished away.  That resolution must necessarily lead to a more just world in which the hopes of the privileged few do not breed despair in the lives of others. The vision of, and the longing for a more just society is what fuels the fires that burn in the hearts of displaced, dispossessed, exploited people everywhere. That vision, that longing, is the tip of the burning spear that threatens the old status quo in which the cultural and economic domination of the many by the few is accepted as fate.

An economic culture in which CEO compensation increases over nine hundred fold while the average worker barely sees a five percent pay increase must be critically evaluated and rehabilitated. A political culture that exists to perpetuate the cult of vampires who build and maintain their castles at the expense of the vital substance of exploited populations needs to be obliterated. It is time to expose this culture to the burning glare that is generated when people stop thinking of their lives in terms of the false benevolence of a lottery. The cultivation of enlightened self interest in our economic relationships must become a priority of everyone involved in the development of industry and the creation of wealth. We cannot, and must not continue to accommodate corporate greed while people are left to subsist on a less than livable wage.

The politicians who partner with economic vampires must be exposed. We must shine a light on those  who betray the public trust in order to satisfy their own greed. The militarization of the police to suppress the just protests of people against an unjust system must end. Subjecting people to the brutality of law enforcement in a society that is essentially rigged to keep many in poverty is a crime against humanity. The use of the police as enforcers for a parasitic economic and political culture as seen in places like Ferguson, Missouri and other such municipalities is a vile practice that must end. This kind of wickedness has consequences... The rage that we witness in oppressed communities, and which we conveniently define as criminal behavior is one such consequence. The injustices that find expression through racism, sexism, and genderism, and every other form of bigotry must be exposed for what they are… Injustices. We must no longer tolerate the white collar crime of economic victimization while we build jails for its victims.

The awareness of the prevailing contradictions that make true community impossible among us beckons us into a new and more responsibly liberated sense of ourselves. This awareness leads us to reject the state of victimhood into which we are lulled by the value system of an unjust society and its agents. It calls us to be the definitive architects of our destinies. As such we must reject the world imposed on us, and commit to the process of reconstruction that is necessary. We must claim with our every breath the responsibility to build something new with our own hands and hearts and minds… Something more in keeping with our shared needs and aspirations. Through education, organization, and a real commitment to industry; we must take responsibility for the future we want for ourselves and our children.

The work of building a more equitable world is not an assignment for "messiahs". This work must be accomplished by our own hands... Collectively. To prepare ourselves for the task in front of us we must first liberate ourselves from the stranglehold of  a value system designed to maintain the status quo. The renewal of the structures around which we build a more equitable society will require a rethinking of our perspectives and priorities. As the old wisdom advises... We cannot store new wine in old wine skins. To build a more just society, we must become more just people. As such we must desire for others what we want for ourselves. Shared work, shared reward... From each according to his/her ability, to each according to her/his needs. It is a classic trick of  those who service and maintain the old status quo to tell poor people to wait for a savior... a messiah. As part of that trick they point us to fictitious heavens where we will reap the blessings of prosperity that the rich few enjoy here and now. In a just society we should all enjoy the rewards of our work in the real world of our daily lives... Not in a presumed "hereafter".

As the prime movers in the new, more hope-filled world we desire, we look forward to that more fertile earth in which we can realize a greater rootedness. A more equitable society provides resources for the realization of our true potentials as human beings. When we resolve the contradictions inherent in the perpetuation of hope and despair we will desolve the existential fog that clouds the path to achieving our fullest potential. We realize that the more fertile earth we project must be a function of our collective efforts. And so we must all act to bring about the changes that will potentiate our just aspirations. Talk is cheap; and, as the old saying goes, ... "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride". It is time that we rise up in affirmation of our own fecundity; and against every dried out idea that would suppress our innate abundance.