More and More… and Less and Less

I listen to the speeches. All about the “soul of our nation”. The fight we are waging to save our country. The character of our unity. The forces arrayed against us inside our borders.

Those that don’t think like us. Behave like us. Believe like us…

Sounds like those on the other side. Same words. Same rhetoric. Same lies to drum up violence.

These lies to us are to prepare us to fight back. Their words are to incite them to start the war.

And all the while, we are asked to give more and more and more… and more.

A few pennies a day and we can feed a child. A few dollars and we can provide housing to someone in need. A few cans of food for our neighbors so they don’t go hungry. More in lease payments. More at the checkout counter for less groceries. More at the gas pumps.

Give more… and more… and more…

And yet, when it comes to our paychecks? To our healthcare? To our daily living expenses?

We can live with less. Less pay for the same work. Less pay for more work. Send our children to work. Take on another job. Live without benefits. Without healthcare. Without pension or retirement. Work until the day we die.

And do it on less than we had before because we can live on less… and less… and less…

But, somehow, while we live on less we must give more.

This wave of violent extremists didn’t appear overnight. They didn’t crawl out of some dark hole where no one knew they were hiding.

They’ve been groomed for generations by the same people who now demand we give more and live with less. They’ve been bred and cultivated and nurtured for this time.

They were made so those in power – those who always take more – could keep their power and use us as the bulwark to defend against their sins.

Those who dine on $5,000 meals paid for by “taxpayer money”. That’s us. We are the taxpayers! That is the money we should be happy to live without.

They shut down our government and still draw salary while we suffer. But we can live on less. They must have more.

And then they tell us we must stand ready to fight. Stand ready to defend. Stand ready to work harder to save this nation.

To fight for the “soul” of our country.

The country has no soul. It is land ruled by thieves and liars. It is an imbalanced world where the few take all and the rest are set upon each other like ravenous, wild dogs fighting for the last scraps on the floor.

Fighting over nothing while the few gorge on excess and leave the rest to rot far out of our reach.

Then they pat us on the head and tell us how good we are for surviving one more day on less…

And less… and less…

I have no answers for us. I have long since lost hope for this nation’s survival. It is a festering wound poisoning us slowly. Cutting us a little each day.

It is like being thrown from a ship into the heart of a storm. The only way out is through. We swim or we drown.

But we are not alone in those dark waters.

We do not have to live alone.

We do not have to die alone.

We caould swim together. Lean on each other. Give that little more to one another.

A hand of support. A word of kindness or encouragement.

A reminder that all life is seen and precious and worthy of existence.

They want us to see danger at every corner. See enemies all around us.

Prime us for their war.

They want to take every last inch of us.

And they will always want more.

I will not give it to them. I will swim through this storm.

And I will give more to you.

It may just be a kind word when I see you in pain. It may be that I stand beside you while others hurl insults or shame. It may be I speak up about hatred and bullying.

It may just be that I walk away instead of participating in the violence.

Because if we all walk away, then the one calling for violence will be alone. They will be exposed and shown for the weak cowards they’ve always been.

Alone they have no power.

Together we are strong.

I don’t believe a nation’s soul can be saved. I don’t think dirt corrupted by greed is worthy of our lives.

I do think we are worthy.

But we must also remember not to ask others to give more and more to us.

We must not ask others to live with less and less.

We must not become the plague which is killing us.

We must remember that we are all in this storm together.

And together, we can all make it to a better world.