Dearth: It applies to the economies of the world, including the U.S. and it’s job market.  It applies to U.S. politics and the lack of common ground, common cause, and common sense.  It applies to our species’ levels of tolerance–the lack thereof these days–from Western societies to Middle Eastern societies to Far Eastern societies.  It applies to human-to-human and human-to-other kindness–severely lacking now in this our 21st century.  In short, the word “dearth” applies to us as our socio-political reality.

Prior to 9/11/2001, that infamous day when the skies of New York City darkened with the World Trade Center disaster, and despite the stolen election of the U.S. presidency by the pretender G. W. Bush, there was hope; there was, in fact, a growing sense of peace, prosperity, and, yes, a kinder, gentler America…which would, in turn, one trusted, lead in time to a kinder, gentler, less selfish world.

That all changed in the moment whoever was responsible for the 9/11 attack on America instigated their act (…and I still suspect those who had to most to gain–the strongest motive).  It stirred a sleeping dragon, a nest of hornets. America reacted to 9/11 with vicious determination, its people hurt and angry, the flames of their sorrow-born rage provoked and encouraged by a political agenda that desired nothing more than to feed the lucre of power and resources to itself via its industrial war machine, greasing greedy wheels with human blood.

Gone in that moment were all the gains toward a more peaceful, benevolent world–kindness, tolerance, economic prosperity, the hope of a better future for all of us. Instead, hate, intolerance, and fear dominated our national psyche, the result of which pitched us and the world to the brink of political and economic fascism–the dearth of billions for the enrichment of the few.

No longer do the voices of benevolence and kindness, of civility and tolerance, hold forth within the public ear. Instead, schisms between ideologies, theologies, and cultures, are cultivated and encouraged by gleeful profiteers, collapsing civility, solvency, and plenty, and replacing them with dearth–dearth for the poor and for the middle class, dearth for the general human populations, dearth that leads to further degradation of the world environment.

Hatred, fear and rage has replaced common sense and tolerance, a hatred and fear engineered using the power of influence to seed its seepingly insidious corruption into a vulnerable public mind that fails to grasp the agenda of the elite socio-political masterminds behind it who are bent on owning and controlling everything to the benefit of themselves–the mighty few–to the detriment and dearth of everyone and every thing else.

Dearth, a word to think on.

In Israel, the Jews, victims of genocidal persecution, in turn now persecute the Palestinians, including invidious methods of genocide– denying water, livelihood, and shelter. The Jews wanted fairness, but refuse to, themselves, be fair.

In the U.S. today, I see a great deal of this kind of hypocrisy embraced–the “I’ve got mine, and I’ll deny you yours” mentality. I find this level of unfairness based in intolerance unacceptable, yet the socio-political direction most evident through the media, in the workplace, and in interaction between people online and off demonstrates to me that we, having been purposely factionalized by power brokers playing us for pawns for their own agenda, are evermore embracing unfairness, intolerance, and injustice. I think we really need to pull ourselves up and take a keen look at who we are becoming.

More and more, I find that, instead of email campaigns and petitions, I’m asked to spend time, effort, and money to “call” my congressional reps and senators–state, local, and federal.  This is asking way too much, and the answer is “no.”  Don’t expect me to add more to my to-do list, and, if you persist in hounding me to do so, you’ll lose my support.

* violent sports
* war
* cruelty
* watching others suffer
* hurting others
* reaping rewards at the expense of others

They hate:

* fairness
* equality
* anyone not of their particular faith
* anyone who has a different socio-political viewpoint
* anyone who has a lifestyle different than their own
* anyone not of their race
* kindness
* generosity
* peace
* tolerance
* anyone to prosper except themselves and their select circle

This, of course, isn’t a comprehensive list. Do feel free to contribute.

DOING MORE FOR LESS
Technological innovation and computer automation are, of course, wonderful. One person can do so much more today than they could even ten years ago…by themselves, without an army of help. So, pound for pound and dollar for dollar, they and the company they work for make more money, right? Maybe, depending on the circumstances and the business. Mostly, it depends on how the business is run and how much competition vies for the same market…because competition for income is more intense with the increasing number of desperate available bodies willing to do it for less.

REPLACING THOSE EXPENSIVE HUMAN WORKERS
Of course, robotics allow companies to get rid of expensive workers who, being human, are, well, human. Emotions, illness, familial responsibilities, and the need for reasonably safe, comfortable working conditions all add a toll to hiring live bodies as opposed to high-tech mechanicals. Robots are expensive, though. Still, when measuring one robot’s productivity against that of a live worker, robots make a lot of sense. It takes 4.2 human workers to do the same amount of work as one robot if those humans can and will work at the same speed and with the same efficiency as said robot.  And, of course, you need the tech to maintain and fix the robot…or a contract with the company who makes it. Still, the robot is still cheaper, especially since a robot can be used as a depreciation expense. So, considering all the variables, buying a robot (or several) is definitely much more appealing than employing human beings. And robots don’t need health care or retirement benefits, a huge plus in savings.

BURGEONING POPULATION
Then, of course, there’s the sheer volume of people who need or want work. That makes workers very cheap and becoming cheaper still as population increases.

SHORT TERM SOLUTION? I don’t think there is one that’s politically appealing to either of our political parties, nor one that is practical without closing the borders and isolationism, plus some stringent new commerce laws…such as: to sell in the U.S., you must create the product in a U.S.-based factory that employs U.S. citizens, else pay a huge tariff for the privilege of selling to Americans.

LONG TERM SOLUTION? Pretty easy to figure out: reduce the human population by reducing the number of babies born.

Anti-abortion folks hold their misguided sense of saving babies for JEEESUS or whatever god-head they claim as sacrosanct savior. Yet, they same folks decry payments to welfare moms.

Anti-abortion folks need to “put it back in their pants,” “it” being their religious-based insistence that we all, every last one of us, need to follow their sense of moral code and ethics. No we don’t. You’re extremists, fanatics, and completely irrational, proven by your dissonant positions which holds that, while abortion shouldn’t happen at all, regardless of circumstance, that supporting the resulting unwanted child is not your financial and social problem.

1 ) Not enough good paying jobs of any sort to go around for people who want to work.

2 ) Too many illegal aliens, a lot of them bad apples, entering this country.

3 ) Too many illegal aliens willing to work for low wages in this country making it a boon to employers who want cheap labor.

4 ) Too many employers getting away with hiring illegal aliens, abusing them, and paying them wages a dog couldn’t eat on.

5 ) Too many Wall Streeters making money by trading off American livelihoods.

6 ) Too many media moguls slanting everything to benefit their bottom line instead of doing their jobs of reporting unslanted news.

7 ) Too many stupid laws that concern things best left up to the individual.

8 ) Too many good laws being ignored and violated because it pays somebody’s bottom line.

9 ) Criminals walking around free with open access to guns and explosives while law-abiding citizens are denied the right to carry weapons.

10 ) Too much focus by elected officials on getting re-elected instead of doing their jobs.

Add your own below.