Most of us, very lucky, post Great Depression Americans have enjoyed a long run of what we’ve come to believe is well-deserved prosperity.   Surely, the “revolutionary” industrial and technological innovations of the 20th century, (in great part lead by Americans), were historic in their breadth of enhancing quality of life and promoting enormous economic opportunity.  However, if not for joining the European allies in WWII, (although the world would certainly have a much different face), the path of the USA would not have been diverted, so early in our history, to the imperialistic mindset that victory and military might emboldens.  The result, buoyed by fifty years of cold war lunacy with the Soviets, is a distorted self-image of who we are and how we got here.

It’s a sad fact that most Americans paid too little attention in World History class; Geography, even less so.  Our Earthly legacy has been defined by fast food, faster cars, TV, sports and the occasional, misguided skirmish that our leaders decided to be in our best interest; easier to sell, because they have always been…over there.  We have been in a bloated trance for sixty years.  Despite the horrors of Viet Nam and Iraq and Afghanistan for those who served and continue to do so, at home, Americans’ loud, clear voice has never been far from clean water, cheap hamburgers and ample, cushy shelter.  The “four dead in Ohio” was an aberration, not a revolution, and at the end of these dreadful conflicts only economical consideration, not the right or the wrong, brings them to closure.

Our military might, and the great wealth that accompanies that power, has been squandered and is leading to our undoing.  (You may have to Google some of the history you missed if you’re of the populous belief that 234 years is more than a blip on the time-line of nations or that 60 years isn’t creeping toward the outer edge of imperial longevity).  We have poorly chosen wealth as our touchstone, (another easily avoided mistake with a bit of reading).  In industry, religion, the arts and education, the bottom line rules.  We have misused our innovative and technological energies to pursue frivolous enterprises in unhealthy food, irresponsibly wasteful automobiles and countless, purposeless enterprises, while depleting or mishandling our natural resources to the detriment of our planet.  Education is encouraged as the means to grabbing the largest slice of that pie, not, first and foremost, as preparation for the minds that will bake a newer and better one, while the masses continue to consume pie and fries and triple-extra-bacon-Whoppers with their bottomless sodas to Falstaffian measure.  And, in the midst of the most dire of times, most of us would still opt for a quick return to that status quo where most of our manufactured goods and a growing number of our support services come from far off places, (never mind the recalls of faulty cribs, tainted pet food or runaway Toyotas).

I applaud our President for his cool demeanor and his mostly inspirational rhetoric, (I’m more prone to yelling and drooling), but he is not correct in stating that our Union is strong and resilient.  We have followed Yogi’s advice, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!” for far too long.  In the midst of the international focus on rebuilding a better Haiti, we can either embrace the lofty principles of our founding fathers and mothers that nurtured the idea of America or we can continue to sell our birthright to the highest bidder, as that worthless, robed fuck, Sam Alito suggests, (that would be me, yelling and drooling).