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Edited on Sun Sep-30-07 11:32 AM by Lorien
public is generally incurious as to why we're in Iraq. They don't want to believe that we're there for oil and to allow certain corporations to raid the treasury because that would equal a corrupt government, which would equal a corrupt Nation, which would, in their eyes, make them also corrupt and imperfect-and that won't be tolerated.
"A poverty of spirit". Perfectly said. When mainstream America talks about what's great about their country, somewhere at the head of the list is how we can "afford a great quality of life" (lots of "stuff"). Can each of us afford great health care? No. A good education? No. But we can afford the latest gizmo from China at Wal-Mart that everyone is talking about. We as a nation work ourselves sick at jobs that usually mean little to us to become better and better consumers-because the lie that material goods bring happiness is pounded into our heads every day. Now the bill is due; the planet is dying from all of our consumption and the majority of Americans are hugely in debt. Has it made us happier? Are we more connected to one another because of it? Do we feel personally fulfilled? No, I suspect that more and more of us do indeed feel a "poverty of spirit" as we become more stressed, more disconnected from one another and from nature, and more exhausted and disillusioned by our roles as consumers instead of as citizens and human beings.
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