As an ignorant bystander, I still have a voice. My gut feeling is that prejudice has roots that are so deep that many layers of the onion need to be peeled off. One layer which is particularly stubborn is our ignorant perception that there is not enough. In the USA today this is cause for concern. Many of us have too much of everything or at least too much of the wrong things. We are drowning in stuff. In many places second hand stores and Goodwill Industries can't even accept new donations. They are buried. Self storage places are filled o the gills and many are not even bothering with small units anymore. The demand is for huge units. So much shit to keep. It would be hard to argue that fat isn't a huge problem. OK so much of it is high fructose corn syrup and not really food but while suffering the diseases of junk food, we still endure the hunger and pain of millions of kids who have nothing. We cut food stamps. We fear immigration because the newcomers will take away from what we have. I may be one of the people paying billions a year to get rid of fat, but I will not share my food with a hungry child especially if she has a darker skin color.
If we could pray once a day Lama Marut's favorite mantra, "I have enough." we might start to feel a shift. Every religion has some ingredient that boils down to "Give and you shall receive." It makes sense.
We could practice finding happiness in the well being of others. This little practice can generate a lot of happiness which is what we crave, isn't it? Must we always think that distraction gives happiness, especially if we can fool ourselves into thinking it makes us special? One genius of Steve Jobs was to give a billion iPhone users to conceit that they we uniquely special to own this device. Or as Disney Land gets pricier, even as millions go, you get the illusion of privilege from the idea that millions can't do it. Never mind that Disney is up there with with worst labor exploiters on planet earth. I can have my day of distraction standing in line and it is better because others can't have it.
I am not a Communist or even a Socialist. I don't think we have hit upon an "ist' that works yet. One reason is that our deep down inner attitude is deeply flawed. We have to be better than someone to feel better about ourselves. This doesn't make sense.
I suspect that the place to start to heal the nightmare that is currently unfolding in Paris, in Australia, in the USA, in Syria, In Yemen, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and so on, would be to make a change in the Palestinian/Israeli situation. That seems to be the microcosm of the macrocosm. It is not impossible. It can be done. It is probably simple. I fear that nothing on the world stage can get better until this tiny piece of geography is resolved. That should be the shining light on the hill, the beacon that leads others to finding peace. I vote for Jesus, Mohammed, and Moses to all land at the same moment and put some common sense in front of the intransigent humans. If we want happiness we are going about it in the wrong way. If that isn't obvious to everyone, then we are in deeper trouble than I can imagine. "I have enough."
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