Dear Job42,
There is no question that there are serious problems with the way our government operates, which I believe has unfortunately morphed into something that the founding fathers gave “their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor” in an effort to give us freedoms that those in control tend to try to whittle away.
For example, it is a fact and not a theory that the U.S. does not print its own money but borrows it from a private bank (the Federal Reserve, established in 1913 or 1914 under the influence of very wealthy families who then owned it) which “creates” money out of thin air by punching some buttons on their computers. Some think, and possibly rightly so, that the very wealthy (I’m not talking about garden variety “wealthy” the way certain politicians like to use the term) have undue influence over the politicians of both parties. These people allegedly don’t care who wins elections because they have so much influence over who gets nominated.
That said, I think it is wise and prudent to examine the facts that you can find about these things, because at least for me, I feel that if there is a steady movement toward some sort of Orwellian scenario – and we now have technology that is capable of bringing this about – then we owe it to our posterity to try to do something about it.
The problem is, flatly, that so many people are caught up in the game of “my team v their team” that they fail to look past partisan arguments and give honest examination to the sorts of issues that we don’t hear about from the mainstream press. I am so grateful to live in a country with a “free” press, but realistically they are going to pull their punches to some extent because if they offend certain groups of people that are newsworthy, those people will not give them priority treatment when it comes to press conferences and the like. To even try to discuss these issues is to invite being called a “kook” by others who are likely to be partisan, or worse, indifferent to the realities of politics. It will take a whole lot more people to become interested and involved to actually get any change made if change is needed, so it doesn’t pay to get worked up about it as an individual.
So yes, there are important issues that need to be attended to and although I don’t believe we have a “whole world government” – yet, anyway – we need to look past the day-to-day partisan bickering and make some decisions about how our society works that transcends the usual issues and arguments.
That said, especially with mental illness (I myself suffered for 10 years or so with severe bipolar disorder and I know how obsessed we can become over things that are out of our control) we have to keep a balance between trying to learn what we can from whatever information sources we have, to doing what we need to do for ourselves and for our families, those of us who are responsible for families. This is a priority and to become overly obsessed with politics and the like works against our ability to function. Most of these things are out of our control, and so few people even consider looking into them, that to try to effect action on them is quite futile. So basically my strategy is to keep my eyes and ears open, but to be realistic enough to know that I’m not going to change anything, and that most people are unwilling or even afraid to discuss these subjects intelligently. So especially those of us with “special needs” have to keep a strict order of priorities and stay in the here and now. Otherwise we come across as loose cannons and miss out on being happy in the here and now.
To me you come across as intelligent and caring, and I hope you do very well with your life. Learn how to let go of things you can’t control. Learn about them during times you are mentally stable but then leave it at that.
Alan
Our Lady said at Fatima… “in the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph”. God will win in the end