You may feel that the world is as it always has been. You are trapped in your hamster wheel, of making ends meet, driving your children to school, to free time activities, making your wife/husband/partner happy, going on holiday, shopping for Christmas, for birthdays, for the fun of it, hanging out with friends – your life, in short, is as it has always been.
And it hopefully is.
However.
“Look at the decisions you are making, Larry!”
Look at what matters to society, hopefully you are living in a democracy where you get to decide who governs your society. You might not think it matters who governs your society, that whoever they are the only thing that matters is that they get out with as many riches as possible, not giving a toss about the “common people”. About you, and yours. About your parents, or even grand-parents who are struggling to make ends meet. Despite the fact they “built this society”. They can throw wealth at people who haven’t done a thing for this society, while saving on those who have contributed. If only those that they are spending the society wealth on can disappear out of here so the wealth can go back to making a difference for those that deserve it.
Us.
Not them.
At what matters to society. hopefully you are living in a democracy where you get to decide who governs your society. You might think it matters greatly that society has become swamped in crime and corruption. Oftentimes it is them doing it as well. Not us. It is them.
Before they got here crime rates were down, way down. Now – they’ve brought it up, way up.
And brutal crimes, like killings, shootings, rape, murder, and armed robbery – not only of shops and stores, but in homes – drug crimes are as bad as ever, if not worse. This didn’t happen before. It has all changed. From before.
We are not safe any more. We need more police! We need more prisons, safer prison, that they can’t break out of. Longer sentences! We need surveillance. We need police on the street, we need police on patrol, we need more police! We do not need any soft “lefty liberals and socialists” talking about social factors, improved integration and better schooling. We need people controlling the scum so that we can feel safe. And preferably to be able to get rid of them in the process.
At what matters to society. hopefully you are living in a democracy where you get to decide who governs your society. You might think it matters greatly that society is able to keep producing the stuff that you need. That you travel unhindered wherever you want at whatever manner you wish. That using the cheapest materials for your everyday products are a given, until the market forces force vendors to come up with something new and better.
Hopefully better for the environment, most likely better for the environment, but there is time – lots of time before anything bad happens. And anyway, the climate has always changed – one year it’s colder, another year it’s warmer – these are natural fluctuations, right? Where would we be if we just stopped using oil, coal and nuclear power – how would I be able to get my children to school, or their free time activities? It would definitely break the hamster wheel. We can’t have that. And what hamster wheel would that be anyway, I can’t get in to work without my car – there are no public transports here. It’s easy for the town-dwellers to decide on things they don’t see the consequences of. Like my broken hamster wheel. And this Greta person, a school girl – a school girl! – telling me how it is all right if my hamster wheel breaks. She doesn’t give a toss about my life, so I’m not going to give a toss about that should-be-back-in-school town-dweller. And anyway, as long as we don’t build nuclear power plants in seismic hot spots, we’ll be fine.
Are any of these arguments familiar to you – for the decisions you are making?
Look at the decisions you are not making, mate.
Unfortunately, while the grownup (or hopefully, grownups) are failing to find good politicians – “The grown-up in the room” is missing. The measured, considered voice isn’t there, meanwhile the bullies are dominating the political scene. They are listening to the anxiety of the people. Anxiety promoted by journalism driven by their own agenda. They are providing short term, comfort food for thoughts focused on security, nationalism and law & order (not specifically SVU).
There are politicians wanting to be adults, that unfortunately do everything they can to attract the angst-driven voters and adopt the terminology and solutions of those who thrive on the societal angst. Only to discover that the voters most often believe the original is better than the copycat.To the detriment of both the wanna-bes and society.
They thrive (or try to) on the societal angst of the 2010s. And probably the societal angst of the early 2020s. Meanwhile the root cause of the problems are still not being addressed – because people are being comforted into thinking that they are “someone else’s problem”.
What’s wrong with this line of thought Larry? What happens if Ben over there needs his alcohol, but only has food stamps? Does he
- Go somewhere where he illegally can sell his food stamps for money so he can buy alcohol?
- Steal stuff, or rob someone so he can get money to buy his alcohol?
- Suffer the consequences of withdrawal until he does either of the above?
- Goes to health clinic or social services to solve his problem?
My guess is on either of first three options, even if I really hope it will be the fourth. That might be an unrealistic hope in most cases, however.
Also, how do you think denying children free time activities others are enjoying, or singling out people having to use food stamps in a supermarket queue, is going to help rehabilitation or integration into the society you want to protect. Does it protect the society or does it deepen the feeling of being outside society, making it easier to justify anti-social lifestyles?
Larry, you need the adult in the room.
You need the leaders who are able to consider all aspects of a situation, not only the one solution that makes you feel good. You are not supposed to opt for whatever it is that makes you feel good now, but will come back to bite you in the rear end a few years later. Or next month. Or tomorrow. Or doesn’t even solve the problem you are looking at all. Because those are not likely to be sustainable, charitable solutions to the often difficult problems we face in society in the 2010s (and 2020s).
There are a few real adults, scattered around the world. Politicians trying to do good, to weigh all aspects of situations into a solution. You need to listen more closely to what they are saying.
The use of the name “Larry” in the first heading is another wink towards “Orange is the new Black” where Larry says to Piper “Look at the decisions you are making, Piper.” I hope Pipes wouldn’t make the same decisions as Larry in this article though./Martin S