THE RISE AND FALL OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE

Altruism

Altruism or selflessness is the principle or practice of concern for the welfare of others. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures and a core aspect of various religious traditions and secular worldviews, though the concept of "others" toward whom concern should be directed can vary among cultures and religions.

 

Altruism, once an integral part of the American culture is now all but a distant memory. The principal was inter-woven into America's culture with threads of "one nation under God" and "E Pluribus Unum," out of many, one.

 

We have become a fragmented society, a nation of haves and have nots, and the government has responded...not with calls for a renewed social society, but with attempts to silence the have nots. Never before has this movement been so apparent. Videos of law enforcement wielding its power and force upon the less fortunate in a manner once attributed to communist countries are surfacing on a daily basis. And the calls for justice have largely gone unnoticed or unheeded.

 

Modern movements have been made not to empower the lower classes or lift them up, but to take away their votes, to keep them down financially with an unlivable minimum wage and the reduction in funding for social programs; temporary programs established to insure every citizen has enough to eat and can afford a place to live.

 

While the American people were voicing out about the uber-rich, the government has been quietly and consistently been inching its way towards a new class of Americans--the uber poor.

 

It is understandable when various factions of people succumb to their base human emotions of selfishness and a lack of empathy for others. However, when the government itself...elected officials responsible for representing and fighting for the best interests of their districts entire populous not only look the other way on their less fortunate but ratify and codify attempts to deepen their lots in life, society as a whole suffers.

 

This was the battle cry of the conservatives recently and the results of the election were voiced loud and clear. This philosophy is now its majority voice...or at least the majority of people voting.

 

This nation needs everyone to succeed for the economy to survive. The economy needs full employment, needs a vibrant and growing middle class and depends on everyone pulling together to produce for its common good.

 

And when an entire class of people are marginalized and left to their own resources, it creates a Darwinian nightmare formally seen only in the reddest of countries...the countries we used to abhor and criticize. That's what we are becoming. A nation on edge. A nation of individuals rather than a united group of individuals with common goals and morals. Can Marshall law and riot gear be far behind in order to quell the demonstrations and unrest that will inevitably follow?

 

We are no longer a "united" nation...we are no longer the greatest example to the world of what a democracy can be..."one nation under God, with individual with liberty and justice for all."

 

We have become a nation of selfish hypocrites, at once waving the flag and the constitution for all to see, while Uncle Sam has his size thirteens' clearly on the necks of the less fortunate keeping them down in order to create a new culture and economic class with no future and very little opportunity to improve themselves. We have created the uber poor. And so it goes.