“Hello darkness, my old friend… I’ve come to talk with you again…”
How many of you are old enough to remember our last truly great American president? The last commander in chief that you could see and believe had the country’s best interests at heart? A representative of this nation you were proud of and weren’t ashamed to claim?
Though some may argue (some always do) most will agree with the statistics. That it would be Ronald Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) who served as our 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. It’s pretty much been a snowball rolling downhill through hell since then.
Following the Reagan administration we’ve had wishy washy representation, scandalous blowback and controversy that has distracted from, or had nothing to do with, running the country. Thus making the presidential puppet theatre seem like an obvious soap opera sideshow created to distract we the people, while the strings are being pulled by the unseen government machine. When and if the curtain is ever drawn back, there’ll likely be no kindly misunderstood wizard, but perhaps the devil himself running the show. (This is mostly metaphorical, so don’t panic. It’s doubtful the devil is keeping house on Capitol Hill).
Speaking of Satan, does anyone remember prayer in school? (Points awarded for awesome transitional element.) It was usually led by the teacher, or the occasional blessed classmate, before going to lunch. How about starting each day with reciting the pledge of allegiance… to the flag… of the United States of America and to the republic of Richard Stands… (Brain-wash deactivated). Sorry. Anywho, remember that? Well it scared some folks of the promised pre-apocalyptic merger of church and state and offended others‘ rights. So there’s no threat of prayers of allegiance anymore.
So is it poor leadership or lack of conforming ritualism that’s bringing the future down? Is this why the youth of tomorrow can’t rise beyond today? Some kids graduate with a plan, others move into their parent’s basement without a clue. Are they afraid to try, worried they’ll fail, too lazy to put forth an effort, confused about which direction to turn? Has the system failed them or is it a lack of guidance on the home front? Or can no one answer their unasked questions?
“And in the naked light, I saw, ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking; people hearing without listening. People writing songs that voices never shared…”
Everyone needs and deserves to be heard. But with everyone talking, no one can listen. When someone is listening, fear of saying the wrong thing and the consequences thereof can be devastating. Through social media we’ve come to worry too much about how others perceive us to worry with what we think of ourselves. Silently screaming in a deafened crowd, some raise their voice through a rifle’s crack.
No detail is needed on any specific incident in this respect. It seems there’s a new one every day. People are killing people for no apparent ‘good‘ reason. When a shot is fired we worry more about losing “rights” than lives. Then footage is leaked or freely given to the mass media. Conspiracy theories are born and formed. Authority figures’ motives are questioned if they do too much or chastised if they do nothing. Accusations are made against any and everybody with no one pointing toward a middle ground, because is there really any solution? But many are pointed in search of blame.
The usual targets are violent movies, video games and internet porn. Followed sympathetically by abuse, neglect, cyber bullying, social declassification or social rejection. But is there truly an origin source or are some of us are just more broken than others?
Honestly, there’s no point in discussing it here. Many of you are too busy. Still fuming over the irrelevancy of politics—who was the last great president (paragraph 2)—to be concerned with solving any actual problems.
“Fools” said I, “You do not know, violence like a cancer grows! Hear my words that I might teach you. Take my arms that I might reach you!” But my words, like silent raindrops fell and echoed in the wells of violence.” (Manipulated lyrics through out were excerpted from “The Sound of Silence” by Paul Simon, recorded by Simon & Garfunkel, circa 1964.)
I welcome almost all questions and comments via FOCUS, or email me at [email protected]. Hope to hear from ya, until then try and stay focused. See ya.
