What has become of us?
People used to live in small communities, and work together for the benefit of the entire community. Much like an ant pile. Ants all work together to build their castle, protect their queen and eggs, raise their young, and gather food. Native American Indian tribes would all work together to be a functioning unit for survival. The men would go out and hunt and protect the tribe, the women would tend to the children and community.
Now-a-days, things have gotten so disconnected and divided among people, that even family units struggle to stay together. More and more often you see people having to fend entirely for themselves for survival; it's especially hard for single women with children. Hardly anyone really knows their neighbors. Most people actually seem to live in fear of each other thanks to the media driving fear-based belief systems into people.
Almost everyone I know is working INSANE hours at their jobs. Hardly anyone has a "9-5" job anymore. Jobs are demanding more and more from people. Lots of companies even make people PAY to have their jobs!!! (Examples: Waiters and Waitresses, strippers). I personally think it's so wrong that somehow these big corporations, and even many smaller companies, have found ways to actually charge their employees to work. I remember seeing a video from the Great Depression, where a rich man who owned a large company was taking advantage of his desperate workers. They'd work 12 hour days, and be charged to use the equipment to work, it was subtracted from their already meager pay! One night when I was a waitress back in 2010, I had to "tip-out" $76 from MY tips to pay the bussers and bartender. I was furious! Shouldn't these restaurants pay their employees, and not their employees pay other employees? It doesn't make sense.
What we allow will continue, and get worse. What YOU allow will continue.
And another thing, no one can depend on the integrity of their employers to keep them on long enough to collect retirement. I have been continuously hearing new stories from people and friends how they were mysteriously laid off once they got into their late 50s in age. So there is a severe disregard for the care of our elderly in today's culture. Social Security is going broke from fraud and overuse, so many of the baby-boomers face poverty upon retirement. One of my old friends (who has passed-away) was a war vet, and a hero, but somehow only was receiving $460/month to survive on before he died. Did you know that illegal aliens can run across the border, have babies here ("anchor babies"), claim they have a disability (something like ADHD), and be able to collect Social Security? Yep. I know because I've seen it happening when I worked for a nonprofit agency. And pretty much any parent these days can claim their kids have ADHD (aren't most kids naturally hyper anyway because they're kids and just want to play and get their parent's attention?!)
Families and relationships are suffering, if not nearly impossible to last with all of the pressures of career and money expectations placed on people by society and religious institutions. I don't know many people with lasting relationships anymore.
Alcohol and drug use have become a widespread problem, with many people indulging all day everyday. People don't even know what the hell is in alcohol. It's the one thing that's sold liberally everywhere and doesn't have to have ingredients posted on the label. And people wonder why they feel sick, bloated, throw-up, get "beer-bellies", high blood sugar, diabetes, and even die from alcohol poisoning. That's because it's poison! I remember reading some history book that said that the Indians were heavily conquered by the Europeans because of the introduction of alcohol (among other sordid tactics like giving the Indians blankets tainted with the disease polio). Alcohol is a problem that is effecting most people everywhere, regardless of age, race, religion, ethnicity, or ability. Seems like you can barely go anywhere without alcohol being offered or sold. Almost every family probably has an alcoholic that they have to deal with. My family has 2!
Back before the civil war, it was rich white men that enslaved black people and controlled them on big plantations. In present time, we are all slaves. With the establishment of the banking, money, debt, and interest system, we're all slaves to bankers. They control our government. When I was in downtown Los Angeles one night, I looked up at all of the majestic tall skyscrapers, and in that moment I realized all except one of them had the names of banks on them. They like to make themselves known as the rulers of the people. It's all one big money game that we're all caught in the web of. And if you have a bank account, credit cards, and do online bill pay: your entire life is known by the banks, and whoever wants to pay for a background check on you. There are such powerful supercomputers that collect every bit of information stored online about you. I've seen them. I worked briefly for the government processing applications for food stamps....and I was shocked at the background checks they'd pull up on people. Your bank accounts, your employer, your paystubs, your family names, your addresses, your car and home titles, your criminal records, even off-shore bank accounts. It's all there. Big Brother is watching you. Just letting you know.
~Mandelyn Reese~
The LA Street Angel
4-15-14
