I’m sick. Well, my son is sick literally. He’s got a fever and is generally not in good spirits. But I’m more figuratively sick. This morning, while visiting the doctor, she requested that we only give him the organic, hormone free whole milk. “But”, I protested,“a lot of the milk on the shelves these days say “our farmers pledge to use no artificial hormones.”” I guess the key word was “artificial”. She told me that recently she had attended a seminar at Harvard where the use of hormones in milk production was discussed. The industry has successfully lobbied to make it against the law to place a label stating that bovine hormones were not used in production. I guess that if the public was educated to the use of natural bovine hormones they might have a problem with it and it might just cut into the poor factory farmers bottom line. Turns out that the injection of “natural hormones” can jack up the production by 60x. Maybe telling people that artificial processes, that plump up the company’s profits, while in turn making us sicker, is just bad for business. This is just another example of how unbridled capitalism is protecting profits over the health and the welfare of it’s citizens. But actually, now that I think about it, it seems that a citizenry in poor health might just plump up another industry’s bottom line. Wow, what a great model for perpetual profits!! And just look at the banks now. “Thanks for setting us up with billions, but you’re really not profitable for us anymore, so we’re just going to turn our backs on you and let you suffer in our wake.”
The American government when run using the model that was intended isn’t really the great satan that it’s made out to be. However, government that’s effectively run by the rich and for the rich is. Unfortunately, that’s what we’re now facing. We can elect Presidents and legislators that claim to represent us until we’re blue in the face, but if even 10% of these politicians are the lap dogs of the corporatocracy, the people of this country will continue to be led under false pretenses. That’s almost the perfect definition of fascism.
I’m just going to come right out and say it. I love you Rush Limbaugh. After many years of despising your every word and cursing your every move, I’ve finally realized that my deep feelings for you aren’t hate, but love. I think my turn of heart came when I realized that your callousness and intolerance are simply the way you protect some raw nerve that sits deep in your soul. Somewhere along the lines you learned that the best way to protect yourself from the pain of being Rush Limbaugh was to turn your animosity outwards on the world around you. I see it now and I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner. The moral superiority that you claim God gave you made you feel a little less insignificant in the world. Finally, after all the years of feeling sad and empty inside, you were superior and the mere convenience of not being held into account by anyone other than your spiritual guide seems almost too perfect an excuse to give up. It should have been right there for me to see. The radical weight shifts, the prescription drugs, lashing out at people more successful than you; all meant to fill the void of being a sad person with a closet full of regret. Sure, you’re financially successful and you’ve definitely carved out a niche for yourself in a world that rewards a seething animosity for anything outside your narrow vision of good, but I’m wondering if you might be a happier person if you just had a little love in your life. So, while it was hard for me to come to terms with, I finally recognize that hatred for you will only make you stronger—almost like a violent storm that gains strength over warm waters. You and your cohorts will continue to prosper financially by feeding on your flock and burning the fields with your vitriol, but I truly hope, on your death bed, you’re able to look back on your life and feel as if you made this world a better place.
