We've all seen the Ten Commandments movie where Moses is talking to Zephera and she says, "Our lips may not be all painted up like the Egyptian women, but they speak the truth". Elsewhere in the movie it even says "Physical beauty is but a curse to our women". It's not just the notion of sexual defilement by an Egyptian overlord, but the whole lure of the materialistic culture that the women will get sucked up into. Back when this country was being formed we believed that work for work's sake was a good thing and that you should in the words of the Apostle Paul, serve your boss joyfully, working hard, and by doing so bringing honor to God. Certainly in my generation with its high unemployment during the seventies, if you got a job you were grateful to have one, and you did everything you could to hang on to it. How different it is with today's generation of "youngsters" with their blackberries, PDA's and I Pods, and taking time off work early to attend their Yoga classes. Did you see that episode of Sixty Minutes the other night. This younger generation is so full of themselves you can't believe it. But it's only an extremely pampered and watched over ("like fine china", as they have previously said) generation where losing is not in their vocabulary. They were taught in school that competetion was a bad thing and more than that - - anyone who criticized you was a BAD person. I ran into some of this with Nicholas myself. This is the Mr. Rogers generation where Mr. Rogers told you "You are special". This generation believes it and thinks any employer should be thrilled to hire them. Of course Christian young people are told they are "special", too, and Mr. Rogers is a Christian. Christians love to complain about their work- - all the time. They just pick, pick, pick no end about their jobs. And they love to gossip, too. I remember one time in early 1074 where I and a date went into a resturant after seeing the Exorcist. And the service was terrible because the waitresses were Christians. This younger generation has never experianced a real recession like we had in 1974 or in 1980 - 1982. They think the world owes them everything and aren't shy about asking for it. In some ways you can envy them. It's every man who has dreamed of saying to his boss, "Take this job and shove it". In 99% of the cases it's a very unwise thing to do. In some ways Thom Hartman and Randy Rhodes are full of it. Not to disparage their analisis of the economy or anything but our expectations are so high now we forget what the real world is like. We seem to regard having the fastest cable computer around and giant screen TV as well as every manner of exotic health foods as somehow normal and that everyone has the money to throw around on these things. Now they have these cars that talk back to you and to whom you can give oral directions to drive a certain place or to play a certain song and rescue with GPS if you get lost. Thom Hartman says we aren't even paying for gasoline what we ought to and prices were still relatively higher in 1979 than they are today despite the increase. In Bob Dylan's words, "If you're so hurt, why don't you show it". We keep on driving more and more, and our pocket books don't mind a bit, and we expect to spend even more this year. The negative savings rate in this country is alarming but that's for another day. People invest in mortgages and trade in houses like trading stamps. They regard these flexible mortgages as a big game and wonder why they get burned. They shouldn't bail people out for foolishness. I'm a big believer that actions should have consequences. Ironically this is one of my big beefs with Christianity in that they see "The World" as "Evil" so you can go out there and act like a total asshole and then wonder why everybody hates you and go back to your church and whine about it. I think the whole idea of self examination and introspection is a lost art.
Another danger of unfettered materialism is that it numbs us to the reality of news and political events. There is so much "entertainment" out there, this entertainment supplants the real world. Soap opera people become our "best friends" and the war in Troy or Pursia or some other far away place long ago supplants the war in Iraq going on today. Obviously people are too distracted while they are driving. I can't help think that all this distraction detracts from their work on the job performance. But my point is that we are not thinking about the big issues such as civil liberties. In China and to a lesser degree in Russia, they are trading their civil liberties for a new car or new pair of shoes. As long as they are well off with a lot of "things" to boast of, they feel "safe" and not threatened by their government, which denies even basic civil liberties. Now we are seeing the same thing starting to happen in this country. Randy Rhodes said on her show today (or was it Hartman?) how come Republicans hire these advertizing consultents to help word speeches so that bad concepts appeal to the American people, but the democrats struggle over their basic message of egalitarianism. I was going to call this article "Greed, the scurge of the right wing and the need for egalitarianism". Too many words. But it's true. Personally I'm not big on national health care as you know. I think if we try it it will end up in a major disaster where everybody pays double taxes and still doesn't get the kind of coverage they expect. Apparently health care isn't working at all well in Canada. But that said I DO admire the concept of government health care. I see the rationalle for it. And it almost seems like a good idea. I think Thom Hartman is being Biblical when he says the economy is to better society, and not the other way around. I believe their is a Biblical moral element to economic activity. I think it wouldn't hurt us for all of us to adopt more Spartan values, even if Pursia isn't knocking at the door. (And it just might be) I think Jerry Browns ideas are good ones. I think it's a good idea to live a more Spartan, "earth friendly" life. If we walk more or ride our bikes we will be healthier and may be better spiritually, too. As you know I think there is too much enphasis on alcohol consumption in soap operas. I think more of us need to get politically involved with organizations, and in some cases to grow a contience to begin with. I also believe in the Jeffersonian concept of the educated voter. I also encourage you to listen to that John Edwards speech given at that democratic dinner.
Finally there is the whole way in which privatization has ruined us as a society, and yes, Thom, I'm actually saying it. We can't use taxpayer money to fund private organizations. We can't have these No Big contracts we've been having. Harry Truman is right. War profiteering is an offence to everyone. It's an offence to God. Now we have these deals with the phone company where the governments puts in signal splitters so they can minotor our E mails and phone calls. Chelsea on Days of our Lives once redirected E mail from a certain person to her, where she could read it and change or rewrite it if she felt like it, and then send it on as though it came from the other person. Don't think our government isn't tempted to try this. This whole idea in the schools of "teaching to the Test" is one I finally "Get" now. It seems if you take these tests such as SAT they only ask you about reading, grammar and math. Apparently you could be a total ignoramus on such areas as history or geography and have no concept about how our government works. It seems there is a "perfect story" that everyone learns to write. I would imagine they don't grade on original abstract concepts. If this is the case that they are indeed "dumbing downour kids" we need to put a stop to No Child Left Behind immediately. I encourage everyone to listen to the Randy Rhodes show because she says things much more in depth than I can here. Our whole perception of ourselves as a people has been altered by the Republicans. We've been using words they brainwashed us with to describe and think of ourselves, and we wonder why we aren't effective. Christianity does the same thing to you. You use their words, as though somehow forgot your own. We need to "take the battle to the enemy" and we need a candidate (John Edwards) who can run an assirtive and persistent campaign. We need a candidate who won't back down or back-track in his words under pressure. I believe we also need a person who is morally grounded in "God" however you chose to define him. OK, I'll define it. I speak of "God" as a moral force I think we all at one time were alive to and it's a cause that's still stirring in many of us right now. We know what we need to do. To rephrase scripture "Perfect Morality Casteth out all Fear".
I hope O J Simpson gets the book thrown at him. I think we pretty much know what happened now and who said what to whom. O J's karma is finally catching up to him! Sianara!
No comments:
Post a Comment