Perhaps a Frankenstein analogy, perhaps meant simply for man himself, I wonder how many of us simply ask "just show me what is right and I will do it?" Moreover, how many of us hear what is right to do and refuse to do it because of the difficulty of doing so in the face of so many who do not do good?
"And many writers have imagined for themselves republics and principalities that have never been seen or known to exist in reality; for there is such a gap between how one lives and how one ought to live that anyone who abandons what is done for what ought to be done learns his ruin rather than his preservation: for a man who wishes to profess goodness at all times will come to ruin among so many who are not good." Niccolo Machiavelli
This may be true but I have rebelled against it, I will never become again what this world is. Destroy me they may, but I will never become what I have despised my whole life, I did once and have regretted it.
"He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God." Ecclesiastes 3:11-13
You should read Ecclesiastes if you haven't, I promise that you will take something meaningful away from it. Moreover, you ought to read the Sermon on the Mount to answer the implied question in the title.
By the way, if you don't read my links you might as well not read anything I write, because I link them for good reason, I'm not wasting your time, this goes for all my posts.
I'm writing a story about a man who fights himself. He exists in a world that he can save, and within it he can find nothing worth saving. The salvation of a world that does not want to be saved and a man who does not want to save it, only to find that the salvation of his life lies in the salvation of the world. Perhaps when I have written more of that story I will post part of it here.
There was another man that I did not write about, who entered into a world to save, giving his life for those who hated him most, living long enough to see those closest to him turn their backs, betray and abandon him; he lived long enough to see the world he came to save betray all that he did, and his name was Christ.
One day you will find that to become better you must make a choice to do good to those who hate you. I have seen this action as the hardest step for any man to take, there are few who do. But what reward is given to us if we do only that which even the most evil of persons do?
I have said before that if you showed a video of some great atrocity, the common reaction you will probably receive is "how could you show that?" I am at a loss of words, because the reaction ought to be "I can't believe that actually happened." Herein lies again the quintessential problem of our society today wrapped all around convenience: that people don't see what is real, that something like that actually happened; they only see what happened to themselves: that you interrupted their perfectly comfortable life and inconvienced them.
Most days I think to myself: all that I have accomplished is complaining. I have done nothing. I am constantly frustrated by the society we live in being perverted into thinking that winning means more than justice. I am constantly dismayed that when you try to better anyone in this world the first reaction is that they take offense and through some misguided interpretation of what Christ taught suggest to me "who are you to judge me?" How quickly we admit that no one is perfect, and how quickly we condemn others for saying what we have already said. I am more disgusted in how Christ's words have been twisted over the years in Matthew. Many people like to twist words to such an extent to say that since no one is perfect no one should point out the flaws in anyone, even if the purpose is to become better. We have become a stagnant world of comfortability and convenience; this is the end state of our lives. To achieve something greater than two kids a wife/husband and a job? This is ridiculous, because in America we are taught of nothing more. The young no longer dream of becoming more than just a worker in this society; we are slaves, do not be fooled, we exist as such because of the notion that we can say we aren't a slave, but it doesn't change the fact that we are. You don't have choices; you have elbow room to do only what the few would allow you to do.
I know this much: since my conception I have been a man who can not be bound by the chains that this world has to offer, and I never will be. It's up to you to not become a slave to a system of stagnation producing one more meaningless life. It's up to you to ask for something better than the garbage we have been given called an education that exceeds now $10,000 a year per person in America for indoctrinating us into this useless existence. It's up to you to stand up and become something better in this world. It's up to you to vote for something different than the pick your poison parties we have been given. It's up to you to do the right thing, it always has been.
On the other hand, if you are comfortable to sip your tea and watch your cable tv, while violence, drugs, and corruption run rampant through our country than by all means do so. Part of me says I can't wait to see your face when those problems hit your doorstep and you have no choice but to join the better cause. But the other part of me says to be something better and not delight in the suffering of any human no matter how ignorant, inconsiderate or selfish they may be. Part of me is bitter and part of me is better.
The New Year is coming and this is the time for people all around the world to make a promise to themselves of things they will do for the new year, which they will break within a month. And as this is a conclusion I think you can put two and two together (only if our education system succeeded in doing at least that) and realize I'm about to give you a challenge. I challenge you to do something to fix the things you see wrong that are happening in your life. Even if it involves writing a letter to the news or your local representatives. I challenge you to make it your duty to do at least something in every case no matter how small that something may be. Change begins small, but it begins with a recognition and a desire to change what you see is wrong.
So what I really meant to say here is let's be the ones to make a difference; let's be the ones that aren't willing to be satisfied with the scraps we have been given; let's be the ones to stand up when others remain seated; let's be the ones who fight.
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2 comments:
You suggest that a large number of Americans have become slaves to some system. Such an accusation however,
requires a high level of specificity
to be fair. I would assume you mean we
are slaves to consumerism, specifically the
use of advertising to affect beliefs
about social status. If this is the case,
then it is the most genius form of
slavery ever conceived of, given the
ever present option to be freed simply
by choice. So, perhaps the real problem
is that this form of slavery is
preferable to the anguish that is
complete personal freedom. But then,
it doesn't meet the definition of
slavery at all.
Aristotle described the master as one who “can foresee by the exercise of mind,” while the slave is one who “can with its body give effect to such foresight." He also described a slave as having “no deliberative faculty at all." If a slave is someone who simply does a job and does not reflect upon things, then most people are by definition a slave, because if some influence entirely dominates you, you are subject to it.
I want you to do something when you walk around any day. Ask people to think about things. Question people about the most important things in life, and find out how few will want to, or how few care. I attribute this to a system which intentionally breeds such thought. The system makes people what they are if they buy into what is taught and very many do. The system is comprised of the government and many of the major businesses.
And for a side note freedom is not doing whatever you want, I should have made this point in my first post, so perhaps I will go back and amend it. Freedom consists of deliberative actions. If you do things of a carnal desire such as sex and eating, if you do these in excess you become a slave to them and hence are no longer free. So succumbing to instinctual desires is not an act of freedom, but slavery.
Much of what I say isn't quite clear just yet because there are many things to address. When I went back and read it I thought there will be many questions as to what I'm referring to in much of what I talk about, such as being a slave. The main point though is this: we don't have a choice in this society, you become a worker or nothing at all. People believe wrongly that they have a choice, when they do not. Every job you get you will be told what to do.
I am not one who is of the opinion that the world has always been getting worse. I think the world has been getting better in a number of different ways, but there are many things which have been getting worse and if something is not done to stop it, it threatens to undo all that has been accomplished for the better, because control of everyone through education ultimately decides the entire future of our world, allow it to be as is and I foresee a dismal future.
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