The more critical you are of others, the more difficult it is for you to reveal your true self to the world around you. When you have not allowed others to be less than perfect, does it not only follow that you cannot be less than perfect? And since you know you aren't perfect, how can you possibly reveal yourself? Creating an environment for authenticity requires that we give others the space to be authentic as well. We intuitively know that we can't require something of others that we haven't required of ourselves.
Where is the honour in cheating democracy to prove the system is broken? Beating one's spouse to prove one's superior strength simply isn't acceptable; where is the moral difference?
Also
The Nigel/Novak affair proves that elections aren't just about choosing a prime minister- but all the people around him/her that influence his/her discourse.
Our senses have been dulled.
We are satiated by fake foods that are engineered to satisfy us, movies that are engineered to emote us.
We are dissatisfied with our lives, not feeling we are living up to our potential, living life to its fullest. so we full (fool?) it with more stuff, more meds, more cars, and change our politicians every few years in desperate attempts to make it better, to give it some sense, to keep our hope for eventual change alive, so that we may pursue what we think are our quests.
We entice and bribe each other to stay alive with annual gifts and opportunities to make us feel special so that we have something else to look forward to, and to keep ourselves busy "paying it forward" in between.
We call for laws that bureaucrats can enforce to change the rules of the game when people start abusing their stations and the trust we have in them, then blame bureaucrats for infringing on our own freedoms.
But do not get me wrong, I do believe that people are good. Even those that aren't can be. The most significant question is where we can apply ourselves, to prove, to ourselves and others, what we're good at, and what we're good *for*.
Since we don't really know what we stand for, we mask ourselves with fashion brands, tribal stripes, political affiliations, gang colors; drawn by the power those images convey, and the hope those associations will give use allure we think will help us to accomplish our goals, all while rejecting the use of "labels" which somehow detract from our ability to accomplish those goals fit the same reasons.
We have a thirst for freedom, but a need for rule so we can long for it, exercise our ability to achieve it, and redefine it for the next group.
We get worked up over the little things, so we can remind ourselves not to sweat the petty things.
We have lots of ideas, as a society, and the means to carry them out. We just don't feel we have the conviction, or the need, because our senses have been dulled and we have too many birthday and other parties to busy ourselves with so we can make it through this mundane, self-conflicting inherently contradictory existence rationally. Isn't that right, my preciousss?
posted from Bloggeroid
From The Globe and Mail: After the boomers, it's Generation Squeeze - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/after-the-boomers-its-generation-squeeze/article2205685/?utm_source=Shared+Article+Sent+to+User&utm_medium=E-mail:+Newsletters+/+E-Blasts+/+etc.&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links
"That's soooo cool! I wish we could get apps on a computer."
