The right to

What makes us human? What distinguishes us from the other mammals?

I used to think there were more differences than similarities and that somehow it made us superior, but I am beginning to wonder if this is the down side of being human. Perhaps we have progressed to the point where some of us are headed the other way.

Those wonderful things that gave us an edge might not destroy just us, but every other living creature given enough time. I think the earth will be fine. She will recoup given enough time.

Our brilliance allows us to expose nearly everyone to information they might not have had access to in the past. So a city dweller can identify a shark feeding frenzy, or wolves tracking down their prey. We recognize this sort of group activity in "primitive" animals.  We understand how cowboys herded cattle along the old western trails.

Yet we don't see how the majority of us are being herded down the trails to second class citizenship and poverty by the modern herders. We just fall into line behind those screaming whatever we want to hear in order to make us follow them. We want to believe there is a shortcut to a better life and that shortcut involves allowing the top few percent to have more and more in return for their promises that if we only do away with the scapegoats they will give us more.

They talk us into carrying guns and even try to get us to put them in classrooms so some of us can sacrifice ourselves for the greater good. Imagine Star Wars ending in a huge fire fight right there in the theater! The good guy bullets and bad guy bullets flying over our heads . . .

They cut funding for education, use social security for things other than retirees, and well you know the rest.  "They" are whoever the poorly educated, nonthinking, reacting people choose to put in power --

These tactics work: for the top percent: for the short term: for now.

In the end?

It will end life as we know it and we are choosing it!