Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Times are NOT a ‘Changin

Oh, Bob Dylan…you little rascal. You keep writing music and you don’t look a day older than your 104 years of age. You may remember-or read- that Bob wrote in the 1960’s that Times Were a ‘Changin. More on that in a bit.

I’m guilty of writing about The World As It Should Be as opposed to The World As It is.
Mostly I do it because I’m trying to be amusing but I’m also guilty of defaulting to talk instead of taking action. My wife could tell you a little about this.

Apparently, I can’t be bothered to altering the course of human history because important things have presented themselves- such as my inability to find the remote control or reading extensively about why uber gazillionaire Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan recently purchased an exo-solar planet. (Excellent Milky Way views, move-in ready!).

To my millions of readers- Jamie Dimon didn’t really buy a planet, though he has that type of cake.

So which world do you live in? The World As It Should Be or The World As It Is?

Many would say the former is the domain of the political Liberal and the latter the political Conservative.

Some incredibly special people throughout history have brought justice to glaring and various human-created inequalities. Whether Gandhi or Martin Luther King or dozens before and after them, their energy was mobilized and would not be silenced. The World As It Is was unacceptable and they had the courage of their convictions. More importantly, they walked the freakin’ talk which separates them from myself and the rest of the world. Virtually all of their modern-day brethren however just offer their opinion or write editorials..or whine to nobody in particular…that’s their contribution to righting what’s wrong. This describes about 99.999999% of today’s elected officials. They love, love, LOVE talking about change. And they are followed around by legions of IDIOTS who cheer them on and wear silly hats and launch confetti and say my guy will bring change!! Wheeeeeeee!!!

The overwhelming majority of people who live in The World As It Is have ZERO motivation to change it. Many were born into great wealth and privilege. Many were born into poverty and were determined to escape it- often by any means necessary. They see human nature as a constant and unchangeable. Are they wrong? I, for one, don’t know. I think this group of people tends to be slightly more at peace than the former. Slightly.

The 1960’s in The United States brought us many things. Including but not limited to: a bevy of new mind-altering contraband, marginal hygiene, frightening hairstyles and music so esoteric, eclectic (and loud) that only its creators knew for sure it was actually a form of music. But it also brought a significant amount of people who didn’t just talk about change but actually did something about it.

We could all use a use a little of that 60’s mojo nowadays- just remember running water, soap and shampoo is available.

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