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| Category: Politics, Holistic |
Date published: November 25, 2003 |
The Body Politic Heals
by Michael A. Bedar
The challenges Rush Limbaugh has faced bear a striking resemblance to the "war on terrorism." These are two sovereign entities (Mr. Limbaugh and the United States of America) defining its challenge as "to kill a pain." Consider the similarities: Limbaugh became sickly dependent on swallowing so-called "painkillers" in his attemmpt to make life more tolerable in his body. The current occupants of the White House think they can make life more tolerable for America and the international community by swallowing and perpetuating trust in what they call "war on terrorism." Both endeavors mistake the destruction of some symptom, some scapegoat, some annoyance, or some infiltrator "cells" for a balanced, healthy, whole system of care.
Pain is not illness; pain indicates the existence of imbalance among parts of the body. Neither numbing the nervous system nor killing a foreigner is equivalent to health. To restore health, the body's tissues communicate with each other and intricately adjust themselves to balance the whole. Attempting to merely block out pain or to annihilate the foreign agent ignores the basis of a healthy body.
This mistake led in Limbaugh's case to an out-of-control feedback loop that resulted in overdosing on "pain killers." Let us question the wisdom of even using the word "pain killer" as a desireable notion in the course of healing. Of course we want pain to subside, but the term "pain killer" represents a double whammy of things we don't want. Darkness doesn't extinguish darkness; only light does. Visualizing the comfort of a balanced system is best when striving for recovery.
The "kill the pain" mentality of the administration in the White House, which Limbaugh supports in word and, presumably, in thought, is ignoring the appropriate options for healing what ails the world and American society. Seeing the situation only in terms of "pain-causing agents" and "invasive foreign cells," the current occupants of the executive branch are taking our country down an out-of-control infatuation with "killing the pain" and destroying the foreigners.
To be healthy we must look at the ways to restore balance within the intricate interplay of systems in our body (politic). Open-hearted thoughts in our government, closeness with nature in our economy, and reflection on the basics in our media are known to uplift our spirits, clean out our poisons, broaden our viewpoints, and stimulate vigorous breaths of healing. Within the heart of our body politic, a core wisdom beats, graciously nourishing all who call out, from the mightiest muscle the (powerful individuals, groups, or countries) to the most unnoticed idiosyncracies (the refugees, the developing economies, the eccentric people). Every body alive today knows that this balancing of systems works, because we experience it at each moment.
We have overdone the numbing of sensations and the taking of life. Stop raiding countries without moral or legal justification; start pardoning developing countries' debt.
Start recognizing that "homeland security" is a synonym for "national defense"; thus the Department of Defense is a misnomer for our "Department of Offense." With over $400 billion (far more than any other department), this department's actions as currently administered throw our country out of balance, militarize society, and, because every action has an opposite reaction, hold us back from a reality of domestic tranquility.
Start playing fair; if we want other nations to help with protecting and rebuilding Afganistan and Iraq, let the commands come from an international body as well.
Start allowing us again to speak, write, and read freely without being tracked and imprisoned at the will of the occupants' in the White House. An out-of-control, flailing adminstration promotes suspicion, fear, and mistreatment. Balanced governance lets expression flow so that our many constituents of society can communicate with one another.
While the occupants of the White House are dogging other violent forces to "bring it on," 5-Star General and Ex-President Dwight D. Eisenhower reminds us that:
"I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it.
"Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and co-operation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace."
It is time to speak our voice for representative governance that will let us heal as a whole.
The House Progressive Caucus understands this. The Caucus is gaining national support, and its Chair, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D), Ohio, is running for President.
Ahh, I'm feeling much better already!
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