© Words Robin Clark
Upon the announcement of the Boston Marathon Bombings, Gary looked at me and said: “It’s like we sound as if we are a third world country”. It struck me, as if I was standing in a dark corner and he turned on a very bright light. And so I ask, are we living in a third world country?
We haven’t the money to take care of ourselves; yet, we’ve two cars; 5000 sq ft houses replacing quaint and sweet ramblers; a refrigerator full of food, but nothing to cook; children starving, yet it appears we have nothing to share; kids killing kids and I note, where are the parents; children giving birth to other children because they think they have no one to love them; a bankrupt country; bankrupt spirits; bankrupt souls: Looking to God; looking to resent; looking to jump out windows; looking to beat animals; looking and looking and looking, and still, nothing found but wanting, while needing rides in the back of the bus.
Pretty third world to me. At least those countries which we have deemed third world countries, have a quiet faith in their futures; have a heartfelt thankfulness that there is water five miles away, which they can walk to because they have at least one leg left to get it done, and they possess a bowl to share with their parentless siblings? At least these countries stand up and compromise their own lives to make a better world.
When do we wake up and see our blessings? See the value in our families, whether we like them or not? When do we roll up our sleeves and do the work it takes to come together as a great nation, instead of rolling our sleeves up to fight one another? When do we boot the government BS’ers OUT and say, that is enough? You had your time up to bat, you failed America, you are lying to us for the sake of the dollar, or fear, or moral ground, which by the way is NOT yours to own. YOU are not our moral keepers; you are the people’s arms, not their hearts, not their brains…. YOU ARE OUR ARMS AND SO, START DOING WHAT WE VOTED YOU INTO OFFICE TO DO, not what you think we’ll swallow for the sake of impeding another promise to line your silk britches.
I am over this nonsense. I am done playing the game of bow and curtsy, when you’ve done nothing but pigeon hole us into greedy reflections for the sake of your game, not the peoples. I am finished with you representing Americans; because you are just about as UNAmerican as the world could fathom. I am over the religious right; I am over the gun toting morons that seem to think we need to trade and buy arms without putting laws into effect or at the very least, enforcing what is in place now. I am over the bleeding liberals that bleed, and bleed, and bleed; with sympathetic UNaction, all the while, flattening the tires on a machine that once moved us forward. I am over people enacting rules about how I or one of my sisters are to be treated medically; I am over protecting the assailant and not the victims…. I am over oil spills; I am over crude energy and while we talk on our four hundred dollar telephones or riding around in our six-door SUVs, bitching about not having the monies to build a better infrastructure or investing in alternative energy. I have hit my limit. I have watched Americans build their own wailing walls across social Medias while it slaps other Americans and human beings with what they think, with no action behind it. We forget just how we look to others, with pretty good reason. When I was gifted with the luxury to travel the world, I witnessed Americans acting like pigs. And so I say, if we act as pigs in other countries, oh my…. Imagine how we behave in our own? It would be one thing I suppose, to act like pigs, because we believe pigs should help others cross the street; or open a door; or share a meal, but alas……. It is the action of that sort, which has escaped most of America. There was a time we were Ambassadors of hope to the world; now it would appear we cannot even achieve that in our own country. Yet, we have hearts of gold; creativity to sew the seed of positive change and love—we have just forgotten that we can.
And this is what seethes up in me, when I see the world, not round; not flat; but sideways. We don’t need a meteorite to knock us out of our orbit, we already have. We’ve sold our own moral compass and we’ve only ourselves to blame.
The good news is? WE can change this. But we have to start playing with all of the marbles. We can’t discriminate against the cats eye or the steelies… we have to engage them all into this game called life. We no longer can stay in our own part of the playground; we have to look across and pay attention to the game of dominoes which connect us. We still have beauty; we still have smarts; we still have open land. We still have will and might. We are still The United States of America. So with that I say, go out and LIFT SOMEONE UP. Feed them; make them smile, if someone or something is being abused, call authorities and don’t just leave it there, but follow it through. Listen to people; try to understand why they might think differently than you. Drive less, eat at home more, smile more, share more, and love more. Try to see what we share in common, and build away from differences to create the dream we all want: health; safety; abundance. Be the American’s our forefathers fought for; gave up their children for; and left England for. These are the marbles I want to play with…. Those that will roll back to me ten fold…. Not roll away to a dead and vast playground, full of the hateful and unfed.
We can do this; I know we can.
