Where is the outrage? Where is the anger? Where are the angry mobs?

Sgt. James Hurley has had the unthinkable happen to him. While he was away serving his country, the bank came in foreclosed on his home and property because he had fallen behind on his payments due to the reduced income he receives while serving. The bank did this despite a law intended to protect active military personnel. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)which was modified from a previous Act protecting soldiers and sailors, protects active duty warriors both full time and reserve from foreclosure (among other things) during the time that they are serving in times of war.
"When the sergeant returned in December 2005, he drove past the densely wooded riverfront property outside Hartford, Mich. The peaceful little home was still there — winter birds still darted over the gazebo he had built near the water’s edge — but it almost certainly would never be his again. Less than two months before his return from the war, the bank’s agents sold the property to a buyer in Chicago for $76,000."
Now if that one quote doesn't break your heart nothing will. Now this travesty of justice would be bad enough if it was an isolated incident where one lone bank was snubbing its nose at the sacrifices made by our service men and women, but its not. Here's another quote from the article.
"By 2006, a Marine captain in South Carolina was doing battle with JPMorgan Chase to get the mortgage interest rate reductions the act requires. Chase eventually reviewed its policies and, earlier this month, acknowledged it had overcharged thousands of military families on their mortgages and improperly foreclosed on 14 of them. Before a public apology, Chase began mailing out about $2 million in refunds and working to reverse the foreclosures."
Improperly foreclosed on 14 and overcharged on 1000s. Essentially cheating the very people we depend on to fight for the freedoms we all enjoy. Studies show that people are becoming more and more reluctant to serve in our military and with this horror, I can't blame them. Why aren't out institutions doing more to protect the people that protect us?
You are probably wondering how all of this ties into my general Blog theme. Sure the news is horrible, but how does it connect to being an Ass? Simple, oh devoted readers.
We, as a people, just don't get honked off to much anymore and if we do, it's usually about something personal. We read these horror stories (maybe if we can find time past reading the sports section and the comics) and think "what a shame." Most people won't give it more than a second thought. Some good people might wish these people well, but that's about it.
Like the title of this post says, Where is the outrage? Where are the angry mobs? There was a time that we as an American people would have risen up in righteous wrath (Hey I like that) if we had heard of crimes like this. American Revolution, Civil War (Sure the causes in that one were not the most noble, but boy did both sides rise up.), WWII after Pearl Harbor are all excellent examples of what we can do when we feel injustice is being done.
Sure they are the extremes and I am not recommending staging an armed revolt against the big banks (or am I? Hmm), but why aren't we doing more? Where is the public outcry? Where are the powerful lawyers who represent powerful celebrities on drugs at the drop of a hat? Where are the petitions and protests that we have so often seen in the past? Why are we as a people just sitting on our collective butts without giving a damn?
The great Douglas Adams, brilliant comedic author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, one described a phenomena he called an S.E.P. or Someone Else's Problem. Coined as an answer to the impossibility of invisibility, SEP's were effects placed on things that made the object so improbable that people ignored it because it was "someone else's problem." With this effect you could put a bull elephant in the mens toilet at Grand Central Station, slap an SEP on it and no one would notice because, well an elephant there is impossible and if it is there it is...
The whole world, not just the USA, is suffering under massive amounts of SEPs. We read horror stories in the paper and online, but it kind of rolls off us because it is "their" problem, not our "problem" Sure the crimes being committed against other Americans like Sgt. Hurley are horrible, but it is a problem to be solved by someone else.
Well, I have news for the millions of people out there walking blithely past the elephant. Everyone is "the other people" to someone. The day may come (given today's economy and crooked government probably sooner than later) when you are suddenly the one being screwed over. When that day comes (When not if), unless we change on a fundamental level as a people, you will suddenly become an SEP.
One reader noticed that I quote and mention my father a lot and I do. Johnny Rayford McLeod never finished school beyond the 6th grade. He never went to college or received any specialized training. Besides serving in the Pacific during WWI, he probably never traveled more than 300 miles way from our home town in his entire life, but he was also one of the wisest men I ever knew. We didn't always agree on everything, but I can promise you that my father and the men of his generation would have read that article about Sgt. Hurley and have mustered up for battle. All of these big banks would have found themselves surrounded by a whole bunch of angry Rednecks demanding something be done.
Like I said earlier, I am not recommending armed attacks or destructive mobs. Just take a moment and read the article. Pass it on to others and bring it to their attention. Write your Congressman or Senator whether you live in Sgt. Hurley's state or not. Hells, write the president. One letter, one petition might get ignored, but I promise you that if millions of people start writing, whinging and complaining out loud about these travesties of justice, someone will take notice.
Right or wrong and whether you agree with the attitudes or not, the recent elections prove that when enough Americans get angry about something than things change. I personally find much of the Tea Party Rhetoric unrealistic and mildly annoying, but this powerful grass roots movement is forcing some fundamental changes in our government. (We have Republicans honestly trying to cut the budget and talking about cutting Military spending. My God look for six other signs.)
Fire up some of that anger, that outrage against the crimes being committed against all of us. Don't just meekly sit there and assume someone else will fix the problem. It won't be easy, but in the words of my Father, "Bobby, if doing the right thing was easy, everyone would do it." These people fight for us everyday. Isn't it time we fight for them? God Bless America!
For those of you who are interested, the actual article I am talking about is here. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/business/27foreclose.htm