Desperate Times for Desperate People

The other thing that is troubling during this time is the gap between the classes in America. Historically speaking, the United States has always been perceived as a "classless society", one that does not reflect the Old World and its attachment to one's station in life. However, the Gilded Age of the 19th and early 20th Century changed that. Today's society lends further evidence that the "haves and the have mores" possess more of the pie than the rest of us.

During the present Administration, we are more separated by class possibly than in the past. The ultra rich have made stupendous amounts of money during this age while the middle and working class has floundered due to the shifts in the economy. And the poor? As a quip that has ironically been said from time to time, let them eat yellow cake. After all, the poor (as evidenced from the disaster of Hurricane Katrina) remain invisible in a society increasingly being convinced that the government has no role in trying to help them.

As a result, there are a rash of stories coming out in the news of people doing desperate things in the name of money. Everyday, there seems to be story on identity theft or hacking into a system of personal information. Since we have become an increasingly electronic society in which cash and personal information have become more valuable to make transactions, desperate acts become more and more apparent only to exist.

Just like the eighties, money has been the sole part of being acknowledged and accepted in society. It almost seems that the "morals" that have been constantly thrown at us equate "godliness" with being an "acceptable member" of society through how much is owned. This is a shame that the present value system of American society relating these ideals has been increasingly noticable in entertainment, speeches and news. However, when you see the rich doing what they want without any ethical compass to guide them while people like you and myself getting caught on the smallest offenses, one can see that desperate measures come from desperate times.

When national leaders constantly talk and ignore their way out of culpability, what kind of example does it set for the rest of us? Not a very good one. And if politicans don't care, then should the rest of us care? That answer requires a lot of thought for some while for others it doesn't take a New York minute for the answer. It only shows that we are not an egalitarian society--not for one second.

Desperation has become a signifier of the post-9/11 society, it seems. There seems to be a hurried, expectant nature to get the results required. Whether it is vanquishing terrorists or trying to put a lid on the latest scandal, people demand things to be done quickly and succinctly without any second thoughts. As a result, the sense of right and wrong seems to be ignored without any sense of empathy.

Still here, there is more to be said in searching for the reasons why. When it comes to the state of America, one needs to come back to the notion of a country trying to search for its soul once again.

We are definitely lost in many ways. We won't be found again until we listen to the pleas of our citizens and work on getting better wages for everyone while narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor. People must definitely stop voting against their best interests. Instead, justice and fairness must be explored again in order to set right the inequalities that the difference in classes convey.