Erstwhile Urban Wanderer

February 14, 2008 – People are acting more and more uncivil, angry, depraved, irrational and erratic. What’s driving it?

By Dave Eriqat

I’m sensing these days that the world, and especially the United States, has become utterly depraved. It’s as if we collectively understand that something is seriously wrong with the world we live in, but haven’t a clue what to do about it. So everybody is reacting, or more precisely, lashing out against whatever or whoever is handy.

In just the last few days I’ve observed the following:

• In Utah, after watching a movie, a man demanded that another man reimburse him for the price of the movie ticket because the second man was talking during the previews, but not during the film! When the talker refused to pay – the complainant should have taken the issue up with the theatre management anyway – the complainant pulled out a police badge and proceeded to assault and then arrest the talker! The cop also assaulted the talker’s girlfriend when she attempted to intervene, throwing her down the stairs.

• In Florida a cop was suspended for dumping a quadriplegic man out of his wheelchair and onto the floor! The reason? The insolent man refused to stand up when ordered to do so!

• In Baltimore a cop assaulted a 14 year old kid for “disrespecting” him.

• In England a man was arrested while waiting for a bus because a passerby thought his MP3 player was a gun. The police arrested the man, fingerprinted him, photographed him, took a sample of his DNA, and created a permanent police record for him, which stated that he had been arrested on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon! The poor fellow is now a criminal for life as far as the police are concerned, because in the eyes of the police suspicion is the same as guilt. (In truth, I believe the arrest is really part of a program to populate a biometric database containing information for all citizens, all of whom the government now views as criminals.)

• Yesterday I heard a United States Marine Corps officer on the radio – a radio station that airs Rush Limbaugh in its next program – openly and clearly invite Al Qaeda to attack the peace group known as Code Pink. I mean, this was a terrorist threat, clearly worded, broadcast on the radio, uttered by a member of the military, which is supposedly embroiled in a “war on terror.” Both the radio host and the Marine Corps guest talked about Code Pink as if it were a lethal enemy, deserving execution. I mean, you could practically see the foam around the mouths of these people on the air.

In addition, we see a presidential front runner, McCain, salivating over the prospect of more war, including bombing Iran. And he’s the leading Republican candidate! We see another front runner, Hillary, openly threatening to garnish our wages if we refuse to enrich her corporate pals by buying their health insurance, as if lack of health insurance is the problem with our health care system. Hello?! The problem with our health care system is that it’s a for-profit, business monopoly, protected by the government. Hillary’s proposal is just going to entrench and amplify the problems with the present system. And she’s arguably the leading Democratic candidate! The other potential Democratic candidate, Obama, advocates what will effectively be a world tax, ostensibly to help the poor, administered by the U.N. Oh yeah, that’s going to work out well. The corrupt United Nations getting its hands on billions of dollars of extra revenue, which will come directly our of our paychecks.

The people who work for the government – in law enforcement, the military, political offices, and even the courts – see themselves as separate from the “civilians.” They see themselves as superior and are utterly contemptuous of the civilians who they supposedly “serve” and whose labor pays their salaries. The people in government are stridently seeking total control over the lives of the populace. They seek to build a complete biometric record of every human being on the planet and use that data to control our travel, work, finances, and even our eating habits. And these people think this intrusive endeavor is not only reasonable, but somehow beneficial to our society!

Meanwhile, while some big businesses are reporting record profits, others are reporting record losses, and still others are brazenly begging the government for a handout, which the government seems heartily amenable to.

One smells desperation and fear everywhere, but especially among those in power.