Monday 7 October 2013

Thomas Rogers Muyunga Mukasa shares; Beware what follows a running rat!

There is an Indian Fable: One day a father of a large family was fast asleep one night. The wife and children were in the next room heavily asleep too. Something awoke him. It was a stir or something like a fast moving scraping sound. Their home was near the Ganges and a forest. Then all of a sudden a big rat ran over his belly. He let out a very loud scream. The wife, children and neighbors were awakened. "What is the matter?" asked the wife and neighbors. "A rat, a very big rat," he exclaimed. "That is just a rat," they all said laughing. "But you do not understand," he insisted. "Am not scared of the rat," he told all who were now all ears. "It is the snake running after the rat that am scared of," he told them.

It is seven days since the government shut down. There are those of us who depend on Federal Services to effect our stay in USA. To assimilate even more. I was scheduled for getting a driving permit and Social Security Number. I cannot get both now until the government re-opens for business. Alright, it is moments like these that I write in the subjective mood and about my experiences. As a counselor, I want to exorcise the denial spirit.I have seen what denial does to people. Indeed the government shut down makes me suffer and remember a painful moment when I was deprived of everything, enrolled to join a refugee camp but sickness held me back. I was bedridden on the day I had to go and present myself to a lawyer. Thus I did not enroll but had to go through other means.

The crux of the matter is the Republicans,Democrats and the electorate are in a country known as the greatest democracy in the world. To express themselves is inalienable. There are those who express themselves with power and authority. Then there are those who express themselves with submission. All this is power of sorts. Too much power corrupts. It silences reason and pragmatism. It lets irrationality slip through otherwise and supposedly tight enclosures.

The structures in place to show off the power as opposed to restraint are so tempting. It is like the the two proverbial powers of hate and love. There are many examples where we see whole communities subjected to hate crimes. Vast structures are in place to mete out hate-related activities and these are rewarded. It is these very systems that are subjugating the submissive ones. The ones who do not have shares in the powerful corporate-world, the ones who have the simple worries, the ones whose cries will not be heard because they cannot go over the lobby walls. They are like humpty-dumpty and risk a fall once they scale the wall.

They beg, beg and beg until they are seen as a nuisance. Their language and extending of the hand for pittance is snarled at if not discouraged. In the name of affordable Health care, over 10-30 million people in USA will be able to afford seeing a clinician regularly, they will have clean teeth, they will have the tender loving care of a clinician provided to them, they will have better referrals and less self medication. A healthy populace is a primer for wealth. The dividends are immense. In denying people a government that serves them, may lead to loss of revenue, valuable time and added value.

We may ask why the poor remain poor or get poorer and rich are richer? Some of the answers should include a scenario of this sort. It can be well quantified by economists and financial experts. Just the other day I read that USA is losing USD 76 million per day in tourism revenues. National parks fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Govrvenment! It is closed see: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/10/02/2715921/national-parks-shutdown-cost/ and http://climateprogress.tumblr.com/post/62904373724/national-park-closures-are-costing-local.

The senior politicians do a tremendous job and they are the reason why this US of A is the greatest country. An understanding nation has provided packages for them. These include an affordable health care insurance and a staff to help them. Let them provide affordable health insurance for the people and a functioning government. This country will gain from a healthy populace. In order to spite the face biting off a nose is not even an option. Give the people their government. Long live the USA!

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