Saturday, December 27, 2008

At the Roots

As I've continued the fractured discussions with those of a far more conservative mindset, I'm struck by a problem that seems to pervade the overall society -- By and large, far too many people look at the tree and not the roots that serve as its foundation. On first appearance, the tree may seem big and strong, green and alive. It may appear to provide shelter to all who sit beneath its branches. However, if the roots are diseased, this appearance is a mere facade and, what may look like the healthiest of trees, may, in fact, be dying.

As we gaze upon the world around us, we see a lot of trees that appear to be strong and vibrant. We're told that global capitalism is the best economic system on the face of this orb, yet this supposedly vaunted system is struggling under its own weight. The world economy is teetering toward a worldwide depression which will impact the poor and working class severely.

We are told that the U.S. military is the greatest in the world, yet despite spending trillions of dollars, destroying the lives of hundreds of thousands of families (both on this side of the pond and the other), wrecking the Iraqi environment and bankrupting domestic spending at home, we can't seem to defeat, once and for all, a rag tag army of guerrilla fighters who possess relatively little firepower.

In both of these cases and so many more, the condition of the root of the plant is what's causing the problem, but so few people want to get their hands dirty and so they refuse to dig down a few inches to look at it. No, they sit in their Sunday best sipping martinis in the afternoon sun gazing out on the beautiful daffodils and think that they understand the entire structure of each plant!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are unmoderated, so you can write whatever you want.