Just reading the newspaper this morning, and realizing how much trouble America is in. Does anyone even disagree anymore - whether we are liberal, conservative, or whatever, it seems like we can all agree that things are getting worse and don’t look to be getting better anytime soon.
So my question for the WEF minions is this - at root, why are things going so wrong with America (and with the world). I mean not only politically, not only economically, but also socially and culturally. The whole deal. If you can isolate one thing, what is it? My answer is in the comments.
Comments
I think the problem is that we are too rich and too powerful.
I know that is two things, but I couldn’t resist.
I think it is because we are living in an age where there is no personal responsibility. We try to “rehabilitate” criminals instead of punish them. Alcoholics aren’t weak-willed, they’re “diseased”. Children aren’t hyper, they have “ADD”. And don’t get me started on all of the things that people blame on genetics. Obesity, alcoholism, homosexuality.
And you can pretty much pin ANYTHING you do on a past traumatic experience. “Oh, my daddy beat me, so I couldn’t help but go on that killing spree”. Pathetic.
I could go on and on. There are excuses for all the things people do now so that they don’t have to take responsibility for their own actions. Nothing anybody does is their fault anymore, so people don’t see any reason to even try to change. It is so easy to be a bad person when it isn’t your fault.
And to WEF3: I don’t think it could be that we are too rich. Possibly too greedy, but too rich isn’t really a problem. And too powerful? In what way? All of our problems are caused by the way people are thinking nowadays, and I bet the people in the 1800s THOUGHT that they were really rich and powerful as well. So what specifically is different about the CURRENT power and wealth that would change people’s way of thinking?
Good point about the ‘victim’ mentality, WEF5. The phrase “no excuses” comes to my mind. Call it the ‘victor’ mentality!
While I agree that drug addicts at some point in the initial stages of drug abuse are personally responsible, at some point the addiction does truly rob them of the power to ‘will’ themselves to stop - they become disabled, much like a mentally retarded individual. That’s my personal and vicarious experience, at least.
But drug addicts were not born disabled - their actions brought it on. When it comes to homosexuality, research shows that it springs from failure to develop one’s sexual identity through a combination of parental failure and genetic susceptibility. These kids hit puberty and start experiencing unwanted sexual attraction toward the same sex. Adult therapy has been effective in stopping and reversing these same-sex feelings. So too has treatment been effective in ending drug addictions. But WEF5’s point is still valid - the ‘victim mentality’ is more disabling than the reality of victimization itself! Who will seek therapy, or accept treatment, when they are still pointing the finger at others?
About riches and power, I think I’m hypothesizing that it is our great wealth and power that turns us into a ‘victim’ culture. Basically, that our culture is the rich-brat culture who expects dinner to be served on a silver platter, or at least in front of a good TV show.
The reason I included power is because of technology. Unlike the 1800s, everyone today has a car, a tv, cell phones, video games, designer drugs. Moreover, our society as a whole is immensely powerful: organ transplants, the pill, nuclear power, satellites, etc. Back in the 1800s, I would wager, there was still a palpable sense that life had limits, and that life was fragile. Today we’ve been to the moon. One’s sexual powers are now totally dominated due to contraceptives, abortion, and sterilization - not to mention IVF. We can have virtual reality piped into our brains through computers - Warcraft, etc. All this, I think, serves to radically change the way we look at the world and the way we look at ourselves. We see raw material for pure human imagination. The world and our bodies are no longer wild beasts to be harnessed. The world and our bodies are now a chemical soup that may be spliced and diced and synthesized into whatever alternative reality we might imagine. Genetic engineering and re-engineering of mankind itself is on the horizon. It will not be long before we attempt to ‘upload’ consciousness into machines - heck, most of us are already half-way there. All we need is a good helmet that buzzes hallucinatory images into our brains, and then we’ll all sit in front of CPUs all day long. Who needs to take a plane to visit Turkey when we can have Turkey in our computer and on the internet - all flashed into our minds via a machine interface?
Riches and power have turned us into very self-obsessed and self-assured beings. A wise man once said, “where your treasure is, there you heart will be”. The more rich and the more powerful we grow, the more rich and the more powerful we want to become - until we are veritable daemons of our own self-created universe.
Of course - this is all a giant fantasy - and when it fails we show ourselves as ‘victims’ and spoiled brats, throwing a temper tantrum at other people who intrude into our self-centered world.
I think WEF5 nailed it, only he was just a smidge too optimistic. If everyone were simply not taking responsibility for their own ridiculousness that would be one thing. I’m afraid it has moved beyond this: People blame other people/corporations/governments/gods for their problems and as such task them with the duty of fixing it.
I am poor because (fill in the blank). Give me money.
I am unhappy because (fill in the blank). Give me drugs.
I am ugly because (fill in the blank). Plastic surgery should be a human right!
Don’t get me wrong I’m not anti-charity, but I am anti-enforceable duty.
That’s it. A lack of personal responsibility coupled with a false sense of entitlement.