Tuesday, March 18, 2008

A Better Way Forward

I sit and wonder at how long I can do this; how long can I hold my tongue? How long can I nod and smile?

The other day I kept my mouth shut as the way people were talking, I thought that they had turned into bigots and racists in front of me. "We are not racist". "Canada is a very tolerant country".

I listened as the conversation turned to Sikhs and their turbans. They were talking about the fact that the Sikhs refuse to wear hardhats. "They can go without a hardhat, but my health system shouldn't pay for them if something happens" one said. I tried to say that they had a right to religious beliefs, to which one replied "then they can go back to their own country". What country would that be? Is it one that we have invaded?

Sure Canada is a great country, as long as one conforms to it's "rules of life". Adhere to the educational system, accept all the rules (for your safety). Do not go off the path that has been chosen for all and you will have a fairly decent life (for now). Just don't think for yourself, that is what the government is here to do, to take that burden away so that you can go through life, enjoying it as you blindly nod and smile your way through it.

I listen to people that consider themselves "educated" and "intelligent" when in fact they are "trained" and simply regurgitate the spewing of a system that has them under control. These are the same individuals that make the majority of the population, and believe that this is the way that everyone should think and live. Encouraged by a system that protects them and makes them feel "safe", they go through life believing their false intelligence and trying to change everyone into thinking like them. If you do happen to think outside their scope, look out, it is a personal attack and anger sets in.

Trying to conform to a financial system that eats you up and spits you out, people have forgotten how to be human; how to be nice to one another and just accept people for who they are. How to accept whole cultures and ways of life without judging them as inferior because they do not adhere to our way of life. They have not been educated in the same houses as we, so therefore are also denied the dignity of recognition for their hard work in foreign universities. Pay your dues and yee shall be rewarded.

I had always heard throughout life that if I did not get my papers(education) that life would be difficult for me. This is something that is taught in schools, is reinforced at home and throughout the media. "Get an education or forever be a loser" is the cry from all directions; "get an education and be a success". A 'success', what does that mean? To get more money than you need to live your life is considered a success. To have more children then the planet needs is considered a success. To climb your way to the top on the backs of others is considered a success. Make your mark, be a star, is a success; fame, fortune and notoriety are all forms of success.

Stand out from the crowd and you shall be rewarded; think outside the box. Stand out how? Does blowing away 10 people in a fast food restaurant count as a success? That would make one notorious and stand out from the crowd? Does fighting a corrupt system and looking for a better way constitute a success? One is usually ostracized and shunned for thinking outside the norm and going against "the powers that be". Then what is it? Think outside the little box but keep yourself caged in the encampment? Have an idea, but only if it helps the current system?

If it wasn't for the weather, sports, celebrities and material gain, what would people have to talk about? People have dinner parties, get-togethers and gatherings so that they can be with like-minded people; usually they turn out to be no-minded people. Sitting around drinking and talking about nothing of value, forever trying to impress the others with their knowledge of nothing. This car is better than that, that sports star makes too much money, this celebrity is so hot .... make it stop. How about the world as we know it, turning on each other for monetary gain? What about the destruction of our planet so that profits can soar? What about the inequalities facing humanity? And what about the fact that in this age of technological advancements, we have to work harder just to survive, just to 'own' something?

With all the wasted energies and competition in the world, it is a wonder that we ever got this far. Imagine if we stopped trying to find a 'gadget' to sell and make millions but instead actually tried to solve some of the problems facing our species. Imagine if we strive for real advancement instead of striving to be a part of the elite club of 'the rich'. We are short sighted and cannot see beyond ours or our family's immediate future. Generations have come and gone, let there be generations to follow. Let go of individual gain and look towards a future for all. Release yourselves from the shackles of 'someone else's game'; be free, moral and justified in life. Life is supposed to be a wondrous journey for our energies to transcend from one realm to the next, instead it has become a shit-fight. Stop idolizing stupidity and reach for true understanding and intelligence, this is the way forward.