Sound Off: The Real Problem Is You

The election is over and I couldn’t be happier. In my nearly 40 years I have not seen such ugliness and turmoil in the political sector. Billions of dollars were spent on campaigning – money that could have been utilized to help people in our community but instead funded arguing and smear campaigns.

President Obama is still president. The sun rose this morning and life will go on. People are predicting that this is the end of our country or worse yet, the end of the world. I seriously doubt it. I’ve been hearing tales of the end since my childhood and they have yet to come to pass. So while conspiracy theorist  stock pile weapons and hoard food in underground caverns I have a message for those of you who seem to think that we are on the verge of an economic collapse and social unrest.

Part of the problem is YOU. Really, it is ALL OF US. We are really a bunch of spoiled brats with all our conveniences and readily accessible wants and needs. Let’s face it, we are a nation of greedy folks who want instant gratification. Whether it be instant food or the latest gadget, even our poor has modern conveniences. Our children do not know what it means to work for their food. Hell, most of them think food comes from the grocery store or is made in brick buildings and served out of windows. Clothes come from the store where every other thing our hearts desire can be possessed.

One of the things I keep reading is that half of the Americans in this country are lazy and want something for nothing. I call BULL SHIT. Whether you are conservative, liberal, or right dab in the middle we are all a bunch of moochers. The wealthiest people in America may have had some brains, luck, or Daddy’s money to get there but they remain there on the blood, sweat, and tears of the average worker. It is time to stop demeaning them. Without the servers, the janitors, and the field workers our society would not function. Simply put – there is always going to be poor people and they are not necessarily poor because they are lazy or not hard working. In fact most people in the service industry or who make the least amount of money do back breaking, sweaty, hard work that many with manicured nails and freshly shampooed hair would not even consider doing.

We are raising children who do not know where their food comes from. We have disconnected ourselves from nature and the cycle of life. Many children think home cooked meals are cooked in the microwave. Our food comes from other countries when 90 percent of it could be produced on our own soil. We have normalized fast food and dining out instead of home cooked meals in the kitchen and dining at our own tables. In order to keep food fresher and making it more marketable we allow corporations to poison our food supply. The snacks on the shelves that we readily feed the kids is filled with fillers that make them fat, cause behavioral and learning problems, and addictions.

But let’s point the finger at who??? Let’s blame who? Let’s blame YOU.

We buy our clothes and don’t give a second thought to where it was made or who it was made by. We have outsourced our manufacturing to make things cheaper and make corporations richer but there was no thought about the unemployment and the impact this would make on families and communities. But no one thinks about that when they are buying their fashion jeans and big purses. You don’t think about how your sale item at the mall helped unemploy someone and put them on food stamps or medicaid. It’s easier to think of them as lazy money grubbers. Out sourcing is hurting America, and has been for the last two decades. It is time to recognize that it is part of why we have so many people in a cycle of need.

YOU are part of the problem every time you don’t buy local. YOU are part of the problem every time you buy clothing made in China or a hand held device to make your life easier. YOU are part of the problem when you eat on the go and buy convenience meals. Every action that we take, every thing we purchase impacts our community and the economy. How we are parenting our kids and all the conveniences and wants we hand to them creates a sense of entitlement.

WE are all in this together, but unless we all take personal responsibility for ourselves and our families and our communities this “mess” is never going to get worked out no matter who is President. It is time we all realize this and realize that decades of bad decisions has created what many see as government dependency.

Instead of pointing fingers let us just own it “I am part of the problem” and then do something about it.