Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Villages ravaged
With a Blog name like Marauding When it Counts, how could I start with anything but some thoughts on ravaged villages. I intend to fully explore the world, historically and currently; from the front door of my house and to a burnt door of a foreign embassy. I am reading a book (yes, thank you for the applause) about a man who devotes himself to helping poor people. He is a doctor. He is a humanitarian. He is also a pragmatist who has leveraged his genius to create an oasis within the absolute poverty of Haiti, fight and overcome MDR -TB in Peru, and moved policy within the World Health Organization. Paul Farmer. That's his name. I am still reading this well written biography, Mountains Beyond Mountains. It is inspirational and uplifting. It is also politcally charged. Paul Farmer understands the politics of poverty and tries to turn it. It is not my purpose here to do a book review. Politics of poverty though is a catchy phrase. There are inequities around the world. Big news flash huh. Programs targeted toward the poor will always be poor programs. Universal programs win political acceptance, get appluaded at government & world stages, but never get funded to levels that would change how poor people live and die. Can we do better? Is there a way to hope? There may be. Today I was part of history. I watched a changing of the guard. You probably did so as well. Millions of Americans, potentially a billion people world wide, did so. A new Great non-White Hope took the highest office of our country and the world. He said today "To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it. " There are many challenges. The way to our Country's leadership role in the world is to regain the respect of the world. We will see how well this pledge is kept.
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I was one of the few who didn't watch the Inauguration today.
ReplyDeleteLike, I couldn't give 2 shits.
It's no big deal to me.
Same shit, different color.
Same crooked politicians, with a D after their name instead of an R.
It really makes me LMAO when people swear that Obama's gonna make a difference or make major changes.
I just don't see it.
His people are just as greedy and shortsided as the guys they replaced.
Not that I'm cynical.
This country will eventually get out of the Recession and people will find jobs after their benefits run out.
And race hucksters will still be using racism as an excuse for the failures of people, even though we have elected the first minority President.
And War in the Middle East will still flare up every few months and terrorists will still strike somewhere across the globe every few weeks.
Obama can't do nothin' about that.
So with all the hooplah in Washington today, tomorrow will go back to business as usual, and the big corporate sponsors will get repaid for their expenses by favors from Democrats this time.
And baseball teams will get huge tax breaks by local government officials, while the fans have to ante up tens of thousands of dollars for Personal Seat Licenses, which is total highway robbery.
So why should I get all worked up about another inauguration?
It has as much relevancy to my life as the outcome of Dancing With the Stars.
So to sum it up, this Obamamania has been blown way out of importance in the scheme of things.
The nation has set itself up for a tremendous disappointment.
We would have been better off with McCain-Palin...no great expectations and no wasted mass hysteria.