Is anyone else disillusioned with the direction our society appears to be heading? It seems as though the only thing that rules is greed. Governments give lip service to the public good, but the only reason people seem to go into politics anymore is for the money. A few years in politics and they receive a pension for life, regardless of their actual contribution.
Oil companies care nothing for the environmental damage they do. Money rules there, too. Fracking (blasting the rock deep underground to release the gas trapped there) is very damaging to underground water supplies, but the "greater good" rules - who cares if a few underground water wells are damaged or destroyed? The need to wring every ounce of gas and oil out of the ground to fuel society's machines takes precedence.
So many young people appear to have no moral compass anymore. Cruelty to animals, bullying, a sense of entitlement and their lack of personal connections dominate. They have no idea where their food comes from, nor how to employ the simplest of techniques to ensure life and limb. Take them out of the city, drop them in the woods without a GPS and they would be totally lost and starve to death because they have no idea how to navigate nor what is edible (no, you can't pet that bear cub.... didn't you see the sign saying not to feed the bears? 'Cause that's what you'll be if you get between momma and her cubs - bear food.)
We are constantly bombarded with exhortations to look younger, better, thinner; have more hair, less hair, no grey hair, thicker hair, curlier hair, straighter hair (what is this obsession with hair?); fewer wrinkles, age spots, lumps and/or bumps; better sex lives (partly spent seeking medical attention when your erection lasts longer than 4 hours...); lower cholesterol, whiter teeth, fewer leg twitches, fancier cars, televisions, cell phones, games, tablets.... the list goes on. (When did natural aging become a disease to be cured? Is there an app for that?)
We are admonished to bubble-wrap our children in order that they attain adulthood without scars, disabilities, drug addictions, immunity to disease, common sense, the ability to stand up for themselves, or suffering any kind of negative life experience. This will ensure that they are well-rounded, capable adults who can speed-type (but not spell) with the best of them, but will faint at the sight of a shovel, or a piece of paper and pencil.
Huge conglomerates dominate government to the point where policies are based not on what is good for the people or the country, but for the stockholders. It matters not that one company appears to be in control of most of the seed in the world (and are genetically modifying it for some nefarious reason!), the government made money. (Conspiracy Theory Alert.) If you control the world's food supply, you control the world.
The Mayan calendar ends this year. Did they really know something we don't, or did they just get tired of doing all those calculations? Ran out of room on the tablet?
(Yes, I'm aware that this was rather a lame post.... hence the title!)
30 comments:
I think I need to stop watching television. Between the depressing news stories and the commercials, I am sinking into despair!
No, not lame. That was well done. It's about how I feel, too. I had a chuckle yesterday when, for some reason, I imagined a 20-something confronted by having to use a boxy, black dial telephone.
It was an evil chuckle laced with sadness, but still a chuckle.
Evil chuckles are the best kind, cousin!
Ah, there's always something satisfying about a good rant. Because my grouchy worldview has beeen with me since birth, I actually don't remember the old days being any less full of inconsiderate, greedy, superficial, or ignorant people, (and back then WE were the youths who lacked moral compasses). But I do find that every now and then annoyances pile up and it's nice to confront them and call them out. (As you did, very amusingly!)
Thanks, Crabby. I'm afraid I woke up with a head full of this stuff and had to get rid of it to make room for my normal sunny disposition! (I was also afraid that I was channeling the grumpy old people from my own misspent youth....)
Ahhh Baggie, you're a fine ranter. ;) I have to agree with much of what you had to say.. particularly the disconnect between much of our young and the realities of nature or the absence of today's instantly-gratifying technology. Then again, I'd be lost out there, too.
I have to disagree with the statement "Young people have no moral compass anymore." Certainly, it's true of many, and those sensationalistic television programs.. and the news (often one and the same) certainly shine a spotlight on them. Honestly, most of the teens and young adults I know (although self-centered in many ways, as the young usually are and have always been), are genuinely decent, caring people with strong, solid morals.
I look to my own boys and though I certainly am not overly-blind to their faults, I feel like the world would do alright in their hands, and those of their ilk. Then again, I'm highly biased.
I keep meaning to tell you, and I suppose now is as good a time as any. Come spring, Jeffrey will be in your province for the next 4 years. He's been posted to Cold Lake.. sigh!
Hilary - I should not generalize, as I am fully aware that a lot of young people are fine, upstanding people. In fact, I'm going to edit that immediately.
I have been to Cold Lake (once, a very long time ago) and, from what I remember, it's a fine place. I'm sure though, that from your point of view, it's too darned far away!! :)
(On the other hand, it will give you an excuse to travel to Alberta and we can perhaps arrange to finally meet! It's all the way across the province from me, but I'm sure we can figure something out!)
Now that would be cool. :)
I thin k more and more people are feeling exactly like you. I know I am, so tired of it all...
Blessings jane
Yes, yes, and yes.
Thanks for the rant, i needed it.
Oh, and turn off the TV, before it makes you so crazy you long for a rubber room. They only show the negative.
Very well said.
Am trying to think positive and am hoping that most of the 99% will throw the bums out come next elections.
I'm also trying to fully support the small local businesses rather than the big box stores. The only problem with that is that the big box stores in my little town employ a lot of local people.
Hilary - it would be most cool!!
Jane - it is tiresome - especially the commercials telling us that we will be so much happier if we just have more (or less) hair, fewer wrinkles, lumps, bumps, zits, dark spots, whiter teeth, etc, etc.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment.
messymimi - I have been forced to wean myself from the television. I had not watched it for a long time, but we got a new one at Christmas, so I thought I'd check it out. Didn't take long for me to remember why I stopped watching (but not quite in time to avoid the craziness!) I'm much better now that I got all that out of my head!
Thanks Cheryl! Yes, it is a problem, isn't it, that most of us depend on those big conglomerates to put food on the table, one way or another.
Im so so so so so so with you, Sister.
This is why I haven't watched television for fifteen years now. Not seeing commercials improves my life So Much.
The thing is, this is pretty much how I felt forty years ago when I was a Young Person. It all comes from growing up around people who had grown up without plumbing or electricity.
Mary Anne in Kentucky
Thanks, Carla!
Mary Anne - I, too, have felt this way for some time, but spending a few days watching television made me just a little crazy and I had to get it out of my head! There are a lot more complaints stored in there, but I decided to quit before I sounded like a complete lunatic.
I know the feeling. Sometimes when a new batch of students comes in the entitlement and cluelessness about practical aspects of life staggers me.
For me the biggest thing is trying to shield kids form danger and dissapointment. I'm not saying toss them in a bear pit, but part of being able to deal with life is to know how to deal with disappointments and challenges. If noone wants to challenge themselves to learn and practice and improve the lowest common denominator wins out...and they'll be looking after my old fragile butt. This does not comfort me!
Geo - I know. That's the scary part - that they will be making the decisions when we are older. One can only hope that the ones like Hilary's boys are the majority!
Following up on the conspiracy theory, I learned today that my boss's brother-in-law, who usually drives refrigerated trucks, has been pulled off that because his company has a contract with ADM to deliver 40,000 tons of grain from his home in south central Illinois to St. Louis in three weeks. How large an area around his hometown I don't know, but will they have any left?
Mary Anne in Kentucky
Oh Sister, you said a mouthful! I often worry about the youth I see & deal with around the city. Then I meet some that are wonderful and sane and I feel better.
I don't watch the news and I ffwd through the commercials so that I don't have to listen to them...and besides the programmes are such crap that I wouldn't probably watch them if I had to wait for commercials to end.
Mary Anne - 40,000 tons does sound like a lot. (I have no idea what ADM is, though.)
Reb - there are a few TV shows that I have developed an interest in, but the commercials are terrible. I feel so inadequate....
ADM is Archer Daniels Midland. Lotsa typing there.
Mary Anne in Kentucky
Not lame... loved it. You've voiced what quite a few of us are thinking sadly about.
Teri - thanks for stopping by!
Congrats on your post of the week Sis!
Rant away - hopefully, somebody ready to make a positive change will hear! Congrats on your POTW!
Reb - thanks!
Barb - I hope you're right! Thanks!
Rant away, Baggie! Esp. since I still can't see any "greater good" out of messing with underground water supplies.
As for the youth of today, while I certainly see many that make me shake my head in despair, there are others who hand me back my faith and more (even if they can't seem to operate away from their hand-held devices).
And politics? Oh, my. You hit that square on the head!
Spokalulu - I don't have enough to do with the younger generation, perhaps. I know that the ones I do see are great, but most of them were/are raised in a rural setting, which I think helps ground them a little better than the kids who never see anything but cement.
I loved this. Pretty much my thoughts exactly BUT I sure could not have penned it as well as you...A job well done!!
Something I have really noticed in last few years ...young people are not taught time on "real clocks" anymore. If its not a digital... Simple things like that amaze me.
I have always liked gray hair, so it comes as no surprise to all I know that I would not dye etc. etc....mind you I have never been a fashion queen anyway (jackshirt and Carharts are more my speed ...and bare feet of course!) I pretty much stopped watching news over 20 yrs. ago and still do not regret it.
I always swore I would not be like my parents/grandparents ...you know "remember when, walked barefoot, uphill, both ways, 10 miles to country school, no shoes, freezing ....(laughing now) just because I vowed I wouldn't do the should'a/would'a/could'a/wished'a routine where nobody believes ya anyway... (I didn't them...so...)
Anyway, I truly did enjoy. You are commended on a job well done. One request: I want to see more...
Thanks, Shelley! I am sometimes overcome with the urge to rant.... stay tuned. :)
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