Day: July 4, 2013

The True Causes Of Poverty, And Do Not Judge Harshly Nor Forget Our Responsibility To Those Who Are Poor!

Ronald 6 Comments

Despite all of the condemnation and harsh judgments that are too often expressed toward poor people, it is a sin of the Judeo-Christian ethic to have such thoughts, and to forget our responsibility to the less fortunate among us!

We must never forget the true causes of poverty, which include:

Job Loss
Single Motherhood
Working a Minimum Wage Job
Major Medical Illness Or Tragic Accident
Outsourcing into a lower wage job
Disability
Death of Spouse
Divorce

All of the above can happen to anyone, no matter how much fortunate people try to deny it. And to abandon people in trouble by cutting food stamps, wanting to get rid of the minimum wage rather than raise it, trying to deny health insurance to those who need it, not trying to make housing conditions better for the needy, and basically dismissing them as an annoyance to be avoided, is to work against the basic tenets of what Judaism and Christianity promote!

There is no greater contribution one can make than to work to deal with the scourge of poverty, and in America, there is no excuse for its continuation, affecting one out of six Americans!

Sad Independence Day: Reality Of Assault On Rights Of Women, Gays, Immigrants, African Americans, And Those Less Fortunate

Ronald 5 Comments

As we celebrate the 237th Independence Day, and appreciate what ir represents, there is an unprecedented attack going on in many states and among Republican members of Congress to take away the hard earned rights of various groups of vulnerable Americans, and to deny the freedom and liberty that the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights represents!

Women’s right to their reproductive lives and their fundamental health are being assaulted by Republican state legislatures and Governors in a rapid, non transparent way, and shutting off opposition in states including Texas, Ohio, North Carolina at present, and in other states in the recent past, including Virginia, North Dakota, Arkansas and Kansas!

The attempt to deny equality of rights and privileges to gay Americans is in full swing in many of the “Red” or Republican states, and the level of hate against these groups by political and religious spokesmen is unprecedented!

The fight against dealing with the presence of immigrants who would have to meet strict standards to move toward citizenship, and with increased border security and building of a wall between Mexico and the United States, is in full swing, including assault on the courageous Republicans trying to resolve this issue in a fair and just manner, including Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who has been subjected to extremist Tea Party types who have declared war on him.

The move of many Southern states toward creating new barriers for people to vote, with the aim to cut the vote of minorities, the elderly, the disabled and college students, is in full swing forward since the Supreme Court ruled that there was no more racism or discrimination in voting in those states, when it is clear what the motivation of those states really is! The states of Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas are already, rapidly, working toward new restrictions, free to do so, in their minds, because of what the Republican Supreme Court majority did last week!

And, of course, 23 states, at least, are refusing to expand Medicaid for those less fortunate, who have no health care coverage as things stand, except in emergency situations in emergency rooms, at a much more costly fee, and not necessarily available to all!

So the battle for freedom, human and civil rights, justice, and equality continues, even as we can celebrate the great experiment of the United States, seen as a paragon around the world, but still needing a lot of work to bring about the “more perfect Union”!

July 4th: Its Symbolism And The Egyptian Military Coup

Ronald 8 Comments

As we celebrate our freedom and liberty today on the 237th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, we are thankful for the fact that we have always had a constitutional government, based on the rule of law, and that we have never had the military intervene in our government, never had them interfere with our democratic system of government!

So therefore, anyone who believes in our system of government must be greatly alarmed at events in Egypt!

The overthrow of Mohammed Morsi by the Egyptian military is disturbing, and it should not matter over the fact that Morsi was the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, as we are not going to be able to dictate to any sovereign nation that their leader cannot be a Muslim, even of an extremist element, as it is none of our business who they elect!

The important point here is that Morsi was elected in a free and fair election by the people of Egypt, and the only way to remove him is in a constitutional manner, not by the use of force by the military, which historically all over the world is anti democratic by nature!

Morsi was not imposed on the country, but rather ELECTED, and to remove him summarily is not acceptable, and Barack Obama, while realizing that nothing can be done by us regarding what has already happened, has rightfully called for a quick return of the rule of law and a new government elected by the people and totally transparent in the process of the election, which means the Muslim Brotherhood has to be allowed to compete, and if the people vote them in, so be it!

Seeing what has happened makes one concerned that just because there is discontent does not mean illegal means can be used to overthrow governments. One can be sure that there are right wing Tea Party elements who would love to overthrow our President, and figure if they were to demonstrate in the millions as in Egypt, that it might lead our military to break our Constitution and stage a coup against our legally elected leadership.

Thank goodness on this Fourth of July that we have always, through thick and thin, tolerated our leadership of government, and never resorted to attempts to overthrow our form of government, although there was a small scale such attempt, which fortunately went nowhere, against Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934. But our military has always understood that they are subservient to civilian government, and obey the President of the United States, no matter his party or views!

We have a record of 237 years to uphold, and we should always take the same stand of support for other nations, even if we do not like their leadership, as to do otherwise would be total hypocrisy!