Going About our Business

 

A Personal Mental Reflective Pondering

Sundays are usually set aside for spending time inside one’s spiritual beliefs (in some cases this day is Friday), not doing any yard work, house work, or work-work; but, they are also used as a reflective time as one may ponder what is or what was or what could be.  It would also be easy for us to say that a majority of the world’s inhabitants do not perform any mental reflective pondering at all that they are merely content with living life as life lives them.  And, while that may seem like a narrow point-of-view to many of us “intellectuals,” it is still nonetheless valid when taking our mental reflective ponderings out of the environment of the US or out of the environment of the world’s cultural elite.  I say elite because the word seems to fit 80% of us regardless of income. 

Whether you are an American movie star or athlete, a European store owner or diplomat, a Middle Eastern Sheik or nomadic shepherd, an Asian factory worker or student that does not look beyond today, there are still many of the world’s population that are starving and dying of disease that we (as global citizens) for the most part do not give a rat’s ass about.

And, while there are some like Gates (wants to eliminate disease) and Bono (wants to eliminate poverty), the rest of us are content with living life the way it is, without the slightest regard for anyone or anything else outside of ourselves and quite possible our immediate families but even that is still questionable.

As far as Americans are concerned, there are those who worry about politics and the socialistic movement in our country but they only bitch and do nothing.  And, there are those who only care about sports and are oblivious to everything else in life, including their spouses and families. 

And, there are those who are only concerned about making money and they do not care about whose head they step on to get there.  For example, what about the so-called Christian company owner (I say Christian because he/she attends Church every Sunday) who ships jobs overseas because wages are low. 

For me, when someone says they are Christian, then they should treat everyone like Christian brothers and sisters.  Not only do these so-called Christian leaders engage in unfair labor practices, but they build plants in 3^rd world countries selling them goods and services that they cannot really afford. 

We should bear in mind that managers of all religious persuasions, from all over the world, treat their people poorly, especially in countries where there a no to very few social laws to protect workers.

And, we should not forget those Americans who, like so many of their friends, “tube out” every night on “American Idol,” or “Dancing with the Stars,” or a cooking show, absolutely stupid 30 minute “sitcoms,” or “Duck Dynasty” or some other series that doesn’t just capture their imagination and interest but allows them to temporary but complete forget the bullshit of the day.  I saw bullshit because of the way that managers, for the most part, treat their subordinates.  It is not totally their fault, because we have become and “bottom line” but “greed” oriented society at ALL SOCIOECONOMIC LEVELS.

These issues (my mental reflective ponderings) are systemic of affluence and not just in the US but all over the world; an inherent flaw of greed.  Yet, without greed, no economic system would grow and flourish which is the paradox or conundrum with which some of us “so called” intellectuals deal…  while talking heads simply point out what is wrong with all of those who do not think like them.

So many of us these days simply go about our business including this writer, but that does not make it the correct way to behave.   Is it because we are so comfortable with what we have that we take it all for granted; or, is it because we are constantly in want of more, but with the caveat that we do not desire to share?

One would hope that change is in the air…