Has Society Always Been This Ruthless and Compassionless?
Is Humankind Lost For Good?
The government can send billions to other countries without as much as blinking one eye… here you go, NO PROBLEM, if you need more, hit us up. Yet, when Americans need help, they’re lazy, trifling, don’t want to work, want something for nothing, on the dole, and then the pulling one’s self up by the bootstraps nonsense. Okay, how can one pull themselves up by the bootstraps when one has no money to buy the boots? Then we have the queen of cluelessness. Kim Kardashian’s out-of-touch self bloviating about hard work and “get your fucking ass up”, yes that Kim, who was born on 3rd base and had a limo ride into home. And who just showed up to the latest Met Gala in Marilyn Monroe’s iconic dress, that should never have been worn in the first place, and many of us know why, yet can’t prove that she used her enormous wealth to get her enormous derriere “almost” in that gown. Kim & Krew need to forever sit anything out that has to do with working hard, extravagance, wealth disparity, flaunting one’s wealth, and the list could go on. Just drink a giant glass of STFU.
We have out-of-control capitalism; Elon Musk comes to mind here. He offered 44 billion to buy Twitter because his widdle feelings got hurt because they wouldn’t outright allow him to just buy stock, and then install himself as the big man in charge. It wasn’t enough for him to joyride into space like the other billionaires, and just be happy flaunting his wealth, treating his non-white employees like crap at his Tesla plants (discrimination suits out the gazoo) and spewing the right-wing rallying cry about “freedom of speech”. Oh no, he has to FLEX! Now Musk is expected to serve as a “temporary”, wink, wink, CEO of Twitter for a few months after he completes his $44 billion vulture-like takeover. But, there’s one bright spot, one of the shareholders is suing him.
According to CNN, Elon Musk and Twitter were sued by a Florida pension fund seeking to stop Musk from quickly completing his planned $44 billion takeover of the social media company.
In a complaint filed in Delaware Chancery Court, the Orlando Police Pension Fund said that under Delaware law Musk cannot complete the takeover until at least 2025 unless holders of two-thirds of shares not “owned” by him approved.
The lawsuit said Musk became an “interested stockholder” after taking a more than 9% Twitter stake, requiring the delay.
The wealth of the world’s 10 richest men has doubled since the pandemic began according to Oxfam International. In total, using data from Forbes, Oxfam found that the 10 richest men in the world saw their fortunes grow from an estimated $700 billion to $1.5 trillion dollars, a rate of over $1.2 billion per day, since the pandemic hit nearly two years ago.
“If these ten men were to lose 99.999 percent of their wealth tomorrow, they would still be richer than 99 percent of all the people on this planet,” said Oxfam International’s executive director Gabriela Bucher. “They now have six times more wealth than the poorest 3.1 billion people.” Sit with that for a second.
Our Problems
And while the mega-rich get richer, the wealth gap is getting wider and deeper. Patrick Henry, Senior Writer/Formative Content for the World Economic Forum wrote: The world is facing a surge in economic inequality accelerated by COVID-19 and exacerbated by the impact of the war in Ukraine. Governments need to initiate urgent change to tackle extreme poverty and narrow the gap between rich and poor, laying the foundations for a more equal and sustainable future. The richest 10% of the world population owns 76% of the wealth, while the poorest half owns just a sliver according to the World Inequality Lab. Global economic inequalities are now as extreme as they were at the peak of Western Imperialism in the early 20th century the Paris-based research group said in a report.
We’re Living A Combination Hunger Games, Soylent Green and the Purge
With unaffordable housing all across this nation, crime on the rise (we have some serious Purge shit going on here), and more people sinking into poverty and homelessness, what in the HELL is our government doing about it…federal, state and local? Not much comparatively speaking. We’ve been given a million excuses, cans kicked down the road, miniscule housing for those in need ( it really pisses me off to see government officials crowing about building a few tiny homes and acting as if they’ve solved the homelessness crisis), but in the meantime, tons of expensive homages to the rich are being built every single day, much due to rich developers greasing the palms of our elected officials to get those permits, many of which have no affordable housing units in them; business as usual. Their inaction is no longer acceptable.
It’s time for our elected officials to get their hands out of the billionaire’s cookie jar, take the for sale signs down on our states, cities and this country in general, and start doing what they were elected to do. They need to know there will be consequences, as in losing their cushy jobs. The US can no longer position itself as the police and bank of the world. We need to help the people right here in the US…it’s time for Americans to become a priority.
Excerpt from an Op-Ed I wrote a few years ago, and I’m still asking the same questions today…what’s changed except a pandemic that’s still not over, the dismantling of voting rights, women’s rights, LBGTQ rights, immigrant rights and a change of administration in DC. Damn, I’m exhausted.
We can no longer be sure who the heroes and villains are because they appear to inhabit the same space; coexisting as one entity to serve each other for personal gain and benefit. If good and evil have morphed into one, then what does that say about the future of humankind?
We’ve become a terminally destructive people who refuses to learn from past mistakes. We’re in a perpetual state of disruptive chaos and it appears that humankind is at its happiest when it devours the weak, destroys the helpless and decimates the human spirit. Why?
Are we simply genetically predisposed for mayhem, or have we fallen victim to the constant indoctrination that tells us only the richest, strongest and most malevolent are fit to lead because being kind and decent gets you nowhere? Has this way of thinking propelled humankind to create and lurch from one crisis or act of savage barbarity to another, in order for us to get some sick satisfaction with flexing our muscles and proceeding to destroy everything and everyone in our path?
It’s become abundantly clear that human beings apparently have no working on and off switch. We don’t know how to maintain happiness, peace, calm and prosperity for very long. We say we want egalitarianism, yet our actions say otherwise. We say we hate war, yet will use any excuse to start one. We’ll tell anyone who’ll listen, that we want to save the planet, help the sick, the poor, the infirmed, the homeless, children and animals, but only if it’s convenient and we can benefit from our pseudo-humanitarianism and bourgeois charitable endeavors.
We look at good people either as those to fear, feel sorry for or take advantage of. We worship at the temple of money and excess, yet vilify the wealthy. We say we hate big government, yet we need everything that the government has to offer. We drone on and on about electing politicians that truly represent the people, but many will dismiss those who actually do, and elect the ones who will do the most damage. We value our freedoms, yet will dictate to others about their personal choices and decisions.
So my question is quite simple: WHO ARE WE?
SYDNEY CHANDLER is a Los Angeles based freelance journalist, essayist, screenwriter, PR specialist, editor and producer. Follow her on social media: www.instagram.com/sydthewriter, www.twitter.com/syds180turn and www.facebook.com/Sydthewriter
