Part of me really - REALLY - wants to write about current events that suggest that the country, as whole, is pretty much politics. But that is politics, which we do not do here. Another part of me wants to write about what appears to be the complete and total moral collapse that seems to have engulfed Western civilization to the point that I do not think that it can be come back from - but again, that seems to border on politics.
And then I realized that really, all of the outside angst I am feeling is really more indicative of my inside angst.
I am feeling cast adrift, caught between the reality that I live in and the reality that I would like to live in - only to discover that the greater reality seems to be completely unraveling. What good is it if you are good at a job in an industry that failing, or even a society that is failing? What good is getting halfway to the life you want to live only to have everything around you dissolve? It is as if you were trying to drive halfway across the country only to run out of gas in the middle of New Mexico with no town or car around: you are stuck.
Societies, just like economies, are built on an array of almost invisible relationships that ultimately reside in trust and faith in others and circumstances. Without this faith and trust that a certain cause and effect exists in social affairs, people have no reason to continue to invest in them. If crime is ultimately not punished, why should one approach the authorities or report the crime - or on a broader level, why pay for the taxes that support the government that is not doing their job anyway? It is as if I can see the the strands unraveling before my eyes even as I am powerless to stop it - and am running out of time to do what needs doing before something serious collapses.
It is a bit selfish, I confess, to be more worried about me and mine rather than the greater masses out there. But I am exactly as all I see: my own trust and faith in this society and civilization has been unraveled, almost to the point where collapse is viewed not so much with terror or anger but rather as something which simply needs to happen so we can all move on to the next phase.
And so I have come to view current events not so much as omens of worse to come but rather as evidence that things are simply crumbling - perhaps a little more quickly than anticipated, but collapsing none the less. We are not surprised that the waves destroy the sand castle, only that it does not destroy the castle sooner.
In our current lifetime TB, selfish is fine. It's all good and well to care more about others, but what good does that do you unless it's part of your religious philosophy? Not "yours", I meant "yours" in general, and not to be offensive. I was brought up in a fundamental environment where everyone came first, every person, criminal or angel should be my focus before I focus on me...I've decided on a different way of life.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly how you feel about being stuck. I often think I'm under house arrest here until that day comes when I can take a step ahead. But I really do honestly try to make the best of my situation and not live only for tomorrow. I used to live for tomorrow and all it brought me was inner turmoil, doubt, anxiety and wasted years. I still follow the path to my dream, but I try to enjoy what I have now because you just don't know how long you'll have it, or how long you'll be around to enjoy it. Hope that wasn't preachy.
I liken what you're describing as having a window seat on a crashing plane. You can see everything going on, but can't do anything about it. I too, feel that the only way to fix America is to let it crash and burn, and then reassemble it.
ReplyDeleteI've said it before, and I'll say it again; the death of trust precipitates the death of the society. Sitting on a shelf above my desk is a milk bottle from 1933. It still actually has the paper cap; the only thing that separated the contents of the bottle from the evil of the world. One look at that cap on that bottle speaks VOLUMES about how far trust in our society has fallen...
When it comes down to it, TB, you and yours are your primary concerns. The parts have been flying off the machine for years. When its linchpin finally lets go, you and yours will be your ONLY concern... Beware, and prepare...
You are never preachy, Miss Rain!
ReplyDeleteYou are right, sometimes it is very difficult to focus on the here and now in the face of tomorrow, especially if your here and now is not quite what you were hoping it would be. There is a careful balance between present and future that has to be maintained - something which I seem rather awful at keeping.
Thanks Pete. Although I have never been in an airplane crash (and would that not be a story!), it often does feel like that. It is as if the laws of history are somehow not as ironclad as the laws of nature (which they are not, really - but cause and effect really does exist).
ReplyDeleteI remember a time - probably the tail end of such things - where we had milk delivered on a weekly basis. It was just on our doorstep in the morning. No-one troubled it, no-one took it - and certainly no one tampered with it. Like your milk bottle, a story about society all in an object.
I am under very little illusion that when things break - and they will eventually, in my opinion - there will be no-one to care for me and mine but me, and mine. Altruism is the output of a society with some level of belief that good is rewarded and that things like food and fiber and fuel are sufficient and regular enough that they can be shared. Many people, I fear, will be disappointed that in the true time of emergency, the government they had come to rely on for almost everything has somehow disappeared. Sadly, it will be reveled that food really does grow on trees and in the ground - and it does not just happen magically.
I see things and feel the same way you do TB. It is (to me) more a matter of morals and ethics than of politics. Nowadays anyone that plays by the rules is a sucker. It’s only cheating when the other guy does it. The other guy will screw the country over for himself and his, you may as well do the same before you miss out.
ReplyDeleteI am not a particularly religious man, but last week I just crapped out with what is happening in my work, my family and my country. I was never meant to bear loads like that and I just had to kneel down in the snow during an early morning dog walk... and dump it all in the hands of my Maker. I cannot assume responsibility for bad outcomes when others shirk theirs. So many things are in other people’s hands; nothing I say or do will change things, all I can do is stay as close to my Maker as I can and hold on and hope for the best.
I will be as good a man as I can in the days ahead. It’s all we can do.
Glen, you make an important point (one which I considered today for tomorrow's post): we live in a world and a society where the Self has become the ultimate good and anything that promotes it, including doing whatever it takes to hold onto the power and prestige the Self enjoys (at any level, not just the highest) is more important that character. If I consider it deeply, the only surprise may be we have not fallen farther than we have.
ReplyDeleteIf you it makes you feel any better Glen, I too have often asked God why I am here right now, for this time? I feel peculiarly unequipped to exist in this current reality that I see and feel and live in. The answer I have consistently gotten back is that God has chosen us for this time and place for reasons that may not be completely understandable to us, but are critical to His plan for the world. Perhaps it is a you have said: merely being the example of a good person in a world that no longer values such is the very purpose of our being here now.
I wonder, if history is allowed to continue and Christ does not return soon, those that come after us will name this age as The Failure of Character and Tyranny of the Self.