THE INMATES HAVE TAKEN OVER THE MENTAL INSTITUTION

Last night, I had a lovely 20 minute telephone conversation with a woman who was hired by my home health agency to come and take care of me, do my dishes, a little laundry, and whatever else I need done in the house. I have multiple physical disabilities and I am going blind. I've already lost most of the functional sight in my left eye. It is becoming difficult to function.

It delighted me to speak to this nice lady who talked about her devotion to her clients and how she is really available "24/7" whenever they need her and that I can call her any time if I need help. After telling her how thrilled I was to be having her come to help me, we completed the call and I went to bed feeling great relief that, finally, someone would pick up where the last homemaker left off - you know, the one who got into my pain pills, stole a bunch of things and lied constantly?

This morning, I "hurried"around getting the apartment ready for a new person to come in, making sure there was enough room for her to park in the assigned spot, and generally just making sure that when she walked in the door she wouldn't be overwhelmed.

I sent her a text message at about 10:40, with a picture of the parking spot, and my car right next to it, and I waited.

She never showed up. She didn't call. She didn't answer my phone calls or messages, nor did she call the agency or pick up the phone when the agency called HER. Nothing.

While I was waiting for this woman, I opened up a package of face shields, intending to put them together and have them available for us both to use. Although I had purchased them on Amazon, and they were supposed to be new, they were both badly damaged, and one of them was missing the film that is designed to be peeled off, prior to use. I'd paid $14.00 for two pieces of junk. CLEARLY, I had fallen into a Covid price-gouging scam. The Amazon agent I spoke to when I contacted them to complain had seen this before. We discussed how people are using the world-wide pandemic to enrich themselves.

Later in the day, I picked up some food from a restaurant - a celebration, because today is my birthday. I RARELY buy ready-made food. The man came out of the shop and he wasn't wearing a mask. After all the effort of ordering "contactless" pick-up, he had done nothing to ensure my safety. I'd already paid a tip when I ordered online. I suppose that's all that mattered to him.

Nursing a stomach ache from having eaten abnormally rich food, I watched "Democracy Now" on PBS and was horrified to learn just how much traction Q-Anon has made in the Republican Party. I watched a video in which Trump was asked about them and all he could say was that he heard that they like him very much. (He said it twice.)  He would not disavow their bizarre fantasies. After all, saving the world from devil worshippers, fictional democrat pedophiles and demons was a good thing, right?

What are we talking about? Somebody who styled himself as "Q-Anon" started putting inane cartoonish messages out onto the internet about 3 years ago. He/she claims to be a higher-up in the Trump administration and says he is working with Donald Trump to fight an imaginary Democrat cabal of DEMONS AND DEVIL WORSHIPPERS who they say run a pedophilia ring with the intention of ruling the world. They worship Satan and they eat babies after they molest them, and then they also sell them....and that's not even the wackiest part of the story. Read up about them. I just can't bear it.

[Personally, the whole thing sounds like something out of the feverish mind of an adolescent computer geek who isn't too popular in school, and I am willing to bet that this description is more accurate than the supposed "higher up" in the Trump administration that is supposedly "Q-Anon."]

There is a lot more crazy to be had out of this bunch of fantasists but the really surprising aspect of this is that the Republican Party - a portion of it - has taken on this conspiracy theory and there are more than 20 legislators who are believers! The state of Georgia just nominated an out-and-proud Q-Anon supporter, to the 14th Congressional District: Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has a reputation for blatantly racist comments in the past.

Oregon Republicans have also nominated a Q-Anon advocate to the Senate: Joe Rae Perkins.

The list goes on. If you're not familiar with any of this, research it. It beggars belief.

Previously, I would give you a host of links, which took forever, and I can no longer afford the time, as it was eating into my spiritual disciplines and my creative endeavors. Let me just assure you that this is an extremely important turn of events that should form part of your understanding of our current situation. Dig into it.

We are seeing a disturbing number of people who are becoming unbalanced as a result of this insanity. Having Donald Trump at the top of the heap was bad enough - but you must understand that he is just a symptom and a mouthpiece. Donald Trump was formed by a combination of these kooks and Fox "News". Now, this insane Q-Anon movement has infiltrated the halls of government and is toxic enough to topple America into the dustbin of history.

UPDATE: Thinking I was finished with today dose of disaster, I published this diary entry. Then I read an article about that Republican couple that stood outside their house and pointed guns at protesters as they passed by on their way to the mayor's house. Evidently, they are terrible bullies and have wreaked vengeance against the Jewish synagogue that shares their property line. The synagogue had just established a series of bee hives at the fence line, to make their own honey for one of their religious holidays. Mark McCloskey, in the middle of the night, without warning or discussion, took an axe to the hives and somehow killed all the bees. He left a note that if the detritus wasn't moved immediately, he and his wife Patricia would sue the synagogue.

Evidently, the fence was 6 inches over their property line. SIX INCHES. The little Jewish children cried when they learned of the destruction. The Rabbi reports that this act of bullying is not the first. They would have been more than happy to move the hives if the McCloskey's had communicated with them. These vile people, these bullies, will be speaking during the Republican National Convention.

It doesn't surprise me that people like the McCloskeys will be celebrated by the Trumpian Party, formerly the Republican Party, because it has become the party of hate, bigotry, and bullying. The preferred method for nearly every issue is FORCE AND PUNISHMENT. At the same time, these people loudly assert a type of Christianity that would make Jesus weep. This is not what He had in mind. NONE of this is what He had in mind.

Can you imagine what Jesus would say if you walked up to Him and told him that you've broken up families and incarcerated the babies behind barbed wire, to sleep on cement floors, under mylar-coated pieces of paper, without any reliable means of reuniting the families? Bullying, bigotry, force and punishment are not worthy of the humble man called Jesus, the man of Love and peace.

I think about the babies every day. Their contorted faces, wet with tears, haunt my every nightmare. Every morning I wake up thinking about them. I can hear them from the videotapes I have watched. "Mommy! Poppy!" The piteous shrieks make my heart ache. I can feel their terror and emotional pain. Psychologists have confirmed that what they have been made to endure by the Trump administration is equivalent to the worst psychological TORTURE.

Later, I happened to see yet another unarmed black man, shot in the back by police officers. Nothing has changed since BLACK LIVES MATTER became a thing. Almost every night there is a new videotape of an unarmed, defenseless man being killed by the police. Tonight, they put seven bullets into the man's back while his three little children watched. He was leaning into the car where they were all sitting. So close, they could smell the blood and the gunpowder.

Every day is some fresh new hell. Every. Damn. DAY.

Voting will not be enough to fix this problem that we have in this country. What do we do about a country that has lionized individuality to such an extent that we have become soulless, selfish MONSTERS? What do we do?

Being disabled, mobility challenged, poor, half blind - I have no power to fix this AT ALL. I can pray. Of course I can pray. And I can meditate to maintain my own inner peace and equilibrium. But how do we pull our country out of this terrible black hole into which we have plummeted?

I suspect that, in the rise and fall of civilizations, this is our fall...and there is no coming back from it. If I had the money, I would move to another country - a kinder country - perhaps Canada. Sometimes I fantasize about going "back" to where my family originally came from - Wales or Ireland or Scotland or Cornwall. I mull over the idea of learning Irish or Welsh. To which country will I return when I suddenly have money to spend and my body is suddenly healthy again? Obviously, I have a strong fantasy life. In reality, I am stuck here, in a country ruled by animalistic heathen bastards.

But it is also full of blessed, loving, lovable and truly gentle souls. We must band together...if for nothing other than our shared mental health and wellbeing.

The most important thing I want to suggest to you is that you redouble your spiritual efforts in order to stay sane, stay balanced, and stay in tune with the Divine. If you'd like to connect with other SANE SPIRITUAL PEOPLE, contact me on my Facebook page:

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO MY FACEBOOK

In the meantime, God bless you and keep you.

Silver Rose
Sannyasini Kaliprana

"NOTHING PERSONAL," YOU SAY?

Mother Mary

in my little garden

When disagreements arise in modern life, I have noticed that some people are unable or refuse to put themselves into the place of the other guy, in their imagination. Because they cannot empathize, they cannot imagine why that person on the other side of the debate has an opinion so different from their own.

When engaging in a formal debate, definition of terms often forms a preliminary phase of the debate process so that everyone involved is "on the same page" and talking about the same thing, but modern Americans, set loose on the internet, are not taking advantage of this tool.

Refusing to attempt to understand the actual position of the other side, in a sympathetic light, and making assertions about what your opponents think, believe or want, has become common and is not productive of anything good. It just perpetuates the prejudices and discord.

"Nothing is sweeter than

to think well of others."

Saint Therese of Lisieux

It won't be news to you if I tell you that there is a lot of turmoil in our country right now. I believe that at least part of the cause of this is this disorganized approach to communication among us.

Most of my readers will remember that I am a Catholic convert with a Hindu (Vedantic) orientation. I was raised without any religion whatsoever and participated in many different faiths before converting to Catholicism about 14 years ago. While I believe in everything the Catholic Church believes and teaches, I have a tremendous amount of experience as a non-Christian American. I can easily speak to the point of view of non-Christians, as a result.

When having discussions with some of my Catholic brothers and sisters, I will often object to their characterizations of poor people, gay people, brown people, immigrants, disabled people, and other vulnerable groups. The reply I often get is, "oh, I am not talking about you." As a single, female, senior, divorced, disabled poor person, I fit into many categories of the most vulnerable groups and, having been raised in a non-Christian environment, I am intimately familiar with the lifestyle and beliefs of unchurched people.

But those good Catholic people ARE "talking about" me! They have erroneous, conspiracy-level beliefs about poor people, for instance. There is a huge amount of prejudice about the poor! Right wing people who identify as Christian will often immediately talk about drug addiction and criminality when discussing "the poor."

It isn't that I don't find drug addiction and criminality disturbing, because I DO. Since becoming disabled and poor, and after moving into low-income housing, I have been on the receiving end of quite a bit of the criminality of a segment of the poor. Several of my poor neighbors have stolen from me. The homeless who have encampments in the bosque next to the apartment complex have stolen things out of my garden and my patio, and have rifled through the drawers of the potting cabinet on the patio - looking for whatever might be useful, I suppose. My car has been broken into several times, with no more apparent motive than to scrabble around for change or valuables, leaving me with a broken side window and a creeping sensation of wonder that, although the car was parked right next to my apartment windows, I never heard a thing.

I've had neighbors aggressively try to "befriend" me just so they can get into my apartment and scope it out for possessions they might like to have. One woman spent months telling me I should just "give away" the bed I wasn't using instead of selling it, and then called me one morning and announced that her daughter-in-law had "cried with joy" at the news that SHE would be receiving this bed because she really needed one. I had not agreed to any such thing and was even FURTHER astonished when the neighbor told me she had arranged for a rental truck to come and get it and that it would be at my apartment within two hours! It dawned on me that the neighbor who had pursued my friendship had been "working me" for months, with the express purpose of divesting me of whatever possessions she liked, so I gave her the bed. I rightly guessed she would stop bugging me after she got what she wanted, and I was right. The woman came and took the bed and never spoke to me again.

Anyone who imagines I don't know what I'm talking about when discussing the criminality of the poor needs to take a step back and try another tack. The thing is, despite feeling really bad when someone steals from me or tries to manipulate me for profit, as in the case of the neighbor and the bed, I know that the thievery of the poor is just more obvious and personal than the thievery of the other classes. 

There is a percentage of people in all walks of life who will steal. I have an entirely middle-class sibling who, through a complex con that she worked on me over several months, managed to legally bar me from successfully fighting the theft of inheritance by my father's third wife - just so the sibling could take whatever scraps were available.

The wealthy classes steal from the poor and the middle class in a less direct and less personal way. I would make the case that theirs is the most reprehensible type of thievery because it relies upon the inability of the lower classes to protect themselves. I 

The thievery of poor people is more honorable, in one sense, because it is blatant and out in the open and in-your-face. I know what my neighbor stole from me when I hired her to clean my house. Likewise a second neighbor, the daughter of people I believed were my friends - she ALSO stole from me. I was able to speak to her directly about it.

But what can I do about the thievery of the rich who give one another tax breaks and talk about "trickle down economics" that no one believes is true because nothing has ever trickled down from these accomplished con artists? Millionaires and billionaires buy more luxury goods and properties for themselves while the rest of the people scrabble around for bread.

The fact is that there are no higher a percentage of criminals in the poor populations than there are in society in general. In fact, it may be quite a bit lower, because most poor people are poor because they're disabled or elderly. There is no more drug addiction among the poor than in society as a whole. It's just that people who are successful criminals have enough money to shield themselves from punishment. Drug addicts who are rich, famous, or have solid families have enough resources to support expensive rehab programs.

How many alcoholics do you think exist among the middle class and wealthy? Quite a lot. They can afford the booze. They can also afford to make it 'look' better. I have a relative who is an alcoholic. On the outside, it looks like she's a nice middle-class lady. She's got the trappings of respectability. But she is a terrible drunk. The packaging is just more attractive. She can afford to drink herself into oblivion inside an attractive home. She can also lie, cheat and steal under cover of apparent "respectability." You won't find HER in the gutter, slurring her words and vomiting her stomach contents onto the road. She does it behind closed doors.

This is why, when discussing the middle class or the wealthy, alcoholism is not the first thing that unkind people will talk about. It's the first thing mentioned when the topic of poor people arises, though. Why isn't it the first thing one hears when discussing the other socio-economic groups that have this problem? Americans are prejudiced against the poor in the same way the British in Dickens-era England were. Nothing has changed.

People want to justify their prejudice against the poor.

I am far from a perfect person, but I am not a drug addict. I don't drink. I'm not a criminal. Heck, I haven't had so much as a parking ticket in 44 years! I do not live on welfare. I have Social Security into which I paid for more than 30 years of constant work. I have no tattoos. I have lived as a celibate religious for almost two decades. I am nothing special because, aside from my formal religious vows of sannyas, I am very typical for a woman of my age. MOST poor people are like me. They've done the best they could with their lives, and they are struggling to make a go of it on very little income in their old age. 99.9% of us are NOT homeless people begging with big signs on the street corners, and shooting up drugs at night. They're the exception, not the rule. But even if ALL poor people were drug-addled, alcohol soaked n'er do wells, I ask you to remember that Jesus did not put any requirements upon poor people before they were entitled to the compassion of Christians.

"The poor man has one plea, his want and his standing

in need: do not require anything else from him; but even

if he is the most wicked of all men and is at a loss for

his necessary sustenance, let us free him from hunger."

St. John Chrysostom

Most of us have no help whatsoever. We receive "too much" income from Social Security, thanks to our work histories, but certainly not enough to pay for our needs. Some of us get help from our families, but an awful lot of us are not getting crucial needs met and are dying much sooner than necessary, as a result.

While it is common for most bloggers to avoid talking about themselves, I am taking the opposite stance, partly because my previous confessor taught me that my personal experiences can be used to advocate for others in my position.

"He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord,

and He will repay him for his good deed."

Proverbs 19:17

In my own way, I am fighting the prejudices and bigotry that are so endemic in the cruel America of today. I hope to be able to help that segment of American Christians who are mentioned, above, to be able to identify, even a little bit, with those who are less fortunate than they are, and with those who disagree with them politically.

Put yourselves in my shoes, my American brothers and sisters, then survey our land through my eyes and my experience. If you can do that, you may disabuse yourselves of some of your prejudices.

God bless us all.

Silver "Rose"
Sannyasini Kaliprana