Re: assessing the new order of the world

There were probably more than a few moments when
I caught on that the rules were not the same for
everyone.

One of the moments which was pivotal for me was
driving with my brother through Kentucky and out
of the blue he began telling me about stuff that
was secreted away at Wright-Patterson. He was in
the Air Force at the time and most likely because
we were like best friends, he confided things to
me that later, once he was out of the Air Force,
he could not remember ever having that conversation
and yet, it was something I will never forget.

We had come from a family too which was into
politics and we read the morning and evening
newspapers and watched the daily news in black
and white. Still, we thought we were a part of
the generation moving away from the Depression,
through the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement
and into a time where that elusive American
Dream was available to all. It seemed to work
and even when I began my own family I thought
that my child and her children would build on
the progress we had made and that *capitalism*
came with built in guarantees...work hard and
build a strong nation. Of course, the time came
when demands in the market demanded safer ways
of operation and Unions made it possible for
workers to equalize the relationship although
ending slavery and cheap labor made goods cost
more and the rich began to itch as they were
asked to give up profit for safety and other
issues like pollution control. This intensified
lobbying efforts and the subsequent ways to make
the cost of producing products cheaper, profits
higher, and finding replacement for the sweat
shops that we had worked so hard to overcome
in our country. Hence the Outsourcing Movement
gathered momentum and as each nation finds that
their own economies suffer and their own people
are unable to compete with the outsourced goods,
for example, small businesses and farmers in
Mexico have suffered from our "growth" in their
countries. China has a growing segment of their
population who are the new wealthy but at what
cost??

Behind these efforts now, we hear, read or see
evidence of "layers" of intrigue which have
been furthered by the concept of secrecy which
was embedded into the government by contracts
which were used to hide corruption and also
enable it. The media was recognized for its
ability to shape the nation and to broadcast
through advertising the consumerism which *oiled*
the machine even further. Of course, political
hacks and think tanks went into overdrive and
who can begin to really integrate all the layers
of agendas and the places they originated?

While it would be nice to think otherwise, if
one were to put on the hat of futurist, it would
be hard not to see the wall of discontinuity
which we will hit when more than a hand full of
agendas do not go *as planned*. I think if you
are *awake* you do have to juggle the duality
of living as if there were a level of normalcy
which others seem to take for granted, and also
to stymie the gnawing cynicism which is like a
growling hunger in the gut. I deeply resent though
that there seems to be a systemic effort to
de-construct our society as opposed to merely
letting it hit the wall and fall apart on its
own. Like I have posted before, I found a book
on Eugenics in my mother's book collection when
I was in third grade and so that was another piece
of the puzzle I found myself working on in my mind.
There was a tremendous bias against my father's
race and so I did have a hunger to understand
why one might hate another just because of the
country they came from. I grew up in the melting
pot of immigrants in Cleveland though and so the
neighborhoods were structured to support these
populations and cater to them but also to keep
them separated. Then the religious bias against
those who were not Catholic lit the fire of my
curiosity why they would act like that. So the
info you share relative to the Catholic agenda
fills in more of those gaps in awareness.

As a parent, I feel twinges of guilt in bringing
a child into this mess, although when we were
enthusiastically working to conceive we did not
consider any of the criteria which I feel if I
were considering it now, I would. That my daughter
also wants to have a family keeps me thinking and
also putting a lot into balance since I can share
many of my own concerns but feel it is also important
to couch them in a way which gives her choices since
it is her life and who am I or who is anyone to
say that anything is not possible.

Still, if you are wondering if I am lamenting being
awake, I'm not. It's like a fire in my belly and
I wake up and turn on the news hoping that in a
perfect world, some set of circumstances has begun
a series of events which will change the face of
life as we know it. I cannot help but feel that
there is hope, if for no other reason than that it
is what I cling to and which makes being awake
easier to admit and live through....

Thanks for sharing your thoughts...as always, evocative.

blessings,
Zoe

-_-