Life isn't fair.
The older I get, the more this is tattooed into my brain. The whole world seems to be smack in the middle of an unfairness sandwich, with selfish people being one piece of bread, stubborn people as the other piece, and the world being the bologna, turkey, ham, or whatever it is you prefer in between. There's also fantastic condiments such as politics, racism, sexism, and greed that get slathered on there as well. You know, to give it some flavor. Can't have a bland, peaceful sandwich now can we? Oh no, that would just be way too easy.
Why is it that we as a society are so unforgiving and unfair lately? Why is our whole country in debt so deep that we would give the Mariana Trench a run for its money? Why is the unemployment rate rising faster than ever before? Why does no one seem to truly care about the average, everyday citizen? WHY?
I can tell you in one word: SELFISHNESS. That seems to be the biggest issue. In my opinion at least. The majority of people in this country today could care less about anyone other than themselves and their immediate family. This includes all of our political figures too if you ask me. Our whole system is getting more and more messed up every single day. It's becoming less about the people and their needs, and more about how much money our leaders can make for themselves and how nice their retirement package might be.
And can someone please tell me why we even have Republicans, Democrats, and Independents? What's the point of that? Just because we all have different opinions, we have to separate ourselves into different groups. We have to choose a side to be on. Last time I checked, I thought we were all supposed to be on the same side.
The issue of differing opinions is one that is decades old and apparent in every place in society. Everyone thinks differently, so naturally there's going to be some arguments. But for God's sake people, why must we split ourselves up? Our feeling of nationalism and pride for our beautiful country only weakens as we separate. It's like we're all back on the playground in elementary school, with two groups of children arguing about whose turn it is to go on the swings. One group wins for a little while and enjoys their spoils while the other group stomps off to the far corner and plots about how to regain supremacy over those darn swings. It's a back and forth, never ending cycle. The children are all the same and all go to the same school, but yet they fight amongst themselves just because they think differently. Things can get so heated sometimes that no one wins a turn at all, so engrossed are they at winning the fight. They become so enthralled in outsmarting the opponent, that they forget what it is they were even fighting for. There's a reason that there were no such things as 'political parties' when the Constitution was signed in 1787, and that nothing concerning anything like them are mentioned in it. They weren't in the plan. Back then, we were one nation, with one government, and one group of people all wanting the same thing. Now, unfortunately, things have drastically changed.
Other than the issue of all the different political parties, one thing has always gotten under my skin when it comes to politics, and that is how much and how little the president does. Now nobody bite my head off yet. These are just my personal, and probably very flawed, thoughts. I'm well aware of how busy he is, but good Lord, he doesn't even write his own speeches! What's up with that? I mean, does he even know what he's saying when he reads that teleprompter? Does he fully agree with the points and opinions in it? Does he even know the person who wrote that hour long speech? I know he's constantly working, but speaking to the American people to me is one of the most important things a president does, and writing his own speeches should be on the high end of his to-do list. It's not like he does one everyday. It can be like high school, where all the teachers want us to stretch out projects over a long period of time instead of doing it all the night before it's due. You can't tell me that if he took thirty minutes to an hour every day or so an sat down with his advisers and wrote a few paragraphs of his next speech that it wouldn't be as good at the pre-written ones that these people feed him. I mean come on, people elected him because they liked HIS ideas and opinions and thoughts, not some payed writer's.
So basically, huge economic slumps suck. The end.
"True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made." - Franklin D. Roosevelt
this post is...interesting. Part social commentary, part worry about the current economic climate... and to top it off a quote by Pres. Roosevelt. :)
ReplyDeleteThe way I see it, freedom isn't fair. Many feel that it should be, but fairness isn't a receipe for freedom. With humanity being as diverse as it is and by having the freedom to dissent, to have different viewpoints and to freely, it essentially welcomes conflict.
That is why America isn't built on the promise of fairness. America is built on the promise of opportunity.
Isn't it funny that whenever people try to tamper with the judicial system to make this country more "fair", there is always someone who is marginalized or censored because of it?
Ideally, everyone should learn to get along, and be generous, and giving and fair, but we live far from an ideal world (which you are noticing I'm sure).
Then theres individualism, and selfishness...
Individualism, as we see it manifesting itself right now, in my opinion, is an abuse of the freedom we have been given. It places the individual in higher esteem than others. Yes, people should express themselves, celebrate heritages, diverse ideas, philosophies and such, but as you (and another great man noted) "a house divided cannot stand."
There is a point at which the individual must put themselves aside and think about the whole. It is called being personally responsible. The responsibility comes down to being a proud citizen of the nation that has blessed the individual with their freedoms.
At the end of the day we are all American, despite our differences. :)
And selfishness, well...as the founders were basing the formulation of the nation off of the Judeo-Christian belief system, which believes that people are inheirently selfish, they envisioned a society that would champion the values of faith, hope, and charity, which are key tenants of that belief system. Charity, is a big one. People don't necessarily have to identify as a Christian to embrace these tenants, but when a society completely loses sight of them, that is when you see selfishness abounding. In my opinion, of course.
And finally...FDR.
It is a very interesting quote, I'm not quite sure why he believes that individual freedom, and economic security are intrinsically linked...
True, dictators have been known to manipulate economically depressed times to their advantage, but this is not so in America, primarily because of the seperation of the powers of Government.
The beauty of America is that while some industries fail, new industries begin, that is the the strength of a small business, free enterprise system...I have a feeling that FDR had a different philosophy than this, given his massive expansion of Government in the New Deal. lol.
Anyway, sorry for the long comment, there was a lot in your post! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your thoughts, and am lookin' forward to your next one! :)
sorry in pp1 it should read "and to freely express them" :p
ReplyDeleteEl hombre es el medio por el que el Universo toma consciencia de sí mismo.
ReplyDeletePorque sera que se humedecen mis ojos cuando miro al cielo estrellado y un sentimiento que no logro explicar recorre mi cuerpo.
Algo que esta en mi interior quiere saber donde esta la verdad, que es la verdad, ¿existe la verdad?.
Padre y creador mio, dime, ¿donde estas?, ¿quien eres?, o ¿que eres?,
Eres quiza el Universo que contemplo, que se introduce en mi como un sable de acero atravesandome de parte a parte y me haces uno contigo.
Quiza sea yo el instrumento por el cual, tu, mi querido Universo, tomas consciencia de si mismo y lo experimentas todo, al igual que la gota de agua que se evapora por los aires y cae al suelo formando rios que recorren los valles y senderos para volver de nuevo al seno del mar que le vio partir.
Algo me dice que cuando deje este mundo volvere de nuevo a Ti mi querido Universo, a ser uno contigo, conmigo llevare mi experiencia de vida y sera compartida contigo.
Después, nose, quiza siempre sea asi, vivencias que aran de nosotros seres conscientes de la verdad, una verdad que llegara a base de eso, de vivirla.
He pasado la vida buscandote Padre mio y es posible que siempre hayas estado conmigo, quiza sea yo mismo un pedacito de ti mismo y mi pedacito de Ti este echandote de menos.
Quizas por eso se deslizan lagrimas de mis ojos cuando miro a ese Universo que me contempla ( cuando te contemplo a Ti mi querido Padre ).
Ahora se porque no me hablas con palabras, ahora se porque no podia verte, ahora lo se Padre mio, sencillamente porque eres sentimiento puro y un sentimiento ni se ve ni se puede escuchar, solo se siente.
Eres ese sentimiento que tantas veces a recorrido todo mi ser y que me hacia vibrar de emocion, eras TU Padre mio.
Aunque se que eres mas, mucho mas que eso.
Gracia Padre mio por darme todo lo que me as dado, por lo bueno y tambien por lo malo, todo es necesario para saber distinguir.
Solo puedo decirte, GRACIAS Universo.
Hi: Just visiting your site for the first time. Yes, there are deep divisions in our country. I think you make a good point about the increase in selfish people. Our entire culture has changed. I'll have a look around!
ReplyDelete