SOME THOUGHTS
AND OBSERVATIONS
By C.F. Kennedy
Quality of life, for the average person is not nearly as attainable as it was a few years ago. Poverty and crime have been with us always, but never to this degree - once, it was safe to walk the streets. Now it is unsafe. Our society is being driven and we are driven by it... but where is it taking us? The road ahead looks very narrow, so narrow it will be increasingly difficult to turn back before it runs out at the edge of the precipice. Meanwhile, we're told over and over, Full Steam Ahead! No U-Turns! - and I think of the poster with the sheep all complacently going to their doom except for one trying to go the other way. Will it be swept along with the crowd, anyway? We are not running out of time; we are already out of it...
People are going with the flow, but there are rapids ahead. If they don't get out of the stream, they're going over the falls, whatever hopes and dreams they had - with them! See ya, bye... but plunging headlong into what? A world of clonelike beings, all looking the same, thinking the same, acting out the same prefabricated lives, unable to think for themselves? Isn't that what's being built out there...?
Forcegrown fruit - you've seen them; they look great - so plump and colourful. And you imagine they'll be so juicy, sweet, delicious. So you get sucked into buying, say, a plum - yes, because of the appearance - it's so big! You bite into it. Big, colourful, pulpy, absolutely tasteless and unnaturally overpriced - without substance. But it looks so nice! Don't worry, you'll get used to them; after awhile it won't make any difference. Your sense of taste will have gone. Conformity is the answer. Do not dare to think elsewise. It wouldn't be fair to the others! You might inflict them with thoughts that are beyond them...
	Over here in Canada, what used to be called a "work ethic" - is pretty much dead. That's good luck for some and bad luck for others. In a land where computerization affects even the local auto servicing stations, many people have been forced to learn and adopt new skills, and, in some cases, take more pay for doing so - if they learn well. Meanwhile, others are obliged to leave the work force, whether or not they would like to learn new skills. There is no or very little demand for these folks, as computerization is gradually replacing the need for human resources in some areas. Our governments must implement a new source of income for these people - not unemployment insurance or "social assistance" - but a more permanent type of compensation, like a guaranteed income. Tax it back from the rich - it isn't too complicated a formula.
Essentially, computers earn their owners more capital. The dream was that this equipment would eventually replace the need for you and I to input X number of drudgery hours at work in order to obtain whatever we consider necessary to live a decent sort of life. The notion was: computerization will lead to an easier life for everyone. The inconvenient reality is jobs are being lost and living wages are not being replaced. The few new jobs being created are specialized and may be no more than short-term. We are waking up from the dream - into the reality. Will it become a nightmare?
Those who are socially handicapped at times have no idea themselves what might make them happier. From periods spent working with these folk, however, I found (after adequate food, lodging, etc.) their major need, aside from genuine friendship, was/is to be thought of as having place (position) and being of use in our society/world. In a rat race, it is very difficult being considered a gerbil or rabbit or mouse, especially if that's what you happen to be...
If, somehow, I were ever to acquire a large sum of money, I do not think it would make much of a difference in the way I conduct my personal affairs. I don't believe it would change the lives of any I'd probably share it with either, except to give us all a bit more breathing space, more of a place or chance in life to do what we feel we should be doing. You wouldn't see very many fancy cars around here. From what I've seen, the sudden acquisition of riches is too often a tragic thing - the "good life" can be very lethal. But then - I rarely buy lottery tickets anyway!
We have been raised into a particular system known as "democracy"; if someone asks, "what is it and will it spread to the west?" - it's a fair question, if unacceptable to believers. However, if they know what they believe in, why do they not try to live up to its ideals? Really, we were raised in a plutocracy under the wrong name. The poor know this, even those who have never heard the word before.
We spend much of our lives listening to negativity - it's everywhere. We're following the spoor of the dodo... Everything has become "standardized"... A friend cannot build his own home the way he would like to, although it is perfectly safe. The reason? It doesn't fit into the local building code, and it might cause a ripple if they included it. That would never do! The whole concept is alien; what? someone wants to be a little different? No way!
The only way a revolution would occur in this country (Canada) might be if the government itself sponsored it.
C.F. Kennedy
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