Cosmic Reflections

Out for my morning walk before dawn in order to beat the heat, I make my way through my Sun City, Summerlin, neighborhood. At the bottom of my street, I follow a glistening rivulet of water running in the gutter for three long blocks to its source: it is coming off a plot of lush lawn in front of a single home where gorgeous roses peek over the fence. I pause to wonder what entitles this owner to more than a fair share of our public water, a supply that comes mainly from Lake Mead, the reservoir behind Hoover Dam that holds the snow melt coming down the Colorado River from the Rockies. I have just returned from a summer in Denver, and driven through the mountains back in May and now in September, and I have a news flash: there is NO SNOW MELT coming to us from last winter’s too warm weather. But never mind: perhaps Vegas will manage the ‘great water grab’ from the aquifers in the central part of Nevada. Surely we’re entitled to it over the needs of the folks who live (and farm) there!
I stand on the wet sidewalk, listening to the air conditioning run full blast: never mind that it is a cool and comfortable 70 degrees outside. This owner is entitled to the electricity provided by the coal fired power plant up the interstate that is poisoning the Pauite children who play in the schoolyard in the shadow of the smoke stacks and down wind from the blowing coal ash residue. And don’t get me started on the true cost of that coal, beginning with the mountain top removal process that destroys whole ecosystems in West (by god!) Virginia . Clearly this home owner can afford high energy bills, so thus is entitled to buy and use it. Not having xray vision, I can’t see inside the three car garage, but if I can extrapolate from what I have seen in the neighborhood, it is a pretty sure bet that it contains at least one SUV ….and why not? After all, the American military guarantees a source of cheap gas, and, as a back up, the XL Keystone Pipeline is standing by, waiting to bring tar sands oil down from Canada for processing (for export, but never mind). We’re entitled to that fossil fuel! Then of course there’s the natural gas that is running some of the appliances inside this home; I’ve passed the fracking rigs scattered along the western slope of the Rockies, while down on the front range, whole communities are in the fight of and for their lives trying to keep those rigs out of their areas. But the rest of us are entitled to run our convenient appliances…..and of course the corporations that provide the oil, gas, coal, and water to us are entitled to tax breaks and never ever expect to pay the full cost of what they are doing to the common air, water, soil, etc. Talk about entitlement!!
Well, now, daylight is coming and I can finally make out the lettering on the sign planted firmly in the thick green grass: Romney. Believe in America. Perfect!!