8/5/2020 1 Comment Open your eyesThere are approximately 7.8 billion people in the world today. That may sound like a lot of mouths to feed, but at the same time there is more than enough food, energy, and resources to go around. However. Nearly half of those people are living without the basic necessities of life. They will go to bed hungry tonight. They will wake up without a roof over their heads tomorrow. They will be wearing the same old ratty pair of shoes for at least a few more years. As for the other 3.9 billion people -- well, they might have enough stuff set aside for the day, or a week, or maybe a couple months, or perhaps even a few years -- but this fact only changes their condition by a little. Their lives are primarily marked by worry. They worry that something might happen to keep them from getting the things they need. They worry that they won't be able to sustain their current standard of living. They worry that no matter how much money comes in, it will never be enough. So, they toil and spin. They sacrifice the best years of their lives and most of their creative energy to dead-end jobs and exploitative task masters. Because this at least provides them with a fleeting semblance of security. All the while, there is more than enough to go around. For the first time in human history, we have the technology and the tools to provide for the abundance of humanity's need with a modicum of time and labor. And yet, here we are. Wealth inequality is skyrocketing. Benefits and pay are being cut. Inflation is mercilessly outpacing the average worker's meager cost-of-living-adjustments. Government officials are de-funding education so they can build more bombs. People are overdosing on drugs in unprecedented numbers because they see no silver lining on the dark cloud of their present reality. But it's OK. Let's keep blaming the migrant worker for stealing our jobs while the corporations take our misery to the bank. That'll do the trick. *sigh* I don't suppose there's a purpose to this rant other than to point out a few things and invite you to think. There's a lot of beauty in the world today, and there's plenty for which to be thankful. There are puppies and sunsets and romance and art. But there's a lot of pain and darkness, too. And we should open our eyes wide to it all. That's it. That's the moral of the story. Open your eyes. Wide. To it all.
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