In the recent Corona fear-ridden, audience-free democratic presidential debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden said, “Bernie, the people don’t want a revolution, they want a solution.” I disagree. I want a revolution and an end to greed.
Republicans, I’m sorry…but you confuse me! Even though the vast majority of you say you worship God and consider yourselves Christians, it would seem to me the only thing you really care about are your stocks. On CNN recently, when asked about the Corona Virus – getting it vs. the economic effect – focus groups were more concerned with the performance of the stock market than getting the virus. They essentially said they would rather have money than health. As long as the market is up you are happy. It seems you will ignore the most blatant of lies, and bizarre manipulative behavior in favor of an increase in profits and your stocks. Policies are in place to allow you to make as much money as you possibly can as quickly as possible without regard for the environment, your fellow human beings or in some cases your own health. What about “Do unto others?” What about Greed? Didn’t St. Paul, the first Christian, write to the early church, Radix omnium malorum avaritia, or The Root of all Evil is Greed. When is enough, enough? When can we move beyond our own greed (hoarding in the supermarkets, surge in gun sales) and focus on our environment and our collective good as the only sustainable solution to move forward with our world? Currently we have a deadly Pandemic threatening our shores, without concern for our physical borders. This will take a collective revolution. And the good news is, we can do it. If you want an “us vs. them” battle, then battle the 1%, battle global warming, battle the next Corona virus. We have the numbers. Just look what we can do as consumers alone. If we collectively take action, the possibilities are endless.
The bottom line really is, as the majority of scientists agree, if we don’t take drastic, initially profit-reducing actions by 2030, the environment will be irrecoverably damaged. The good news is, by re-investing in clean energy; wind, solar, geothermal we can become world leaders, and make much larger profits without reliance on the environmentally harmful and war-mongering fossil-fuel industries.
By coming together for the common good we can battle the dangers of our interdependent world, such as the Pandemic Corona Virus. If we had a National health care System in place, we could deal with a National Heath Care Emergency much more effectively. People might feel more at ease with the support of government and we would have implemented testing and realistic numbers right away. Unfortunately, the greed of the political “powers that be” have kept the profit-mongering insurance and pharmaceutical industries unethically profitable. Again I will ask, how much is enough?
Can the pharmaceutical industry make sustainable profits and growth while NOT profiteering? Can we offer elective expanded health insurance coverage from Insurance companies whilst providing basic coverage to all? (a system that works well in Europe and the UK) Currently, CEOs of major corporations in the US make 510x more than their workers. By comparison, in the “early days” of the 1960s/70s – a time that I think those of a certain age can remember fondly, CEOs made a mere 20x more than their workers, the profit shared more collectively with the workers, making families more profitable. Our wages have remained stagnant at 10% growth since 1970, as opposed to 937% growth in CEO wages in the same period. Why can’t 20x more be enough?! Can’t you still buy a jet at 20x more?!
Greed is not good. We need a revolution against greed. Ironically, just as we are being asked to stay away from each other, we actually need to come together as communities and nations and share, whilst still encouraging healthy profits and growth within our own borders. This is otherwise known as Social Democracy and is on successful display in many countries in Europe. We need to seek to help our environment and our fellow man. This is a pivotal moment in time where we have a once in a lifetime decision to make. Will it be the same old same old until the irrevocable future is here. Or will we take this opportunity to come together and do the right thing. Let’s be brave. Let’s be Socially Democratic rather than Nationalistic. Trying to shield ourselves from the world, obviously, does not work. Viruses know no borders.