WHO'S IN CHARGE?

     In light of the horrendous attacks on Friday in Paris and the attacks in recent days which are now being linked, it behooves us to talk of or about the question as to who is running the show, who is really in charge and this question and all that it implies is "askable" in many a situation, large or small, wherever the issues of power and control are raised or of concern.
     When one is small, very quickly one makes observations and then makes decisions which point the decision maker in a specific direction. Many people, particularly those in a more powerless situation, yearn after power and control, having it their way and will go to no end gaining their life's desire.
     In searching for attainment of this desire they make a deal with the devil. They sell their proverbial souls for the opportunity to take control, to exercise power. Those who have had no power over things in their lives are the ones who greatly yearn for it, chase it and should a second chance appear, it is jumped upon as a lion stalks and jumps its prey. Those with smaller lives, albeit even if they were good ones, but were without control over others and indeed were heavily controlled by others above them who had power over them, are the ones who are the greatest violators of precepts of humanity, of kindness, of morality. Hitler was a small man and then seized his power. Mussolini too was a small man desperately seeking a road to increase his power and control and make it permanent and should we examine many, if not most, of those who use violence, societal destruction, oppression and denial of rights - we will find their small lives and their desperate clawing at making that life bigger for them regardless of those over whom they trample.
     It is interesting that when we examine those animals of ISIS or any other terrorist of today's world, we often find that the dregs of humanity have been pulled off the street, out of jail, out of schools where they are lost and then they are either used by others or somehow make their way up a gruesome ladder using the bodies and blood of others to boost them. The original recruiters are those of the same ilk who have now found a place for themselves, a world where they have power and control ceded or granted to them by the devil's representatives on earth - the leaders of ISIS, of Hamas, of Hezbollah, of Islamic Jihad and the list goes on. People who hand out candy when the news of slaughter is heard. People who will continuously state that Islam is a religion of peace, these people are not true Moslems but does anyone out there unite against them amongst their own brethren? No, for it is the lonely voice that is heard, the lonely voice crying in the dark, hunted by his/her own.
     And people, lest you think that we are immune - we are not. Last nite I attended a performance where the last song was a patriotic one, appropriate to the day certainly, called "Proud to be an American". " And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me."
     I can sing those words with pride. I can sing them knowing where my heart is and so can most people who were in that theater last nite. However, we have our own local violators of life here in the Village and while in no way do they compare to those who would blow up the world, petty as these people are, they are our own who seek power and control. In their doing so, the little person claws his way up, manufactures a past wherein he was oh so very important and tells lies so often that they become truths in the minds of those who seek reflected glory so to speak, reflected power and control and in so doing do not realize how much of their souls have been sold and violated, how little real control over their lives they actually have. And they cede their rights to sing that song and any other patriotic song for they have violated those who gave their all for us to be free, to be able to exercise our rights in a democratic society. They have gone to the Dark Side, for even those fictional representations of evil, Evil with a capital E, are simply portraits of issues in the real world and instead they have adopted the precepts of repressional and oppressional political theories - those of fascism, of any extremist government that would deny its citizens the rights guaranteed to them by their Constitution and simply by right of being human.
     I mention no names. The names are clear - out there in the world and in here in our little world. Though we differ in degree and thank G-d have used no physical violence, the mental and verbal violence, the actualities of denial of rights - these are here and in plentiful supply. People, we need to react. We need to fight back wherever this philosophy is espoused. We need to "take back the night" and that demands determination and soul searching with deep and insightful and even incisive introspection. It will demand hard work but work that will give control and power back to you, back where it belongs and be it here or out there, we will put down those who wish to hurt us, to harm us and even kill us all in the name of power and control. Sad, very sad.
     Even as the blood continues to flow, literally and figuratively, we continue to mourn and to be even more determined that no more will we stand in silence as fathers and sons are shot, as family members are stabbed, as people are blown up and no more can we be selective as to whom we mourn. We are citizens of the world and there is no more of a degree of separation between any one country and another on this small planet and there are very few degrees of separation between individuals. Step up to the plate. Speak up and support those whose ideas are humane and righteous and are not simply grabs for control and power. Truly, think about it.