So I cannot help but feel helpless.I'm just one person and with as much awareness of the world as I have,I can't do anything about anything.And neither can you for that matter - unless you so happen to be the King of the world.I'll be the first to admit that as a 'citizen of earth',I don't feel awfully secure.It's not a complete surprise,given the inevitable psychopaths running around,the tyrant governments and the general sheep-like behavior that we humans appear to cling at.Furthermore,we're hooked on all that morbid crap.
Turning towards a particular angle,I'd like to target the concept of 'society'.It's very much ingrained within many of us that 'society' is the blame..the root of all evil as it were.'Society' pressures people.I consider that to be wrong - People pressure people.Maybe they're one and the same,but I thoroughly despise this overused,blanket statement that seems to be used as a phrase for shrugging things off like they're perfectly acceptable occurrences. Eating disorders,Suicides and even Rape is swept beneath the rug,put down to 'society's' curse.Though I agree that the media influence upon young people today is abused and often twisted,I do sense a severe lack of responsibility from those who should find themselves more than capable of dealing with the effects of said media.
That being said - is it a simple case of not knowing how to deal with these problems? If so,surely that can and should be addressed.
Now,on the tangent of religion (which,believe you-me,I could go on about all day.),I am well and truly stumped by the pure ignorance because the thing is,humans are intelligent.If we weren't,we wouldn't have gotten this far.Before any church-goers out there start ranting at me,let me explain that I do not hate you.I've got nothing against you - I simply detest your beliefs in the same way that I'm sure you detest mine and that is fair enough.We don't have to hate each other for it.
So how is it that a bit of blind faith,a couple of self-contradicting books along with the promise of an eternal heaven of which we have absolutely no proof here-nor-there that it exists (Or doesn't,granted),make us go buckwild? Well,it's pretty easy in all honesty.
Fear.
Religion instils power,be it to a person or deity.Power instils fear.We all know about fear,don't we?
It's all quite primal to think about but in caveman terms,if a bigger man with a stick shakes it at you and tells you'll end up in the equivalent of an oversized bonfire pit,filled with grim demons that poke you with pitchforks in odd places if you don't do as a sacred,pure and relatively harmless-looking book tells you,you're bound to at least give it a moment of thought.That's when it begins,at those first,creeping moments of fear.A lot of religious folk will put it under the 'guise of loving,worshipping and serving God for his wholesomeness.They are in the position because they're too bothered about the after-life to care about wasting their current one.It's maddening to me.Furthermore,people are terrified of being alone in the world without a 'divine' guide. (I don't blame them,it's scary.)
I don't mind the people who follow religions though,and I know that sounds odd.I have a few religious friends myself and they're quite pleasant indeed.I almost feel a bit sad when I think about it.Not all religious people are radical either - I pretty much only identify hatred for the religion itself and it's as if someone's been snatched away from a living a free life because of it.Religion is a restraint.A glass box.
Something that I find to be one of the most loathsome things that anyone can do,is to indoctrinate a child.But you can of course see the logic..to prey on the vulnerability of their emotions and essentially scare them into living their lives to 'God's' standards.It ensures perfect compliance and obedience - at least until the child grows up and realises that they're able to think for themselves.
As I am hoping you can see - Humans can be really screwed up.Weakness is picked at in any way,shape or form.
At this point in time,I have taken a break from my typing.I find a cup of tea clears the mind suitably.Right - back to it I suppose.
Let's talk a bit about politics,shall we? I don't consider myself particularly well-versed in this area,but I can at least outline what I despise about it : The flip-flopping,the lies and the in-house warfare.Presidents and Prime Ministers appear to go full circle from complaining about their predecessor then doing exactly what the predecessor did,promising things that we all knew wouldn't be kept,essentially make things even worse than before and to top it all off : half of them fancy themselves as a 21st century Napoleon Bonaparte.
"But I want my war!" - Every significant leader ever.
(Alright,it's a generalization.I'm trying to add some humor to an otherwise dull subject.)
As a group,country,movement..whatever,we place our trust in other humans that we consider capable of holding us together - kind of like glue.We go through the very same processes,over and over with the picking and choosing of government members,only to 'discover' that actually,we don't like them that much anymore because they just didn't do what they'd promised.It's like kids in a sweet shop and the officials running the country aren't much better.I'm not saying we need to be rid of the authority because in some ways it's vital.All I'm questioning is the constant headache of politics.
Moving on from there,the next thing I want to talk about is individuality.In the same way that people pressure people (relating to my society segment) - people also build others up.What I mean by that,is that we spend a minority of our lives being told that we're destined for great things as a child.In such a heavily media-influenced world,celebrities and the like are idols to the younger generation.I feel as though teenagers and older children are feeling the types of pressures which set them up for failure before they've even begun.So much is expected of them that,along with the harrowing desire to be unique and individual,in their minds nothing is good enough.They are expected to act as adults,take adult life situations and be able to deal with them adequately,all the while they're being treated like children when the fancy is taken and with the added hyena mentality of popular media,it's a sure fire way to send a kid insane.From what I've seen (again,this is NOT typical of all of the later generations) once a child or teenager has fallen in to a stereotyped social group,they are deemed irretrievable.There is still a huge amount of stigma.In a very tragic way,both technological and evolutionary developments have formed this problem in the minds of young people - Make no mistake,I'm one of them.
Speaking of stigma,it's still a massively confusing to me that in 2013 we still apparently have trouble accepting different races and sexual orientations.Neither can be 'chosen'.Speaking in bias for my own sexuality - I already understand the niggling fears of not being accepted.The same,I'm sure,goes for those of other races.Casual racism can be observed quite readily,be that by mature generations or by those of a separate,racist culture.Yet again,fear comes into play.People really don't like what they can't understand!
"Just because something makes you feel uncomfortable,doesn't mean that it's wrong." - Daniel Sulzbach.
We also observe the common theme of 'tradition' throughout history as a scapegoat for justifying doing wrong.When are we going to grow up and face the fact that no matter how much we try to force a stationary world,it just won't work? It's a shame that some developing countries still have this extremely dangerous problem.
What a mess,right?
I guess you can see my doubts thus far.I am constantly afraid for my species and the fact of the matter is : we just don't know what will happen next.That isn't to say that we should all start wearing sandwich boards and advertise that the end is nigh just yet.The mere happenstance of being human is pretty beautiful - We're living,breathing,lovely and squidgy.We make things happen,good and bad.We're conscious (for the most part) of our actions and how they affect matter.We're doctors,scientists,ballerinas,entertainers,fast food workers and cat enthusiasts.And we are brilliantly emotional things.All of this can't be enough for redemption though,can it?
We're so inwardly conflicted.We're great but we're horrific all at the very same time.It's quite spiritual in a way and yet our true monster appears only in actual worldly reality,where it counts the most.I am terrified that we'll run ourselves into the ground with all of the fuckery going on.
Anyway,I suppose the real question at root here has yet to be answered.I am very confident in my answer and I hope that you'll understand why I gave it this way.It's probably not a satisfying answer either but thank you for reading to the end.
I replied, "I just don't know."
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