(Note: I did not plan this series, it just evolved, and has helped me come to a deeper  understanding and acceptance of where I am in my own life and what my role is from here. This is the last in the series.)

From what I read about this latest uproar about the port management issue, there are those who are saying all the alarm is uncalled for, since selling off port operations to foreign based companies is "just business as usual. This leaves me with many unanswered questions.

If this is "business as usual", why didn’t the America people and members of Congress, know about it ?

How many other government operations are going on under the heading of "business as usual" that none of us, including our Congressional representatives, know anything about?  
In a "democracy" set up to operate  of, by and for the people, (meaning all of us)  when did we vote to turn over the running of it to only the business class, and give them the authority to make decisions that affect national security and the economic well being of all of us?  

In other words, just when did we place our future in the hands of the business class? I want to know, because clearly, I missed the chance to vote on this.  

Just how much of a massive charade has our form of governance actually become?  

The chilling efficiency with which the Unholy Trinity of Corporate Elites, the Neocons, and the Religious Right have taken control of this government and the brazen arrogance with which they are exercising their power, literally gives me nightmares.  

 It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how each group will benefit by this takeover. The Corporate Elite gets to expand ownership of not just this government, but any other from which they can reap obscene profit and power. The Neocons get to proudly march on with their goal of world dominion, and the Religious Right gets to turn their religion into law, sending American women back to the 50’s where they belong, and enjoy the rush and fervor  of another religious war.  All of them belong, one way or another, to the "business (ruling) class", who seem to be running the country now, of which out Pres and his family are charter members with very strong bonds with other business( ruling) classes in other countries who happen to have a lot of what they want.  

So here I sit, my one single vote being the only real power I have. I want to cast an informed vote, there’s no way to do this, because there is no way for me to know what is really going on in the government behind the one I am allowed to see. Worse, the candidates I get to choose from don’t know either, nor do the ones already in office. And if that’s not bad enough, now there’s ample reason to doubt the integrity of entire voting process itself.

This is my honest view, and it is overwhelming to me. It seems so huge and tangled a mess that I can’t see the end of even one string to grab onto, to even start to try untangling it. I just can’t.  

But then, there’s another reality I must factor in as well, and that is that I am growing old now, and I do have some cataracts growing on my eyes.  I am also a bit weary from a long and very activist life, and I know I do not have the stamina I once did.  

That’s why I am so immensely grateful for all of you, who are not feeling as overwhelmed by this as I do, who are harnessing all the power you have to fight against all of this, in so many courageous ways.  Whether you are working within the current political structure or outside of it, I cheer and applaud you all, with everything in me.  The survival of this nation may well rest in your strong hands and hearts.  

In my own heart, I believe you are fighting for a democracy yet to come, just as my generation did, and the ones before us. It can take a very long time to find the way to something as new as a true democracy.  Wrong turns will be taken along the uncharted way to that vast, unrealized dream, and we sure have taken a big one this time, in my view.  

The good news is we’re human. Yes, we make mistakes and yes, we can learn from them and be made stronger and wiser from having made the mistake.   We’ve got potential power we haven’t begun to tap into yet. We can keep exploring, keep moving onward, keep seeking the paths that lead us closer to where we really want to go.  Not only can we, we must, because the human spirit will not allow us to quit.

 As for me, I am ready to pass on the baton now.  This truly is a relay, and I carried it as best I could for as long as I could. But this doesn’t mean I am abandoning anyone, or abandoning hope.  I can’t abandon any of you, because you are my hope.  

I’ll still be here, along with many other elders, cheering you on, offering you water when you get thirsty and a rag to wipe away the sweat.  When you want a break, come sit and we’ll massage your shoulders and tired feet.  We can sit around a fire and we’ll tell you true stories about the battles we fought and won that made your beginnings a bit easier than ours was, just as you are doing now, for those who will follow you.  Maybe you’ll even pick up some useful tips from us, even as we are gaining the benefit of your fresh and different views.  

It’s really, really true.
The journey IS the destination.
How grand it is that we can share it.