When you’re about five or six years old you ask, “Why?”, because you don’t know, and you want to know.
I’ve noticed that I don’t ask that often anymore. I don’t ask it with my words. I’m silent, but my soul is screaming the monosyllabic word like a maniac.
Why?!?!?!
Life, it seems, is the period of existence where we are meant to discover our purpose for existence.
Dear, America.
We’re at critical election in U.S. history. Our country faces a decision between presumptive nominees Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. It’s not about them, though.
It’s about the power we’re about to give them, and there is no power, but from the consent of the governed.
There is no power, except what is agreed upon by the people. We sacrifice our total autonomy for the benefits of a society. We don’t sacrifice our autonomy totally, mind you, but we do give up the totality of our autonomy, so that a functional society may be had.
Responsibility is a wonderful, terrible, beautiful, awful curse.
I’m going into my senior year which means I’m burdened with plans and thoughts about my future responsibilities. Admittedly most of the burdening is done by me, but I’m on the brink of adulthood, and I’m reaching desperately for that autonomy but I’m clinging to my childhood at the same time.
You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Which, doesn’t mean you can’t own a cake and eat it, it means you can’t have a piece of cake, and then eat that same piece you just ate. Just FYI. I found that out a couple weeks ago, thought I’d share.
Anyway, I’m rambling, my point is about responsibility. I think the position that everyone really wants to be in is the situation with the most power, or control, with the least responsibility.
I started thinking about it when analyzing the forfeiture of power that has occurred in America. Over the last hundred years or so, America, the people, have relinquished the power of government to the “Government” a monstrous entity designated to take all of the responsibility away from the people.
Whoa. Bold statement, Ian, you may be thinking.
Yeah, probably.
Responsibility is closely tied to power. Because if you’re making decisions, you’re responsible for those actions. So, if you don’t want the responsibility, you give up the power, correct? America have given up their power to
Okay, a couple short paragraphs ago I mentioned that my point was about responsibility. That was my first point.
My father once said, “Treat other people the way you want to be treated.”
My dad has told me that since before I knew how I wanted to be treated.
I hate to make a point with math, but it seems logical to treat other people the way you want to be treated, because there’s only one of you, and 7 billion of them. So if you’re treating other people how they want to be treated. That’s a lot of happy or comfortable people.
Conversely (I love using that word), if you’re out to treat yourself the way you want to be treated, then you’re only going to make one person “happy or comfortable”. I added my little comfortable qualifier because people aren’t always happy, even if you treat them the way they want to be treated. Similarly, even if you treat yourself the way you want to be treated, you may not be happy. We’ve all heard that story, a successful person, who sacrificed his friends and family to get to where he/she wanted to go.