Class-ism and a tolerance for murder

Let me begin by saying I believe we live in possibly the most hypocritical society on the planet.

This country was founded on the principal that all men are created equal; that we would gladly take in those who felt persecuted and betrayed by the limitations imposed on them by uncaring and self-serving bureaucracies.

As a government, we have failed to meet that promise, but as a society we have failed on a much deeper level. Democratic policies are not taking us down. Republican policies are not taking us down.

Class-ism, isolationism, and an increasing tolerance for murder is taking us down.

We spar over who deserves to live here while Wall Street pillages our investments.

We battle on abortion while the government hands even more of our money to the thieves in the name of keeping the ship afloat.

We fret and worry if we will make enough to survive, while others have simply given up.

There are people out there that want to take as many of us as possible into the afterlife. To them,  they are bestowing the gift of eternal freedom from this hell they believe we all experience on some level.

The rich count their coins as we load our bullets. The former know they will never be touched. The latter seek to protect themselves from their own neighbors.

And when wars become boring, we gather round the television to gape in astonishment at the unspeakable horrors perpetrated on the innocent by individuals who never have, nor ever will hold any value to human life.

Class-ism at its very core. Barren of soul, driven to madness by media, and completely unrelatable to other human beings, they huddle in basements and rent their U-Hauls in a twisted attempt to say to the world: “I know I am nothing. This is what I think of the rest of you.”

I know a self-made millionaire who used to say: “I’m a no better than you. You a no better than me”.

How many of us think on that level anymore?

There are far too many of us thumbing their noses at the drivers of 15 year-old cars, convenience store employees, and street musicians. Just surviving isn't good enough for us anymore. We are on a much higher plane of existence than this subspecies.

You people may serve us, but do not for a minute think we are equals in any way.

Think of the Roman gladiators sacrificing themselves in a celebration of gore in order to entertain the great unwashed while the wealthy watched with smug satisfaction, knowing the audience was, at least temporarily, diverted from the wretchedness of their existence.

Today, we have taken it a step further. We gather around the television to watch the latest slaughter of the innocent. We shake our heads in disbelief that men could stoop to this level of inhumanity. The network gets ratings, the sponsors sell more product, the owners invest in lobbies and campaigns, and the politicians puff out their chests and posture for the best sound byte to serve their master’s cause.

Our tolerance for murder is becoming far too great. As predictable as an approaching summer storm.

We spend too much time wondering how people can become this way and not enough time wondering if we are contributing to the problem.

And the problem is; we are looking straight into the eyes of unspeakable evil. And we feel powerless to stop it.

To find the true source of this evil is the first step towards eliminating it.

Look inward first. Did you flip off a driver on the road today? Did you admonish a bag boy for smashing your bread? Did you consider the wearily quiet and oft-ignored coworker might just be at the end of their rope? Did you brush against someone on the street today, and not bother to say "excuse me" because their clothes were from a resale shop?

For any of these people could be the one that wakes up tomorrow and decides they have had enough.

And God help you if you are in their path tomorrow morning.