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Crying for a Vision in Troubled Times: The Irony of Hope
by Jack Random
Snow in Baghdad, home foreclosures, mounting debt, rising gas prices, volatile markets, killer storms across the nation, foreign occupations without end, job exportation, declining wages, slave labor, media obsession with the inane and irrelevant: Who among us cannot read the writing on the wall?
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I gaze at the horizon and I see dark clouds approaching – ominous and foreboding, growing, spreading and swallowing the land.
I look at the wars that should never have been launched transformed into occupations of faraway lands that cannot stand and I know it will not get better; it can only get worse.
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As long as our leaders pretend “the surge” is working and that victory is only a breath away, it can only get worse.
We
cannot win a war (as if winning an unjust and immoral war is somehow
honorable) by cutting deals with our enemies because, when the money
runs dry (as it inevitably must) our enemies will still be our enemies
and they will rise to fight again.
I look at our economy,
ravaged by neglect, international trade policies and corporate greed
and I know it will not get better; it will only get worse.
As
long as our leaders cannot see beyond the symptoms of economic failure,
offering tax breaks, stimulus packages, monetary adjustments and
crackdowns on illegal immigrants in place of systemic change, it will
not get better.
The times cry out for a vision of profound
change: trade policies contingent on labor standards and living wages
with massive public works dedicated to a new and greener economy (mass
transit, solar conversion, fuel efficient designs, emergency
preparedness, public health care, on and on) financed by corporate
taxation and an end to foreign wars, occupations, weapons development
and missile defense systems.
As long as our leaders continue to repackage old ideas in the language of change, it will only get worse.
I
look at the most ominous clouds of all, toxic clouds born of industrial
pollution, triggering climate change and extreme weather on an
unprecedented scale, and I know it will not get better; it can only get
worse.
As long as our leaders believe in condescending
rhetoric and half measures – supporting coal, corn based ethanol,
nuclear power and baby steps in fuel efficiency – rather than a
coordinated global transformation, an evolutionary leap in clean
technologies, it will not get better; it can only get worse.
Some
will accuse me of pessimism but they are wrong. I am an idealist and
an optimist because I still believe we can overcome the greatest
challenges of our time on earth. I see the shining light of the sun,
hiding behind the darkening clouds, and I believe in my soul that we
can find a way, that we can achieve the critical mass required for
revolutionary change.
In times such as these, when only the
willfully ignorant can fail to see the dangers before us, we need hope
more than ever, but we also need to understand that hope without a
vision of fundamental, transformative change is an empty promise.
Prayers
cannot save us and words can only comfort us in the days of our
suffering and grief. We need a leader who sees the truth underlying
the monumental problems we face and embraces the challenge dead on.
What we need is a leader with a clear and powerful vision and the courage to confront the powers that stand in the way.
At this most critical juncture in history, we’re still waiting, hoping and praying while time is running away.
Jazz.
JACK
RANDOM IS THE AUTHOR OF THE JAZZMAN CHRONICLES (CROW DOG PRESS) AND
GHOST DANCE INSURRECTION (DRY BONES PRESS). THE CHRONICLES HAVE BEEN
POSTED ON NUMEROUS CITES OF THE WORLDWIDE WEB, INCLUDING THE ALBION
MONITOR, BELLACIAO, BUZZLE, COUNTERPUNCH, DISSIDENT VOICE, THE NATIONAL
FREE PRESS AND PACIFIC FREE PRESS. SEE
WWW.JAZZMANCHRONICLES.BLOGSPOT.COM
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