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Fair ~ High: 73°F Tuesday, May 22, 2012 |
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Opening A Can of StinkPosted Thursday, March 19, 2009, at 8:55 AM
I received an e-mail recently that stated, "Karen, I so look forward to your blog as I eagerly await to see how you will open up that can of stink ... I thought maybe you were crazy until I see that you do get it ... life ain't perfect and I am happy to see you get that fact too."
Now, I know when I started writing, I had an overabundance of rather flowery blogs about the goodness of life and the newness of living, but life is not always lent to the positive. I would come online to read the paper and there were personal attacks going on in the comment sections and stories of crime, disease and threats to personal safety. It occurred to me that if I were to meet someone who, no matter what, was going awry, would smile at me and say something insipid like, "But it's such a wonderful world anyway!" I would call them crazy, roll my eyes and walk away. I cannot be your Erma Bombeck. I am not a New Age Flower Child and I am not capable at looking at the world through rose-colored glasses merely for the purpose of doing so. Being willfully ignorant is not an excuse to throw up your hands and say, "But ... but ... no one told me this would happen!" This last year's election, where was the Republican Party? I had a half dozen Obama supporters at my door on any given week and on Election Day, they lined the street. Not ONE SINGLE Republican Party Member was too be seen. Yet, these are the same people who are now groaning about all that is going on. Democrats, don't get cocky, you've been whining for eight years straight. We have people complaining that our Mayor, Judges, Police and Sheriff are doing willful harm within their positions and are quick to make inflammatory comments about them as well. However, these same people are the furthest from calling, emailing or meeting with any public official to air their grievance and get resolution. Nooo, it's just easier to bash someone! These are the same people that see me on the street or in the store and tell me time and time again, "Oh Karen, I think your involvement is wonderful BUT you will soon find out it's not worth it. You will never get anywhere with people in this town. They just want to stay stupid." REALLY? Seriously? Is that even an acceptable way to think let alone speak about your neighbors, friends, coworkers and fellow Church Members? Where is it written that the naysayers reign supreme? Why so complacent? Where does this defeatist attitude originate? So, in conclusion, I love your emails, opinions and suggestions, but I cannot live honestly and then proceed to tell you that it is one extreme or another. The sky is NOT falling and neither is everything utopian across our great land either. I ask that you consider this; the Bible tells you emphatically that there is indeed "Nothing New Under the Sun". There is nothing going on now that hasn't before and WHAT and HOW we choose to deal with it is the key. There is nothing wrong with seeing the good in things and neither is there anything wrong with having a healthy sense of discernment and some cynicism will keep you out of the pits of deception. Moderation and balance are okay. Never keep someone or something in the box, for even ol' Jack waits until his cue is right to pop right out of there! Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
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Now, I don't call people stupid, although I have referred to people as being "either deceitful to the public or incompetent in respect to the responsibilities of their position"...........LOL
People are not stupid, even when they disagree. They may be misinformed, misguided, or have the priorities wrong in your opinion, but the average person is not stupid.
We are all neighbors and we are going to get along as all small, close-knit groups do. There will be disagreements, but the agreements will outweigh them by a long margin. If someone disagrees enough, they will try to do something about it. Perhaps they can convince the majority to come to their point of view, perhaps not. Either way, they still have to live somewhere and that means that they either accept our, admittedly, flawed community and its inhabitants or they move somewhere more agreeable to them.
As to the perceived flaws in our public officials, does anyone think that holding an office makes a person perfect and infallible? The Declaration of Independence includes the words "all men are created equal" yet the Constitution included a compromise that allowed slavery to exist in this nation! Who among us can walk on the water? Our officials are people, just as you and I am. They are not infallible and, barring someone having criminal intent, are hopefully working as hard as they can for the community in the position that they hold.
BUT, people aren't stupid! Didn't your mother teach you that it isn't nice to call people names?...........LOL!
I do think that a lot of people are "tied up" in daily routines, and sometimes some are just overwhelmed with getting through the day with immediate responsibilities of getting food on the table and do not have time or energy to check to see how the world is doing outside their door.
This "disengagement" removes checks and balances at times from our elected officials from local government on up to how our federal government interacts with the rest of the world.
In this "ignorant" state [note ignorance is not the same thing as stupidity, just states that someone doesn't have information], the individual must rely on the elected officials to do their jobs unsupervised by "we the people". What results at times is that the people's wishes and best interests are not always taken into consideration. At other times, the "people" are left with a false sense of security that since they are putting in 110% at their job at work and at home, they figure everyone else is as well when that is not always the case. Without having the time to learn about other options that might work better and make our community/state/country more successful, all they can relate to is what has been in place within their "world" in which they are.
This is when the the debates occur between people. Some see what has worked here for many years and liked it. Others see what has worked in other locations and don't understand why we don't try something that has been more successful than what we have. Both sides have legitimacy. It just depends on the individual's goals and their individual abilities or desires to invest time wise and economic wise. It's not about stupidity.
As to the Democratic campaigning last fall [and spring actually as I was one of those who volunteered during the primary as well]...
I was one of those who did not like where our last president led us [or our last congress either mind you so it wasn't a Democrat vs Republican thing for me]. I felt that if I didn't like what was happening, that it was not enough to just vote, but to make sure others who were frustrated also voted. I wanted change. Now will it truly change things? That could be debated too [lol]. But what it did do was empower the individual as part of a larger group. So many feel powerless where their vote is concerned and don't vote. If nothing else, each person, no matter what their party, should now realize that indeed each vote counts but only if EVERYONE takes part and actually votes.
Same with anything else that may seem overwhelming. A single person does not make a difference in the multitudes but together MANY individuals CAN make a real difference.
The 50-60 houses I visited the week of the election didn't turn the election, but along with the many others who also were out there I think really did.
Think of all we could do if each of us could invest time to get a little bit done? I think that is why we bloggers blog. We see something from a certain viewpoint and want others to see the "rest of the story" from our perspective.
While we aren't ever expecting to sway everyone to see things as we do, at least we can legitimize other opinions and at least make it known that everyone does not HAVE TO think as they do either. People come from varied backgrounds and we all need to know that one thing might be very important to one and not very important to another. That might make us aware to consider the other person we share the world before we do or say something.