April 18, 2013: some observations on a shameful day

The United States Congress eschews democracy, not always a bad thing as a balance is required with liberty but it ought always be within a framework of justice, equality and social wellbeing. Popular welfare ought to be the operative word but through an ironic twist of political legerdemain, that benign word, welfare, has been perverted and rendered a negative.

For a long time that framework has been almost completely ignored by our Congress, replaced by a weave of special interests led by the Israeli lobby, the financial industry lobby and the NRA, all safely ensconced by the unfortunate gullibility of too many voters, not a majority but in a system whose institutions are designed for oligarchic manipulation, enough.

That needs to change and quickly. I see only two means to accomplish the required institutional reforms: the demise of the two party system, at least replacing the two calcified relics which now govern us, or, a new constitutional convention designed to propel us from the 18th to the 21st century. I wonder how likely either option is.

In the meantime, more death everywhere, caused by us, suffered by us and defended by our very special interest groups. We have evolved from the shining city on a hill serving as mankind’s beacon to its slaughterhouse in the valley.

Sad and shameful.
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© Guillermo Calvo Mahé; Manizales, 2013; all rights reserved