Lately, it seems that there are constant reminders of the seeming breakdown of everything in this world. I was listening to a couple of guys who were talking, unaware even of my presence, and they were talking about how the world seemed to be going crazy, and everyone was running around with no respect for one another (and, I might posit, no respect for themselves, either), that they just do what they want to do, get absorbed in their own little worlds which have little to no contact with reality. It was hard to completely disagree with them, for that matter.
The one guy is someone who works with his hands, and he was saying that everyone wants to be an elite, feels entitled, and that there is less and less room in this world for people like him -which is to say, people who work with their hands. Again, I am inclined to agree.
This is a world of entitlement, where people regularly treat each other like dirt, where being crass and in your face is not only accepted, but to be expected. Everyone wants to be a celebrity, everyone wants to be rich and admired, everyone wants to be both entertaining and entertained, all of the time. Nothing less is acceptable or admirable anymore. Everyone tries to make sure you know not only exactly what they want, but how they view themselves, and how they want you to view them. Based upon that, they can then bestow upon you their judgment of you, sizing you up very quickly, often in mere seconds, and everyone will "swear" that they are right to do so, that they are usually "dead on" with these judgments.
So be it.
All I know is that I was taught something different growing up, and this has served me well. Indeed, there are similarities between people, and sometimes, indeed, perhaps, most of the time, we fit into convenient “labels”.
Yet, people who rely on these, usually almost exclusively, are themselves more guilty of fitting into stupid stereotypes than the people they are trying to dismiss. They are doing it out of cowardice, after all, because dismissing people takes no work at all. Actually getting to know someone, enough to actually start finding value in them, perhaps even to start caring about them?
That is far too much for most people to handle, it seems. So much easier to let them remain invisible.
I saw a spoof Wall Street Journal front page the other day, with headlines screaming:
WHY DO THEY HATE US?
Underneath this, was a slightly smaller caption, that read:
Polls show it’s because we bomb them
It was not a real article, or anything, but indeed, the point it tried to get across (successfully, I would suggest), was that most Americans who think it is “cool” that we have stealth bombers and all of this awesome technology that we use to more efficiently kill people, or at least subject them to “shock and awe”, actually do provide solid grounds for them not to trust us, and for the flames of resentment, and yes, even hatred, to build more and more steadily.
The same can be said domestically, as well. This is a nation divided, more divided then perhaps we have been in modern times, and people are so blasé, so focused on their own little worlds, that they cannot relate to anything, or anyone, else. It is not easy to, so they do not bother. Hardly anyone bothers, anymore.
Yet, I think that this will make things get progressively worse, not better. It seems we already are a divided country, that people don’t view all Americans as their follow citizens anymore, but they eye “others” with skepticism and distrust, and sometimes, yes, even hatred.
It seems to me that things just might have to get worse, before they get better. Who knows when that might happen, or even if things will get better?
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