We will fight with all we have against every single enemy of our country or Constitution, be they foreign or domestic.The One Big Problem
I had a realization this morning. It was one of those where I trashed the 5 AM post which I’d been kicking around for a while and started from a blank sheet. It’s tough to put into words, but it’s something that should be said by someone on Das UnterWebz. Not that I believe that everything hasn’t been said somewhere out there, but maybe my take is a little different or at least slightly more amusing, depressing or has more commas.
Reading back through some of my own ranting here on this blog, I came to the conclusion that I didn’t have the answer to the woes of the world, but I did have the cause. The One Big Thing that is bringing America and the world to its knees.
No, really. I do. It’s my opinion, of course, but I can now tell you in no uncertain terms what drives me absolutely barmy.
It’s you.
Well, maybe not you per se, but people in general and a quite a few in specific.
That One Big Thing that people do is so simple yet so powerful. It has led to threats, persecutions, pogroms, slavery, terrorism, murder, even genocide and world wars. It has led millions of people to throw away common sense and decency, to follow madmen blindly, to commit acts of barbarism and utter madness.
People as a whole seem to be hard-wired to do it and no matter the philosophical, religious, political or ethical proclivities they all, with very, very few exceptions, do it. And they do a lot of it. And they seem to be content doing it all the time.
It comes down to this: People want to tell other people how to live.
Think about that for a minute. People always seem to think that the way they live, the way they think and what they believe is the best there is. And they want you to live, act and think that way, too. They want you to be just like them because they think that they know best. Many people are prepared to convince you to do so, and failing that, they will force you to do so.
Look at the whole of human history. From the earliest times, it’s not only been about the conquest of physical objects, land and people. It’s been about conversion of the minds of the people, whether by the psychological absorption of entire societies, in the best case (if you can call it that), to the enslavement of those who will not submit, right on down to the elimination of entire populations. It’s in the earliest records of human history and it exists right up to this very moment that you are reading this. It’s undeniable.
Actually, I lied about the solution. I’ve got it and it’s really very simple…let people live their own lives the way that they want to. If you think that being gay is bad, then don’t be gay. Don’t go around beating up gay people. Don’t go around burning down bars full of overly-groomed guys that has big rainbows in the windows. Just try leaving them alone.
The same goes for everything else. Do you think that abortion is murder? Don’t get one, but don’t tell someone else they can’t have one. Think that car exhaust causes Global Warming™? Well, don’t drive a car then, but don’t tell everyone else they can’t drive one. Do you think gambling is a sin? Then don’t gamble. Do you abhor weapons, meat, air conditioning, drugs, porn, cigarettes, polyester, booze, religion, rock and roll, junk food, kinky sex toys or mindless action films starring Bruce Willis? Then stay away from them…but don’t tell the rest of the world that they cannot partake of a Pina Colada, a blood-rare steak and then light up a Bolivar Gold Medal if they want to.
I could go on and on, but I’m assuming that you get the picture by now.
The trouble with my solution, the thing that makes it completely unworkable in reality takes us right back to The One Big Problem: People want to tell other people how to live. From my experience on the planet so far, that doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon. And until the populace of the world is willing to let their neighbors lead their own lives humanity as a whole will continue to teeter on the edge.
We could start here. America would seem like the place where people would let each other live in peace, as the individual sees fit, but it seems like we are hell bent on catching up with other lovely countries where radicals make the rules, where the extremists drive the populace into submission by any means, where dictators and governments rule every move from cradle to grave.
That doesn’t give us much leeway to believe that things will change anytime soon. In this day and age where we think we are so enlightened, one really has to wonder how much more we as individuals can take, how much we will take…and what happens after that point. Will we continue to propagate The One Big Problem or will we allow each other to live as individuals, and more importantly, as we each see fit?
Thousands of years of human history puts the odds against it. But you never know for sure.
