CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN. THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM.

Written by: Rick Staggenborg, MD on Oct 29, 2009 8:36 AM PDT

This essay is dedicated to the proprietress of the Tibet Nepal Galleria in Pasadena, California. She kindly took the time to explain to me that Hinduism is monotheistic, in that the Gods of the Hindu pantheon are all manifestations of Vishnu, the one God. This was a key piece of my understanding of the relationship between Hindu belief, other monotheistic religions, and Buddhism.

May we all have the wisdom of the avatar Ganesha, the Elephant God, who places and removes obstacles to our actions, in order to assure that Vishnu will remain whole in this Universe. Buddha taught that we are all part of the eternal One, connected by what Christians call the Holy Spirit. I pray that they are all right, and that we may someday achieve a true understanding of the wisdom revealed to Muhammed, who gave us the last chapter in the Book. May Jews, Christians and Muslims remember that we are all “People of the Book.”

Trying to grasp the problems with the American government, I am reminded of the story of the twelve blind monks trying to describe an elephant by touch alone. As you may imagine, as they were all feeling different parts of the elephant, they came away with radically different impressions of its nature. Only by effectively communicating could they bridge the gap between their individual perceptions of the reality of the elephant could they come closer to understanding its true Form. In a similar fashion, only by abandoning our preconceptions and approaching each other in a spirit of mutual respect can we hope to understand this beast we call our government. Then we are in a position to harm it, lest rogue elements use its brute force to strip us of our right to self-government.

Fortunately, by simply adopting this attitude and working together to understand the problems in our government, we will also hold the key to solving them, if we are truly a moral people who only want what is best for the country and everyone in it. Yes, that includes Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Karl Rove and all their criminal co-conspirators. I am sorry if that disappoints anyone, but that is the only way to correct the course of the Ship of State in time to avoid a collision with the rapidly melting iceberg threatening us all. There is no time for seeking retribution and fighting amongst ourselves on deck, while the tiller spins wildly. There is a difference between acknowledging these crimes and perpetuating the cycle of blame and recriminations that has helped lead to the brink of catastrophe. If you are so blinded by your anger that you lack the reason to see that we must stand behind our President in order to push him in the right direction, then you are missing the point.

Some aspects of the problem are revealed in pieces by the corporate press, and our task is to make sure that they present enough information to put together the picture of the entire beast. This information is already available in standard sources in magazines, newspapers, radio and even on television. For those who understand how to use a computer to sift through the misinformation and find the truth, the task is even easier, and we must teach our young that it is worth the effort. Once we have a common image in mind of what America is and should be, it is easy to explain to those too busy, discouraged, confused, lazy or complacent to put the picture together on their own. Even those motivated by naked self interest alone will understand the need for concerted action to save America and the planet if we connect the dots for them.

From my study of what is wrong with the United States government, the elephant in the room that none of our politicians want to fully acknowledge is the problem of corporate personhood. If the American government is an elephant, then it has gone rogue. Those who understand that a Constitutional amendment to end the ability of corporations to buy our Congress know where to strike to fell it if need be. Rogues must be confronted and the threat they pose neutralized. The alternative is to continue to let international corporate terrorists control it by leading it by its nose, which always follows the money.

In the words of the New Seekers:




I'd like to build the world a home
and furnish it with love,
grow apple trees and honey bees
and snow white turtle doves.


I'd like to teach the world to sing
in perfect harmony.
I'd like to hold it in my arms
and keep it company.


I'd like to see the world for once
all standing hand in hand
and hear them echo through the hills
for peace throughout the land.


Thats the song I hear.
Let the world sing today
a song of peace
that echoes on
and never goes away.


I'd like to teach the world to sing
in perfect harmony.


I'd like to teach the world to sing
in perfect harmony.


I'd like to build the world a home
and funish it with love,
grow apple trees and honey bees
and snow white turtle doves.


I'd like to teach the world to sing
in perfect harmony.
I'd like to hold it in my arms
and keep it company.














Rick Staggenborg, MD


Founder, Soldiers For Peace International


Portland, Oregon

CHAPTER NINETY THREE. LET’S GET THE PARTY STARTED

 Written by: Rick Staggenborg, MD on Jun 6, 2010 4:41 PM PDT

This essay is dedicated to Hugo Chavez, one guy who really knows how to plan a Party. He starts by inviting everyone to come and check out the scene, and then gets them jazzed up by playing them the tune that is music to their ears: In a democracy, everyone has equal rights and the people are taken care of and protected from the international corporate terrorists who would like nothing better than to silence the music.

His Party is so popular that no one else in Venezuela even thinks about throwing their own. As long as he stays in the groove and keeps the music lively, they have no reason to ask for a different D.J.

American politics is almost unique among the self-described democracies in that there are only two major Parties, the Demicans and the Republicrats. Both of these are like professional wrestlers, paid for by the same manager to look mean and as if they are fighting for something more important than making money for their promoters. 

These corporations were created for the purpose of making money, not to be responsible citizens or job machines. That would not be so bad if they at least did create decent jobs that provided health care and other basic necessities like a living wage, but they do not. Virtually the only jobs they create are their own and a huge number of jobs that would be unnecessary in a sane society.

In Europe and elsewhere, the model of government is Parliamentarian. Some are bicameral like the British, and some are unicameral, like the French General Assembly. The assumption in the bicameral system is that there must be an Upper and Lower House, with the Upper House representing the “natural” aristocracy and the “Lower” House the People. In a parliamentary system, there are many Parties that must form coalitions in order to make the concessions necessary to operate a government in a pluralistic society.

The American model of government is one in which it was assumed that the people who came together from the various states to fight the corporate power personified by the East India Company would continue to work together for the greater good as the new nation wrestled with the problems of any new government. 

It was the hope that the citizens of our nation would stay wary of the pitfalls of democratic government and carry out their responsibilities as watchdogs of liberty and masters of the government they had created. The great debate between liberals and conservatives of that day and age was whether the people could be trusted to be the masters of their own fate. The liberal compromise with the conservatives was that the new government must have an Upper Chamber populated by the “natural” aristocracy that was naturally composed of the favored sons of the wealthiest Americans of the time, who had the education and leisure time to run the state governments who picked the Senators representing their respective states.

Washington warned Americans to beware the rise of factionalism, but it was inevitable in such a system. With excessive power granted to small states and to a small group of wealthy men who represented their States rather than the United States once the immediate threat of annihilation by England was past, the die was set for Partisan conflict. 

The dispute was between those who believed that only a strong central government could provide for the common defense and those who feared the concentration of power in a federal government in such a system. The early conservatives were represented by Adams, who successfully prevented efforts by proto-Republicans in the Federalist Party to make war with our French allies following their bloody Revolution but did so at the cost of the first assault on the Constitution in the form of the Alien and Sedition Act.

The Alien and Sedition Act implicitly rejected Jefferson’s assertion that all men are created equal, creating different rights for citizens of other countries within our border and those who were born or naturalized within the boundaries of the granfaloon that we labeled the “United” States. It further created two classes of citizens, those who agreed with the Federalist Party and Adams himself, and those who risked jail to maintain their newly recognized freedom of speech. 

In trying to avoid war, Adams let his fear of the “mob” allow him to justify his trashing of our first rights. A similar Act was later used to imprison former Presidential candidate Eugene Debs, who threatened the power elite of his day with his calls from a national platform for equality and justice for all the people of America. The Espionage Act was of course passed during the nightmare of WWI.

The reward for Debs speaking out against the “War to End All Wars” that was in reality a clash of international corporate Titans was an imprisonment that led to his early death. It is no small irony that this crime was committed by an avowed advocate of world peace who was in fact a racist and who chose to enter a war he won re-election with a promise to stay out of, while Debs was ultimately freed by a Republican corporatist who was generally conceded to be among the worst of all American Presidents before King George IV.

All of this should serve to illustrate the fallacy of trusting one Party or one man with the power to decide our collective fates. If any Party deserves to be heard, it is a Party whose leaders refuse to accept corporate money to reach office. While this is not possible for the Presidency in this day and age, it is demonstrably possible at the level of the Senate and certainly the House of Representatives. All it takes is for the People to understand the importance of this principle and the idea that anyone willing to submit him- or herself to the inevitable corporate attack on any such promising campaign is someone who should be listened to.

It is my hope that the Parties who represent these ideals will soon come together to form a fusion Party representing the People and not the corporations. I humbly submit that my preference would be to call it the American Party. I further hope that other nations will follow this example, one which has already been set by Hugo Chavez, South America’s latter-day Bolivar.

In the words of Kool and the Gang:




Yahoo! This is your celebration.
Yahoo! This is your celebration.
Celebrate good times, come on! Let's celebrate.
Celebrate good times, come on! Let's celebrate.


There's a party goin' on right here.
A celebration to last throughout the years.
So bring your good times and your laughter too.
We gonna celebrate your party with you.


Come on now,
Celebration!
Let's all celebrate and have a good time.
Celebration!
We gonna celebrate and have a good time.


It's time to come together.
It's up to you, what's your pleasure?
Everyone around the world,
come on!


Yahoo! It's a celebration.
Yahoo!
Celebrate good times, come on!
It's a celebration.
Celebrate good times, come on!
Let's celebrate.


We're gonna have a good time tonight.
Let's celebrate, it's all right.
We're gonna have a good time tonight.
Let's celebrate, it's all right.


Baby...
We're gonna have a good time tonight. Ce-le-bra-tion.
Let's celebrate, it's all right.
We're gonna have a good time tonight. Ce-le-bra-tion.
Let's celebrate, it's all right.
Yahoo!
Yahoo!


Celebrate good times, come on! Let's celebrate.
Celebrate good times, come on!
It's a celebration!


Celebrate good times, come on! Let's celebrate.
Come on and celebrate, good times, tonight. Celebrate good times, come on!
'Cause everything's gonna be all right.
Let's celebrate, celebrate good times. Come on!
Let's celebrate...






Rick Staggenborg, MD


Portland, Oregon