THE WATCHERS
by Adam Crosthwaite
A young student once asked his master, “How do you fight without attacking?” The master turned to his young pupil with a warm smile, “You watch”. I have walked among ignorant minds thriving on darkness never seeking light or truth. I am merely 25 years of age. I have spent the last year regenerating my mind which I chose to rip apart with hate. I have only begun to live with a sober mind while helping to raise my six month old daughter. I find my self watching, caught between frustration and sadness as the world slips further into apathy. Why is it that I can see these things with what I consider to be my limited capacity while others who seem to be intelligent enough to see as well continue to be blind to this sickening process?
I watch people claiming to be spiritual individuals herded like cattle to the slaughter houses by fundamentalists who wage war in pursuit of power and influence. I have had the experience of watching governments take from the citizens of the nations they were “elected” by and turn around to offer empty apologies to victims who were not safe from dangers as they were lead to believe, because the budget was down sized in order to divert funds into pet projects to serve special interests; actions which cut short much needed infrastructure and left a door open for the people to receive a devastating blow. When the warning came years in advance that the levees would not handle the force of a level five hurricane they shrugged their shoulders as they walked to the bank. Money is more important than lives in the world of back door politics.
Unfortunately like any national emergency the worst of the fallout has only just begun. As the refugees are forced from the lives they built in Louisiana, they will require assistance with housing, food, healthcare, jobs and child care. No problem, the system that is in place along with a few adjustments here and there will make sure these people will not go without.
The problem exists on the unbalanced side of the equation. While the victims are slowly being taken care of, single mothers whom have been on waiting lists for assistance will be waiting almost twice as long now. Unfortunately for them they will lose time from work because childcare, which has already been paid for in most cases via taxes while they were able to work, is unavailable due to an overly stressed budget. These are single mothers working part time because the full time child care needed for even as short a time as six months is unavailable to them due to redirected funds that have gone toward pet projects some corporation negotiated over a game golf at the local country club.
Now the need is increased exponentially and the system that was originally failing is beginning to fall in on itself. This doesn’t include the thousands of single mothers who are struggling through college with student loans in order to pull out of the hole they found themselves in. These are hard working intelligent people who raise families while striving to build a future that effects not just themselves but the world in which they seek to better. They know what is going on and have some very interesting ideas and plans for change. Sadly, fewer graduate each year as the snares of a corrupt system lead to debt and further need for a cleaner more reformed system; a need that will go unattended with the current sate of affairs.
As the struggle over power rages on in the uppermost levels of this so called society, the effects are felt rippling through the lower tiers until it reaches the streets. Be it with the hunger for survival or simply the need to rise by any means necessary, leading to power hungry personalities, the crime will sore and the corruption will spread further. History once again will repeat the same formula of corruption and those that look to the system for guidance will act as the system has taught them to: the rule of do as I say, not as I do will not apply to this generation. Look around you, it has already begun. It has been cycling down through layers of time for as long as there has been hunger amongst people.
More and more people every day claim the world is soon going to end. They are right in that statement, but only to the point of something will soon come to an end. As they rationalize the behaviors they take part in people fail to honor the truths they attempt to bury in the foul waste produced by their apathy. The end of silence among the suffering is coming. There are vast numbers of human beings whom have chosen not to voice out loud the details of the life they struggle through. The screaming will not be of those who have endured. The screaming will be of a new victim. For the children of the suffering will not forget and will never forgive the tears that mom shed when she could not feed her children.
How long will people do nothing more than watch the devastation and silently consent to extermination of lower classes in this country? I said extermination because why else would a government knowingly take such a risk with such a high number of lives? If the information is witheld or even denied as some people have been lead to believe then what else are we to do but expect the worst of our so called leaders? If press conferences are staged and people are arrested for speaking their minds we might as well raise a swastika above the White House and march in the streets with locked knees. How dare ANY government redirect funds away from programs that are implemented to protect the lives and welfare of all citizens in this Nation.
Which leads to more questions: What the hell would someone like this be hiding up their sleeve if they are counting on the fact that everyone else will simply smile and nod as the Big Business of Government takes and then lies about it? Are they putting something in the water supply? Is there more than just good old fashioned food supply demands behind genetically altered foods? Is there some kind of subliminal mind rape occurring in the mainstream media? What the hell is it that makes people think minds are easily controlled by one group in order to fulfill the needs of the elite? All that is required to detect a problem is to WATCH the pattern unfold through the fabric of the predigested reality that is being force fed into the minds of the general public.
IS this just some kind of half witted rambling from a 25 year old male who is angry with what he sees going on in the daily affairs of many?
Is this article a repeat of August? Perhaps it is. Maybe perhaps it is nothing more than a big neon sign screaming in the darkness to those who have yet to wake up. Who dares to question those that seek to hide facts and pocket funds? Or is that too harsh of a statement? Will I be the next to spend the night in jail for telling my government they are wrong? I cannot offer any quick fix solutions to this problem. All I can do is watch and question the actions I see before me. It is the sounding of the challenging voice that shreds the veils of deceit.
There was a time in my life when this saved my ass and perhaps it is a starting point for those who are lost in the cesspool of backdoor politics. I was living on the streets for a time when one night an old friend of mind suddenly appeared on a street corner in downtown Denver. She was distraught and I could tell she was in a bad spot so I went to her. As it turned out a group of people she ran into had stolen her pager and were planning on doing something with her. She was scared and desperate. With out hesitation I demanded they all cough up the pager and back down immediately. As they circled around me I realized they had me out numbered ten to one. No problem! I simply shouted at the top of my voice for all the world to hear, “Leave her alone NOW!” By the time the last syllables of my statement echoed down the alley every person within a block of our location was staring waiting for the first punch to be thrown. All I could do was grin like an idiot as they quietly returned the pager and disappeared down the street.
I actually believed she would learn from this situation leading to wiser choices and yet she is still cornering herself as she falls prey to manipulation from internal as well as external influences. I am astounded by the hardheaded ignorance of this person whom I considered a friend. I have stumbled over this riddle in my mind through the years whenever I think of that night on the street corner. As I watch this world with new eyes I stand at the bottom of the ladder looking up through the political food chain at the powers of the state and political street punks who are bullying children and families on the streets of the big bad city with the stench of their well dressed, one sided policies. It seems likely to me that the time of playing ‘possum is over. I have seen the egos at play as they make meat puppets of men and women. It is time to expose those who trample the freedoms gifted to people by birth. Those who chose the path of manipulation work best in secret, they are powerless when exposed. It is the time for mouths to open and questions to be voiced. The time of silent suffering is over.
What would happen if people stood up that way with witnesses in front of the world and demanded the truth? You should have seen the looks on the faces of that group of assholes in the alley that night! I dream of the day our so called leaders encounter such a voice.
Not a day goes by that I don’t wish there is more I can do. I cry every time I hold my daughter as I think of those mothers and fathers that lost that connection that one fateful day. What I have watched unfold in the course of the last months as I questioned what I was watching has lead to so many more questions. My words offer little if any encouragement to those who have suffered. Then again it would perhaps serve to encourage those in power to act openly and honestly as we move on to rebuild the worlds ripped apart due to the weakness of apathy. No government should ever settle for good enough when lives are at stake. I write in the hope of lending my voice to the light as it seeks to unveil truths that I have cloaked in the shadows of misperceptions I have entertained in my life.
For future reference: if you are truly sorry for not providing for those whom you are responsible to, and not just because you got caught off guard by a natural disaster which exposed your ugly truths, then get your hand out of the damn cookie jar. STOP TAKING WHAT IS NOT YOURS!
May the watchers of tomorrow use the truths that emerge from the questions of today.
Adam Crosthwaite
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