Reply #6: I really like your reasoning at the end... [View All]

[FirstLight]

It is a peacable assembly, and those under such excruciating poverty should be MORE visible, not less. But poverty and all the suffering that goes with it are brushed under the corporate carpet so we can focus on consuming...rather than compassion.

Collectively we have been derailed in our priorities. When Obama said in his speech yesterday "It doesn't make you weak, to care; it doesn't make you weak to have compasion and give of yourself to others..." (paraphrased) He is talking to a shift in our entire paradigm of how we judge success.
We have to become more interested in becoming successful AS A PEOPLE..rather than as individuals. I worry at times that we are too far gone and that there will have to be some 'culling' of our herd before we get there ( could happen with disaster, or some horrible circumstance, ...yikes) But I HOPE that it could just be a matter of critical mass - that if enough of us elevate ourselves and focus on doing the same for one another - we CAN build a better society. I would like to think we are ready for that kind of emotional and intellectual evolution. I am an idealist.

Because of my idealism, it pains me to see the effects of poverty first hand, almost more than it pains me to be stressed about my own family's survival with things getting harder every day. I have almost resigned myself to giving up, but then I have a chance to help someone and it gives me hoope again for our human condition. That we DO know how to Pay it Forward as a collective. But we have to start somewhere. And many of us who want to help are in need of helping as well!

While the practical side of me says it begins with the structure of government and programs. I also believe it begins on a level of getting to the 'heart' of the issue. suffering is real, it happens right under our noses in the "richest" country in the world, and we waste more than we give on a daily basis. If we can begin to come to grips with that individually, perhaps a few or a few thousand can begin to get things done. I have said for a long time that democracy is best when applied to small groups and worked in a local setting. Grass roots baby.
And I also know that our soon-to-be President and his cabinet members (John Edwards especially)will bebringing the same passion to the National arena. So let's keep the conversations, compassion, and ideas going!