Patriotic Americans celebrate the initial weeks of Barack Obama’s presidency.
The U.S.S.A: The Equation of the American Collapse
PART ONE: The A-mexi-can Economy
In March of 2008, unfamiliar broadcast initiatives commandeered the primetime television programming of our immediate southern neighbor, Mexico. Night after night, commercials bombarded the airwaves with a booming narration to parallel Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s expressed position. Images of children looking into the rolling waves of the country’s eastern coast were accompanied by the tenderly delivered words “Mexico has a great treasure, a treasure hidden below the bottom of the sea… But the world now confronts a new reality.” The images then abruptly cut to elementary visual representations of deep sea drilling, explaining that the targeted Mexican oil is at a depth 30 times greater than the country’s highest building; and the amount of pressure at such a point is the equivalent of 60 trucks compounded upon an aluminum soda can. The music then built to a climax to amplify the impact of the information, and the narrator returned to assert, “Reaching our oil is one of the biggest challenges of our time; and Mexico has to take the necessary actions to achieve it.”
According to President Calderon, these “necessary actions” include the fractionation and selling of the state-owned oil monopoly, Petroleos Mexicanos, which accounts for 40% of Mexico’s federal budget. This comes over seventy years after the country proudly nationalized its oil industry in 1938—when the Mexico City based “Pemex” was formed from the expropriated assets of the Chevron and Exxon Mobil Corporations. Foreign private investment in the industry has been prohibited ever since, but the Mexican president states that the reintroduction of external contracts would revitalize the otherwise collapsing Mexican economy.
Calderon has the support of the majority of industry analysts who warn that Pemex has been plagued by a lack of investment and mismanagement. According to their approximations, the company’s output is declining by 200,000 barrels a day; and if the trend continues, Mexico will be forced to import petroleum well within a decade’s time. They claim the solution can be found—as depicted in Calderon’s television campaign—in the northern Gulf of Mexico. There, some estimate more than 50 billion barrels’ worth of oil lies in the nation’s deep-water reserves, but the administration contends that the country lacks the technology, let alone the capital to access them.
“We must go after that oil,” Calderon told reporters in February of 2008. “It’s a problem of technology and operational capacity.”
After months of campaigns and debates, Mexico’s Congress approved a concessional law in October of 2008 to allow Pemex to hire private and foreign companies to search for crude oil within Mexican jurisdiction. Last week, on January 28th, President Calderon happily announced that he will meet with the heads of several major energy companies at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week in preparation to offer the first oil exploration contracts to foreign corporations since the nationalization of the industry. Although the Mexican president has not named with which companies he will convene, Carlos Morales, the director of exploration and production for Pemex, said that the company wants to discuss production and exploration contracts with corporations including Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Chevron; and that the initial contracts may be awarded by the end of 2009.
Leftists argue that the convention to take place between President Calderon and the corporations is indicative of a corrupt Mexican government attempting to sell the nation’s patrimony to “gringos”. Conservatives rebut that although it may mean the return of U.S. and British conglomerates that originally established drilling sites in the country, the industrial reform is absolutely necessary to avoid the imminent collapse of the Mexican economy.
How does this effect America? If President Calderon’s desperate attempts to liquidate national assets are inadequate, inert or ineffective, the Mexican economy will undoubtedly collapse; and the U.S. will almost certainly follow. Not only is Mexico the third-largest supplier of petroleum imports to the United States at 1.2 million barrels a day, but also the second-largest international trader in general. With an already-stressed U.S. economy and growing American dependency upon China to purchase the debt of the “stimulus package” in the form of 30 year treasury bonds, the slightest economic decline in neighboring Mexico could prove detrimental to the United States’ attempt to reverse it’s current recession. Even with the partial privatization of Mexico’s petroleum industry, the Mexican government would still require the marketing of it’s petroleum at $30 a barrel over the current competitive rate of approximately $40 in order to securely balance the federal budget.
The situation is only further compounded by China’s current possession of $682 billion of U.S. Treasury debt, recording of it’s slowest economic growth in seven years, and increasing threats of inability to afford the $2 trillion cost of the American “stimulus package”. Other countries, such as Russia and Japan, are also significant investors in U.S. debt, however, lack the purchasing ability to adequately suffice in the event of China’s withdrawal from negotiations. With no other possible buyers, America would be forced to compensate for the lower profit by raising the interest rates of the existing debt, adding an additional $200-$300 billion to it’s ultimate cost.
The predicament echoes of the strategic economic impasse once imposed by the U.S. upon the U.S.S.R. during the Reagan administration—that is, the oil partnership forged with Saudi Arabia, which lead to the middle-eastern country to triple it’s oil production while cutting it’s selling price to the U.S. by 50%, causing an economic explosion in the western world, and an economic implosion in the eastern, and oil-revenue-dependent, Soviet Union. Now, the economic high-ground has shifted; and it is the west that faces the exceeding dilution of resources, inflation, and the threat of self-destruction; but this is only one of several variables in the dismal equation of the impending American collapse.
To make matters worse, while the world leaders of the United States and Mexico scramble to preserve their countries’ economies, rising tension along their shared border is becoming increasingly reminiscent of another similar scenario of the Cold War—one between a weakening U.S.S.R. and a now infamous Afghani militant, over twenty years ago.
Mr.Sith Goes To Washington
It is one week into the era of President Obama, and as the ceremonious rituals and traditional charades came to a close, the grim realities of the future of the United States became clear. Our new president has initiated his diametrically slanted regime publicly and hastily; and is plainly enjoying the uncontested invincibility provided by the heightened Democratic presence in Washington—one that an economic writer for the Wall Street Journal likened to “…the forces of the Dark Side after they have defeated the Jedi Knights in The Empire Strikes Back.” In other words: America, buckle your seatbelts. Big government, socialism, and economic oppression have arrived; and when the rising empire decides to demonstrate the power of the proverbial death ray of socialism, it won’t be aimed at the peaceful planet of Alderaan. It will be aimed squarely at the American people.
There is a glimmering light, however. The pragmatist voices of resistance are few in number, but they are out there—somewhere—lost in the cacophony of the media frenzy. Although they are often barely discernible, their message is strong: the new administration is one of “The Sith”, the nemesis of The Jedi and of justice in the galaxy, and a dense concentration of personified evil, which leaves the citizens of the United States of America in the position to make a decision of legendary proportions. We, the people, must choose to lower the blast shield and wield our untapped potential in opposition against the Evil Obama Empire, or apathetically allow ourselves to be economically victimized under the generalized banners of “hope” and “change”. We must prepare ourselves for the onslaught of the Big Brother agenda, the numerous and unrelenting job-destroying initiatives, and the staunchly liberal procurator’s movements to expand their political leverage and control at our expense. The ones now in power are the ones who Ayn Rand described in her classic novel, Atlas Shrugged as “the looters and their laws.” They are the American Bolshevik aristocracy; and they are here to exploit us. But we must remember, they are also the merciless machine to which our Jedi protagonist, Luke Skywalker, boldly and handless-ly spat, “I’ll never join you!”, and we can learn from his heroic defiance. We can do it too (Yes we can!) if we assemble, organize, and bring awareness to the truths behind the Evil Obama Empire’s deceptive propagation of class-envy and blind mass appeal—two proven ingredients of social and political upheaval—and two steps toward our folding self destruction.
Let us review and examine the proposals of the Evil Obama Empire before us, as I hold the truths therewithin to be self-evident. American citizens, it is time to open your eyes and ears, for it is upon these grounds that the first battles of our revolution must be fought and won to preserve our freedom.
- $850 billion “stimulus package” — In this “stimulus package”, the Evil Obama Empire asserts that if the government spends, borrows, and prints close to $1 trillion, everyone in America will be able to find employment and everyone in America will become wealthy. This is absurd. The creation of money is not the creation of capital, it’s inflation. This is the Bolivia economic model, and it is very probable to be passed by the Sith Obama minions in Washington.
- Forced union rules — The abolishment of secret ballots for elections to unionize factories and plants. One could also call this, “a farewell to democracy”. This is the rapidity at which the Evil Obama Empire is establishing its expansive control. Another could call this, “the payback for the $400 million the union bosses spent to elect Democrats”.
- Hillary Clinton Health Care – The Evil Obama Empire wants a new version of government-run health care. This means, more governmental power over the lives of the American citizens and the services they receive to preserve said lives. Why shouldn’t we support this movement? Socialized health care has worked so well in Canada and the U.K., right? Let us just pray to our Sith lord and savior, Barack Obama, that we don’t get sick, and actually need those services.
- Cap and trade energy tax – The “Death Star” of tax increases: $1.2 trillion over the next decade. Al Gore and his discipleship of environmentalists are drawn closer to the Dark Side by this new tax for its ability to cripple American industry and manufacturing capacity. That means more jobs lost, more dependency of the proletariat upon the government-sponsored “successful” corporations and organizations, and more government control over the innocent citizens the Evil Obama Empire will then transform into economy drones. But this is the price the people pay for the profitable, fire-and-brimstone pop culture phenomenon that is “global warming”. Sleep well, Darth Gore.
- The Destruction of the Wealthy — The Evil Obama Empire wants to raise the income tax, the capital gains tax, the dividend tax, and the payroll tax. That’s all. But only for the wealthy – those who have the financial and economical abilities to create jobs, take risks, start businesses, and work hard among other things – only they will pay. This means half of all income taxes will be paid by 1% of the American people. This can only possibly appear just and fair to the impressionable who have succumbed as willing participants in the liberal agenda to manufacture class-envy among the people. Fight, my friends! Resist their Sith mind tricks!
- To Drill, or Not to Drill – The Evil Obama Empire is likely to attempt to reinstate bans on offshore drilling for oil and gas in the outer continental shelf, Alaska, and in the oil shale rich states of the west. This is a way to assist in the creation of employment opportunities and truly “stimulate” the economy? The Evil Obama Empire must also believe this is an appropriate measure to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
- Fairness doctrine — To ensure the Evil Obama Empire’s big-government agenda isn’t extinguished by the capitalist resistance headed by the few aforementioned voices in the media, the Democrats want to pass the “Fairness doctrine,” legislation to ensure that liberal ideals be allotted equal time and coverage on television and radio. This is another movement for more government control over corporations and the people! Are the masses of Sith “Obamaniacs” truly so blind? Rather, is it naivety? Do they truly believe in the viability and honest intentions of a socialist emperor as he quietly and affably robs them of every economical and social right they have?
Despite the Evil Obama Empire’s deceptive claims, the redistribution of wealth is not the creation of wealth, government is not the solution—it’s the problem, and Emperor Obama does not have the intellect, the objectivity, or the right to control any of our money or lives; and we need to remind the elitist Sith in Washington of these truths before it is too late. The money Emperor Obama plans to throw at our economic crises isn’t coming from Washington. It’s coming from us, our children, and our grandchildren. The “economic stimulus” will be economic suicide. If the Evil Obama Empire’s agenda succeeds, in 2009 the federal budget will increase the budget deficit to $2.2 trillion in a single year. This is more borrowing in 1 year than the federal government did previously in 200 years combined. This must be stopped before it begins.
So what can we, the people, the Jedi—we who still believe in freedom and the principles of limited government that our Founding Fathers set out for this nation do? Will we strap on our blasters, man our X-wings, and prepare to fight the political fight of a lifetime in the name of preserving free market capitalism, or will we flee to the swamps of the Dagobah System and cower? Let us join and resist the arsenal of economic lunacy against all odds. The American Idea is at stake. Who will rise as our Luke Skywalker, and make the trench-run to destroy the destroyers? Who will be our New Hope? Who will be our protagonist, our hero? Whoever it is, they will not come from Washington. They will come from the ranks of the dirty, the trodden, and the poor. They will come from the midst of the American people, and they will be immovable. They will be us, collectively; and they will bring balance and justice to the galaxy once more. Until then, my fellow citizens, be strong, and may the truth be with you—always.
President Obama’s Inaugural Address
My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
“Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Gray Matters
Two months ago, many multiracial eyes filled with tears and hearts with unprecedented inspiration as America witnessed its first African-American president, Barack Obama, become elected into office. African-Americans, as well as other minorities and ethnicities across the nation, gathered to celebrate a certain atonement—a sentiment the social struggles of the not-too-distant past had left many unaccustomed to. To anyone bearing witness, it was as if they each shared a piece of the presidency to come, and deservingly so. It had never been as apparent that the formerly oppressed races of our ever-assimilating “melting pot” had not been campaigning for the occasion for two years, but collectively, for generations.
But according to Democratic U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, we shouldn’t even be celebrating the election or our president-elect, who has become the symbol of our nation’s social progression. Why not? Because, Rush says, he isn’t African-American—or at least African-American enough. It began in 2000, when the two battled each other for Rush’s congressional seat. Rush cited Obama’s biracial heritage and dignified demeanor as indicators of his “unauthentic” racial identity as a black man, and he has consistently defended the statement since.
It was no surprise then, that Rush’s support went to former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris, an African-American with “street cred”; and one that was certainly “black enough” or “authentic” enough to fill Obama’s now empty Senate seat. Burris’ appointment to the Senate was rejected earlier today by Secretary of the Senate, Nancy Erickson, due to an incomplete certification; and it was initially tainted altogether by the Blagojevich indictment, but in digression, the situation raises the important question: what is “black enough”? What makes Burris “authentic,” and Obama not?
The question of Obama’s racial authenticity is not a new one. He has even jokingly been referred to as the “Magic Negro” in some Caucasian, conservative circles. The term refers to the President-Elect’s appeal to the white demographic; he’s neither violent, threatening, nor hypersexual—contrary to common stereotypes and to what qualities even Rush, an African-American himself, apparently attributes to a typical “authentic” black American male. The “Magic Negro” is just “white enough” to ease Caucasian voters’ weary minds, yet just “black enough” to alleviate the burden of their politically correct, “white guilt.”
Other than biracial lineage, what separates Obama from other prominent African-American males of the Democratic Party? Does anyone question Rep. Rush’s “authenticity?” By what criteria can such a classification be determined? Is the “authentic” typecast of black men so disturbingly negative that those who defy it are considered “unauthentic” by some counterparts on both sides of the racial line?
African-American Dawn Trice commented on the racial dilemma stating:
“One cannot deny that there are myriad problems facing some black men. But the black male type is far more diverse than what’s captured in statistics and in the media. A substantial group of impressive black men have been rendered invisible by the knuckleheads.”
Would a Caucasian male face the promise of similar brandings? If there indeed exists an “authenticity” to males of the African-American race, is there one to white males? Hispanic males? What does it mean to be an “authentic” white man? White politicians have been continually disappointing the public for centuries. Why haven’t their recurring faults come to define their racial heritage in its entirety? Have the disproportionate representations of African-American males reaffirmed negative stereotypes to a point that they now define the “authentic” archetype of the entire race?
The truth of the matter is, although Barack Obama has been celebrated as our nation’s first African-American man to be elected to the presidency, he is exactly what his ancestry alludes to. He is not black. He is not white. He is both. He is “gray”; and as evidenced by the continuing arguments over the “authenticity” of racial identity, perhaps a “gray” president is even more socially progressive than a black one—and may be exactly what both sides of the racial line in this country currently need. For the time being, let’s celebrate our American “melting pot”; it just made history.
The Inhumane Society
Like many of my fellow unfortunate Americans, I am financially challenged. And similarly again, my challenges are often subsequently nullified by my sacrifice of certain luxuries in life. Thus, I often find myself sitting amongst the irritating drone and humid air of a laundromat, reluctantly loading my garments into what I pray is a somewhat sanitary device—something my naivety could hardly convince me of prior to last week—that is, prior to my encounter with the “Humane Society” (which I found is anything but).
After thumbing most of my collected change into a machine primed to bathe my clothing in the entire Boise-bench area’s bacteria, they arrived. Their hands, already enshrouded in precautionary latex gloves, clutched mysteriously large and bulbous black garbage bags. Although I was careful not to let my eyes impolitely affix to their activities for more than a few seconds at a time, I started my machine’s wash-cycle and stood against it as I witnessed the pair of scrub-clad “humane” employees fill the majority of the remaining fifty machines with the donated blankets and quilts now belonging to the captured vagrant dogs of the community. One by one, I watched as the two twenty-something women loaded a variety of linens completed fused together by dried excrements of thick, amber urine and then-black, semi-solid animal feces. All the while, the anonymous employees joked of how disgusting each piece of cloth was; and laughing, threatened to force them into each other’s faces.
My attention immediately turned to my own clothing, now in the midst of an already disease-filled, albeit soapy rumble. How many times before had I entrusted the fabric I wrap my body in, nestle into when cold, and clean myself with to a machine previously used by a “humane” employee? One who doesn’t even possess at least the common courtesy to shake the fecal matter out of the wadded blankets she loads into the cleansing apparatuses? How often does this happen? How many other victims of the Inhumane Society’s negligence are there?
I dare not ponder the answers to such questions long as they provide for the nightmarish visualizations of horrific hypothetical scenarios; and thus far, have already invoked my false sensations of lumps of animal waste in the pocket of every shirt, and the toe of every sock I have since inserted my body into, as well as a mistakenly discerned aroma of animal urine on every item and article of clothing in my wardrobe, even those I did not submit to the contamination of the dog population’s toilet—also known as the Vista Laundromat.
A few questions I have deliberated (to my sanity’s extent) have pertained to the self-designated “Humane” Society’s title and the organization’s worthiness of carrying such a chaste moniker, especially when coupled with the calculated guilt-campaigns most apparently evident in their weekly ads of sad looking creatures in the newspaper. Countless times have the homeless pets’ eyes pleaded from the page, immediately under the again-repeated misappropriation, “humane.” How dare they hypocritically capitalize on the compassion and charity of the very civilians they secretly expose to the formerly domesticated animals’ infectious waste! Again, this is all conducted under the guise of a “humane” society! Need they be reminded that humanity extends beyond the specie of canines?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “humane” as follows: “Marked by compassion, sympathy, or consideration for humans or animals.” The Oxford English Dictionary reads: “Characterized by such behaviour or disposition towards others as befits a man,” and later provides the alternative definition: “Marked by sympathy with and consideration for the needs and distresses of others; feeling or showing compassion and tenderness towards human beings and the lower animals….” To be sure my inquiries into the definition of the word were receiving absolutely undated, contemporary replies, I also sought the declarations of Dictionary.com, which reiterated the previous definitions, offering these words to define “humane”: “Characterized by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for people and animals, esp. for the suffering or distressed.”
A consistent quality throughout the collected definitions (and one that cannot be neglected) is the repeated reference to humans, mankind, and people—each time, taking precedence over the mentioning of animals—creatures the self-proclaimed “accepted authority” of the Oxford English editorial staff even describes as “lower.” Perhaps the Inhumane Society disagrees with the accepted authority’s unfavorable estimation of the creatures. Perhaps many humans do. Would they have the audacity, however, to disagree with The Department of Health and Human Services (note: human services) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? The organization, abbreviated as the CDC, warns of Cryptosporidiosis specifically, a diarrheal disease caused by microscopic parasites that live in the intestines of the host—human or animal—is found present in the feces, and is passed through the stool of the infected. According to the “Fact Sheet” supplied to the general public by the CDC, the parasite is protected by an outer shell that allows it to survive on surfaces and material outside of the body for long periods of time. The shell also makes it very resistant to cleaning products, even chorine disinfectants. The informational article continues to detail the “Crypto” disease, stating:
“While this parasite can be transmitted in several different ways, water is a common method of transmission and Cryptosporidium is one of the most frequent causes of waterborne disease among humans in the United States”.
But this is not an issue, as every itinerant mongrel circulated through the “Humane” Society’s facility is vaccinated against such intestinal parasites, right? Wrong. The Idaho Inhumane Society only vaccinates its canine visitors against Distemper, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza, Parvo, and Rabies, a list dwarfed by other veterinary clinics in the Treasure Valley (ones without morally reprehensible underbellies). This information was shockingly displayed upon the official website of the private, non-profit organization, only to later be proudly confirmed by my direct questioning of its contemptible members and certified veterinarians.
Then, why isn’t the general public aware of these atrocities? Perhaps it is because the Inhumane Society’s irresponsible exposing of the community to Cryptosporidiosis is in essence the perfect, undetectable crime. The symptoms associated with the infection are shared with many other common ailments and diseases, including an upset stomach, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, loss of weight, dehydration, and sometimes fever. A small percentage of individuals do not experience any symptoms at all. For others however, particularly immuno-compromised individuals such as AIDS and cancer patients, the contagion could be fatal and is often initially misdiagnosed as another illness due to its ambiguous indications, only further proving the danger of the animal shelter’s continued delinquency.
In reiteration of the CDC’s information on one of several potential diseases the Inhumane Society carelessly and dangerously exposes the Boise human population to: Cryptosporidium is an interspecies parasite passed through the fecal matter of infected humans and animals, is resilient against forms of cleanser and liquid sanitation methods, attaches to and survives upon a variety of surfaces and material, and is most often transmitted through environments consisting of water—lots of water. That would make a public washing machine filled with the waste of the animals, inadequate detergent, plentiful fabric for any microorganisms to take refuge in, and gallons of water, the ideal breeding (and infecting) grounds for “Crypto.”
Article III section B of the Compendium of Veterinary Standard Precautions: Zoonotic Disease Prevention in Veterinary Personnel clearly states that (somebody nudge the “Humane” Society—they may want to know this) “all feces and urine should be presumed infectious”. This, occurring in the document after Cryptosporidiosis is specifically mentioned in its prefacing summary, and before the condition is included in the supplied analytical chart of “Zoonotic Diseases of Importance in the United States,” where it receives indicative marks in the “nationally notifiable for humans,” “severe disease,” and “fatalities reported in humans” columns. On several occasions within the text, the document also reveals the appalling and disturbing admission: “Infection control measures vary from [veterinary] practice to practice and are often insufficient to prevent zoonotic disease transmission”, but ideals such as attempting to uphold ethical conduct and moral accountability couldn’t possibly be included under the encompassment of terms like “humane” or “humanity,” could they?
The unfortunate reality of the situation is that, to prevent the further victimization of the innocent by the despicable Inhumane Society’s reckless endangerment, the exposed population must take action itself. The mere occurrence of such heinously immoral acts on behalf of the “Humane” Society, and the reluctantly accepted possibility of their indefinite and unnoticed repetition in the past, serve as evidence to the necessity of a certain initiative among the people they have subjected to such foul and detestable mistreatment. We, the potentially infected people, must bring attention to the injustices and offenses of the deceptive organization.
Firstly, public outcry must take place, referencing the benefaction-funded association’s blatant violations of Ada County Code Ordinance 644, section 5-2-5, which details the authorized commercial and residential disposal sites of animal waste the Board of Ada County Commissioners calls “stable matter” (none of said sites including the bottom of a laundromat washing machine). We must contact all aspects of local, if not national media, and inform them of our disgusting findings. We must then adequately equip their reporters with the terrible truth so that they may utilize the investigative and expansive resources we do not have access to ourselves; and through them, alert the local philanthropists and businesses that regularly attain a sense of prideful benevolence and significant tax alleviations for their charitable contributions to the vile offenders.
Secondly, monitoring and regulation of the Inhumane Society’s mandatory safety compliances should be intensified and increased, which can be initiated and accomplished through the people’s alerting and seeking assistance from the Idaho Public Health Association as well as other health and safety oriented organizations to influence the development and implementation of appropriate legislation. Within the proposed increased level of governance and transparency, the Inhumane Society should be required to institute and operate adequate, on-site laundry facilities used exclusively in the cleaning of soiled linens and protective veterinary garments.
Although an effective treatment for “Crypto” has yet to be approved for use in canines or humans, experimental research by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Animal Disease Center into a vaccination for infected and highly susceptible cattle calves has produced favorable results, including both a reduction of the symptoms and the amount of oocysts (contagious cells) found present in the stool of the infected. Because Cryptosporidiosis has little or no host specificity, the same parasitic species is infective for calves, humans, and other animals—meaning a comprehensive vaccine is well within the foreseeable future. Upon the innovation of an effective immunization for canines, the community should thirdly demand further measures be required to screen and inoculate animals admitted to the welfare shelter and facilities against Cryptosporidiosis as well as other communicable diseases as sufficient methods of treatment become available for them.
Last week, I witnessed first-hand the horrors the Inhumane Society has been unscrupulously committing behind the backs and inside the public appliances of the surrounding community. I remained in quiet, discretionary shock for the duration of my wash, rinse, and separate drying cycle, only moving from the edge of my machine once to secretly take valuable, evidentiary photographs of the dated, white truck that boasted the official seal of the “Humane” Society’s effrontery against the backdrop of the weathered laundromat with my cellular phone.
“I may need some ammunition,” I told myself, as I quickly hid my intentions from the then exiting “humane” employees. After waiting until the rear of their grumbling vehicle disappeared into the heavy traffic of the adjacent Vista avenue, I returned to tend to my then finished and dry clothes—only to find, that in the absolute negligent and reckless irresponsibility I now associated with the Inhumane Society, the employees who epitomized the carelessness of their loathsome employer had added several of the soiled linens into the same machine as my own clothing. “Oh yeah,” I muttered with a newly ignited vengefulness, “I’m definitely going to need some ammunition.”
