The following entry began as a comment on a particular Facebook post. It promptly outgrew that venue, so I did myself, and a buncha other folks, a favor and moved it here.
Gonna be Upfront- It's a Downer, like Many Important Topics and Most Good Music. But, I feel compelled to share with you (or subjugate you to) what I got rattlin' 'round in my head this evenin'.
Bail now, or read it all and suffer the consequences, which may include Feelings of Guilt, Lack of Compassion, Selfishness, Sadness, Frustration. Shame.
Boys and Girls:
You may not approve of the lifestyle of those that call themselves Gay- married or otherwise.
You may not like the fact that over 11,000 Americans die from the discharge of firearms every year and, in response, a great number of Your Fellow Citizens are callin' for more comprehensive, common sense gun laws.
You may not care for people that are not Christian. You might even disagree with some of Your Fellow Christians as to the interpretation of certain details- minutiae- in the Bible.
You may dislike people of a different race/color- perhaps, with the possible exception of those that you deem to be some "of the 'good' ones." (How Progressive of You...)
But, consider this:
Globally, Undernutrition is a contributing factor in the deaths of approximately 2.6 Million Children every year.
Just short of 2 million Children on this Planet die every year (about 5 thousand a day) due to the lack of access to clean water and proper sanitation.
An estimated 850 million of Your Fellow Humans go to bed hungry each night. 300 million of those are Children.
16 million of those Starvin' Children are right here in our Great Country, these United States of America.
So, I reckon the point I am tryin' to make here would be one of Perspective.
Perspective: A sensible way of judging how good, bad, important, etc. something is in comparison with other things'. (Source- Macmillan Dictionary)
"...in comparison with other things."
"...in comparison with other things."
"...other 'things'..."
Somethin' has happened to Us.
"What it is ain't exactly clear..."
It would seem (well, at least to me) that We- the Folks of this Great Country of Ours- have managed to develop some new form of, what's the best word... Laziness....?
(Note: I suppose this, in of itself, would actually be a pretty damn impressive accomplishment. Not necessarily one to be particularly proud of, but impressive, nonetheless.)
Sorry. Driftin'...
I consider myself to be a part of the Great Middle Class. Most of the Folks in my Small Circle are considered by me, and by themselves, to be a part of that same large, diverse group of People. But, due to some vague, yet extremely complicated mechanism, we seem to have Lost Our Collective Way.
Many of Us have devolved into a Mass of "Over-infomed" Idiots. We now find Ourselves subjected to an Incessant, Overwhelming Barrage of Deceit and Spin. Every day, We awaken inside a House Afire, the halls thick with the chokin' Fumes of Greed, the Black Vapor that is the Breath of Liars. Our Capacity for Objective Reasoning, Independent Thought, Original Conclusions based on the Preponderance of Fact- these things are no longer Shared Skills, Evidence of Strength and Solidarity. Examples of Pride. They now suffocate, scarcely conscious...
We, the Giant Chunk of Majority from the Middle, both Left and Right, have chosen to abandon the Cultivation of Our Power to Discern Legitimate, Searing Fact from Dogma and Propaganda. We have traded our Bullshit Filters for Slick, Gaping Bullshit Funnels, and have tilted back our heads and allowed these to be fitted nicely down our Throats.
No longer do We turn to a thoughtful delivery of the day's Current Events from the likes of Murrow and Cronkite. Instead, We, through our Lackadaisical Attitudes, are content to be spoon-fed the "News" from sources rangin' from the Weak-Kneed and their Genuine, but Futile Attempts at maintainin' some scrap of Integrity with a "fair and balanced" approach, to the Shameless Regurgitation of Devicive Sputum, virtually Devoid of Truth, the only goal to Irritate, Agitate, and Inflame.
We continue Our Downward Slide, past Legitimate Disagreement met with Reasonable Discourse, beyond Simple Pigheadedness. Always toward a Destination that none of us would consciously choose.
An image pushes forward in my head...
A silent, grainy, black-and-white reel:
It's a Nailbiter of a Fistfight between Two Protagonists, perched upon a runaway rail handcar. At the bottom of the Grade- Dead Man's Curve.
The Two continue their Brutal Struggle, appearing to be oblivious to the Far Greater Peril that looms before them. Their Primary Objective- the Absolute Destruction of their Adversaries. The Elimination of All Adversaries, with Total Disregard for anyone or anything that may fall under the heading of Collateral Damage.... Including Themselves.
It is so easy to see only Our Own Hurdles and Obstacles. A weakness mastered by most all Human Children before the age of three. And, it is every bit as easy to allow Our Own Problems to become the Biggest Thing on the Planet. But, looked at through the eyes of the Everyman, You scarcely have a complaint.
And, as we continue to view the Problems of the World in Our Narrow-Minded, Blinders On Fashion, it's as if we've lost one eye and no longer have the ability to see things in three dimensions. We can no longer change where we stand and see things in a new way. Everything is flat- paper doll cutouts, layin' overlappin', but still flat, two-dimensional. Illegitimate. More simple than their actual reality.
Too many of Us no longer have Causes. Now, we have something more akin to Grievances. Our Fear of not Belonging, not being on the Winning Team, drives us to select from a Short List of Faux Injustices that have been gathered or fabricated to inflict Maximum Stress and Fear, while supplin' very little in way of Truth and Comfort. The worst part of this is that we have been intentionally steered toward these things. Harangued and badgered by the Talking Heads through every media outlet possible until, due to confusion or exhaustion, we give in. We cave and accept our lot: step up, choose a side, then begin fulfillin' Our Social Obligation to parrot the Lies, Innuendo, and Fabrications that we have been so lovingly fed.
We choose to assist only if it comes with Praise, Adulation. Why toil in the shadows if Our endeavors are to go unrecognized. Unappreciated. Wasted time? When we set aside Our precious time, are we not, by default, deservin' of grand praise for our sacrifices?
All the while, the Children of Man are starving and dying. By the tens of thousands.
Through no fault of their own.
It may well be time. Time to consider the Dead and the Dyin'. Each time, before we open our mouths to speak.
Perspective: The ability to perceive things in their actual interrelations or comparative importance. (Source- Macmillan Dictionary)
Fish
