Convergence

When I started this blog I decided to name it "While we still have time," with the assumption, faith, and hope that we indeed do still have time to save our country and our planet. A few juxtapositions in the last several days have me wondering if I was being too presumptive, faithful, and hopeful. Meteorologists at AccuWeather.com are sounding the warning about the likelihood of a return to the Dust Bowl conditions of the 1930s. On last night’s News Hour, the likelihood of Katrina-type flooding in California was discussed. And to put it all in context, a couple in Rhode Island became the subject of a Homeland Security investigation because they paid more than the usual amount on their credit card bill. Terrorists beware.

For good measure, on yesterday’s Stephanie Miller Show the apparent meltdown of hate-monger Bill O’Reilly was discussed. And finally, the haplessness of the Democrats is bemoaned by many observers. An example can be found here.

Juxtaposing all these trends and circumstances leads me to conclude that at the very minimum, the various forces and trends in the country and on the planet are converging. Things are coming to a head. In Bill O’Reilly’s case, just to pull one factor out of the mix, his meltdown is due not just to people standing up to him. His lying and lynch-mob incitement are coming back to haunt him. As the Iraq war turns increasingly into a farce, the evidence of the Bush regime’s criminality becomes clearer, and the news about climate change and other environmental crises becomes more ominous, demagogues like O’Reilly have little choice but to lie more desperately, hysterically, threateningly, and loudly. As a way of being, a path of life, this is not a method that leads to either happiness or higher consciousness. It leads to what we are seeing: a descent into insanity.

We can take the meltdown of Bill O’Reilly as a benchmark for the other meltdowns that are happening in tandem. Bush, for example. Tom DeLay. Dick Cheney. There are more on the way. But these are just individual actors, bit players, in a way, compared to the enormity of the problems we face. Climate change, or Global Warming, started well before the Bush crime family, and we will be dealing with it long after he is gone. When the $&%# hits the fan, the rubber meets the road, and the mountain comes to not just Mohammed, but to all of us, Bush and his cronies will be nothing but an afterthought. Blame does not solve anything, but holding criminals responsible for their crimes is necessary for any functioning society.

We do still have time, but not much. The U.S. is slowly coming out of a deep psychosis, one that has been building up for centuries. The psychosis is characterized by materialism, consumer fetishism, xenophobia, hubris, nationalism, greed, fear, envy, addiction, entertainmentism, fanaticism, and a kind of rampant object-gratification approach to human interaction. If the growing disgust with the Bush crime family can translate to a willingness to face our real problems and change, then we may be able to save our civilization. At best, the coming days will be like snowboarding on an avalanche. At worst, well, there’s nothing to compare it to. If we don’t change, the tragedy will be beyond any human experience, known or unknown. Time is running out. I’ll have to start a new blog. Maybe I could call it "Time’s up." It will be good for one posting.