Friends,
I get so tired of these stupid emails their senders purport to be from some person in the past whose words of wisdom are supposed to enlighten us today. Usually they are just another part of the Great Right Wing Noise Machine, albeit one that shows up in your inbox under the "Sent" name of a friend. Invariably, the point these chain letters is that Republicans are godly, hard-working, authentic people and Democrats are...are...well, are not any of those things. Usually, with a few minutes of the Google, the preposterous claims these emails make are shown to be false. Of course that doesn't stop their senders, but whatever.
My idea is to start one of these chain letters that supports our side, is truthful and something you wouldn't mind getting in your inbox. So, follow to the flip:
When I was helping remove rubble after the earthquake in Pakistan, I saw a quotation on a wall, a wall that previously had been seen only by the residents of the house, but now that half their house was missing I was able to read it, too. It read as follows:
"The Roots of Violence: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice, Politics without principles"
Mohandas Gandhi
I googled it and it is in fact from the Mahatma. Now, I know Gandhi was Hindu and Pakistan was the result of a very bloody separation between the Muslims of the northwest and the Hindus of the rest of British India, but there it was. And I got to thinking, as I sometimes do, about this quote. We are seeing, in our world today, lots of violence resulting from President Bush's decisions. How right was Gandhi about the roots of this violence? Let's take them one at a time, shall we?
"Wealth without work" President Bush is an obscenely wealthy man whose wealth is, even by his own admission, not his hard work. Most of his wealth comes from his interest in the Texas Rangers, an interest granted to him for virtually nothing in return for his leading the begging on behalf of the owners for a new stadium in Texas. His job there? Let's let him tell it: From the Forth Worth Star-Telegram, “The idea of making a land play, absolutely, to plunk the field down in the middle of a big piece of land, that’s kind of always been the strategy.”
"Pleasure without Conscience": President Bush is an admitted "heavy drinker", which is the gentleman's term for "alcoholic". Regular "heavy drinking" is practically the definition of pleasure without conscience, or at least without consciousness!! Seriously, the self-centeredness of the alcoholic, the willingness to sacrifice the happiness of those who love you for your own short term enjoyment is very much what Gandhi was talking about.
"Knowledge without character": George W. Bush - B.A. History, Yale '68; Harvard Business School MBA '75. Sounds like lots of knowledge to me. As for the character, let's see: he made a bunch of money off Harken energy stock, liquidating most of his holdings just before the stock tanked. Since he was a member of the board of directors, a position which made him privy to all financial details of the firm, this perfectly timed sale eventually brought on an SEC investigation, an investigation that was terminated when President Bush resigned his seat on the board of directors at the time his father was running for President. Now, I know his admirers are quick to exclaim he has "lots" of character, that he is honest and forthright and hardworking and just a regular Joe who has gotten where he is because of his sterling character, but selling something you know is not worth the price you are getting to someone unaware of that fact is closer to theft than evidence of strong character.
"Commerce without morality" When he worked for the Rangers, a big part of his job was to convince the people of the city of Arlington TX to use tax receipts to pay for a new stadium for his team. (Despite his incessant protests, the President has no problem with taxes, as long as someone else is paying and he benefits personally.) The bond issue was passed once veiled threats were made to move the team if it didn't pass. The site the owners chose was taken by, of all things, eminent domain justified by economic development, precisely the rationale the Supreme Court used in Kelo V. New London that the President criticized. The people whose property was taken sued because the price offered upon condemnation was insufficient. The court agreed and awarded them $7.5 million. Despite a previous agreement to cover just this sort of expense, the President and his partners refused to pay this judgment, leaving the taxpayers, once again, to cover for him.
"Science without humanity": Every scientist in the world believes that our use of fossil fuels is leading to an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The extra CO2 is also believed by virtually every scientist in the field to be leading to a net average increase of global surface temperatures. While the consequences of this global warming are uncertain, virtually all of these same scientists believe that the consequences are on balance likely to be negative for most of the world's population, and especially bad for the world's poorest people who live in the most marginal places: in floodplains, on the edges of deserts, along the shores of oceans. Yet, in the face of what could be a catastrophe for the world's poor, he continues to stall, dissemble and worst of all, encourage government paid scientists to lie in support of his agenda, removing considerations of humanity from the science WE pay for.
"Worship without sacrifice" The President is a very public worshiper. He even has his subordinates promote him as the "Pastor in Chief" among the faithful. Did this most publicly praying President not read the following from Matthew: "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Matthew 6:5 And where is the sacrifice that goes along with this "street corner" worship? I can't think of a time when the President has ever sacrificed anything of his own. No one in his inner circle or his family has sacrificed, either. He doesn't even ask US to sacrifice for his war. In fact, if you remember his exhortation after 9/11 was for Americans to, (I can't believe this as I write it,) was to GO SHOPPING! He simply told us to indulge ourselves after 9/11. Worship without sacrifice, indeed.
"Politics without principles" The President and his party have perfected politics without principles. Using surrogates to make spurious claims about the opposition, with draft dodgers attacking war heroes as unpatriotic, using the events of 9/11 as political wedge issues, refusing to take responsibility for his mistakes, abusing the trust of the American people, running up the largest unpaid bills in American history and a host of other unprincipled actions, the President has shown himself to be utterly without principle or scruple.
So, it seems Gandhi was right; this saying sums up the President perfectly. George Bush is the perfect example of all the evils that Gandhi saw would lead to violence; violence against the earth, our fellow citizens, our cherished culture and traditions, even our very Constitution itself.
Please pass this along to everyone you know. We must redeem ourselves and our great nation. It is time for a change.