Summer In The Park [2014 original with AI background]
Looking at the news this morning, an unfortunate question comes to mind: Is the US siding with the enemy now? If it were just one story where we seem to be on the wrong side of history, it might be less of a worry, but as I’m looking over just today’s headlines, discounting others that have been building up over the past couple of years, I am genuinely concerned that we’re heading down a road that eventually paints the US as one of history’s most villainous regimes to ever exist. Hang with me a moment as I explain why.
First, both Apple and Foxconn use outside hiring firms for assembly and production facilities. They do this because, especially in the US where both companies have multiple facilities (including one in Plainfield, IN), using so-called “temp” agencies gets around laws requiring them to provide benefits such as health insurance. Few, if any, of the “temp” workers ever transition to company employees resulting in a continual turnover of workers, allowing companies to keep wages low. See how deviously that works? Both companies are making billions of dollars in profit, but heaven forbid they pay people a living wage.
Second, the companies know this behavior is going on! As part of their investigation, Reuters talked with a former human resources executive at Foxconn India. The HR executive’s statements were then corroborated by 17 employees from more than a dozen Foxconn hiring agencies in India, and four current and former Foxconn human-resources executives. Reuters writes, “The agents and the Foxconn HR sources cited family duties, pregnancy, and higher absenteeism as reasons why Foxconn did not hire married women at the plant, located at Sriperumbudur, near the city of Chennai. Many of these people also said jewelry worn by married Hindu women could interfere with production.”
When asked for a response, both Apple and Foxconn said, “Yeah, that used to happen, but we dealt with that issue in 2022.” All the discriminatory practices documented by Reuters at the Sriperumbudur plant, however, took place in 2023 and 2024.
Here’s where the really bad stuff lies: The Taiwanese company has extremely close ties to China. They operate several plants there, several involved with the production of iPhones. Apple, for its part, routinely bends its rules, ignoring US law so as to not make waves with the less-expensive Chinese labor force. They’re quite willing to let ethics and proper business practices slip out the door in order to maintain the profits they receive from working directly with a country that is actively trying to undermine the US.
If we were a country that cared about human rights and doing what’s right, we’d stop buying iPhones and demand that Apple stop any and all forms of discrimination and partnering with anyone who does business with China. But that’s not us. We’re happy to look the other way as long as those new iPhones keep coming.
This new pro-Russia headline follows closely on a continuing theme from the former president and convicted felon that he would allow Russia to do “whatever they want” with NATO members who he thinks aren’t paying their fair share. The convicted felon is more than willing to allow Russia to run amok without any interference.
Is there any question that this type of policy wouldn’t end badly for both the US and the European Union? Of course not. What it hints at is a duality of fascist strong men taking over the world. The felon would take North and possibly South America, Russia would overtake Europe, and China would dominate Asia. How they might split up the African continent remains to be seen, but there’s little question that behind-the-scenes collusion is taking place that would allow the world’s strongest military superpowers to dominate everything.
Oh, let’s not forget that this morning the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russia’s former defense minister and its military chief of staff for attacks on Ukraine’s power plants, the third time the global court has accused senior Russian leaders of war crimes. Of course, neither Russia nor the US are members of the court so don’t expect any justice to come on this matter.
The US relationship with Israel is certainly one worth questioning at the moment as well. Prime Minister Netanyahu says he won’t agree to a deal that ends the war in Gaza, testing the latest truce proposal. Let’s make this very clear: Netanyahu is not backing down on his assault on the Palestinian people, whom he equates entirely with the terrorist organization, Hamas. The Prime Minister said regarding a cease-fire that the US supports, “But we are committed to continuing the war after a pause, in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I’m not willing to give up on that.”
The days when we can give Israel a pass because of their severe genocide in World War II are gone. There can be no excuse for their current behavior and absolutely zero excuse for continued US support. As long as we continue to be their “best buddy” in the world, we are just as guilty of war crimes as are they.
Those may be some of the more obvious reasons to question the US’ future, but there’s so much more. Consider the fact that Boeing sent two astronauts to the International Space Station on June 6, and now they can’t get them back home. At last report, there are five known hydrogen leaks in their spacecraft. NASA comes off as complicit in this endeavor for not running sufficient safety checks to make sure that the spacecraft really could get up there and back safely. While some think that Boeing officials should face criminal charges for their continued 737 foul-ups, the US reputation still takes a hit for what appears to be stranding two astronauts in the space station.
I can remember a time when regardless of the poll one looked at, the US would come in, at the very least, among the top five in most any international question. We were the happiest, most productive, most intelligent, kindest, and most ethically-driven people in the world. Now, any recounting of those polls has to begin with “Once upon a time, in a country far away…” We are nowhere close to being humane, civilized, or forwardly progressive in becoming better people. We are insidiously selfish, obstinately stubborn, insanely religious, and foolishly disregarding of science.
Our current path does not take us into a good place in history. I’m not talking about a political solution, either, though such might help. The US needs a strong philosophical shift or else it is ultimately disregarded as a cautionary tale of what happens when a society becomes too full of itself to see the disaster that it has become. We cannot allow belief systems based on mythologies to dominate the culture. We cannot continue to place profit before people. We cannot continue to indulge in the wastefulness of convenience while ignoring the damage we are doing to the planet and its non-human inhabitants.
I grew up feeling patriotic and proud of being an American. Today, I find myself questioning the veracity of that patriotism on a daily basis. Why should I feel proud to be a citizen of a country so deliriously out of sync with humanity, reason, and any ethical foundation? Why would I want my name to be forever attached to such a catastrophic human disaster as the United States risks becoming?
I optimistically believe that this listing ship can still be uprighted, but I don’t know how much longer I can maintain any hope. We are on the brink of catastrophic collapse into the annals of villainy and evil and I’m not sure there are enough people left who care.
Looking at the news this morning, an unfortunate question comes to mind: Is the US siding with the enemy now? If it were just one story where we seem to be on the wrong side of history, it might be less of a worry, but as I’m looking over just today’s headlines, discounting others that have been building up over the past couple of years, I am genuinely concerned that we’re heading down a road that eventually paints the US as one of history’s most villainous regimes to ever exist. Hang with me a moment as I explain why.
The first headline out of the box this morning was this: Apple supplier Foxconn rejects married women from India iPhone jobs. Now, both Apple and Foxconn (owned by Taiwanese firm Hon Hai Precision Industry, LTD) claim that their policies prohibit such discrimination. For Apple, especially, being a US company, this revelation could open it up to substantial lawsuits. There are multiple issues here.
First, both Apple and Foxconn use outside hiring firms for assembly and production facilities. They do this because, especially in the US where both companies have multiple facilities (including one in Plainfield, IN), using so-called “temp” agencies gets around laws requiring them to provide benefits such as health insurance. Few, if any, of the “temp” workers ever transition to company employees resulting in a continual turnover of workers, allowing companies to keep wages low. See how deviously that works? Both companies are making billions of dollars in profit, but heaven forbid they pay people a living wage.
Second, the companies know this behavior is going on! As part of their investigation, Reuters talked with a former human resources executive at Foxconn India. The HR executive’s statements were then corroborated by 17 employees from more than a dozen Foxconn hiring agencies in India, and four current and former Foxconn human-resources executives. Reuters writes, “The agents and the Foxconn HR sources cited family duties, pregnancy, and higher absenteeism as reasons why Foxconn did not hire married women at the plant, located at Sriperumbudur, near the city of Chennai. Many of these people also said jewelry worn by married Hindu women could interfere with production.”
When asked for a response, both Apple and Foxconn said, “Yeah, that used to happen, but we dealt with that issue in 2022.” All the discriminatory practices documented by Reuters at the Sriperumbudur plant, however, took place in 2023 and 2024.
Here’s where the really bad stuff lies: The Taiwanese company has extremely close ties to China. They operate several plants there, several involved with the production of iPhones. Apple, for its part, routinely bends its rules, ignoring US law so as to not make waves with the less-expensive Chinese labor force. They’re quite willing to let ethics and proper business practices slip out the door in order to maintain the profits they receive from working directly with a country that is actively trying to undermine the US.
If we were a country that cared about human rights and doing what’s right, we’d stop buying iPhones and demand that Apple stop any and all forms of discrimination and partnering with anyone who does business with China. But that’s not us. We’re happy to look the other way as long as those new iPhones keep coming.
Reuters is on one this morning. Scroll down the page just a little bit and there’s this headline: Exclusive: Trump handed plan to halt US military aid to Kyiv unless it talks peace with Moscow. This is a problem because it plays directly into Russia’s hands. Just last week, Putin said he’d negotiate a cease-fire only if Ukraine allowed Russia to keep the territories it currently has under its control. Since when do we base US policy on what Russia wants? Granted, these plans get dumped in the trash if the Orange Felon is not elected to office, but current polls are much too close to assume that he won’t return to the Oval Office.
This new pro-Russia headline follows closely on a continuing theme from the former president and convicted felon that he would allow Russia to do “whatever they want” with NATO members who he thinks aren’t paying their fair share. The convicted felon is more than willing to allow Russia to run amok without any interference.
Is there any question that this type of policy wouldn’t end badly for both the US and the European Union? Of course not. What it hints at is a duality of fascist strong men taking over the world. The felon would take North and possibly South America, Russia would overtake Europe, and China would dominate Asia. How they might split up the African continent remains to be seen, but there’s little question that behind-the-scenes collusion is taking place that would allow the world’s strongest military superpowers to dominate everything.
Oh, let’s not forget that this morning the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russia’s former defense minister and its military chief of staff for attacks on Ukraine’s power plants, the third time the global court has accused senior Russian leaders of war crimes. Of course, neither Russia nor the US are members of the court so don’t expect any justice to come on this matter.
The US relationship with Israel is certainly one worth questioning at the moment as well. Prime Minister Netanyahu says he won’t agree to a deal that ends the war in Gaza, testing the latest truce proposal. Let’s make this very clear: Netanyahu is not backing down on his assault on the Palestinian people, whom he equates entirely with the terrorist organization, Hamas. The Prime Minister said regarding a cease-fire that the US supports, “But we are committed to continuing the war after a pause, in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I’m not willing to give up on that.”
How can we continue to side with the people who are wholesale slaughtering Palestinians? Where do we come out good guys in this scenario? Already, Experts say Gaza is at ‘high risk’ of famine despite increased aid to the north. Netanyahu says Israel is winding down its Gaza operations. But he warns a Lebanon war could be next. On Sunday, the headline was At least 39 people killed in Israeli strikes across northern Gaza right after having killed 25 the day before. The number of medical specialists and surgeons killed in the bombing of Palestinian hospitals puts basic healthcare in danger. There is no upside to this situation!
The days when we can give Israel a pass because of their severe genocide in World War II are gone. There can be no excuse for their current behavior and absolutely zero excuse for continued US support. As long as we continue to be their “best buddy” in the world, we are just as guilty of war crimes as are they.
Those may be some of the more obvious reasons to question the US’ future, but there’s so much more. Consider the fact that Boeing sent two astronauts to the International Space Station on June 6, and now they can’t get them back home. At last report, there are five known hydrogen leaks in their spacecraft. NASA comes off as complicit in this endeavor for not running sufficient safety checks to make sure that the spacecraft really could get up there and back safely. While some think that Boeing officials should face criminal charges for their continued 737 foul-ups, the US reputation still takes a hit for what appears to be stranding two astronauts in the space station.
I can remember a time when regardless of the poll one looked at, the US would come in, at the very least, among the top five in most any international question. We were the happiest, most productive, most intelligent, kindest, and most ethically-driven people in the world. Now, any recounting of those polls has to begin with “Once upon a time, in a country far away…” We are nowhere close to being humane, civilized, or forwardly progressive in becoming better people. We are insidiously selfish, obstinately stubborn, insanely religious, and foolishly disregarding of science.
Our current path does not take us into a good place in history. I’m not talking about a political solution, either, though such might help. The US needs a strong philosophical shift or else it is ultimately disregarded as a cautionary tale of what happens when a society becomes too full of itself to see the disaster that it has become. We cannot allow belief systems based on mythologies to dominate the culture. We cannot continue to place profit before people. We cannot continue to indulge in the wastefulness of convenience while ignoring the damage we are doing to the planet and its non-human inhabitants.
I grew up feeling patriotic and proud of being an American. Today, I find myself questioning the veracity of that patriotism on a daily basis. Why should I feel proud to be a citizen of a country so deliriously out of sync with humanity, reason, and any ethical foundation? Why would I want my name to be forever attached to such a catastrophic human disaster as the United States risks becoming?
I optimistically believe that this listing ship can still be uprighted, but I don’t know how much longer I can maintain any hope. We are on the brink of catastrophic collapse into the annals of villainy and evil and I’m not sure there are enough people left who care.
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