The True Emergency
Obviously, there is no national emergency at the US border. Illegal crossings are at historic lows and we all know Trump has more than a few screws missing. But this got me thinking, what would the actual national emergency be, what is the greatest threat to our nation today? The answer to that question is clear, and it starts with the letter “C”.
It’s not climate change, capitalism, or collusion. The thing hurting us all as humans is bigger than caravans, cocaine, or China. I’ve been to fifty countries, and everywhere I go I see one single thing harming human progress more than any other. It’s…
Corruption.
Countries Crippled by Corruption
Take for example Brazil: A democracy rich with natural resources, a big diverse populous, and a thriving tourism industry; why is Brazil not among the continental superpowers like the US or China? …Corruption. Despite all of Brazil’s great attributes, taxes are high, public education is shitty, and the very few benefit at the cost of the very many.
The entire continents of S America and Africa are paralyzed in mediocrity and poverty by corruption. SE Asia should be thriving because of its rich neighbor to the north (exception Singapore), but corruption is the single biggest thing holding all these countries and their BILLIONS in population back.
Corruption in the US
Which way is the US headed in terms of corruption? Our biggest defense against corruption is the free press and look at us stand idly by when a third of our population openly attacks it.
No other time in history would Americans allow such a bold face filthy bunch of corrupt liars permeate a US president’s staff. Trump’s staff, in terms of corruption, is the still-damp vomit on the sidewalk you see on the sidewalk next to a bar on a Sunday morning.
One positive note, this litany of corrupt staffers were too inept to get away with it, there’s nothing worse than functional corruption, we clearly don’t see that here.
#MeCorruptionToo?
I have great respect for the #metoo movement and all that it’s accomplished. But when (good) leaders like Al Franken and John Lasseter go down after accusations of (minor) sexual impropriety, why don’t we have that same threshold for corruption?
If you could only know the mammoth suffocating gravity-bending catastrophic shittiness that corruption causes around the world you’d want to throw it out faster than Harvey Weinstein in a bathrobe.
Where. Is. The. CHURCH?
In 1517, a monk named Martin Luther defied the most powerful organization on Earth and called it out for its corruption and hypocrisy; he began the Protestant movement which radically dismantled the power structure and the corrupt flow of money in the Catholic Church.
Ironically, today the Church is neutered, disunified, and complicit in the most corrupt Whitehouse in US history. Imagine if Protestants and Catholics around the world linked arms against corruption; the number of lives saved and improved in the name of Jesus would be unimaginable.
If I Could Wield Infinite Power…
A genie falls on my lap and grants me a single wish, simple: Rid the world of governmental corruption at all levels, and have anti-corruption laws enforced by the UN, the US, the EU and the militaries thereof. If a genie could grant me this wish, it would be the single greatest benefit to humanity in the history of humanity (since the opposable thumb?).
Well, there is no such thing as a genie in the bottle. But we as Americans have the closest thing. We have the most influential and powerful vote on Earth, and if we as voters used it against corruption, we could cause a ripple effect that would reach the shores of the Amazon, the Nile, and the Mekong.
Want to Fight Corruption?
Citizens United was a 5-4 ruling Supreme Court ruling that allowed unlimited anonymous money into politics and is the largest step toward corruption American law has taken in a generation. I argue that the reason why the US is in the shithole we’re in now is rooted in this ruling. Endcitizensunited.org is an organized, unified group working to incrementally undo the damage made by the law and I urge you to add your name and donate.
But the ultimate thing that you can do is start the right conversations with friends/family voters. We can debate tax law and minimum wage and blah blah blah forever, but one thing we should never debate is corruption. Corruption is Hitler-Stalin-Joffrey and has no redeeming qualities; let’s get to work.
Postchristianity 