I was going to start this article off
by drawing the readers attention to the planting, farming, and
harvesting of poppy fields in Afghanistan that eventually lead to the
GLOBAL consumption of illegal heroin on which users spend millions of
dollars annually; but, that is only a symptom of the real problem
which is US (not United States) but you and I in a worldwide sense.
Everyday due to my health, I must walk as fast as I can around the neighborhood for an hour and to take my mind off the boredom of that task and off the pain of what walking up steep inclines does to my body, I think about the content of the articles I want to write. Today, was no exception and as I started my walk, I was focused on the first paragraph and as I ended my walk, I became focused on this second paragraph which leads to all the rest of this article.
So, let's continue with “we” being
the problem. Let this roll around in your mind while I take a little
detour.
Have you ever wondered why all these
Caucasian and African American athletes that have become very wealthy
do not contribute hardly any money at all (on average) to eliminating
poverty or hunger or all the ghettos in our big cities?
I am not one of these athletes, so all
I can do is speculate but I suspect it is because most of them
considered themselves to be self-made through discipline and hard
work and if they can do it so can everyone else. I have heard other
successful people make this comment to me, so perhaps it is
applicable here. And, maybe this is true, but...
...there has got to be more doesn't it?
I mean what about natural talent? What about parental guidance and
influence? What about the culture in which one was born? What about
one's personality or DNA structure where some switches are turned on
while others are turned off?
Let's get back to “we” being the
problem.
I would suspect on an annual basis that
a million or more updates (some of which include images) are posted
for the viewer on this forum. I would also suspect that most users
on this forum belong to the global middle class within their
respective countries and/or locations. Some of us are not doubt
upper middle class whereas others of us are lower middle class, again
respectively.
I would also suspect that many of us
are religious to deeply religious while others of us are spiritual or
philosophical but have complete respect for other people's beliefs.
I would also suspect that many of us
are politically, socially, and emotionally conservative in our
beliefs and values and expect all users and EXPECT those who are
liberal in their thinking to acquiesce to the conservative
points-of-view.
With that said, let me now explain why
I think “we” are the problem.
More often than not, updates on this
social media forum are upbeat and positive in nature with
inspirational, timeless quotes and comments that leaders and famous
people have previously stated. On any given day, I read hundreds of
these “uplifting” messages... and, there is nothing wrong with
any of these at all but... we are preaching to the choir, aren't we?
It is not us who should be or need to be reinforced by these
messages but those who are socioeconomically beneath us.
Once we post these positive messages,
we pat ourselves on the back for posting them in the first place
which seems rather silly in a way.
We do not tolerate images or thoughts
on this forum that are obscene or vulgar and there is nothing wrong
with wanting to have that banned but are we not overlooking the
problem?
I would bet that 80% of the global
population is not like us at all. They have no beliefs, no faith, no
hope, no money, no future and no one seems to care about them... for
all intents and purposes they are ignored... why?
Because, we are too busy reinforcing
our own beliefs and all those others who think like us. It is
exactly and precisely for this reason that I think “we” are the
problem.
Since we all know the power of positive
thinking, why are we not posting photos of the hungry or photos of
those in poverty or dead bodies lying around due to some form of
uncontrolled violence. Why are we not posting photos of drug addicts
and those who are sick and dying of AIDS? Why are we not posting
photos of ISIS and all of their atrocities like the beheading of
journalists?
If we post enough of these distasteful
photographs maybe our global middle class will actually care enough
about these people and instead of posting inspirational photos will
start posting solutions to these global problems.
I am sure that this post is going to
offend some, readers and no doubt, emails will be sent to have my
profile deleted, but I call it like it is and let the chips fall
where they may. And, it may be a waste of time for me to say these
things like spitting into the wind but again that is just who I am.
So, why not?
NOTE: The title for this posting came
from a final exam I took in an upper lever Philosophy course in
college. The only grade was the final exam and there was one
question on the final exam which was why? In the 60's exams had to
written in Blue Books and as I looked around the classroom, I saw
everyone writing frantically. I thought for a moment and then wrote:
Why Not and then because, turned my Blue Book in and left the room.
I got an “A” for the course.
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