What is going on in our society?

If I had written my blog in April, I probably had made a comment on the Catholic Church’s most recent reaction to the news of more pedophile priests in the church and their ability to stay in the church due to the curia pressure and the current pope’s previous positions as Archbishop in Germany and Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.

And if I had written a blog May, I would have commented on the most recent and still ongoing devastation of the Gulf of Mexico by a BP oil platform explosion and spill. This month I am not going to catch up and write about anything of these issues specifically. What I am going to say that both of these 2 past events point out one really glaring theme in the public arena which reflects upon our society. Can you guess?

Both situations reflect that we have a major failure of our leadership on all levels which spans both political, corporate and spiritual. No one is looking out after the public good. Everyone is only concerned about their tiny piece of the pie, and more importantly, they are only concerned with either their own position, their cronies and their own economic well being.

In the case of the politicians, we look at them so cynically that we somehow just accept that they are looking after only themselves because that is what politicians do. However, we have reached a new level of intellectual dishonesty in government whereby it is not about looking at an issue scientifically or in a balanced way, so that we come upon a conclusion that will best serve society. It is about who can win an argument not with the best facts but with half truths and lies. There is no political discussion that is not spun either in the newspapers, TV or internet. It is about winning the argument in the court of public opinion even if the public is completely misinformed. It is no longer about doing what is best for society as a whole, but doing only what will benefit corporate America and their cronies, while spinning it and claiming that it  is good for Joe public who is struggling to keep his job and his house.

The winning of one political opponent over another has a taken on a new dimension. Now some politicians sponsor a bill and then end up voting against their own bill because their opponent party was going to vote for it. So, in order to make the other party look like it was failing to get votes for the bill, the bill sponsor actually votes against their own bill, even if it was good for their constituents and for the country as a whole.

The Catholic Church is also not immune to the corruption of their leadership. Pedophile priests getting moved about to different parishes rather than being sent to Monasteries or thrown out of the church so that they are out of contact with children. It turns out Pope Benedict’s diocese was not immune nor was his department that he headed, which investigated some of the claims. They have been caught transfering files regarding the priests in questions to the Vatican Embassy in Washington, so as to cover up how much the church knew about the situation. In any other instance of such overt hinderance of a police investigation of a case, most people would be placed in jail. The church has not only acted immorally in many of  these cases, not acting to protect their members, but it has acted criminally.

At first, the church pointed the finger to the US – stating that it was more of a local problem, more of a management problem. Now that criticism has been pointed towards the Pope, the Vatican curia refer to situation in Germany and the questions about the pope’s handling of several pedophile cases as “petty gossip”, pointing their  fingers at the enemies of the church and comparing it to the historical attacks on the Jews.  Rather than protecting and defending the victims, this Pope and the Vatican prefer to defend themselves, their actioins and the purpertrators. Again, it is not about protecting their community, it is about protecting themselves.

Finally, unfortunately, I am sure BP will not be the last example where Corporate greed is placed over making sure they have safety procedures in place to protect the environment  in case of a drilling problem. Right now, as you are reading, the company is doing everything to cover up the damage rather than prevent the damage the spill will do the Gulf of Mexico and the environment of six states. There is a reason why they use dispersants on the oil, to cover up the spill – not to clean it up. Corporate lobbies of the oil, food, pharmaceutical and financial industries  have been convincing our lawmakers in the US that big business can regulate itself, that we don’t need the government to look over its shoulder. But one can see in every case – the choices our executives are making, our corporate leaders are making are not taking into account their employees, shareholders nor the public as a whole. 

It is all about them not us, not about protecting society at large.  This brings us to the crux of the matter.  It is not only a crisis in leadership, being defined by leading people by personal example, or  by placing the needs of others over your own, but it is also a crisis of ethics and character.  It is no longer about how you play the game but only about winning, whether it is won fair and square or you cheated. Our political , business and some of our spiritual leaders no longer distinguish between the two. It is a sad time for our society as no one is looking out after the welfare of others – only for themselves.  How else would you explain the justification that the bankers used for giving billions in dollars of bonuses, after their own companies created a global financial crisis, which lead to bankrupting both their companies a few governments, and as well as many individuals.

In summary, it comes down to ego – about separation, feeling you are apart from everyone else – better and more deserving than everyone else. That you are special.  Leadership is not about service to others anymore.  It is about being served, about having your subjects serve you.  Freedom is not about the ideal of pursuing your dreams but being free to screw anyone who gets in the way of your dream.   In essence, it is the ultimate in narcissism. Isn’t that what has happened? Our leaders only reflect our societies values as a whole – it has become narsacistic to the extreme. That is the trend. That is the direction to which our society has gone  and it continues to embrace.

Unfortunately,  ego, pride and competition is not what offers people peace or love or harmony in their lives.  It only offers more stress, more jealousy, guilt, pressure, and fear of loss. It is an interesting web we have woven for ourselves on the way to our pursuit of happiness.