Just Another Soap Box Derby

I know it's not wise to classify people with a broad stroke, but my experience seems to indicate to me something that is rather straight forward. The more "conservative" a person tends to be, the meaner they tend to be at the core. Now, inherent meanness is also a symptom of people who lack empathy, who tend to behave in a violent or anti-social way, such as stealing, robbing, or any number of ways that have a negative impact on the people around them, but you would think that educated, law-abiding people who consider themselves moral and religious would be constrained from these same behaviors, and they are not. Some of the most outspokenly "moral" people seem to show up alot at protests spitting on people and screaming at them that they are going to burn in hell. They tend to be the ones most likely to interfere in the personal lives of people they don't know, such as gays or some other group they view as being less than human. They manifest themselves as police and prosecutors who worry more about opening a can of whoop-ass on those they consider scum, than serving and protecting the public, no matter who that public happens to be. They show up in congress passing every law they can cutting off assistance to those less fortunate and in need of help to find some hope and meaning in life. You find them running private companies and corporations doing everything they can to get as much work out of people while at the same time cutting back on their wages and benefits, presumably in an effort to maximize the returns to their stockholders (and maximizing their own personal wealth while they are at it). These people sport perfect haircuts, impeccable suits, drive statement cars, and hobnob with all the "right" people. They are pillars of their communities. I wonder about the strength of these pillars that are said to hold up our communities. Seems like a pretty weak foundation to me.

There is not one person that can consider themselves the slightest bit intelligent who can claim to not know the basic difference between right and wrong. Yet, their definition seems to be that right is anything you can get away with, wrong those things you get caught doing. Students seem to think that cheating at exams are simply tools for success, and those who can skillfully wield these skills will see that success. Those who don't try are dopes. Lobbyists get paid to promote the interests of their clients, and you have to wonder how so many of these bright, intelligent individuals can cash their rather large checks and sleep at all that night, considering the things they do to promote those interests, and how outright immoral many of those interests are. Subcontractors take federal moneys handed out by the truckloads in times of crisis, and retire to their new hot tubs laughing at how easy it was to get rich putting a few tarps on damaged roofs. And meat packing plants, corporate agricultural giants, and developers welcome illegal aliens with open arms, so willing are these downtrodden individuals to be exploited in order just to have a job. Are all these people possessed by some devil?

Something rather frightening is the idea that most, if not all these people, really do know the difference between right and wrong, and simply don't care. What's puzzling is how easily those who claim to be religious, with all it's moral teachings and promised rewards/punishments, justify their clearly off-kilter interpretations of the moral code. We know that many God fearing people actually do conduct themselves in such a way as to reflect the teachings of Christ, yet just as many somehow act as though they got the teachings of Christ confused with the Satanic Bible. We are already coming face to face with the power of a corrupt interpretation of the Koran, and just how bloodthirsty it's adherents can be. Our past is also equally painted in the blood spilled by Christian inquisitions. Perhaps the sin we commit the most is the sin of self-serving righteousness.

Those of us who have no idea what to believe in are not in the clear. We are dependent entirely upon our influences, our upbringing, and perhaps something genetic in order for us to see paths to take through our life that does not run roughshod over our peers. As our societies are constructed, you would think there was some tangible reward for living our lives in some benign, caring manner, yet so much misery can befall those who attempt to do so. I suppose the rewards ARE intangible, personal, and can only be realized only by those equipped to do so. Wealth may not exactly be the source of all evil, but neither is it the ticket to happiness, as many a lottery winner has discovered to their dismay. The pursuit of happiness itself seems to be a vehicle for misery in and of itself, depending on what you decide the goal actually is, happiness-wise. It's all so relative. An African who hasn't lost half his children to work the farm that hasn't been destroyed by drought or marauding rebels might think himself extremely happy, while the hard charging executive making six figures might one day look in the mirror and ask himself if this was all there was.

There are guru's galore and books-a-million which tell us how to find God, happiness, or make lots of money in just minutes a day. So tell me, was every thing we were taught growing up totally irrelevant? Our parents, our community, our government was supposed to have instilled in us the rules of engagement, yet pay attention to any mass of humanity you find yourself in the middle of and it's quite apparent that you aren't in Kansas anymore. Look in the rear view mirror at the idiot riding 2 inches off your rear bumper and tell me where in driving school he learned THAT brilliant maneuver. Observe as kids run around out of control while their parents ignore them while shopping, and try not to think of forced sterilization. I just don't know what happened to the world while everything was supposedly getting better. Better how, exactly?

So here I am, sitting here writing these observations, and you'd have to think. "Ah, here's Mr Superiority, sitting in his own goody-goody highchair telling us how bad we all are, probably upset that he hasn't been awarded his own Nobel Peace Prize for being above it all." I wish. I wish I there weren't people out there who are reading this and agreeing with most of it, because they know it's true. I wish there wasn't some intangible line hidden somewhere between the good guys and the bad guys that we seem to have lost track of. I wish I myself truly knew what happiness was and how to somehow be able to say these things and not be thought of as naive for doing so, if not downright deluded. Well, since I am NOT the sophisticated, highly intelligent, world renowned columnist that was licensed to make such proclamations, the most I can suggest is that all this is nothing more than humble opinion that will carry little weight in our collective arguments. But they are mine. I am comfortable with them. They keep me warm.

Which brings me to global warming.........

Just kidding.........:)