What we lack

I just finished watching Bobby. I truly appreciate movies like this. It is about something we all know, but it forces us to think about what could have been. And, perhaps, what could still be.

It saddens me that our generation lacks a leader that inspires such hope and reverence. I honestly can't think of a single current leader that I would shed tears over if they were to pass or be assassinated. Does that make me a horrible person? I hope not. We live with such corruption and self-centered leaders, striving to make life better for themselves and those within their social circle. Meanwhile, civil rights are still being violated and basic human needs are not being met.

Children all over this country go hungry every day. Those with mental illness and permanent physical disabilities are still downcast and hidden from view. The poor are still looked at as "lazy" and "shiftless." Hispanics, poor whites, blacks, Asians, and Arabic peoples are persecuted in a million different ways every day. The only way to be above it all is to be (hold on, big shock coming here ...) upper-class white.

The ironic thing is that two of those people who earnestly tried to rectify these problems have become the epitome of class and distinction and the elite. The (in)famous Kennedy family, while swimming in money and style, never really lost sight of their duty as political Americans. Their duty is to protect and provide for ALL Americans. Whether those Americans got here by birth, plane, boat, or fleeing across a broken down border, they are all Americans. We have completely lost sight of this.

Well, maybe not "we." But, those we elect to lead us have. Politics now are only about enhancing the wealth of the wealthy and solidifying the stratification of class. No longer are they about social change and improving the world in which we life.

Long story short, we need new leadership. We need someone who will guide us out of this silly "war" and out of this economic farce in which we exist. Perhaps it could be Obama. Perhaps even Hillary. Honestly, I think it will take more than either on of them alone. Our entire social and political construction needs reworking. Maychance one of them could do it. Odds are, because one is black and the other is a woman, neither will get the chance. All the more evidence for the need for a change.