Let us all face it: We have lost it.
If we are not crying for the murdered woman and the injured in Charlottesville, the murdered on the Portland train, all who have been murdered, wounded and damaged by this rampant hatred, we need to turn inward and examine who we are and who we have become. We must feel our loss, our grief in empathy in order to regain our centers.
The old face to the world of a haven for all, an opportunity for justice and freedom, for all people’s freedom, for a constitutional civilized way of life is gone. Worldwide, the US is now seen for its oppressive might, its racism, its greed, its hate mongering exemplified by its president and government. That historic designation of the difference between the government and its people is losing its power as those who praise racism and misogyny stand at the helm with the backing of a right-wing media inflamed minority who have lost touch with even their basic self-interests.
The path to become truly human and connected is clear. It should not be hard to take. When incipient fascism arose in Germany and before it in Italy, those who stood up – too few indeed – many lost their lives or were imprisoned. Fascism harnessed masses of people to its own greed machines by promoting hatred as the key to consent by the masses who came to support it. Does that not resemble what is happening here? Impeaching Trump is but one step and its improbability is fostered by his agreeable cronies in government including the Supreme Court. The opposition is too few in government and money rules the roost with too few exceptions.
A mass movement of love for life that engenders a diverse community of citizens for respect for all, so long as all respect each other’s integrity – that movement must begin by cleaving money from politics whatever that takes, by demonstrating its opposition to violence, its right to assemble with protection, its insistence on caring for each other, its utter and complete opposition to all forms of bigotry and hatred and to those who espouse it. To regain out self-regard as a people and a nation, we must turn towards becoming Citizens of the World – which indeed is a great pleasure to be – while embracing the values that once constituted the essence of the American polity, however badly that was carried out earlier in our history.
To unity of love and respect, to brotherhood and sisterhood, to Money Out of Politics. See you in heart or presence at all the rallies ahead, at all the ways in which we can bring ourselves to a new sense of our humanity.
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Politics & Society
To the Murdered Innocents—How America can regain Its Moral and Communitarian Soul
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Phil Wolfson, M.D., is a practicing psychiatrist/psychotherapist in the Bay Area. He is the author of Noe: A Father-Son Song of Love, Life, Sickness, and Death. He is an activist and a contributing editor to Tikkun with a special focus on consciousness studies and consciousness transformation. Website: http://www.philwolfsonmd.com.
“the values that once constituted the essence of the American polity,”…………..
That idea has been recently looked at with different eyes, recently, in so many forums and discussions devoted to saving democracy, or maybe, rather, creating GENUINE democracy for the first time, in earnest, in the USA.
Too many have ‘discovered’ that our revered Constitution was in reality, a political mechanism to rally mass support for the ‘new country’ that needed to create an attractive myth to make it actually get built.
The true focus of the human rights declarations in it have been revealed as meant for the elite, rich, slave-owning leaders who were organizing to control the newly available northern parts of the western hemisphere.
I say this in agreement with the sadness with which you begin this piece, as an important element to face as part of the hard but worthwhile work of facing the dark side of this country’s origins, true nature and political character.
It was never truly a ‘haven for all’, even in its best moments. It was the myth created by a political elite needing European immigration to increase its numbers against the natives whom that elite wished to subdue, and destroy. It used European refugees for that purpose, enticing them with free land to begin to rebuild their lives in the “new and better” country.
I guess I’m just adding my own specific sadness to the general one you bring here. Maybe just one more to the long list of lies to dig up and finally face and heal.
As someone who has lived in different countries and visited the USA for decades I do not believe that these US stands for decency any longer but rather for greed and money.
The hatred I encountered in the US has grown over there decades as those who might be considered losers against the backdrop of the great myth known as the American Dream has increased steadily took these point where you now have an ignorant fool in the White House and the media creates a world far removed from the facts.
Additionally there US deems it necessary to militarily intervene again and again and then withdraws as military losers, leaving nothing but a mess behind as there unintended consequence of its shallow understanding of the world.
The US has handed over there moral compass a while ago and will not, I think, ever deserve to be associated with justice or what is right, other than the term as understood to be opposite of left.
Heaven help our future generations.
White America !!
I am Ketan J from India, Let me tell you something. Each year, large number of people go to america from India for job, travelling and some people thinks America is much better than India.
America want to be super power for their own purpose not even for their people. Look normal american people started rebelling since 2000 because they understand government not going to make their life simple.
If you see the condition of India too. We are also on the same lane nowdays.
We as a citizen of this earth must take matter in our hand and should help our people (anybody in this world) in anyway we can help.
Give love, receive ten fold love. This is way of life.
Take Care. Thanks.