Deserve

A clich? says we live with the leaders we deserve.  Perhaps the truth in the clich? is merely an editorial on our willingness to confront the difficult, complex, and wicked problems we live with every day.  It isn’t an outcome due to deafness or being dumb.  We know the reality of greed, exploitation, and a lack of any level of compassion.  We have experienced the results with every fiber of our being.  It has touched the core of our soul.  Is the willingness to do something about it is as real as the pain?
 
I was brought up in an era where respect for institutions, and their leaders, was considered mandatory.  You were not to question.  You were not to challenge.  Nothing could or should be done which might bring public attention to what we knew was the reality behind the scenes.  If you were good, if you behaved, then one day you might be in a position to do something about it.
 
Even in my generation we lost the plot.  Challenging institutions became a game in which many excelled.  Ironically the legacy we are leaving subsequent generations isn’t much different than our fathers.  Scandals, poor judgment, and a void of morality have plagued political parties and corporations of all types and sizes during the past few decades.  The level hasn’t improved from the eras we rallied against in our youth.  We have not made a fundamental difference, at least so far.
 
When we say the words; “Your leaders are turncoats who keep company with crooks.  They sell themselves to the highest bidder and grab anything not nailed down.  They never stand up for the homeless, never stick up for the defenseless.” (Isaiah 1.23)  We are talking about ourselves, our community, and our responsibility.  The words made be true but the relevant question is what are we going to do with what we see and know?  Will we act with compassion?  Will we respond in love?  Will we hold others, and ourselves, accountable?
 
We will receive the results from our choices.  Perhaps we deserve the outcome.