Thoughts on a Cloudy Day - Political Views

I saw a button on a friend's Facebook page that said something like, "Jesus would like to know who this other Jesus is that you keep talking about." I guess that about sums up my growing dislike for the Republican party. I have shared with you my spiritual beliefs. So you know that if anything I believe in Jesus and his message, but not necessarily the messengers. That is even more so with the Republicans and their hypocritical rants about how we need God and Jesus. I hear over and over as they rail about people trying to take God out of this country, yet, if anyone is the furthest from acting in a Christlike fashion, it is Republicans. If you listen to their rantings, you wonder how they can on one hand be going on about immigration and unemployment, and in the other talking about how we are trying to make this a Godless country. Sorry, I thought we were all ready there. Of course the latest quotes regarding their refusal to extend unemployment benefits only cement this vision I have of them. When you have a Republican saying they don't want the unemployment benefit extended because these people are deadbeats, or another saying that the only way to get people back to work is to stop giving them money, then it only shows that one, they don't understand the problem they created, and two, they really don't care about the people they work for. Take that Kentucky Senator a few months back when they were trying to extend unemployment last time and he was blocking it. The news guy said about all those people who could lose their homes and be out on the street and his response was, "Too bad!".
If these people are so Christian, how can they act so unlike Christ? Do they really believe that if Jesus was walking the earth today, he would want to be a Republican? Do you think Jesus would want to deny immigrants a chance at a new life? Do you think Jesus would allow corporations to call the shots so they can willfully destroy the earth for profit? Do you think Jesus would put corporations over people? Over wildlife? Do you think Jesus would attack gays and treat them as subhumans?
I hate to break it to them, but if Jesus were into politics, he would be called a socialist. He would be working for equality for all. He would be working towards cleaning up the environment and saving the animals. Not a socialist like we were led to believe that the Evil Empire, the Soviet Union was, but true socialism. A method of government that would look out for the people and help everyone and all of creation.
That being said, I will never be a Republican because I believe in people. I put people first. I believe in John Lennon's vision in his song Imagine. Imagine no countries. No religions. No boundaries. Native American's in this country didn't have borders, fences, or other imaginary lines. Oh they might have had an agreement with a neighboring tribe that that they could hunt that side of the river, and we this side. However, when it came to the tribe, they took care of each other. When the hunters returned from the hunt, they first shared with the elders and the sick and then the rest was divvied up. They took care of each other. They also had respect for all of life. They lived in harmony and balance with their environment. Even when they took an animals life to feed the family there were prayers said. Quite in contrast to our current methods of locking cows in stanchions and force feeding them grain, hormones and antibiotics. Of course, it was much easier to act in a tribal fashion which was a form of socialism, when the population was small.
But I guess this still doesn't say where my beliefs lie. Well, let me take a step back to an anthropology course I took in college. The teacher wanted to show us that our beliefs may not be in alignment with our perceived political alignments. So he gave us a test that would let us know where our political beliefs might really be. In my case, I came out as a Democratic Socialist. Okay, well what does that say. Well, here is what I believe it means. That we the people should be in charge of a government that is there to help people. I believe that we should be a world not based on money or material goods, but on the achievements of people. Money should go away. We make only the things that we need and not have grocery shelves stocked high full of food that may eventually be thrown out once it hits its expiration date despite so many hungry people in the world. Think of how much different this world would be without the need for profit?
Think about what it would be like if you had a medical problem and you just went to see a doctor and had whatever tests needed to be done or whatever procedure needed to be done. No insurance companies to deal with, no worrying about deductibles or copays, just go in, and get it fixed? Imagine if you were hungry, just going to a store and not having to worry about having the money to feed your kids. If there were no need for profit, do you think that we would still be on oil? Maybe all those technologies that might have gotten us off oil would suddenly become real. Without a need for profit, maybe all those empty roofs would have solar panels and generating electricity. Going back to medical, maybe some of those medicines that were seen as having no profit because it would help so few people, might actually be made to help to heal those few people. Maybe more people would have jobs because corporations would no longer need to put profit over people. Of course, many of these people who have to travel long ways in order to make a decent wage, might be able to stay closer to home and maybe even do a job they might like even better. I know for myself, if there was no longer a need for money, I would return to school and get my doctorate in psychology and help people.
Now these ideas may be totally alien to most, but it is not really that alien. I recall in the Star Trek movie - First Contact, Picard offers Alfre Woodards character something from the replicator. She asks who to pay. He chuckles and tells her that they did away with money a long time ago. So if we can imagine it, why can't we, with apologies to Captain Picard, "Make it so!"
So in a nutshell, I don't believe in the heartlessness of our capitalist system that puts profits before people or the environment. However, I won't do ask so me say and leave. Rather, I feel that the only way to bring about change is to work from within. I will continue to push for social justice and care about people and my environment. We need to move into a new world where money is no longer needed and people are free to follow their hearts pursuits rather than toil at jobs that are unfulfilling, simply because it allows them to earn the money they need to pay their mortgages or rent, feed their families, and pay outrageous health costs.
Wouldn't it be a great world if a teacher was held in the same esteem as a baseball player? If a policeman was on par with an actor? Where a persons value was soley based on their contribution to the community and not on how many millions they accumulated? A world where every person is truly equal not just in words but in action? Think about it. Dream it.
My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.