So, it's my birthday and I did something I've avoided for months and months. I watched the TV news, CNN to be exact. And I'm feeling shittier about the world and the human race than ever. I think back to something George Carlin said: that he felt betrayed by the nation, by religion and by the species. I'm really feeling like that these days too.
Firstly, and the most obvious, we've all been betrayed by our government. We're waging a war under totally false pretenses and the only people benefiting are the oily assholes making billions of dollars while Wall Street has suffered the worst June since the Depression. Meanwhile, ordinary working folks are suffering under mortgages pricier than their actual homes and selling everything but themselves to pay for gas.
Secondly, organized religion is the pits, no doubt about it. If the Rapture of the Christians actually comes to pass, what then? The pagans and the heathens and whatnot will be left with a trashed planet and a trashed atmosphere and tons of crap to swallow. And if the Abrahamic folks are right about who gets into their heaven and who doesn't we'll be left with all the evil criminals too!
Thirdly, between the murderous bulldozer rampage in Jerusalem and Esmin Green dying on a NYC hospital floor after waiting 24 hours for care that never came I'm just about ready to write off the entire human race. I feel bad for the folks who were run over and crushed in Jerusalem. But I feel especially bad for Mrs. Green whose last day was spent waiting and waiting and waiting for help and then falling, convulsing and dying on a waiting room floor while security guards and other staff came, looked at her and then walked off. She must have been in all kinds of agony and no one gave a single solitary shit. I can almost understand why her fellow patients didn't come to her aid; this is a psychiatric waiting room we're talking about here and those folks are each in their own personal hell, trapped inside their own heads. But for staff to come and gawk and then walk away nonchalantly? It's just unfathomable. I only hope that her death may bring a little awareness to the hideous way we treat our mentally ill in this country. They are the butts of a thousand jokes and in many places, not just this particular filthy hospital, they are treated like shit simply for being sick. They are the weakest, most defenseless and most vulnerable people at the complete mercy of their so-called caregivers and deserve better than to be treated like cranky babies. What happened to compassion? What happened to respect for our fellow human beings?
Carlin would say, and did say, that everything started going downhill when the priests and the traders started selling us out. I don't know, I just don't know. Here I am on my birthday and I'm ashamed to be a human being. I'm baffled at the depths to which we have fallen. We are so full of promise, technologically speaking. But in terms of human interaction we are the lowest of the low. Are we doomed? Should we hope to improve the way we treat each other? Is there any hope to be had at all?
4 comments:
It's difficult at times not to be disheartened and disillusioned by the acts of our fellow humankind. Rest assured that humanity has been this way throughout history and time. We are no worse now than we were before. In my youth I thought I was going to help the world, but over time realized that not everyone wanted to be helped and that some people are beyond help. Those of us who are more spiritually enlightened and feel a drive for change are drawn to each other for a reason, and the energies we put out there will reach the ones who need and want them. All else is beyond our control. We cannot control the actions of others, only how we ourselves react. Tend to yourself, your family, and those who will receive you, and you will serve the Gods well.
Thank you Diana. That's just what I needed to hear.
Hey, Happy Birth Day!
Like you watching CNN, I just had a cold slap of reality watching the film 'Jesus Camp". Also, it's funny that you mention Carlin, as I also rented a 10yo HBO special of his, as I'm nursing a sick friend and we figured we'd rent some movies. After Jesus Camp became too much, we put on Carlin to cheer us up. Although he is always put in the "A" camp, and has stated many times how much BS he thinks religion is, he said he was now a "Sun Worshiper"! Heh!
I agree a lot with what Diana says above. It reminds me of something Joe Campbell said, that although there has been some improvements, the quotient of human suffering has remained pretty much the same over he centuries.
Thanks for the birthday wishes. Yeah, Carlin had some issues with religion, and other things. I like the sun worshiper bit, wonder how honest he was being.
Post a Comment