Capitalism is not the disease, but it is a symptom. Bad capitalism is also
a method of accelerating deterioration.
The diseases are inequity and injustice and the greater malady of absence
of love with loss of the most important relationships

The process of concentrating resources and of creating accelerating cycles
that insure concentration, inequity, injustice, neglect, lack of awareness,
and lack of contact with those most different is one of the most important
areas of this list serve.

Respect for authority is a prime importance in families, communities,
states, provinces, and nations.
Respect for authority also should drive us to do the things that we feel
are right and just, by correcting the application of authority and
informing and in some cases even non-violent confrontations.

"One of the greatest problems of history is that the concepts of love and
power are usually contrasted as polar opposites. Love is identified with a
resignation of power and power with a denial of love....What is needed is a
realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love
without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love
implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting
everything that stands against love." ~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The United States has missed two great opportunities of late
9/11 gave US leaders the chance to focus on inequities in the US and in
other nations, an opportunity missed
Israel's invasion also gave the US the chance to stand against Israel and
create a No Fly Zone over Lebanon. We might have helped to avoid the
massive destruction of infrastructure in Lebanon. What Israel did may have
seemed correct to them, but with the massive exodus of those who provided
stability and infrastructure to Lebanon, further instability over many
decades will be the result. Of course those in Lebanon with the means will
escape to other nations rather than investing in their nation and fighting
off those who will create more and more chaos.

For the United States to end its "immigration" problem, it must figure out
ways to help other nations stabilize so that they retain their educated,
professionals, health providers, teachers, and public servants.

The Child Destroyers within our nations and in other nations only need to
do a very little to stimulate the expected response from current forms of
government. The Child Destroyers cannot control the current stable
situations and nations but they can control people, refugees, and others
when there is chaos in inner city and rural regions of some countries or
across entire nations after long periods of conflict. Religion, tribe, and
other areas are just means to exploit their ends. They also exploit all the
loopholes of civilized societies. They are very good at what they do
because we are very bad at understanding what they are doing. We are very
bad at understanding because we do not understand child development, early
education, and the importance of distribution such that those growing up in
a nation are hopeful of improving their future, even a little bit.

Only highly organized and integrated societies that distribute resources
well within and work to distribute resources without to their neighbors can
withstand these onsloughts.

The Viking raids continued for centuries. It took hundreds of years for the
people to realize that strong governments in Germany and England were
necessary to repel the invasions. When the Viking raids were no longer
profitable, they stopped.

The previous situation in Ireland provides a reference point. Once
embattled inside and also by exploiting various sources of funding in other
nations, there was chaos. In a long steady process involving decades the
government was patient, disciplined, and persistent. The final chapter
involved the women of the nation that had finally had enough. Education
played a key role in this and was maintained despite the chaos. The land is
now rapidly becoming one of the most prosperous in the world.

The system of government is not always the problem. The problem involves
government efforts to distribute resources, education, and hope and also
public perception of these distributions. In a day and age with the media
that we have, government efforts are more difficult and public perception
is likely to be lower and lower, even in the absence of reality.

Capitalism works from the individual perspective. Few people respond to
efforts that are not likely to improve their personal or family situation.
I am amazed at how little defeated people will do even when given
opportunity and I am amazed at how hard people will work when they feel
that their lives will improve and especially when they feel that their
children's lives will improve even when the likely improvement is tiny.

In the past two months, I confess that I was overwhelmed. Cursed with too
much awareness and needing to ventilate, I did so regularly. This of course
overwhelmed nurses and people at the clinic who also face overwhelming jobs
and they reacted also. They did not need to know all of the detailed
inequities involving me, my patients, Omaha, or the world.

With a better perspective, I can choose more appropriately those who do
need influence, and not overwhelm those who are out their "doing it" day to
day.

Worst case scenario is that the service oriented professionals on the front
lines get overwhelmed and take other jobs, then the infrastructure really
falls apart.

Remember, journals never publish negative results and journalists make a
living off of them and us.

Robert C. Bowman, M.D.
[log in to unmask]
www.ruralmedicaleducation.org

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