Why America Is Failing

America has lost its moral compass.

We now torture people.  The debate about waterboarding is a prime example of where we have gone wrong.  Are we not supposed to be better than this?  Even the GOP candidates can’t agree on this issue.  But common sense, which is obviously not so common, tells us that simulating a drowning experience is a torturous affair.  Anyone who has ever gulped water will attest to this.  To simply call it an enhanced interrogation technique is a matter of semantics, and proof of our moral decay.  And by using torture, we open the door to the torture of our own soldiers.  What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.  And we now lack the moral high ground to condemn such atrocities.

Next up is the Occupy Wall St. movement.  They are being condemned and persecuted for making a stand that many view as unlawful.  But wasn’t the Boston Tea Party unlawful?  Didn’t they destroy personal property and act illegally?  Would these same critics today be against the Boston Tea Party?  The so-called 99% have a legitimate gripe, as far as I’m concerned.  The top 1% have seen a rise in income of 275% over the last 30 years.  How is that fair?  Where is our country’s sense of fair play?

Over the last three years the number of people on food stamps, getting energy assistance and living under the poverty line has risen dramatically.  Do people really think this is the fault of the poor?  Where is the sympathy and compassion America was famous for?  These people had nothing to do with the exodus of jobs overseas.  They had nothing to do with the shenanigans that caused some banking institutions to go belly up, and led to the taxpayer bailout of the whole financial system.  Without taxpayer money AIG and Goldman Sachs both would have disappeared.  Instead, both companies continue to survive, and pay their CEOs stupendous sums of money.  How is that fair?  Yet it is the poor who are being scapegoated as leeches and drains on the system.  Go figure.

This country is in financial trouble because we funded two wars by lowering taxes.  Sounds silly, doesn’t it?  The Bush Administration added 5 trillion to the deficit in eight years, and Obama has added to that.  And while things have not gotten better under Obama, thankfully, things have not gotten worse (though the deficit has grown by 2 or 3 trillion.)  All of our problems can be traced to the elite class ruling this country, Democrats and Republicans alike.  Government is no longer concerned with its citizenry, just big business.  Proof is in recent Supreme Court decisions, like Citizens United (which should have been called Corporations United.)  Enough of the double speak.  Enough of the crap.  Government is supposed to be by the people, for the people.  What happened?

We need new priorities.  We need to help our poor and our elderly, the most vulnerable members of our society.  The greed and the selfishness need to stop.  The folks with the money need to pay more in taxes, because you can’t get blood from a rock.  And while we must cut spending, it should come from defense, foreign aid and subsidies to corporations.  It will come as no shock that the oil companies, currently raking in billions upon billions in profit, continue to get their 4 billion in subsidies, as per our own Congress.  Where is the public outcry over this fact?

Our priorities are skewed because our morals are screwed.  We need to step back, look around, and decide just how to fix this mess, because the Republicans propose more of the same, and the Democrats haven’t a clue.  A new approach is needed.  Regain the high ground, and stop the moral decay.