Cognitive dissonance is touching my soul...

Empty Food Bank in New Jersey

So the economy is growing tremendously, gas prices are down, unemployment is as good as it's been for decades, and yet the American people are unhappy and depressed. Wonder why?

Well, my first thought is that we're obviously just a bunch of spoiled first world whiners, complaining that Starbucks is out of stoppers for our extra-shot, double syrup, half-caff carmel mocha latte Venti whatever...as a stockholder in Howard Schultz's empire, I feel your pain, but in small town America and in the poorer sides of town, Starbucks has closed their nearest stores and the local Safeway is out of coffee-flavored coffee. Metaphorically speaking, of course, except that here in the California Crossroads of Opportunity, the downtown Starbucks runs out of coffee occasionally. Seriously, once or twice a year...go figure.

Cognitive dissonance. The slap to the right side of the head that gets us to think for a second, to shake up the clogged blood vessels in the brain.

However, in today's America, we are often bitch slapped back and forth for hours, and then end up focused on something completely insane and irrelevant. I had a mentor and friend commit suicide a decade ago after deciding  that what he had spent his life working for was impossible to achieve and his legacy was being poisoned by the greed and petty jealousy of his friends and family. He stopped taking his medicine for the blood pressure and other cardio-problems so he could watch what was happening around him, and told only a few people.

While not up there with Cato the Younger slicing his belly with a gladius, screwing it up, and then talking about philosophy with his friends, this was a pretty stoic way to do it. When I found out, I was not surprised; he'd done this once before but someone had talked him out of it, saying that without his example, the whole thing would be morally bankrupt. He accepted that, and then, when the enterprise was overrun by weasels and was a sinking black hole of moral bankruptcy, he did it again.

Rupert I -- 21st Centrury Moral Aribiter

 Cognitive dissonance. Je Suis Charlie is a noble sentiment, but unless you're doing something that could get you killed for standing up against power and fanaticism, you're  wearing a protest button that means nothing.

There was an interesting bit of bi-play on Twitter about this, when that exemplar of modern ethics, integrity and community  spirit, Rupert Murdoch had the gall to tweet this nonsense:  Maybe most Moslems peaceful, but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist  cancer they must be held responsible. --R.Murdoch, Lake of Fire, Hell

 I'll pass over the anachronistic spelling of Muslim, and stipulate that his PR department probably did it as opposed to the old racist, sexist, criminal bastard himself but  still, come on. So, the real moral conscience of the 21st Century, the former unwed mother who wrote a series of novels condemned by Christian fundamentalists for  advocating witchcraft and devil worship, J.K Rowling had the best and most telling response.  "I was born Christian. If that makes Rupert Murdoch my  responsibility, I'll auto-excommunicate."--J.K.Rowling, Hogwarts 

 When another anti-Mudochian said that "I personally never stop apologizing for the Crusades." she responded with this, "The Spanish Inquisition was my  fault, as is all Christian fundamentalist violence. Oh, and Jim Bakker."

 

 There are a number of other things getting some play that are worth reading, but the point is simple. My Shiite friend in Teheran shouldn't feel any more guilt for what  these clowns did in Paris than I feel about The Battle of Sand Creek. One of the key things to remember about this latest La Belle France tragedy is that there appear to be  two heroes -- the cop slaughtered by the terrorists and the grocery clerk who hid customers in the freezer keeping them safe from the lunatic with the gun. Both were  Muslims.

 I was driven to write this not by la affaire Charlie, but by something else. One of the organizations I am affiliated with and give money to when I can is Veterans for Change.  A grass roots organization started by a Navy Vet son of a Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant, Vets for Change does a lot to help local vets as well as serving as a point of contact for Vet nationwide and the network of Veterans Support Organizations to try and help them get assistance. Occasionally, they have to go outside to ask for money, and that's where guys like me come in. I'm not a saint, I'm not rich and I deserve no credit for this, but when I can and I'm asked, I send what I can. After all, all Veterans are members of my extended family.

 

 

 

 

The thing we should remember is the difference between not enough and more than enough is some indescribably small amount. I give what I can and wish it was more. Today, I'm just incensed. Cognitive dissonance got me, and here's why. I got a request for help from Jim Davis, the founder and CEO. Here's the relevant part.

 

Four days ago one of our sister organizations called trying to get a Veteran in New Jersey some help.  And originally we turned them down providing referrals to several other organizations and letting Laura (the Vet Service Coordinator) know she was really going to have to push hard as most simply weren’t assisting for various reasons.  Lawrence Bergjans, served two tours in Iraq as a SPC in the Army.  He is 28 years old, and he does receive 10% benefits for hearing loss and is still pending on his claim for PTSD. 

With Laura’s persistence she was pretty successful in that she raised nearly $2,000 of the $2,600 needed, and she called to ask us if we had other agencies we could refer her to call on, and we did provide her an addition 11 more in other states. Laura informed us that food pantries there were empty or had very little to offer and asked if we could assist in that area as well. We did tell her we would make the effort, but we could not promise nor could we guarantee anything. 

We did make a few calls to organizations here on the west coast as well as a few churches and we were able to have one church in Nogales assist and gave $650.00. We’re hoping we can raise an additional $40-50.00 or more to help cover food items, and Laura will be making calls on Monday to social services and try to assist Lawrence at enrolling into the welfare and food stamp programs. We’re hoping we can raise an additional $40-50.00 or more to help cover food items, and Laura will be making calls on Monday to social services and try to assist Lawrence at enrolling into the welfare and food stamp programs.

I sent a bit and apologized for not having more. Jim takes no salary from this labor of love he started when his father passed away after a deathbed request to keep fighting for Vets and their rights. He

C.Christtie -- Moral Arbiter of New Jersey

dropped a note back, and the relevant parts are these:

Thank you, and I know what you mean by tough.  Damn, just barely got the utilities here at home covered and was left a whopping 28 cents in the account.

We’ve been running into empty food pantries all over the place. I lost track of all the calls we made but roughly 70% were empty, and the rest just barely had anything but were still offering it up.I honestly don’t know what is going on with the Govt. grants either, most have not been renewed yet, and I was told by a Veteran Liaison in Congresswoman Sanchez’s office that many grants were being reviewed in committee, and it looked like they were going to make them more tougher to award grants. Doesn’t surprise me, they’re not giving up any money for Veterans and what is being given up who the hell knows where it’s going but it’s not going where intended.

 In case you're not aware of this aspect, Nogales is a border town, and not a particularly rich one (oxymoron) in Arizona. The state of Arizona ranks 41st in the US for per capita income.  New Jersey ranks 3rd in per capita income. That kind of says it all, doesn't it? One of the richest states in the country, run by a sociopathic bloated crook who likes to act tough and use his power to bully anyone who crosses him, and to get assistance for one of their "honored veterans" who is pending the PTSD call they have get assistance from a very poor city in a relatively poor state. In 2013, the per capita income for a resident of Nogales was slightly over $13000; according to the World Bank, in 2013 the average US per capita income was over $50,000.

Cognitive dissonance.  If you don't feel a bit confused by this, or angry, or disillusioned or something; if you think Murdoch has a point and Rowling is just being bitchy, well -- seek help. Or run for office as a Republican.