The Trump circus continues to play to both domestic and international audiences – perpetuating greed, death and destruction that have become the core symbols and hallmarks of the American dream – both home and abroad.
As American’s foreign policy brutally bares itself in Syria, Yemen, Palestine and unashamedly across the globe under the banner that ‘might is right’, the situation is bleak at home as well.
America is gripped by an opioid addiction of epidemic proportions. Since 1999, the number of deaths involving opioids has quadrupled, reaching 33,000 deaths in 2015, according to the Presidential Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, citing data from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In his State of the Union address, Tump put the number at 64,000 deaths in 2016 and promised to go after the problem in the coming year.
But these remain empty promises. Access to proper healthcare is beyond the reach of many, who therefore turn to cheap opioids that are peddled aggressively by pharmaceutical companies, ‘buying’ doctors willingness to prescribe opioids – all in the name of profit. When concerns were raised about opioids and Trump gave his, ’getting away with murder’ soundbite in early 2017, the industry’s top lobbying group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), increased its lobbying expenditures by 35% to counter the growing exposure. Clearly money matters – not the affairs of families, communities or the protection of the entire society.
At some point, the beating drums demanding action will be taken seriously leading to practical steps to tackle the opioid crisis, by which time the pharmaceuticals companies would have maximized their profits as families will be left without breadwinners, children without parents and the focus will shift to another impending crisis.
Capitalism is not suited for any society nor humanity as a whole. Its destructive nature, beyond the superficial glamour and mirage of democracy and freedom is clearly visible – even for the blind.
The world is in dire need of an alternative – that is Islam.
“And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” (TMQ Al-Anbiyya 21:107)
