It’s not like we, (I’m referring to the collective USA ‘we’), don’t have the tools and opportunity to be much, much more than we are.  So, why are we squandering the greatest opportunity in the history of the world?  I guess the answer lies in the murky realm of the catch-all we call, Human Nature.  Our once ‘Great Society’ has been diverted from the path of beneficial science and technology, education, social equality and the fundamental responsibility of being a ‘Super Power’ in a totally connected World Politic.  Where we once led the way toward a better world, we are now led by the nose, (and other more sensitive body parts), by meaningless economic indicators.  If the promise of freedom in our Constitution. (The American Dream), was simply about getting as much as one could get away with, (Joe Bruno), than maybe I have missed the point.  I’d ask for a show of hands, but who will admit to that?  Certainly not Joe or Goldman Sachs.

Watching the reactive posturing of politicians as they jerk this way and that in response to one poll or another, (I am not included in any of these samples, are you?), would be Punch-and-Judy hilarious if the consequences of such action were not so dire.  When an attempted bombing in Times Square, a devastating oil spill, a couple of wars, oh, and the upcoming sale of Greece on eBay can’t even hold the headline over a computer glitch causing the DOW to run away, it’s time to admit we’ve failed.  It’s obscene that the resultant dollar amount of tragedy is the first and last concern standing and the deterrent from changing the mind-set that could prevent or at least minimize reoccurrence.

Our future rests in two camps.  They may be called Democrat and Republican, (this allows button and t-shirt makers to use those bitchin’ donkey/elephant logos), but they could be called, “I Wanna Spend It This Way” and “I Wanna Spend It That”.  Our dilemma, which will be our undoing, is that our two-party adventure has become hopelessly polarized.  To OVER-SIMPLIFY, (so I’m not accused of oversimplifying), we have those damned Liberals who want to socialize everything, (health, education, protecting the environment, blah, blah, blah), and Conservatives who just want to be left alone with their guns, white friends and tasty, microwaveable snacks.  To be fair, there are a few other ideological bones of contention, but they are mostly based in religious mumbo jumbo and only have relevance as long as morons like Clarence Thomas get a vote.  Our inability to do, well, anything, from putting people to work, to preventing floods at the Opry, is played out daily in inane soundbites on CNN, (during the one hour of news in twenty-four, sandwiched, puzzle-like, between teasers and commercials), always referenced to the rise and fall of the Markets.  And now we learn that a computer anomaly, (who ever heard of a computer problem?), can send those Markets spinning out of control.  Didn’t anyone see “2001 a Space Odyssey”?

Happy Mother’s Day…Hallmark.