Increasingly it seems the more our society continues the less aware it becomes. I won't say ignorant or stupid because I am not sure that this is the case. While the world emulated in the film Idiocracy is one I believe we could form, I have hope that we might avert such a disaster in the end. I think what is far more dangerous is the increasing apathy.
I have thought about the possibilities of why this might be and, while I have not reached any conclusion, there seems to be a persistence of apathy because of feelings of powerlessness. Particularly in the United States. Like awakening from a dream it seems that the information age has made those that once slept dreaming the American Dream and living for the promise that one day they might join the elite that they are held captive by. What is even more interesting that in all of the conversations I have had as of late with most of the people I come into contact with their is a shared feeling of surrender. Not in a sense of take everything I have but more an accepting silence. In a world where we as individuals are more aware of the crimes and the wrongs done by those ten percent that own ninety percent there is a lie being spread that we just have to take it.
If at any point the people of the United States and the World in part begin to believe they are powerless than we have lost sight of what it is to be human. We as human beings have the ability to triumph in the face of challenge and adversity, to adapt in order to excel. Yet even now as CEO's seem to tell us what they do to our faces and while we stand angered and battered the actions we take are limited. Even worse we let these individuals know how much control they have by writing blank checks in hopes their avoidance of collapse might preserve our bloated way of life.
I ask though if we deserve to have this kind of prosperity. As Americans we often propose that we are the greatest nation. There seems to be some kind of misguided thought process of entitlement that comes from this inaccurate assumption. While we have accomplished so much to believe that culture is superior because of resources is simply not the case. I believe we would be a greater nation if we could stand together and hear the whispered cries of our poor in our ears as if they were yelled through a bullhorn inches from our ears.
Do not allow my statements to mislead you I love this country with all of my heart but there are things which exist within it that I have started to find intolerable. I have been told at times that if I do not like things I should leave. This is a misrepresentation of the very beauty that does exist on our wonderful country though. I do not have to tolerate it. I don't have to remain the commodity of a company, the resource of a government, or the bottom line on a page. In this country we have had bought for us in blood the right to make it change. Not only to vote for change alone either. We can write and protest and speak.
The problem is that currently the protesting voices are sometimes so full of ignorance that to opt for them over the current situation seems more of a crime. Following individuals bent on hate like Glenn Beck on one side, or hateful protesters at soldier memorials or grave sites on the other has become the norm. There often is presentation of a false dilemma everywhere anyone in the country looks. There is one side and the other democrat republican, black and white, gay or straight, religious or atheist, is what we are told and expected to accept. Yet I prefer to see it a different way. Why do we propose they sides to be taken? In the case of homosexuality, and race there is not even a choice to be made. A look at the human genome will confirm this. In the other cases taking alternate perspectives is healthy as long as the goal remains the same. We as Americans should be aspiring to be a part of a better country and that should be our shared hope. If we do indeed share this than the means for which we get there should only be a matter of dialectic.
Anyway those are just some initial thoughts.
