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| Tuesday, March 20 | | · | Finally, Some Good News |
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| Wednesday, December 13 | | · | The U.S. is Not a Democracy, It Never Was |
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War and Terror: 3,000 Year Old Advice Fits America Like a Glove
Posted on Monday, January 13 @ 13:41:01 UTC
Topic: Bushfire
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 Is Bush Listening?
by Ben Roberts
The great Way is easy,
yet people prefer the side paths.
Be aware when things are out of balance.
Stay centered within the Way
When rich speculators prosper
while farmers lose their land;
when government officials spend money
on weapons instead of cures;
when the upper class is extravagant
and irresponsible
while the poor have nowhere to turn;
all this is robbery and chaos.
It is not in keeping with the Way
We all know Confucius and the gems of thought and insight he gave the world.
The one speaking here is the lesser known Chinese thinker Lao Tzu, who
Confucius learned from and got his ideas. It is amazing that more than three
thousand years after this man made his exit his advice rings true today for many
nations. Not the least of which is America. What this man is saying in antiquity is
tailor made today for America and the leader who presides over this country.
In this philosopher's quote there are at least three things that dominate our
headlines today, and to which his words of wisdom apply. Let's take a look:
Lao Tzu in the quote takes exception to the situation 'when rich speculators
prosper while farmers lose their land...all this is robbery.' Does anything more
need to be said than the words Enron, Arthur Anderson, and our current stock
market highway robbery with companies dropping like flies. Left in the lurch of
such greed are our honest everyday hardworking, and retired elderly citizens
who pinched pennies trying to have a nest egg for when difficult times came
along. Now they have been robbed right out of their birthright by these greedy
speculators. What's worse, many of these men of ill repute are friends of George
Bush, whom he protects at all costs. After all, he boasted recently on TV that he
refused to hand over to the General Accounting Office documents that detailed
his government connection with these power drunk captains of industry. It is
clear that Bush definitely needs to read what Lao Tzu has to say on this matter.
Recently, around Christmas time, the jobless and unemployment benefits ran out
for Americans trying to make ends meet in this economic slump. Our elected
representatives and leader took their holiday recess to enjoy a time of good
cheer, letting the benefits run out, leaving many of our citizens in the lurch. Then
at the resumption of government business, Bush presented our nation, in the
Windy City, with an economic package that had the wealthy pinching themselves
in disbelief. They stood to become even more wealthy, while there was little or
nothing for the hardworking Americans, who keep this country going. There's
more. Rewind back a few months to recent elections. George Bush was hailed
for his strategy in crisscrossing the country stomping for his GOP cohorts who
won handily. How did he finance it? Believe it or not, during the period he took
$210,000 in funds from the Office of Family Assistance, a subsidiary in the
Department of Health and Human Services. This agency, as the name implies,
provides assistance to our poor and needy citizens. How callous. Lao Tzu
addresses this by his statement 'when the upper-class is extravagant and
irresponsible while the poor have nowhere to turn, all this is robbery and chaos.'
Do you not think that Bush Inc., need to read what this man has to say?
As we speak the US is amassing troops in the Persian Gulf, intent on attacking
citizens of a country they brutally attacked before. Such a venture, using top
military hardware is not inexpensive. Americans will have to, as they say, 'pay
through the nose' for it. Is this not ridiculous, at a time when many productive
Americans have to collect jobless benefits? Lao Tzu surely thinks so when he
says 'when government officials spend money on weapons instead of cures.., all
this is robbery and chaos. It is not in keeping with the Way' Bush, listen up.
The first part of Lao Tzu's advice is left for last because it has something for all.
Both those who govern, and those who are governed. He suggests to us that
'The great way is easy, yet people prefer the side paths. Be aware when things
are out of balance. Stay centered in the Way.' The side paths are the robbery
visited upon us by the stock market movers and shakers. The side paths are
Colin Powell going to Colombia bearing gifts days before that country's UN
ambassador confiscates the sole copy Iraqi document and hands it to the US
before anyone else sees it. Side paths are the US removing 8,000 pages from
that document so Americans cannot see how US companies illegally aided and
abetted Iraq in its efforts to acquire so called weapons of mass destruction. To
counter this Lao Tzu warns us as citizens to be aware and stay centered in the
Way. The Way is that which is right and true. At a time like this, when things are
out of balance, there is no room for resignation, and throwing up our hands
helplessly. Instead we much be on the lookout, and insist on what is truthful
principled, and righteous. How's that for advice from a 3,000 year old man?
Ben Roberts is a newsletter editor, freelance writer and published author. His book, Jackals of Samarra, was published in January 2001. Ben can be contacted by email at: grandt730@aol.com
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