As it happens in life, when one chapter ends another begins! The US Debt Deal brought a sigh of relief but does it say much? Are we really wise after all the debates? Does it matter in the end? The “can” has been kicked further down the road but stays within sight! Reality has a tendency to stare at us till we find the strength and the will to overcome it to our benefit!
Whatever happens anywhere impacts us all. It is now a shared world, after all, more and more each passing day! Whether one can make an impact at all does not matter but we have to tune in to what is going on. Our collective vibrations in thinking and some prayers could influence those that matter!
The discussions, at least the gist of it, took me to my childhood back in India. Capitalism was a dirty word then and meant exploitation of the poor. The rich cared for only themselves and took every opportunity to take advantage of the dispossessed to keep them under their thumb. That thinking was proved wrong, mercifully. I remember my early days at work unable to think positively, mostly putting out fires set deliberately. The seeds of discontent were sown through misinformation and passions were running high. It was always; us against them. All were made to suffer, anyone showing some initiative was pulled down.
China was in dire straits too, under Mao. His experiments kept all in misery. Summary justice meted out by Red Guard reprisals were the order of the day. Millions perished but soon they had enough of a system that just kept them under the thumb of few, and unable to show their true potential. The energy of a billion people was released and a miracle soon followed!
China and India admire the American system of almost unbridled free enterprise. The freedom of speech that is practiced in America is one of kind, hardly likely to be emulated by them. China is plain afraid of such a system that seem to border on the excessive. India is still grappling with democracy and rule of law.
For one who has survived excesses of a rigid system of communism or socialism, the idea that the poor will have to share further cuts on bare necessities is hard to stomach. They keep up the spirit of the nation and should be fully convinced of further belt tightening to the extent of it bursting at the seams! Few dollars for them will help them tide over a day but for those few who refuse to pay their dues in terms of higher taxes it amounts to nothing!
For some, the empathy factor is sadly missing. They might have won the day but could it be a pyrrhic victory? As much as I admire the hard work and enterprise of the few gifted, I always feel they cannot exist and survive in an island of prosperity. The bottom of the society should be assured of the basics. Add to that the sympathy and empathy factor; their contributions cannot be measured in dollars and cents! The poor are the soul of any society. As the wise have said; a society is judged by how it treats it’s weakest!
