5 worst problems in America today

I'm in a reflective mood, here at the beginning of 2008. I thought this would be an appropriate post. Here are the top 5 problems that I think face America today... other than the lack of sufficient tzatziki sauce on falafels, but that's obvious.

1. Corporate control of national policy.

Facilitated by a zombified, media-obsessed populous, American politics have become completely dominated by corporate interests. The reason for this is simple: Money wins elections, corporations have the most money, so politicians who are hostile to corporate interests are at a distinct disadvantage. In a sense, America can now be described as an entity whose purpose and goal is is make the rich richer, at whatever cost. We have achieved this state slowly since around the 1950s, but it has been dramatically accelerated as a result of the elections of 2000 and 2004. We have become a nation by the People, of the People, and for Corporate Interests. Our national policy is defined by the profit motive, rather than the common good. Subsequently, we've managed to alienate ourselves from the entire world. It would be nice to be able to blame this squarely on the Republicans, whose virtual platform has been to hand over control of America to corporations. Not only that, but somehow they have managed to convince people that it is in their own interests, or weirder, that it is somehow moral to promote such policies. But Democrats have been utterly complicit. Hillary Clinton has been defensive about her cozy relationship with corporations, saying recently, "Corporations are people too". No, Hillary, they are not. They are perhaps necessary, yet intrinsically evil, artificial entities. If I am forced to vote for her, it will be with nose held tight. Reducing corporate influence in politics has been the virtual cornerstone of John Edwards' campaign. Very cool. And very cool that that message apparently resonates with so many people. I'm just not sure I believe him (EDIT: From the latest email from the Kucinich campaign: "He made half a million dollars in a single year for attending a few meetings for Fortress and has invested a substantial part of his own personal wealth in the hedge fund whose portfolios are responsible for sub-prime predatory lending practices, Medicare privatization, and an entire range of corporate sharp dealings that are driving the middle class into poverty" I thought I smelled a rat). Barach's anti-corporate message is a bit more toned down. But I doubt there would be that much difference between the two, policy-wise. The only reason I'd rather have Obama is because he's black. How's that for reverse racism? But also because he was Kucinich's 2nd choice in Iowa. If I can't have Kucinich, I'm hoping for Obama/ Edwards in 08.
Here and here are two books about American policies whose only purposes are to enrich the super-rich at the expense of the middle class.

2. Industrial meat animals

We can never call ourselves a moral people while factory farms exist in our country.

3. Environmental Destruction

All of the plastic we have ever manufactured is still here. All of the plastic we have ever manufactured will be here for about 100,000 years. Our water is full of plastic. There are entire species of sea birds that are threatened with extinction from eating plastic. Plastic does not degrade. It just disintegrates into smaller and smaller particles. In the Future, Earth will be coated in a film of it. It will pervade and infiltrate everything. I chose that example because few people even know about it. And it freaks me out. I mean, what are we doing? There are indigenous peoples whose way of life is threatened by mercury in the fish that they have eaten for centuries. The mercury is discharged from coal-fired electrical plants in America. We're still doing that. I have to get goofed out every time I decide to eat a fish because I know its full of metal? We need to stop. IN the news today: Naples Italy is out of places to put its trash. As a result, people are burning it, thereby releasing dioxins that end up in the grass, and therefore in the cows, and therefore in Naples' famed mozzarella cheese. The cheese is unsaleable, and is being trashed. We can't keep living like this. There are only so many places to put trash. Every facet of our lives is unsustainable. From brushing our teeth, to driving to work, to coming home for dinner, we leave a path of destruction.

4. Apathetic, TV obsessed populous

Every time I hear a seemingly intelligent adult talking about Brittney Spears as if she matters, I'm just blown away. I don't think this country can improve until people wake up a bit.

5. This one's a little harder to define. Let's call it: Alienation from our roots in nature, or from our spiritual foundations.

Regrettably, I'm teaching a high school class right now, and I'm trying to teach them something about native flora. So, the topic of native forests tends to come up frequently. It didn't take me long to realize that many of them had apparently never set foot in an unspoiled natural setting. I think that such a way of living is much more prevalent in their generation, but it pervades our culture in general. Most people spend their lives in a kind of virtual saran wrap, squeezing their food from plastic tubes while flopped down in front of the tube. They have no connection to their foundations. I think that makes people kinda crazy on a really fundamental level. Virtually everything we touch is synthetic. We don't see the plants or animals that our food comes from. We birth our children while drugged and separated from the experience of it. We have no time to reflect, to consider our existence and the meaning of it, and hence we are unable to fully realize our own humanity. I think most people in my generation or older at least began life with some kind of connection with the natural world. Kids today mostly lack that foundation. That worries me.

Not-So-Honorable-Mention: Rhythm clappers