I look at the news, the events, the papers, and every day, it just seems our world is becoming more and more of a cesspool of negativity and depression. Did The Rapture already happen, and these are the real end days? I truly hope not. To me, I think this is the negative downturn side of our “golden internet age”, where being over-informed and media-blasted has really turned us inside out. There are some real problems going on in our world, and no real progress seems to being made on how to fix them.
The biggest problem is not that we cannot progress – it’s that we don’t WANT to progress. Previous generations don’t want to learn new ideas or new ways of doing things. They want to maintain the status quo so it doesn’t rock their boat. They don’t care until they have passed from this world. After they are gone, they don’t have to worry about it anymore. Each generation has this same thought train, and nothing ever, ever gets done about it.
We have stagnated, and have gotten far too comfortable in our sedentary lifestyle.
Why is our oil and gas problem so problematic? There are a number of factors that go into this sorry mess of an equation.
1. We depend on oil from a country that seems to be bent on never knowing any real peace. WHY do we depend on them so much? Well, we now have the oil fields in the Bakken, so that’s a start, BUT…..I would think we are far along enough technologically to safely tap the fields in the ANWR region of northern Alaska.
Oh NOES! We can’t go THERE, gasp the environmentalists. They have made this region such a hot-button problem that no politician will go near it, so they’re not even willing to TRY.
Here’s the other problem – alternative fuels v. the “good old oil boys”. Oh don’t even be deluding yourself for a second that we’ll get out from under their thumb anytime very soon. Anytime a really good idea comes along, guess what happens – the oil companies buy out the patents and quietly BURY THEM so they can’t be used. Oh we couldn’t be taking money out of THEIR pockets, could we? Not even if it makes the world a better place? Like I said – they’re complacent in their position, and will hold onto it until their final breath – after that…….it’s not their problem anymore. It’s all about G-R-E-E-D! Do you have any idea how many places you can get to in Europe and not get into a car once? You know WHY? They have more mass-transit options! Do you know how many passenger trains they have there? MANY TIMES more than they have here!
Can you imagine the boom in business that would result in even in running a north-south rail line from Montana to New Mexico? If they aligned it to pass through Billings, Sheridan, Casper, Cheyenne, Denver, Albuquerque – it would save TONS in fuel costs by shipping goods via train rather than by truck, and it would offer another option for passenger service!
There are quite a few options out there if we just weren’t so darned complacent and not willing to even try to move forward.
2. We’re gonna be BROKE soon, and probably sooner than you might think!
This is not an issue you can push onto any one person in our government – it’s the whole body of it that is broke. We seem to be mired down in a few things that I just don’t get, and I’ve talked about these before:
– WHY are we the world’s police anymore? To further that point, why is it that when we DO clean up someone’s backyard, they don’t give us anything for the effort? I know we’re a great humanitarian country, but eventually, that is going to run us into the ground. In order to pay for our armed forces, that money has to come from somewhere, right? Just send them a bill for it, and tell them that they need to start getting with the program.
We have amazing technology. We can see through walls, hear conversations over any form of electronic communication, satellites that can spot a person in a crowd and tell you the last time they shaved, for crying out loud, yet we can’t seem to find the troublemakers in the world without sending in huge armed forces for years at a time? I’m seeing a similarity with the stormtroopers in the Star Wars movies here.
The other problem? WE ADVERTISE EVERYTHING WE DO! It seems like anytime we are going to be sending in a strike team or a military action into another country, it’s all over CNN, FOX, BBC – everything! Gee……no WONDER we can’t find them! We’re telling them “Hey! We’re coming to get you!”.
Wanna know a secret? Wanna know HOW to get the bad guys? DON’T TELL THEM WE’RE COMING! Don’t put it on the news or leak it anywhere! You do a COVERT operation once you find out where they are, GET THEM, THEN tell it on the news once you have DONE the operation! The other part of the equation is that the news agencies LOVE to blab about these things, claiming “freedom of the press”. Well, perhaps you should think before broadcasting that news story about what our military is doing – think about how it’s going to weaken our effectiveness in dealing with the situation if YOU TELL THEM what we’re doing!
– Government pay after office – this one has been around the internet like wildfire many many times. When you are in office, you get paid accordingly. When you LEAVE office, then the pay should LEAVE with it! They need to go back into working the private sector or retire – no living off the government nipple for life. Time to cut those apron strings! Serving in government is a privilege – not a lifelong career!
– Peeing money into the wind – we see ads and commercials about sending money to this country and that country for x number of causes, but before you sign that check……….before you call that 1-800 number, THINK about what good you can do for causes right in our own backyard! Think locally and look around – see what needs help in your own community – your own city – your own state. Work together to build communities that take care of each other and help to fix our own issues. Maybe that’ll help us become strong once again instead of being a country that is always on the verge of being bankrupt.
3. Where is our FOCUS? The telescope is pointed in the wrong direction, people!
Truth be told, I really don’t even watch the news much anymore for two reasons – one, it’s always bad news, and two – it’s always about the latest “scandal sheet”. Do we even get to see any positive stories anymore? Every once in a while, yes! We actually do get to see glimmers here and there, and they are truly inspirational, but so often, I tire of seeing “celebrity of the hour” getting caught speeding/shooting meth/having an affair – really? Is this NEWS? I saw a posting that George Takei did – it was a meme of a posting someone else said:
“I have to explain what to do during a school shooting, but let’s freak out all about gay marriage.” Oh yeah….don’t get me started on that one.
We need to focus more about lifting people up – not tearing people down! I guess we got stuck on the latter, and the former got dumped into the refuse bin. That goes back to the complacency issue – we’re comfortable living in the world we grew up in, that we don’t care about changing for future generations – let them do that after previous generations are gone, but that won’t solve it, because the generation after that will feel the same way. It’s that sense of apathy and complacency that will ultimately be our undoing.
I think I’m going to go for a walk now – maybe take some peaceful pictures and listen to some music – and no, I still don’t listen to rap. Way too much hate going on in that stuff for my taste.