Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Days of Whine and Roses

Sorry it's been so long since I've written anything but I guess either my thought process has been pretty boring lately or I just had plain ol' writer's block. I was looking at some audio books on http://www.audible.com today and I noticed one that caught my interest. It's all about a paradox that exists in society today and I've thought about in the past. Apparently now someone has written a book about it and beat me to the punch. Anyway, our world and society is more advanced and more "fulfilled" than ever before. The pardox comes into play because people are unhappier and feeling less "fulfilled" than ever before. I can place my own life in this scenario and I really don't have it so bad. I think about where I could be if I was born just a few hundred years ago, let alone a few thousand. I will probably live to be around 80, I will travel to all 7 continents, I will live in a country and society that for the most part, is fair and just. If I were one of my ancestors several hundred years ago, I would be farming the land. It wouldn't be my land, it would be my lord and master's. I would give 90% of my crop to my master and have 10% to keep for myself and wife and 6 children. I had 10 children, but 4 died in infancy. But I have a "great" life. I still have some of my teeth, chronic pain from tilling the fields without an ox or horse for 18 hours a day and someday I'll get to travel to a foreign land...to fight some battle in my master's private army...oh yes, I forgot...I'll probably live to a ripe old age of 45. So to everyone that whines that they have to wait in line for 10 minutes for their Double Half-Caf Crappacino or that the melons in the store aren't "Organic"...GET OVER IT!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's just that we since we aren't worrying about big things, like will there be enough food for everyone at dinner, that we have time to let the little things annoy us.

I like audible.com, I get books from them all the time and load onto CD's to listen to in the car. Sure makes that 5 hour drive from Homer to Anchorage go a lot faster. Worked pretty well on the trains in Europe too.

Anyway, I'm sittling here reading yesterdays Anchorage newspaper. In the middle of the back page, where the front page stories are continued, is a picture of a young soldier learning to use his new, high tech prostheic left leg. He's very positive & plans to play basketball again. The article below it is about the first private plane to make it into space. Both positive stories in many way, about advances in technology. But damm, how can we make plans to travel into space while still feeling we need to lob rockets at each other down here.
Lori

Anonymous said...

tom i check your blogger every week and yet here we are suck in june 17, 2004. what gives? have the winter blues taken hold? are you longing for some rouge janitors to disturb your peace with illegal chair races down the halls of 155?