Is Our Glass Half Full?

With everything that’s been going on — from Giffords attempted assassination to 300 cows mysteriously dead, I wanted to take the time to write a post that’s a bit more uplifting. I know I tend to bask in the negative, so I want to take the time to shed some light in areas that need it.

1) The United States Constitution

Let’s face it. The US Constitution was written in 1787 by a bunch of slave owning, aristocratic white men. It was a different time then — blacks were regarded as 3/5 of a human being, women couldn’t own property, and the right to bear arms primarily dealt with the possibility of another British invasion. So why is it that in 2011 these men are revered as gods, their Constitution almost infallible. Many politicians believe we should follow a literal interpretation of it. But why? A lot has changed since 1787, and as a young country we have not yet hit our peak as a society. America is the teenager of the world that can’t be told what to do. We still need to evolve as a society and understand that we can change the damn thing. The Founders were just as human as we are now.

2) There ARE consequences to negative political rhetoric.

I can’t believe some people would think that there is no way the media — whether positive or negative — has no effect on society. Think about it like this: Glenn Beck steps up to his chalkboard (eyes filled with tears) ranting about how he’s lost his country, yearning for the 1950s when “those” people knew their place. He calls Obama a racist, questions his birthplace, links him to some sort of Kenyan Marxist/Socialist/Communist/Fascist party, talks about white slavery as the Progressives’ “final solution,” eerily plays images of Nazis marching and claims that Hitler was a leftist  — and somehow that speech doesn’t lead to this?

Yeah, okay. Basically, this has to come to stop. We are not going to get anywhere by screaming at each other like a bunch babies. Stop taking your information at face value and actually research things for YOURSELVES. Remember, none of these talking heads are infallible.

3) Let’s stop talking about Sarah Palin.

I know, I know it’s so much fun to make fun her. She’s too easy! From her “Mama Grizzly” and “Blood Libel” rants to the cheat sheets on her palms, the Daily Show and Real Time with Bill Maher will never run out of material. But now, I think it’s time that we throw in the towel on this one. If you ignore something long enough, it’s destined to go away. The more attention we give this festering sore, the worse it’s going to get. Palin has already shot herself in the foot with the images of the cross hairs on a map on her website, regardless of whether or not it played a roll in Loughner’s messed up head. No, we can’t blame her for the shooting but we can still justifiably add her to my #2 post above. NO MORE PALIN.

4) Quit blaming everything on the poor and working class. Seriously.

This has got to stop. And usually it’s the same kind of person doing the blaming: a Christian (ha!) that thinks poor people are lazy, using tax dollars to nurse themselves off of the tit of BIG GOVERNMENT, going to the hospital everyday just for shits and giggles so that someone else will pay for it. These same critics also believe that food stamps are being used to buy drugs and alcohol, and that if you’re on unemployment you’re living lavishly with daily meals of Fois Gras and Moet. Meanwhile, no one wants to even look at the crooks on Wall Street as they allocate more and more money to the top. But still, one would argue that they aren’t using tax payer money. Um….bailouts anyone? Besides, wealth is kind of like the law of thermodynamics. Energy is neither created nor destroyed, it is simply transferred. Same thing applies to wealth. Although money may be created out of thin air, wealth isn’t simply transferred — it’s stolen. Wealth also cannot exist without debt. And debt cannot exist without massive consumption. No one wants to rely on the government for anything. Everyone wants a slice of the American Dream and will drive themselves into debt to get it, only to be punished and ostracized by certain political parties. Blaming the victim will not help. But getting to the root of these issues will be beneficial for this country. Which leads me to —

5) Stop worshiping the rich.

I get it. Watching shows like “Real Housewives” and “Cribs” gives us the escapism we need to forget about living paycheck to paycheck. Consuming more and allocating more crap with a label slapped across it marking said crap up 200% will not make you happy. Hate to say it, but Biggie Smalls was right: mo’ money, mo’ problems. The only thing appealing about being rich is being able to pay off debts. But money truly cannot buy you happiness. Imagine having everything you could possibly want. But a month later that gets old and you constantly find yourself chasing after things, after people that you think make you a happier person. But at the end of the day, you still have to live with you. Money will not correct the wrongs in your life, it will not make you better, it will not stop political strife in African countries (looking at you, Madonna — throwing money at something won’t make it better). It is important to realize the most important things in life cannot be bought.

6) Treat the environment with some respect.

Considering our American ancestral roots are traced heavily from the Puritans, the Bible plays a huge role in how we view the world today. As I wrote previously in another post, we feel that the world belongs to us and that God made it this way. Not to burst any Christian bubbles, but if the human race went extinct, the world would keep on spinning. Mother Nature can surely carry on without us. The only creatures that would have a massive effect on the world due to extinction would be Bees. If we were ever so smart, we would have realized prior to “civilization” that we have everything we need in nature. But since we consider ourselves so superior, we decided to take life into our own hands — and in doing so have destroyed so much of it. Nature is all about cause and effect. We are simply part of the chain. The BP oil spill is an example of our arrogance as we have already forgotten about it by protesting for MORE drilling. Then we sit around scratching our heads as to why hundreds of birds, fish, crabs, and cows have mysteriously died out of nowhere. How is it that with so many people all over this world we think we have no effect on the Earth?

7) Educate yourselves.

Stop watching TV, pick up a book or TEN, and learn how you can have a positive effect on the world around you. Don’t align your actions with a political ideology or party. There is nothing wrong with caring about your fellow human being, about nature, or its inhabitants. We need to carry on our role on this planet responsibly. The only reason we are different from all the other creatures on Earth is because of our self-awareness. We all have our different outlooks on life politically, spiritually, and morally. But we are all one in the same and we can’t view everything in hindsight wishing we could have done things differently and that’s it’s too late to change. It’s never too late evolve. Once we understand that, we can all move forward.