There are many times when I compose these columns I am able to take an everyday life situation and create something humorous. The majority of those are pointed at myself, looking to make light of something in my life, writing about me because it is real and, and I hope in a way, is somehow relatable to your own life.
Today is not one of those days and as I sit here, I can’t help but wondering, what happened?
Here are some of the things I am talking about:
Senseless arguments over a coffee cup which never existed.
Veterans dying before treatment, or homeless, while the government sends billions in aid to foreign nations.
Mandated insurance coverage so high in cost families are unable to go the physician, equating to nothing but unfunded corporate cronyism.
Expectations of more for less by an entitled society.
An out of control welfare state with immeasurable amounts of taxpayer money thrown down a hole with a staggering number of recipients on the government dole.
An entire segment of American society clamoring for more free “entitlements” — free anything from cell phones to healthcare to housing.
A Social Security system bankrupted.
Presidential candidates campaigning by sound byte instead of substance.
Growing religious intolerance fueled by irresponsible journalism.
Children raised to believe they are above suffering consequences for their actions.
The castigation of law enforcement as evil and offenders as victims.
The emasculation of men in today’s society resulting in a generation afraid to be men.
Rampant political correctness endangering the ability of productive intercourse on vital societal ills.
A movement of reactionary protests, most unfounded, leading to fear in the minds of the majority, afraid of standing up for their beliefs.
A loss of intellectualism in favor of entertainment.
A new class in this country comprised of the working poor, earning just enough to not qualify for help but not enough to actually meet the needs of their necessities.
The absolute use of the word “hero” for those undeserving.
Should I go on? I can, and this is just the tip of the iceberg, but it seems we as a society have the attention span to handle no more than 30 seconds of a single subject much less tackle issues of great import.
As I like to say, much of this is the result of what I call the “Jerry Springer Syndrome” where we have been conditioned to believe that he who yells loudest and longest wins whether there is any factual basis for it. People of rational thought eventually just walk away.
I swear the world around us just feels different, as if the veil is going to drop and we will all be much like Saul on the road to Damascus and the scales will fall from our eyes. We are being told the economy is recovering, jobs are on the rebound, while many go to work everyday not sure where their evening meal will come from, yet, there is a depression hanging all around us no one seems to notice. Or are we so overmedicated as a society as to be numb to the world around us?
At one time it wasn’t unusual to hear people talk about the American Dream, the idea if you work hard enough, study long enough, and are dedicated to your goal you could be a glaring success. No one talks about that anymore which in and of itself is very telling.
Maybe the dream is no more and the continued social and political decline we are in the midst of, and don’t be fooled that is exactly what we are experiencing, is so all-consuming we aren’t able to take even a moment to see it. Worse yet, we have become so polarized on our own special interests the common good has become a catchall for socialism.
I never realized doing what was best for society, our home as a populace, was such a bad thing. Frankly, it does my heart good to see when someone steps outside their own insular world to help those willing to help themselves.
Muslims unhappy with Christians, Christians afraid of every Muslim, race tensions with police and accusations against society as a whole, out of touch politicians who are so caught up in their “career” they refuse to see the damage they themselves are doing, and the list goes on and on.
I could speculate as to the causes of these ills, but wouldn’t a little common sense spread evenly be more effective? We are the cause because we allow these things, the solution has to come from there. I’m afraid there’s no one left to lead that kind of revolution.
