Has politics outrun humanity? There was a time in a not too distant galaxy where the two actually worked together. Where you couldn’t really have one without considering the other. Is this a thing of the past? I hope not but with the trend of recent events it would seem so.
How do we take a beheading and almost forget the human tragedy side and only look at it through a political prism? Perhaps it’s only our less than esteemed politicians doing this because everyone I talk to is sickened by it and wants our government to do something and that is Liberals, Conservatives, Libertarians, Democrats and Republicans. So at the basic human level I think most want some sort of a response other than we are launching a “criminal investigation”. Come on! Is NYPD going to just fly over to Iraq or Syria and handcuff the bad guys and read them their rights? Don’t forget the “freeze police!” command. That ought to do it.
I think we are at a real crossroads in our country. We’ve all seen the Religious aspect of our nation trending downward. With this it would seem our humanity is slowly dying. We are fast becoming more concerned about making sure that our rights are not infringed or we are not offended or offending anyone else to the point that no one shows concern for much of anything else. I’m not saying rights are not important and, in fact, our basic rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are more important than ever. The PURSUIT of happiness. No one, unfortunately has the right to happiness. Happiness is a distinct result of actions taken. The problem as I see it is everyone thinks we have a right to anything we claim we have a right to and therefore we have a right to be wealthy on the back of someone who has attained wealth. A right. How about we have a right to be able to pursue the same things in life to achieve that result?
Back to the original topic. Do we have a right to life? I’m not talking about the polarizing and emotion filled topic of abortion. I am asking the simple question…do we have a right to life? Many are probably saying yes and to those I then ask do we have a right to death? Do we have a RIGHT to death? Death is an outcome of events that we sometimes cause and sometimes do not cause. Life is the same but we don’t think of the two as the same. I would submit that life is a miracle. I know the science behind it but life is still a miracle. The merging of the egg and the sperm in just the right way can cause life. It is not a right….it is a miracle. So the Declaration of Independence says we have an unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Hard to argue with that document but if we looked at it in its simplest terms abortion is infringing on the fetus’ right to life. I said I wasn’t going down that path and I will stop it there.
I guess that with all of the turmoil in the world right now and the uncertainty of just where it is leading makes me think about how I am so blessed to be able to enjoy my life and my pursuit of at least those three things previously mentioned. I look at things in that way and then I watch our government. They are more concerned about the power levied on them in the political arena and therefore they base all of their decisions always looking at how it will either increase or decrease their power over the people. Politics has become all about power and influence. The human element has been lost. Just some of my thoughts this morning. My opinions and although I still have a right to express them….you have a right to ignore, disagree or agree and move on about your business. I just hope that some day in the not too distant future our politicians become humans again and look not only at how their behaviors are affecting other humans but I hope they take a good long look in the mirror and realize politics and humanity should always be together.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Honesty...Am I Out of Style?
Remember when a man’s word was his bond? Remember when a verbal contract was as binding a contract as you needed? Have those days passed us by. I’m not sure how it got to where it is in all areas of society but now even written contracts are not worth the paper they are printed on.
I am still a bit backwards and still have faith that when someone tells me they are going to do something I trust that they will. When I am told it will be done today I believe it even when everyone around me tells me I should have it in writing. Perhaps I should wake up and become cynical but it seems to go against everything in my being. I still trust people.
Webster tells me the definition of trust is as follows:
belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective, etc.
There’s that evil word surfacing again: honest. So why do I take people to be honest at their most basic level? Maybe it’s because I try to be honest and up front with people and expect no less from others. Am I naive? Perhaps, but I just can’t envision living in a world where people distrust everyone. I guess I wouldn’t make a very good lawyer and especially not a good politician. I can live with that.
You may ask why I am on this topic. Well, lately we had some work done at our house. The contract I signed was pretty basic and I accepted it on good faith. The company we dealt with seemed honest enough and the fella we sat down and talked with seemed on the up and up. Now to be fair, they got the work done, albeit a week or so late (weather caused the delay) but it’s these little details like the warranty and follow up that seem difficult to get done even after getting “promises” to stop by and wrap things up. The money’s gone but we are still waiting for the final wrap up. So once again I am told one thing several times and it ends up being quite different.
It all seems to come back to being honest. In my profession it is expected that I will be honest with my customers even when honest is a difficult discussion. The great thing about being honest though is you don’t need a good memory. (And I don’t have one) So I will continue to try and be honest with people even when it is the hard path. People can call me naive and a pawn but I know that I will always feel better about myself if I take the path that holds the truth. If everyone had this philosophy imagine how much we could get done and how much better life would be……
I am still a bit backwards and still have faith that when someone tells me they are going to do something I trust that they will. When I am told it will be done today I believe it even when everyone around me tells me I should have it in writing. Perhaps I should wake up and become cynical but it seems to go against everything in my being. I still trust people.
Webster tells me the definition of trust is as follows:
belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective, etc.
There’s that evil word surfacing again: honest. So why do I take people to be honest at their most basic level? Maybe it’s because I try to be honest and up front with people and expect no less from others. Am I naive? Perhaps, but I just can’t envision living in a world where people distrust everyone. I guess I wouldn’t make a very good lawyer and especially not a good politician. I can live with that.
You may ask why I am on this topic. Well, lately we had some work done at our house. The contract I signed was pretty basic and I accepted it on good faith. The company we dealt with seemed honest enough and the fella we sat down and talked with seemed on the up and up. Now to be fair, they got the work done, albeit a week or so late (weather caused the delay) but it’s these little details like the warranty and follow up that seem difficult to get done even after getting “promises” to stop by and wrap things up. The money’s gone but we are still waiting for the final wrap up. So once again I am told one thing several times and it ends up being quite different.
It all seems to come back to being honest. In my profession it is expected that I will be honest with my customers even when honest is a difficult discussion. The great thing about being honest though is you don’t need a good memory. (And I don’t have one) So I will continue to try and be honest with people even when it is the hard path. People can call me naive and a pawn but I know that I will always feel better about myself if I take the path that holds the truth. If everyone had this philosophy imagine how much we could get done and how much better life would be……
Monday, August 4, 2014
A Political Rant of Sorts....(But Not All Politics)
Once in a while I just have to express some opinions about political issues. I try to avoid them too often because I know there are so many people that just don’t care about anything but their own little world but occasionally I must purge the pressure that builds up inside me of a political nature. By the way, this will not be a Republican vs Democrat debate. You’ve been warned so you can close this before you listen to my opinions.
What has happened to this country of ours? How did we become a nation of takers? For so many years, in my mind, what made our country special was when we saw a task in front of us; we rolled up our sleeves and worked at solving the problem. We didn’t just look at how an issue affected us but how it affected the whole country. The American spirit has slowly transformed into an entitlist mentality. How did this happen? I think that as a whole we have become a large experiment of Pavlov. Many American’s see politicians and they begin to salivate about entitlements even before a single word comes out of those politician’s mouths. In fact, forget about anything remotely important about any problems in this country as long as you keep sending those checks. It is both sad and embarrassing that we have come to this.
You can also look around at how totally dependent we have become on the speed of technology that has made us look at everything with the same expectation of speed. Our highways are now fraught with danger. Not just speeders but people so self-involved that the safety and consideration of others is a thing of the past. People did actually one time think about the other people around them and sometimes even before themselves. Even look at charitable giving. It used to be all about helping the charities. Now it is about making sure everyone is aware of the giving of the particular individual as to show a perception of how great a person is measured. In other words many people now give so that they can proclaim it loudly and feel even more self-important. The people that impress me most are the ones who just give, don’t advertise it, and go about their business. Charity should never be about “keeping up with the Jones”.
Many people have restated the phrase “those who forget history are doomed to repeat it” but it seems to be a more accurate statement with each passing year. We are a culture of cycles. It seems that each facet of our society, be it religious, political or economic, rides a kind of pendulum. It swings one way and religion becomes extremely important…..it swings the other way to where religion is of little importance and this pertains to those other areas I mention. It never seems to be a level and consistent motion but one of constant change. What drives the changes can go back to our very nature of never seemingly being satisfied with anything in our lives. We have definitely lost the stop and smell the roses kind of people we were when I was a child. Few people actually do smell the roses anymore and that is very sad.
Finally, I thought I would once again talk about our Federal government. Our government is corrupt right up to the very top and it is driven by power, greed and money. Our Congress is now almost solely devoted and motivated by the next election. These politicians used to actually care about what goes on in the country. Now their decisions are made by how their constituents will vote. Our moral compass is no longer in play and the rights of the individual are now trumped by how the collective will vote and unfortunately the majority of the collective now vote by sound bites and media misinformation. What’s in it for me is now the driving force.
I guess I am in a melancholy mood this morning. I try to stay positive but in the face of what I see as a world of selfish takers it becomes more and more difficult. There is one thing I can remain positive about and that is I can control how I act and by what motivates me and by doing what I think is right and I can lay my head on the pillow at night knowing that I am doing my very best. If everyone can do this….I guess we will be OK in the end. Your thoughts?
What has happened to this country of ours? How did we become a nation of takers? For so many years, in my mind, what made our country special was when we saw a task in front of us; we rolled up our sleeves and worked at solving the problem. We didn’t just look at how an issue affected us but how it affected the whole country. The American spirit has slowly transformed into an entitlist mentality. How did this happen? I think that as a whole we have become a large experiment of Pavlov. Many American’s see politicians and they begin to salivate about entitlements even before a single word comes out of those politician’s mouths. In fact, forget about anything remotely important about any problems in this country as long as you keep sending those checks. It is both sad and embarrassing that we have come to this.
You can also look around at how totally dependent we have become on the speed of technology that has made us look at everything with the same expectation of speed. Our highways are now fraught with danger. Not just speeders but people so self-involved that the safety and consideration of others is a thing of the past. People did actually one time think about the other people around them and sometimes even before themselves. Even look at charitable giving. It used to be all about helping the charities. Now it is about making sure everyone is aware of the giving of the particular individual as to show a perception of how great a person is measured. In other words many people now give so that they can proclaim it loudly and feel even more self-important. The people that impress me most are the ones who just give, don’t advertise it, and go about their business. Charity should never be about “keeping up with the Jones”.
Many people have restated the phrase “those who forget history are doomed to repeat it” but it seems to be a more accurate statement with each passing year. We are a culture of cycles. It seems that each facet of our society, be it religious, political or economic, rides a kind of pendulum. It swings one way and religion becomes extremely important…..it swings the other way to where religion is of little importance and this pertains to those other areas I mention. It never seems to be a level and consistent motion but one of constant change. What drives the changes can go back to our very nature of never seemingly being satisfied with anything in our lives. We have definitely lost the stop and smell the roses kind of people we were when I was a child. Few people actually do smell the roses anymore and that is very sad.
Finally, I thought I would once again talk about our Federal government. Our government is corrupt right up to the very top and it is driven by power, greed and money. Our Congress is now almost solely devoted and motivated by the next election. These politicians used to actually care about what goes on in the country. Now their decisions are made by how their constituents will vote. Our moral compass is no longer in play and the rights of the individual are now trumped by how the collective will vote and unfortunately the majority of the collective now vote by sound bites and media misinformation. What’s in it for me is now the driving force.
I guess I am in a melancholy mood this morning. I try to stay positive but in the face of what I see as a world of selfish takers it becomes more and more difficult. There is one thing I can remain positive about and that is I can control how I act and by what motivates me and by doing what I think is right and I can lay my head on the pillow at night knowing that I am doing my very best. If everyone can do this….I guess we will be OK in the end. Your thoughts?
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