You Have To Stand For Something or You'll Fall For Anything

I was going to begin this article by saying that I envy those who have it made and don’t have a care in the world. Imagine waking up in the morning, your bills paid, your needs taken care of, and money for possessions when you so desire. Imagine going out with friends, going on vacations, buying the latest in clothing, and finding that life is truly your own personal playground.

I know a few people like that, and in all honesty the thing that bothers me the most is their lack of awareness about life around them. They don’t care about the environment. They don’t care about the homeless or the shameful way that Veterans are treated. They don’t care if another animal is added to the extinction list and they don’t care if more people have been added to the unemployment statistics.

They are into self-gratification, and as long as their lives are going according to plan then all is right in their world.

Come to think of it, I don’t envy them at all.

Take millions of middle aged, hard-working people, and watch them as the economic stranglehold tightens its grip around their necks. They need to blame someone because quite frankly, the thought that this is all somehow their fault is unacceptable.

They complain about the cost of living. They complain about having to step around those ragged beggars on the street. They complain about the unfairness of life, and they look to someone for answers. In the absence of a voice of reason they will listen to anyone who can tell them that they have done nothing wrong and it is all the fault of those people over there.

They have seen their little slice of heaven shrink and in fact begin to resemble a slice of hell, and by God there must be someone out there who is at fault. It must be the blacks, or the illegal immigrants. It must be the unwed mothers draining the Social Services, or it must be the corporations who take their hard-earned dollars and sink them into off-shore accounts in the Bahamas.

Hell, the politicians are to blame, right? Those fat cats sitting in their lush D.C. offices, living off of tax breaks and taking handouts from the special interest groups; they must be to blame, and if we can only elect some public servants who will actually serve the public, everything will be alright.

Then the hopelessness sets in, and the bills continue to rise, and the incomes lose their buying power, and the blame game continues, and not once….not once, do those well-meaning people look in a mirror for the answer.

This writer has been writing for a writing community called HubPages for a little over a year now, and it has been a valuable experience for sure. I have had the opportunity to read the works of some very talented writers, but they are also human beings with viewpoints that shine through in their writings.

With over a quarter of a million writers on HubPages, there are obviously those who share my political viewpoints, but there are also those who do not. I have read works that are the exact opposite of my belief systems. Conservatives are out there, as are people who are so far right of the political spectrum as to appear to be aliens to me and my way of thinking. There are those who decry the money spent on Social Services, and there are those who believe in guns and the evils of anyone who would speak out against our government.

They at times make my skin crawl with their rantings, and at times I have wondered how they could possibly believe in the things that they believe in and still consider themselves to be compassionate human beings.

But……

Despite the fact that some of their beliefs leave me shaking my head in frustration, they at least believe in something, and I respect them for that. You see, those of us who live in the United States believe in freedom of speech, and my task, as a citizen of this country, is to accept the fact that there will always be those who do not agree with me. It is the price we pay for living in this country, and it is a price worth paying for in blood, sweat, and tears.

The people I cannot respect, no matter how hard I try, are those who could care less about the problems in the world today. Their lives are fine; no need to get upset over the economy, or lack of human rights, or the loss of freedoms. Why rock the boat and upset their own perfect little worlds? All of those problems are the problems of someone else and they don’t affect those living in Shangrila.

They have constructed their own little fortresses, and they wall out the mundane problems of others, and life is just one party after another.

The other group of people I cannot abide with are the ones who are only interested in blaming others. They are seemingly incapable of working towards a solution; their whole gig is to find someone who is guilty, and they spend many a waking hour complaining and doing nothing.

You see, we are all connected. If you live in the United States, you would do well to take a look at the name of your country. It begins with the word ‘united’, and that implies….that insists….that we share in the problems and we share in the solutions.

Not since the Great Depression has this country struggled as it does today, and it is a struggle that must be faced by each of us, and that requires that we all find a way to work together. Each one of us must be a part of a solution, or we will all fall as victims of the problems.

Why is this so difficult to understand? Whatever happened to the fine art of compromise in this country? Why does it have to be your way or the highway? Why can’t we all sit down and find a middle ground that will begin to solve some of our societal ills?

The problems in the world today are not the fault of the Liberals, nor are they the fault of the Conservatives. They are not the fault of the blacks, whites, Asians or Hispanics. They are not the fault of the unemployed, the unmarried, the unwashed or the uneducated.

No, my friends, the problems in the world today are the result of millions of people, like you and I, allowing them to happen while we stood and watched.

The problems in the world today will only be solved by you and I. It begins with us. The finger pointing and the blaming have solved nothing. Now it is time for serious-minded, informed and committed people to stand up and believe in the common good, and then act on that belief.

Give me a Conservative who is willing to solve rather than blame and I’ll sit and chat with them any old day. Show me a corporate executive who is interested in improving the economy and I will sit and break bread with them.

Yes, the time for the end of the blame game has come. Stand up, believe in something of importance, and then work towards a solution. We have far too many citizens who have wasted far too much time pointing fingers. Look in the mirror and point in that direction if that is what you feel you need to do, and when the pointing is done get off of your butts and act like a citizen of this country.

The United States was not formed by people interested in blaming. It was founded by people who saw injustice and then acted against it. It was founded by doers and not amoebas interested only in taking for their own personal gain and comfort.

Stand up for something. Get involved and be informed.

In other words, take control of your own lives and quit blaming everyone else.

2013 William D. Holland (aka billybuc)