I was watching one of those Retro TV Stations and thought about the way people have changed in just their relationship to a "life style"... In the past (not SO awfully far back 'cause I was alive then!), a family was prosperous if they had shelter, utilities, good food in the pantry and lots of love to share. An automobile was a fun thing to decide upon and it was usually a necessity to have one.... ONE.
A telephone was another necessity, but a television was a luxury. I can see the eyes rolling on kids who have heard it all before and are just as smart, adventurous and savvy as my generation was when we stood up for Peace and challenged the notions that women and people of color were not entitled to the same respect and rights as white men. You see, we sort of blazed a trail for those who came after us and set a foundation to build upon...
To build what...? I kind of wonder now. Of course, we have just, thankfully, seen our gains in human and women's rights preserved - and that is no small achievement! I was a worried American for a while there, but the energy of sane, compassionate principles won the day. But, I see a strange style of prioritizing in the lives of my fellow citizens. When a cell phone that costs as much as a mortgage payment is a necessity for an eleven year old child (and the monthly payment for the service to that phone could feed that child for that month!), I am stunned. When everyone wants to be a millionaire and citizens go hungry; when the lady on the TV complaining about her shabby apartment has a room size flat screen television behind her and a $200 manicure... well, I am just baffled! People are racing along, headlong into the abyss, following the advertisements and fads and fancies designed to suck up their dollars (hard earned or not) and use them, then spit them out as chaff, and these people are participating wholeheartedly!
I sound pessimistic and I really am not - I see reason making a comeback and a glimmer of hope for the Earth as planetary citizens see "the BIG Picture" behind the veils of capitalism's misguided ravings. It will all work out. I can feel it... but I wonder why there isn't a widespread acknowledgement of the problems (almost all of our problems!) caused by human overpopulation and I wonder why anyone would prefer a hamburger and fries shoved through a window over a plate full of veggie pasta, good wine and a salad served on a patio on a moonlit evening!
But, that's just ME!
