ME-ISMArizona's reactionary immigration law is not only disgusting in and of itself--legalizing racial profiling as a way to discriminate against those who aren't "us"--but is symptomatic of the dangerous mode we have moved into in recent months as a nation.
We have become so self-centered as a people that we are fighting each other over table scraps. So-called democratic principles have become bald excuses for grabbing as much as one can grab for oneself. People will knock you down on the street if they think they can get where they are going faster.
It's as if a vocal warm-up exercise has transformed into the new battlecry: "Me Me Me Me ME!"
The Tea Party Movement claims to be interested in the rights of Americans--but they wish to say who IS and who ISN'T a good American in their eyes, to make sure that they, the select few, receive all the spoils. Check you dictionary, folks--that's not democracy, that's a form of fascism.
Capitalism was supposed to be a system that gave everyone an equal chance, but as in Orwell's ANIMAL FARM, it appears that some little piggies have been deemed "more equal" than others. And perhaps most alarmingly, the very Judaio-Christian teachings of giving to others and caring for the less fortunate appears to be a revolting concept to the very people who claim themselves the backbone of America. They scoff at "community organizers" because they have absolutely no sense of community. The very Bible they like to thump so much points to their lack of humanity as a sign of total hypocrisy. And perhaps even worse than their lack of generosity--the total lack of respect for open discourse and the inability to engage in civilized discussion to solve the issues of a country perilously in need. Rarely has name calling been as bold, ugly and divisive.
This country was founded as a place for all who feel oppressed to come and be an equal, regardless of race, creed or religion. Freedom of speech was to be guaranteed in a land of equal opportunity. People have died for this cause and continue to do so. Our troops overseas are fighting for these principles every day. And searching the ethnic and religious backgrounds (not to mention the sexual preferences) of these fighting troops will no doubt reveal heavy concentrations of the very groups these so-called arbiters of American values wish to curtail.
The co-opting by the callous right abuses democratic principles and the capitalist system just as a handful took the Utopian notions of socialism and turned them into self-serving rules. Any system suffers from repeated abuse. The actions of these people not only defeats the basic principles of our country but spits in the face of those who work and have worked so hard to defend them.
We are a nation of immigrants, a nation that was always prized for its diversity. Arizona's sanction to profile at will anyone deemed "suspicious" is a way for a privileged ruling class to fight back what they fear most--the loss of their supremacy in a demographically changing country. Responsibly protecting our citizenry is one thing. Giving carte blanche to racism is another thing altogether--and is distinctly un-American.
Then again, I suppose there is an upside to all this: we can bring back Il Duce and at least the trains will run on time.
