A Different Trail of Tears

In no way shape or form am I intending to diminish the plight of a proud people’s removal from their personal parcels of the planet as they were painstakingly pushed by pilgrims, plantation plunderers, puritans, presidents and profiteers to puny parched places.

Rather, briefly learned more about it after this post’s title, popped into my head of what “our” government can do under the guise and greed of when and how * “We The People” decides to do what it wants.

Disregarding the “Rights” of whichever fellow space travelers it chooses, as it sees fit, for its own purpose and agenda. In this case it seemed to be for gold and cotton.

In part, probably because they had the infinitely eternal wisdom to suggest that the “land” was not theirs to be “owned” in the first place.  Therefore that wisdom was used against them by the conquering greed pigs who “decided” “they” could.

“The Trail of Tears was a series of forced removals, sometimes at gunpoint, of Native American nations from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States to other areas, one which was an area West of the Mississippi River that had been designated as Indian Territory.

The forced relocations were carried out by government authorities following the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830. Many of the relocated native people suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while en route to their new designated reserve, and many died before reaching their various designated reserve(s). 

– Wikipedia

What do you know, man made laws through manufactured consent. Implemented swiftly by the tyranny of a majority, regardless that if the roles were reversed it would be uncivilized and wrong.

We’ll spend an infinity of aeons making responsible reparations for that Republican’s (Andrew Jackson) reckless ramifications of rounding up first peoples, forcing them off to rough remote reservations.

“It just seems to me, that only a really low IQ population could have taken this beautiful continent, this magnificent American landscape that we inherited.

Well, actually we stole it from the Mexicans and the Indians, but hey, it was nice when we stole it. Looked pretty good, it was pristine. Paradise.”

– George Carlin

The trail being, the one I saw and unfortunately participated in, the post Christmas run to the dump of boxes,  redundant “secure” packaging, wrapping paper, broken toys, etc.

Beyond the typical one week deep dumpster deluge that derelictly drives debt.

Seen as the silent steady stream of suv’s  stacked with spent savings of sullied sale selections of ’16 that shortly satisfied society’s insatiable starvation for shiny stuff, now looming large in local landfills.

“Have you pictured what this planet is going to be like in 40 to 50 years? It’s going to be a big smoking ball of shit, a big, smoking, flaming, stinking ball of gaseous shit. That’s what’s going to happen.”

– George Carlin

A tearful sadness unrecognized, yet unsurpassed as our enlightenment goes unfulfilled under a misunderstanding of our ubiquitous imperialism of chaotic consumption. Instead of learning the ways of the original care takers.

“So why am I
Getting so enraged about all
This nonsense?
I don’t care.
I don’t care getting all upset
About the fucking planet.
I’m gone pretty soon.
I left no litter behind.
That’s your problem.
I’m treating this planet like
The fucking rental car that it
Is, and I’m turning it in
Trashed with a bumper hanging
Off, fuck your insurance, fuck
The environment, I didn’t ask to
Be here.
(audience cheers and applauds)
Someone created me.
Yes, I know that’s a selfish
Thing.
It’s a selfish thing.
But you know what?
I’ve cared about other stuff,
And, yeah, me not caring about
Stuff, will, affect it as much
As me caring about stuff, which
Is none.”

– Doug Stanhope

For me it is a colossal catch 22, for what I rant against, feeds my family. Being the goofball that gets paid to bring the shiny stuff to the stores and having the time to think about alternatives.

*
The “we the people” perspective was inspired by Ta-Nehisi Coates book “Between the World and Me”.