The Turning Away From That which we were intended to be and how to save ourselves from it

On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we wont understand
Don't accept that whats happening
Is just a case of others suffering
Or you'll find that you're joining in
The turning away

Its a sin that somehow
...

Light is changing to shadow
And casting its shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that were all alone
In the dream of the proud

On the wings of the night
As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
Using words you will find are strange
And mesmerized as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night

No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
Its not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away

This off Pink Floyd's album A Momentary Lapse of Reason.

 

I have thought about the lyrics and not so much what they meant to the band because so many times we think we have them pegged and we find it was a totally different vein they were traveling in.

I see it as a calling for man to come back to himself and leave the dependence of things outside of himself to gain assistance or help. Over the years, in this country especially, our society has come to lean on the government and other faceless organizations for the needs of the downtrodden and needy. We donate to charities without seeing where our money goes. We are taxed and told our money is going to this assistance program or that. We see someone in need and direct them to organizations that have red tape and over head and financial troubles of their own. We give a quarter to a beggar and feel we have exceeded our giving because we just gave to this or that club that helps others. We give to our church and don't show for the food drive or to distribute it to those.

We have become detached and it has been a long time ingraining into our very being both culturally and individually.

Politically, I can say it began with Lyndon Baines Johnson and his "Great Society". In actuality it served as the point of beginning for everything self defeating and oppressive regarding those who were disadvantaged. It may have been well intended and I'll give the benefit of the doubt to LBJ but I know through research that he was a man of ulterior motives and great ego. Not quite the humble and self sacrificing man you would think of when you are told how much his programs meant to the under privileged. It was supposed to be a hand up but instead it made an entire generation as well as the one after it largely dependant upon the very government seeking to ironically help. People who were deep into the utilization of these "benefits" found themselves unmotivated to do anything on their own volition because the government was going to do it. Johnson was not ignorant to this and was quoted as saying "This (the Great Society) will keep the blacks voting democrat for the next 40 years.". You see, the perception is that the left of the democrat party is one of good will and compassion and on the lower tiers this may be the case. But in the power hungry realm of keeping the office and holding the majority, these programs are nothing more than bribery for votes while taking personal responsibility away from the man who needs it most. Some have realized this and broke free but others still use the welfare and entitlement state as a chain of their own that holds back any motivation to take the initiative in ones life. These people have turned away from helping themselves with the belief that the help will come from some where outside themselves. What a lie to believe.

If you are Christian or Spiritual, the words of God speak about taking that initiative to help your brother in so many verses and pages.

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."Galatians 6:2

And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”Zechariah 7:8-10

"Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you. "Deuteronomy 16:17

Also the Word speaks on such things as self sufficiency and independence. Where we are encouraged not to be dependant upon the good will of others or most certainly not the government.

^" But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."1 Timothy 5:8

^11" and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, ¹² so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

 

“Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.” Thomas Jefferson.

"Let the pulpit resound with the doctrines and sentiments of religious liberty. Let us hear the dangers of thralldom to our consciences from ignorance, extreme poverty, and dependence; in short, from civil and political slavery. Let us see delineated before us the true map of man. Let us hear the dignity of his nature, and the noble rank he holds among the works of God-that consenting to slavery is a sacrilegious breach of trust, as offensive in the sight of God as it is derogatory from our own honor or interest or happiness-and that God Almighty has promulgated from heaven liberty, peace, and goodwill to man!"

John Adams.

“Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.” Buddha

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." George Washington.

The Constitution limits the government and if followed would never have allowed the birth of the welfare state and the systematic destruction of a generations will to succeed.

Lincoln valued not only what the Constitution itself said but also what the original framers said. He came to his conclusion in the Cooper Union Address based upon the actions of each of the thirty-nine signers. Lincoln always looked to the Constitution for important decisions he made; the clear, guiding force behind the American government, in Lincoln's eyes, was the Constitution. Because he believed every determination he made would effect the American people for generations to come, Lincoln second-guessed himself on the issue of emancipation. His final decision, as based upon many of his speeches and writings of late 1862, was made because he believed the original framers of the Constitution would have deemed the preservation of the Union a greater priority than the preservation of slavery. He did what was necessary to save the Union.

"The legitimate object of government is to do for people what needs to be done." Lincoln made these comments on what role the government should play on July 1, 1854. Lincoln asked why government exists. "Why not each individual," he said, "take himself the whole fruit of his labor, without having any of it taxed away , , , ?" He answered saying that government should do what people cannot do by individual effort. Lincoln cited many examples of things that people cannot do on their own: making and maintaining roads and bridges, providing for the helpless, providing schools, and dispos- ing of the deceased property. Other responsibilities of government, Lincoln pointed out, are because of the "injustice of men." These responsibilities include the forming and maintaining of the military, police, and civil departments. Lincoln said the government should protect its citizens and prevent them from committing wrongs. He said it was not the government's place to redress the wrongs of the world, but it "may, and ought to, redress all wrongs which are wrongs to the nation itself.".

So, there is a place for government but not a place for it to be the one we look to for our own survival and prosperity. It should be a servant, not a master. A means of protecting Liberty and Independence. Not a means of Dependence and Oppression under the guise of compassion.

Our government has become a vacuum. A black hole of sorts that diminishes our own humanity and places us in collectives and classes. I groups us into socioeconomic classes where the haves and the have not grow more and more animus towards one another. The government seek to separate and divide when left to grow out of control and out of check. It takes from us to feed itself and in turn leaves an impersonal waste land behind. To be an American is not to be a class, a group, a collective. It is to be the independent individual who is free to make his way, win or lose, while having the compassion in his heart to take it upon himself to help his brother when he deems it a necessary thing. Freedom to help. To succeed. To be who God intended us to be.