"I
think...I think I am. Therefore I am...I think" *
The Occupy Movement. Capitalists. Socialists. The President. Congress. Republicans. Democrats. Tea Partiers. Gringrichians. Obamalites. Romneyans. Santorumites. Greedy CEOs. People Who Hate Greedy CEOs. People Who Like Greedy CEOs. Global Warming. Monsanto.
What do all of these have in common?
They elicit all sorts of comments from people. The media is flooded with the comments. My facebook page is flooded with them. I overhear them all the time on the bus, or in stores or at work.
I would say 80% of those comments indicate the person making them hasn't given a shred of genuine thought to the matter. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and there is a whole lotta wasting going on. All my life, I've felt that failing to use the intelligence and wisdom Creator gives us is the greatest "sin" we can commit. Our minds are the greatest tool (or weapon) imaginable and yet it seems for many, it's the one aspect of their existence they are most willing to put into idle while their mouths or fingers communicate. Many people find it easier to let others do their thinking for them. I guess they feel that's safer as well: if things don't work out, they can blame the person they let do their thinking for them instead of taking personal responsibility.
If you let others do your thinking for you, then you deserve to be treated like sheep or cattle. Don't complain if you suffer the consequences when those you have elected or allowed to get away with unethical or even unlawful acts. Start using your mind, start thinking clearly, deeply and sensibly, and something amazing happens.
You become free. You become a real human being. You begin to create in yourself the person you hope to be, and in so doing you help to start the same change in others.
It's not just that most people seem to be expressing a "party line" when they comment, simply repeating what someone else said. It's also that so many seem more intent on tearing down rather than building up (well, building up anything besides their own egos). Not only do so many seem to want to curse the darkness instead of light a candle, they also turn to cursing those who do light candles.
Beneath it all seems to be the idea that personal responsibility for change in society extends only so far as yelling at someone else to make the changes for them.
As a photographer, writer and musician, I value genuine creative ability. As such, I'm saddened at how often people use such talents selfishly and destructively, usually out of ignorance. It would be easier to take if that ignorance weren't self-imposed.
For the past several weeks, I have been posting on facebook about "Occupy Yourself". By that I mean, instead of blindly repeating comments and propaganda about how the president or congress or someone else should fix all our problems, we each should start thinking things through. Start the changes with ourselves, then within our relationships and communities. Understand that real change isn't imposed from above, but trickles up from the citizenry. Then, if the trickle doesn't work, a citizenry of those who think clearly and share the common goal of making positive changes, can become a flood.
We should make sure such a flood brings forth life and positive change, rather than destruction, and that the flood benefits all of society rather than just a few.
* "In the Beginning" by Graeme Edge from the album "On the Threshold of a Dream" by the Moody Blues
The Occupy Movement. Capitalists. Socialists. The President. Congress. Republicans. Democrats. Tea Partiers. Gringrichians. Obamalites. Romneyans. Santorumites. Greedy CEOs. People Who Hate Greedy CEOs. People Who Like Greedy CEOs. Global Warming. Monsanto.
What do all of these have in common?
They elicit all sorts of comments from people. The media is flooded with the comments. My facebook page is flooded with them. I overhear them all the time on the bus, or in stores or at work.
I would say 80% of those comments indicate the person making them hasn't given a shred of genuine thought to the matter. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and there is a whole lotta wasting going on. All my life, I've felt that failing to use the intelligence and wisdom Creator gives us is the greatest "sin" we can commit. Our minds are the greatest tool (or weapon) imaginable and yet it seems for many, it's the one aspect of their existence they are most willing to put into idle while their mouths or fingers communicate. Many people find it easier to let others do their thinking for them. I guess they feel that's safer as well: if things don't work out, they can blame the person they let do their thinking for them instead of taking personal responsibility.
If you let others do your thinking for you, then you deserve to be treated like sheep or cattle. Don't complain if you suffer the consequences when those you have elected or allowed to get away with unethical or even unlawful acts. Start using your mind, start thinking clearly, deeply and sensibly, and something amazing happens.
You become free. You become a real human being. You begin to create in yourself the person you hope to be, and in so doing you help to start the same change in others.
It's not just that most people seem to be expressing a "party line" when they comment, simply repeating what someone else said. It's also that so many seem more intent on tearing down rather than building up (well, building up anything besides their own egos). Not only do so many seem to want to curse the darkness instead of light a candle, they also turn to cursing those who do light candles.
Beneath it all seems to be the idea that personal responsibility for change in society extends only so far as yelling at someone else to make the changes for them.
As a photographer, writer and musician, I value genuine creative ability. As such, I'm saddened at how often people use such talents selfishly and destructively, usually out of ignorance. It would be easier to take if that ignorance weren't self-imposed.
For the past several weeks, I have been posting on facebook about "Occupy Yourself". By that I mean, instead of blindly repeating comments and propaganda about how the president or congress or someone else should fix all our problems, we each should start thinking things through. Start the changes with ourselves, then within our relationships and communities. Understand that real change isn't imposed from above, but trickles up from the citizenry. Then, if the trickle doesn't work, a citizenry of those who think clearly and share the common goal of making positive changes, can become a flood.
We should make sure such a flood brings forth life and positive change, rather than destruction, and that the flood benefits all of society rather than just a few.
* "In the Beginning" by Graeme Edge from the album "On the Threshold of a Dream" by the Moody Blues
Boy, I needed to read this this morning, hit home a little too much - thanks for keeping me honest. -Joseph
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