Radicals Are In Charge

During the sixties and seventies I was called a “radical” because I opposed the Viet Nam war. It didn’t matter that I had served in the Navy while those accusing me had not. The radicals were in charge and they were going to have their war whether any of us liked it or not.

Fast forward to 2019. I am once again being called a “radical.” Why this time? Well, I believe in health care for all Americans, getting rid of student loan debt, getting sensible gun control legislation passed, and doing something about climate change before we all perish… to name a few. Are those “radical” ideas? I don’t think so. The truth is the “radicals” are in charge.

How much more “radical” can you get than destroying our air, our water, and the lives of your own grandchildren just to make a buck? Now, that’s radical! How radical is it to care more about your right to own a gun than the right of your children to go to school without fear of being shot? How radical can it be to defend the very insurance and pharmaceutical companies that are driving you to file for bankruptcy, or sell your house, at the end of your life just to pay for your health care? That’s radical! Make no mistake… the radicals are in charge!

The truth is, I have never been a radical. I believe in sensible, logical solutions to some very serious problems, which, if we don’t solve, could not only signal the end of America, but the end of us all. Yes, a few people may survive, but it will be a world that you don’t want to live in.

You won’t survive if the temperature is a constant 130 degrees Fahrenheit or more, or your drinking water is all filled with lead! It is not radical to want to change these things. It is only common sense!

But to get rid of the current radical agenda is going to take swift and courageous action by committed people. We are running out of time. The planet will survive, but will we? If we continue on the current radical path, we will not.

I leave you with these facts: Global Warming is not a hoax. Racism is not patriotism. Sexism is not manly. Lying is not leadership. Fascism is not Freedom. Insults and vile comments are not “Making America Great Again.” Xenophobia is not religious freedom. Bragging is not exceptionalism. Pacifism is not cowardice.

And caring for your fellow man is not radical.

© 2019, Rob Moitoza

Author:

The focus of "The BeZine," a publication of The Bardo Group Beguines, is on sacred space (common ground) as it is expressed through the arts. Our work covers a range of topics: spirituality, life, death, personal experience, culture, current events, history, art, and photography and film. We share work here that is representative of universal human values however differently they might be expressed in our varied religions and cultures. We feel that our art and our Internet-facilitated social connection offer a means to see one another in our simple humanity, as brothers and sisters, and not as “other.” This is a space where we hope you’ll delight in learning how much you have in common with “other” peoples. We hope that your visits here will help you to love (respect) not fear. For more see our Info/Mission Statement Page.

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