Greetings good citizen, as you may imagine, 'good' is a highly relative term that means different things to different people.
Worse, what's 'good' to one often isn't even desirable to many others.
How many of you keep returning to Aerosmith's lyric "Judge's constapation has gone to his head" when you look at the world around you? [Hint: Same old Song and Dance...I'd give the date but the elevator doesn't go back that far anymore...yeah, I could look it up so why don't ya?]
Anyway, I call you 'good citizen' because you are interested enough in learning about the world we share and how it could be 'different' from what you were taught. Perhaps what makes you 'good' in my estimation is that you have seen the lies and it made you unhappy.
In fact, you marvel at why EVERYONE isn't 'unhappy' [or fighting mad; mad enough to WANT TO change things!]
But this isn't about what's 'good' to me...this is about [and don't say you didn't see this coming] WHAT'S GOOD TO YOU?
Dropping back a couple of steps here I will remind you that like many things, good is 'relative' so it goes without saying that 'good' to you may be downright tragic to someone else.
Like the dog that keeps you up all night, barking at everything that moves being killed while chasing a car...good for you but not so good for the little kid who loved that pup like a sibling...
Did you sleep in a dry, clean bed last night? You may not think of that as 'the good life' but our betters do! It's not that they don't sleep in warm, dry beds but they figure since they provided YOU with 'the means' to sleep in a warm[ish] dry bed, it's what makes THEM 'good'.
We all know if not for the hard work of some dedicated individual we'd all be sleeping on a cot in some shelter...somewhere...and that cot may be dry and it may not...and that cot may be sanitary and it may not...and the third part, is the cot someplace 'warm'? Depends on the time of year and hey, at least it isn't OUTSIDE...where millions call their automobile 'home'.
Seriously, good citizen, 'Life is what you make it' but the ONLY people living the 'good life' are ACTING!
The rest of us wake up everyday and mentally prepare ourselves for what today's bite of the gigantic 'shit sandwich' is going to bring.
The 'Smart People' [read LUCKY] have a 'cushion' to keeps life's bumps in the road at bay but the rest of us get the slats kicked out of us with 'frightening regularity'.
How ironic is it we seem to do better when we DON'T SAVE?
Because everytime you get a little bit set aside, something comes up...and it's not a 'little thing' that is going to 'dent' your nest egg, it will total it!
So where is this 'good life' we all keep dreaming about?
You can bet the people with more money than they can spend are enjoying every minute of it, aren't they?
On the sly, you know...can't be too obvious or they would make themselves 'targets' as Kim K/West just found out.
In fact, if you asked her I'll bet she'd complain just as loudly as someone that calls a '78 Country Squire their home!
Which is to point out that 'happiness' is NOT our 'natural state'.
Bringing us full circle to the 'relativity' of 'GOOD'.
I'm sure the police think they are do a 'good job'...not that you'd find many people who agree with that notion.
And the media, while constantly 'striving to improve itself' [scoff!] truly believes it is doing as good a job of keeping us informed as those who cut their paychecks will allow.
Let's not forget the professional athlete, paid millions for playing a game to 'entertain' the rest of us.
That's 'good'...right?
The 'good' list for most of us is actually pretty pathetic when you come to think about it...mostly because it could be A LOT BETTER if not for the greedy among us.
The 'good list' consists of a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs, better if everyone is 'relatively' healthy and the wheels under our backside aren't in 'urgent need of repair' (you KNOW you have to get to the brakes EVENTUALLY!) Same thing with the roof.
Discounting the aged and infirm, 'good' is not being under indictment and still being employed at the end of the day; tomorrow is still a question mark!
Beyond the basics, 'good' veers all over the map, depending on individual circumstances. Is our current state of living too close to our situations be what is driving all of these wrong-headed programs that actually 'help' nobody?
Yes good citizen, what's 'good' for somebody else is indeed ruining your day/life as we [and by extension our needs] are not the 'same' as everyone elses.
So programs 'tailored' to help Guatamalan refugees don't do much for you because you have an entirely different set of needs...and there isn't a government program set up to address that.
But this is what happens when we let politicians turn government into personal charities...
That, good citizen is a whole 'nother essay so we'll leave it right there to fester some more.
Food, water and shelter, in varying states of repair and in some cases it's debateable as to whether or not it is an 'improvement' over sleeping out in the open on the cold, hard ground is what is behind our collective definition of 'good'.
Just as the old saying goes, One man's trash is another's treasure...and Heaven to YOU may well be someone else's Hell!
When weaving baskets to contain our little collection of 'nuts' we need to be mindful of the fact that the dream isn't the same for everybody.
But don't be cozened by the selfish who insist people are 'happy' living by their wits and lacking the basic comforts most of us take for granted like clean water and toilets for our personal use that have a sink handy to wash up in afterwards...
Yes, the greedy few call people who lack these basics 'happy with what they have' because they have accepted it isn't going to get any better.
Do you see who this is 'good' for?
Thanks for letting me inside your head,
Gegner
Ugh, where did all the dust come from? That's the trouble with minds, nobody 'cleans' them!
Worse, what's 'good' to one often isn't even desirable to many others.
How many of you keep returning to Aerosmith's lyric "Judge's constapation has gone to his head" when you look at the world around you? [Hint: Same old Song and Dance...I'd give the date but the elevator doesn't go back that far anymore...yeah, I could look it up so why don't ya?]
Anyway, I call you 'good citizen' because you are interested enough in learning about the world we share and how it could be 'different' from what you were taught. Perhaps what makes you 'good' in my estimation is that you have seen the lies and it made you unhappy.
In fact, you marvel at why EVERYONE isn't 'unhappy' [or fighting mad; mad enough to WANT TO change things!]
But this isn't about what's 'good' to me...this is about [and don't say you didn't see this coming] WHAT'S GOOD TO YOU?
Dropping back a couple of steps here I will remind you that like many things, good is 'relative' so it goes without saying that 'good' to you may be downright tragic to someone else.
Like the dog that keeps you up all night, barking at everything that moves being killed while chasing a car...good for you but not so good for the little kid who loved that pup like a sibling...
Did you sleep in a dry, clean bed last night? You may not think of that as 'the good life' but our betters do! It's not that they don't sleep in warm, dry beds but they figure since they provided YOU with 'the means' to sleep in a warm[ish] dry bed, it's what makes THEM 'good'.
We all know if not for the hard work of some dedicated individual we'd all be sleeping on a cot in some shelter...somewhere...and that cot may be dry and it may not...and that cot may be sanitary and it may not...and the third part, is the cot someplace 'warm'? Depends on the time of year and hey, at least it isn't OUTSIDE...where millions call their automobile 'home'.
Seriously, good citizen, 'Life is what you make it' but the ONLY people living the 'good life' are ACTING!
The rest of us wake up everyday and mentally prepare ourselves for what today's bite of the gigantic 'shit sandwich' is going to bring.
The 'Smart People' [read LUCKY] have a 'cushion' to keeps life's bumps in the road at bay but the rest of us get the slats kicked out of us with 'frightening regularity'.
How ironic is it we seem to do better when we DON'T SAVE?
Because everytime you get a little bit set aside, something comes up...and it's not a 'little thing' that is going to 'dent' your nest egg, it will total it!
So where is this 'good life' we all keep dreaming about?
You can bet the people with more money than they can spend are enjoying every minute of it, aren't they?
On the sly, you know...can't be too obvious or they would make themselves 'targets' as Kim K/West just found out.
In fact, if you asked her I'll bet she'd complain just as loudly as someone that calls a '78 Country Squire their home!
Which is to point out that 'happiness' is NOT our 'natural state'.
Bringing us full circle to the 'relativity' of 'GOOD'.
I'm sure the police think they are do a 'good job'...not that you'd find many people who agree with that notion.
And the media, while constantly 'striving to improve itself' [scoff!] truly believes it is doing as good a job of keeping us informed as those who cut their paychecks will allow.
Let's not forget the professional athlete, paid millions for playing a game to 'entertain' the rest of us.
That's 'good'...right?
The 'good' list for most of us is actually pretty pathetic when you come to think about it...mostly because it could be A LOT BETTER if not for the greedy among us.
The 'good list' consists of a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs, better if everyone is 'relatively' healthy and the wheels under our backside aren't in 'urgent need of repair' (you KNOW you have to get to the brakes EVENTUALLY!) Same thing with the roof.
Discounting the aged and infirm, 'good' is not being under indictment and still being employed at the end of the day; tomorrow is still a question mark!
Beyond the basics, 'good' veers all over the map, depending on individual circumstances. Is our current state of living too close to our situations be what is driving all of these wrong-headed programs that actually 'help' nobody?
Yes good citizen, what's 'good' for somebody else is indeed ruining your day/life as we [and by extension our needs] are not the 'same' as everyone elses.
So programs 'tailored' to help Guatamalan refugees don't do much for you because you have an entirely different set of needs...and there isn't a government program set up to address that.
But this is what happens when we let politicians turn government into personal charities...
That, good citizen is a whole 'nother essay so we'll leave it right there to fester some more.
Food, water and shelter, in varying states of repair and in some cases it's debateable as to whether or not it is an 'improvement' over sleeping out in the open on the cold, hard ground is what is behind our collective definition of 'good'.
Just as the old saying goes, One man's trash is another's treasure...and Heaven to YOU may well be someone else's Hell!
When weaving baskets to contain our little collection of 'nuts' we need to be mindful of the fact that the dream isn't the same for everybody.
But don't be cozened by the selfish who insist people are 'happy' living by their wits and lacking the basic comforts most of us take for granted like clean water and toilets for our personal use that have a sink handy to wash up in afterwards...
Yes, the greedy few call people who lack these basics 'happy with what they have' because they have accepted it isn't going to get any better.
Do you see who this is 'good' for?
Thanks for letting me inside your head,
Gegner
Ugh, where did all the dust come from? That's the trouble with minds, nobody 'cleans' them!
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