I was listening last week to columnist Frank Bruni. He is a well-known and respected columnist for the New
York Times. He mentioned that the United States has become the Olympics of the Oppressed. I never looked at it this way but I have begun to think that there is merit in this comment. I began to think of the groups that feel oppressed in the United States. Where do I begin? Should we give out gold, silver and bronze medals for the Olympic prizes?
I thought I would list some here. They are not in any specific order or ranking but I found it amazing that all these groups feel they are oppressed. I do believe the last two years have brought them out into the light of day where we can work with their grievances. Certainly our Circus Ringmaster President has made them a sideshow and he routinely pits one against the other or continuously insults them to keep the circus show selling tickets.
How about the women’s movement and women’s oppression. This one has been around for thousands of years but is gaining in power and is quite threatening to the status quo of male power.
How about the LGBQT movement? We keep struggling to have equal rights for the LGBQT community but still states refuse to recognize them and it shows up in rental evictions when the landlords find out that a gay or lesbian couple has moved in. How about the possibility of being kicked out of the military because of being transgender?
How about Black Lives Matter movement? This one is older than the country. First there was slavery, then Jim Crow, then segregation, now it’s incarceration, poverty and blame.
How about white marginalized older men? This one hasn’t been around as long but it is still a group that feels oppressed.
How about Muslims? We’re still fearful of them putting us all under sharia law. Besides, the women wear those head scarfs and we say that Muslims are the group that brings us terrorists.
How about college students? They feel oppressed in not being able to direct who can and cannot speak on their campus. They want more from the administrators and they’ll protest and riot if they don’t get it.
How about the Alt-Right? They feel oppressed because they feel they should be able to form a white, European race country.
How about abortion rights group and anti-abortion rights group? Even though the law of the land is that women have the right to choose, anti-abortion rights groups have fought to undermine the law in a large number of states. Basically, they have succeeded in defacto anti-abortion.
How about the immigrant? Namely, the Latino population who lives in fear that they will be randomly picked up and deported.
How about the white Evangelical Christian who believes the United States should be led by the Bible and feels that the Christian religion should rule the government of this land?
Here’s a really oppressed group, the corporate titans or the 1%. They feel the taxes are too high, the regulations too many and that they are not put on this earth to provide welfare donations.
I am sure I have left a few groups out. Perhaps we could add the Veterans. They protest against poor health care services.
It seems the United States has turned into a country of angry protesters. We have created a ringmaster, carnival barker who loves the scene and wants more of it. We have allowed the bull to enter the china shop and smash all the dishes. Who will rebuild the country when all the dishes are broken?
I would imagine this will continue for a few more years until 2019 when the nation is very weary of its leadership. In the meantime, we can expect more protests, more pardons, more disrespect for good governance and more excuses. It seems humans react with ice to the truth and with fire to the falsehoods.
Congress can’t act because it won’t act. The Republican party has turned into a coalition party and can get very little done. The democrats are still ill prepared and are still in the deer-in-the-headlight pose. The Ringmaster has the microphone and waving hands. Get that man a cigar and an elephant. On second thought, protect the elephant. Give him a donkey!
Gail: I have been meaning to write for quite some time, but Jan has expressed how I feel very well. Please stick to the astrology aspects and delete your
personal feelings about politics.
Gail – I have enormous respect for your expertise in numerology. I am very disappointed that your posts are becoming more and more political in nature with a very strong personal bias. You are certainly entitled to your opinions but this seems like an inappropriate place to be promoting them. We can’t go anywhere these days without being bombarded with other people’s annoyances and political posturing. For instance, I go to sporting events to watch the game, not to become embroiled in political demonstrations. I happen to agree with Kim, but I subscribe to your newsletters because I am interested in numerology and your wisdom on that subject, not because I am seeking political debate. Even if I was, email is not a particularly good venue to express, fully explore or understand concerns with a view toward mutual respect and collaborative problem solving.
Someone else said that thinking is too difficult so we judge. I like that. I didn’t want to be part of “the whole catastrophe”, retired y decamped to Costa Rica. I’m learning from my neighbors how to be human again. I could no longer be human and in community in my SF home. It has been a loving challenge. Slowing down.
When are we going to discuss the following!!!
Focal Point: The Declaration of Independence of 1776 can be defined as follows….To rid ourselves of A Currency Dominated Society, its Social Ills, its Elitism and Royalty, and its Jealously Induced Class Distinctions. The actual Revolutionary War which took a toll on Family as did The Civil War, was fought to determine who The Bankers would be, and The Constitution they gave us was so bad we needed a Bill of Rights, The Tools of A Social Worker. Yet, today no one has any idea what Social Work is for The Bill of Rights has become Token Rights. We can say what ever we want to say as long as we do not mean it, and where is separation of Church and State when The Farmer who gets government farm subsidies builds a Church of his choice and gets Tax write offs. There were no political parties at the time of The Revolution, and today one could sum up the political parties with respect to Social Work as follows:
The Republican Party has no idea what Social Work is nor does it have the backbone to break the cycle of abuse that exists believing that Currency, the Mother Lode of Artificial Intelligence, can solve every thing.
The Democratic Party is making too much money off of The Abuse to ever break The Cycle of Abuse.
The Libertarian Party has no idea what a Libertarian Expression is.
Enjoyed reading this. It’s true we have a circus master… Even with Hurricane Harvey he was wearing a hat he sells, more of his promoting and profiteering, he talked about the crowd size and so forth while people have lost everything and he shows no empathy for their loss, only how it will be a win if they can do the job right. Meanwhile back in Texas with the storm about to hit again they have many industrial sites on the water’s edge and one company that makes plastics has lost all means, including back-up generators due to the flooding, to keep their product cool and that means there could be a fire or explosion at any time so they’ve evacuated the last of their employee’s… there’s more devastation to come. Hurricane Katrina was 12 years ago today (August 29th – it’s almost midnight and this will post as August 30th) and they are still recovering.
The “both sides” thing was a great diversion. If a Muslim had been driving the car that the “Unite the Right” guy purposely plowed into the crowd and killed Heather Meyer and injured 19 others, it would have been deemed a Terrorist Attack, but he won’t call it what it was: Domestic Terrorism. One of the “Unite the Right” guys shot a man in the crowd and they caught him on tape and he’s now in custody. The right-wing groups teach white supremacy and hatred and one of them that was on “Vice” talked about how a lot more people will die, and then they put out a warrant for him and he cried like a baby.
Our president sews division because that is part of his plan and I will stand up with all those he attacks. He wants to divide and conquer so he can have authoritarian rule and I will deny him that in every way I can. United we stand for democracy.
As for some of these religious leaders through the years we’ve had a number of these pastors who’ve come out against gay people who we later find out had sex with other men. Hypocrites. They preach not to judge but then they judge everyone and tell them how to live. They fight against abortion but they want to take away any financial support a mother needs to raise her child.
There is so much hate in Trump’s heart. He spews hate (fear) to his crowd about Muslim bans, and building walls (which the audio tape of him talking to the Mexican President where Trump told him even though you’re not going to pay for the wall just stop talking about that you won’t pay for the wall, was insightful) and he is so emotionally needy that he holds rallies so people, who hate (fear) the same people as he does, can come together to bestow love on him. But then Trump’s father was in the KKK so he learned hate (fear) as a child. At Charlottesville they chanted “Jews won’t replace us” “Blood and soil” things the Nazi’s said.
Learn about our country and race baiting. Very informative how dividing people serves the 1%.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLgIIjnpZyU
Gail,
I would like to address the comment made by Kim. How can you honestly say Trump has done more good than bad?
He has made this country so devisive and has us turn on one another. Yet, he sits in his Ivory Tower with no empathy or understanding for the common man.
As for your comment regarding, I, I, I and me, me, is all the that Trump speaks of…himself and how great he is. He needs to create rallies just to feed his obnoxious ego.
But to stay on point, your comment about being objective …Your comment regarding Trump is clearly taking sides rather then providing an objective perspective.
Gail- Thank You for the Post. It truly brought some issues to light and some thoughtful reflection.
Right now I am chuckling to myself. Gail has been unmasked. Readers are in a cranky mood. Everyone named in these groups feel “oppressed” because they are not in control. BTW, a glaring ommission from the list was the alt left, those paragons of political correctness.
So here is how I see it. All of these groups have one belief in common: life isnt fair. Life isnt equal. Well who the heck said life was that way in the first place? It is a total myth. Life is NOT fair; life is NOT equal. It is unreasonable and just a bit “off” to expect life to be what it is NOT. That is not to say we look the other way when we see injustice, suffering or cruelty. Instead we look for ways to right the wrongs and bring injustice to the light. The one character deficiency I see in so many of these groups is the inability or unwillingness to adapt to life’s sebacks. When one is unable or unwilling to cope with disappointments, are victimhood and feeling “oppressed” far behind?
Thank you Debbie and Kim. I’m an adult, male, caucasian, pro-choice, Midwestern, Independent/moderate Republican with scores of passport entries and a lifetime of lessons of experience. I respect and welcome diverse points of view and opinions. I’m not oppressed nor am I marching, protesting, breaking stuff or throwing a fit. But I am disappointed, angry and insulted that therefore I’m automatically assumed to be or labeled as despicable, elitist, misogynist and racist by many whose avowed MO is resisting and obstructing. I don’t think historic great leaders like the Founders, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, MLK, JFK or Bush #1 would approve. For millennia history well documents “Elevating commitment to a failed course of action”. Who/where are today’s great leaders? Quick…name 5…or one. No cigar. I believe these times will pass and the quiet but spirited, moderate center which will eventually return, prevail and endure.
I’m tired of all of it. If you’re displeased DO something besides acting like a jackass in the streets & yes, I mean all sides !!!
If you are that unhappy in this country there are several things you can do.
1. Stop blaming everyone , for your situation & take a look at yourself & see how YOU, can improve your life.
2. Travel & see the world & then come home & realize how blessed you are to live here….it CAN be MUCH worse !!!!
3. Stop your moaning & groaning & get out of the house, off the protest lines & go out & DO something to make a POSITIVE change in the areas that disturb you. Words, rarely change things. Actions DO.
4. Try being positive each day, try doing or giving to someone else, w/o expecting anything in return…even if it’s a kind word or smile…it does help & helping someone else, can make your issues seem less distressing & trivial when you help someone in worse shape than you.
5. Even though you might dislike ANY administration, if your unhappy, write your representatives & voice your opinion. In the mean time…try to come together on at least one idea & promote positivity, compromise & change.
6. If you’re extremely wealthy, STOP, hiding your assets off shore so you don’t have to pay your fair share of taxes.
7. If you’re a person that is not handycapped mentally or physically, get a job !!! You are owed nothing.
( #’s 6 & 7 are thieves & steal from all other Americans)
8. Give Up
Gail,
I’m not surprised you lay blame on our president…after all…it’s become routine to blame him for everything, even though what he’s been able to do so far has been more good than bad. Isn’t that what you mean by listing the “I’m a victim” “I’m offended” memes perpetuated by regressives who refuse to accept personal responsibility for their choices and actions? If you compare a Trump pardon for a misdemeanor to the pardons given by Obama and Clinton, you’ll discover they both pardoned people who had committed much worse crimes….but of course the media, and you, won’t cover that. He spoke the truth that all groups in Charlottesville were bad. He speaks more truth than Obama ever did. Obama was the liar in chief while he was in office and is probably still lying. Yes, Mr. Trump not as “eloquent” but he doesn’t always use the crutch of a TelePrompTer either. He also doesn’t refer to himself constantly as the former president did. You don’t hear “I, I, I, me, me, me” from Mr. Trump. It’s clear to me you have chosen sides rather than being an objective reporter.
Thank you for that article. Indeed we are oppressed. The language of hate is everywhere and it’s debilitating. We can only speak out and resist. We will either end up a wonderful all inclusive country or we will end up a third world dictatorship. Could tip either way.