We've been saved??
We live in a failed economy. This is not news to those in the know - but those are few. But we keep hearing the "If only" game being played. "If only the sun would rise in the west all would be fine again." That false carrot keeps being held out and like a country of stupid mules we can't figure out why it always stays out of reach!
Some say false hope is better than no hope. Some even call that optimism! But no solution can be found without an honest assessment first. All sorts of reasons can be given for "good" reasons to lie but in the end the lying boils down to one thing: keeping the status quo. Phony optimists will tell you we can make greed work. True optimists will tell you we don't need greed for a system to work - that in fact it's fatal.
Capitalism rewards greed yet we complain when the greediest among us thrive the most. That's a fact I rarely see mentioned! You can tell your story of how greed screwed you - but only if you pretend it's an isolated incident. Do not draw into question the structure of our overall system as a whole! That's always for someone else to figure out and to ponder it seems. But to say that is to abrogate your responsibility in a society. Anyone can be honest - and that's all it takes to be part of a solution.
Can't keep carrying the rich forever!
But like ancient Rome whose military campaigns inevitably withered over time, we refuse to admit defeat. I could give you facts and figures such as our workforce participation number is the worst in 40 years (a lower number allows for a lower unemployment percentage to be reported). I could prove we are on life support by unsustainable methods - by robbing Peter to pay Paul - but that would be a big waste of time. Facts can be debated, denied and destroyed. If we cared about facts we would not be in this mess in the first place!
The good ol' days of both greed and abundance are gone with the wind. We can pretend we're going to "return Rome to greatness" - and God knows we hear that godawful crap every day - but that's no more possible than dropping a rock and having it to fall up towards the sky. But that is a fun thing to believe! Well, fun until starvation comes your way. Lying is only palatable on a full stomach. Do you lie about how you feel too?
There is no magical turnaround coming. No hero can come to save us. There is no honor in pretending ignorance. The longer we continue to live a lie the more it will consume our resources. You don't need a newspaper to tell you what your heart already knows. We can admit that truth or not - that is our choice. By like a man who chooses to drink no water he has no choice in the ensuing suffering that choice entails. The solution is easy: just have an honest heart. Anything else is fatal.
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