Our Society

Our society

“I would recommend that we straighten out a few things before we contemplate any interplanetary transportation system.  Suppose a man from Mars should suddenly appear on Earth?  I think it would be terribly embarrassing if he learned that a second-rate singer in a night club makes four thousand dollars a week, and a high-school teacher makes three thousand eight hundred and ninety dollars a year.  This and many other things should be straightened out first if we intend to maintain our dignity when planet folks start visiting us.”
                                                                                                 Harry Golden.
Harry Golden is right. The Americans have a statement that stays “all men are created equal.” a good and noble statement. Yet when it comes to healthcare some people cannot afford it while their elected government officials all of whom are wealthy get excellent healthcare benefits.
People in one of the richest and most powerful nations in history go without food. Men and women who work all their lives end up with pensions that are below the poverty line.
And it’s not just the Americans. I live in Canada and while our healthcare system in far better than the American system there are some very serious deficiencies.
Pensions too are below the poverty line. Even private pensions governments urged people to sign onto are being lost because companies are backing out of them. While elected government officials after only a few years in office get a gold plated pension plan far more than the average Canadian can hope for.
Here in Canada also people are still living on the street. Men women and children go hungry. This in one of the richest countries in the world.
Think about it some guy who pushes a frozen piece of rubber around the ice or runs around a few bases earns more than a doctor, a policeman, fireman, or for that matter a garbage collector.
Tell me who would they notice first if they went on strike the baseball player or the garbage collector? I know from past strikes people scream pretty quickly when garbage collectors go on strike.
Our society has its priorities all mixed up. Now there is nothing wrong with paying professional sports players millions. It, after all is a business, and in a free society people can charge for their services what they feel other people are willing to pay.
However it is wrong to let people go hungry. To deny them adequate healthcare, pensions and other necessities of life.
The Talmud makes two interesting points. It states,
“Rabbi Akiba was asked by a Roman general, “Why does your God who loves the needy not provide for their support Himself?”  He answered, “God the Father of both the rich and poor, wants the one to help the other so as to make the world a household of love.”
                                                                                                             The Talmud.
In this world there are always going to be poor. People who need help. Not everyone can be rich. After all as someone has said if everyone was rich who’d do the jobs considered menial.
Still I believe it is the duty of those who can help the poor and needy of our society to do so.
I do believe God will hold people accountable when it comes to dealing with ones fellow man.
The Talmud stating,
“When a man appears before the Throne of Judgment, the first question he is asked is not, “Have you believed in God?”  Or “Have you prayed and observed the ritual?  “He is asked: “have you dealt honourably and faithfully in all your dealings with your fellow men?”
                                                                                                               The Talmud.
I believe the writer of Ecclesiastes who said,
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole  duty  of man. 
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13,14.

Please think about it.