Herbert Gart's Random Thoughts. - FEAR


I'm scared! There is poison in the air. The serious lack of reason and lack of 'feeling' on the part of at least half the people who live in the USA is appalling. Notice please, I didn't say Republican or Democrat; I said 'people'. Although I'd like to lay the blame on the cold-hearted and scientifically disadvantaged Republicans, I can't quite do that. There are reasonable, responsible and generous Republicans - and there are narrow-minded nasty Democrats. The problem runs deep. Lack of education or lack of a good education; bible belters who twist the Bible to ignore Jesus' teachings and actually believe that God means for them to be wealthy - at anyone else's cost. The whole atmosphere in this country is severe, unkind and inhumane, and above all else - greedy. The wealthy feel persecuted by criticism and the politicians protect their power at the expense of their constituents. The human touch of a Ted Kennedy or a Barack Obama is ridiculed: thought to be a misunderstanding of how the world works. Cheating is not a problem if it gets you what you want; Lying is the same. Morality is just an excuse for the weak. "I" is the operative word. 

I'm scared. Thanks to incredible technology, we can be manipulated like never before. Although the Internet gives us a chance to speak out, it gives the same advantage to the Klu Klux Klan's of the world. Media always gives the most attention to the outrageous, amplifying the worst ideas and positions. Media generally makes the grave mistake of giving two sides to every argument when there is not any reason to assume that a wacko has as much right to be heard as anyone else as an equal. Climate change deniers are an extremely small group, but they get equal time to spout their ignorance and nonsense and promote their point of view as if it carried as much weight as the whole scientific community. I am glad to report that the BBC has just changed the 'equal' agenda by insisting that Climate Change deniers receive less time. But most of the media, both home and abroad, dumb down the flow of real information by giving more than equal time to the dumb aspect of the subject.

I'm scared. We can see War as it happens. We can know about evil events immediately. The problem is we get used to it and inured to it and desensitized to it. Send the brats with disease and evil intentions back to Guatemala. Blind to a refugee problem, considering them to be illegal immigrants. Not a thought given to their plight or the fact that they sought out and surrendered to the Border Patrol. They have come here to escape life-threatening depravity. Not to sneak across the border, but to pray that the border is their salvation. Too much of our logic is upside-down and cruel. We are a country in which fully half of us are cruel, poorly educated, severe, inhumane, greedy and Bible distorters. Is it any wonder that I'm scared?

I love great art, no matter the medium.