Hypocrisy Abounds

hy·poc·ri·sy [hi-pok-ruh-see]
–noun, plural -sies.

1. a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.
2. a pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude.
3. an act or instance of hypocrisy.

The prevalence with which this word [hypocrisy] abounds today is remarkable; astounding really. Take for example my CSA [community sustained agriculture]. This being its inaugural year, the McKinley neighborhood started its organic gardening venture by posting ads looking for shareholders (people who would buy into the concept for a share of the crop). At just over $300 for the buy in, Kristie and I thought it a steal for a brown grocery bag of fresh organic veggies each week from June to October. Thus far, it most certainly has been.

Consider the very acronym CSA. The first word is Community. The second word is Sustained or Sustainable. The very concept is antithetical to that which is outside of the community; most certainly that of a corporate nature. Now, I've never been an anti-corporate kinda guy. Sure there are corporations or rather individuals within various corporations that pursue interests which are deletarious at times. I don't consider this to be the norm but rather the exception. Regardless, many of the other members of my CSA are extremely liberal and have a major beef with corporations or corporate interests (or so they say) though they seem to have no compunction about the might of unions and their heavy handed influence upon employers and/or other workers, politics, etc.

So, here's where the hypocrisy comes in...

Pepsi (yeah that soda pop outfit) launched this campaign known as Refresh (more info here: http://www.refresheverything.com/) whereby the company would hand out grants in an effort to "refresh" individuals and communities.

Wouldn't you know it, the organizer of our CSA entered our very CSA into the contest in hopes of getting a grant to grow and expand on the "community" based project which is our organic garden.

Dare I say that thankfully the effort came up short.

I've long held that much of America's woes stem from a character flaw in the psyche of the citizenry. We abhor big government and corporate special interests and this, that, and the other thing up to and until said big government and corporate special interests, etc. can do something for us.

The vast majority attempt to rationalize this behavior by proclaiming that it is a means by which they "level" the playing the field. Therein lies the character flaw. To truly level the playing field is to abolish the perks, goodies, and favors wholly and completely not merely provide yet another set thus sanctioning the practice.

The recent vote on the 9/11 First Responders and their compensation for health effects incurred is yet another example of this practice. This notion that the other 49 states need to take it in the shorts so that we may carve out a nearly $10 Billion compensation fund for individuals (some of whom may or may not suffer health effects attributable to the events) is outrageous. If you are a first responder, it is not difficult to arrive at a point where you want to see the passage of this Zandroga bill. If you are a farmer/agricultural worker, it is not difficult to pursue federal crop insurance legislation. If you are a fan of baseball, football, hockey, it is not difficult to aspire for your legislature to subsidize a new sports facility for your favorite home team. If you are a dog owner, it is not difficult to conclude that the expropriation of tax dollars for the construction of a new off-leash dog park is a sensible use of tax dollars. If you are a non-smoker, it is not difficult to support a smoking ban on a private bar/restaurant.

And so who now are these folks opposed to big government; scratching their heads perplexed as to how we arrived at this point? I'll tell you who they are...they are hypocrites.