America, I Do Not Invoke Your Name in Vain

América, no invoco tu nombre en vano

                     --Pablo Neruda

We are witnessing the complete breakdown of democracy in America, as well as its replacement by the most shameless and hateful demagoguery. This failure seems to have at last claimed that most hardy of survivors: hope.  I will always be grateful to have been born into a time when hope still thrived, healthy and jubilant, at least among a faithful remnant that attempted to save America in the 60’s and early 70’s. I witnessed a light that allows me to believe there is still a chance, even at midnight. 

     In the social realm, we must be unconditionally committed to the creation of a new economic order, and to the belief that all human beings are sacred.  When I look at the American military-industrial complex, flailing about like a dying behemoth, I can only think of our task in the words of Krishna, “They are already killed by me.  Be but my instrument, the archer by my side.” (Bhagavad Gītā 11:33)  Let the dead bury the dead, and let the building of a new world begin.