America faces some pretty big problems. These range from pollution related problems caused by consumption, to poverty and a tattered social safety net that bears the burden of record numbers of our citizens.
These problems are pretty big, but there’s more than just blaming “the other team” at fault. It’s sole reliance on the government, itself.
If we demand the government “fix it,” the government raises taxes to address the problem, creates a new bureaucracy to handle it, and the effort gets watered down through interests and infighting – if it ever gets addressed at all.
Where is the call for personal accountability?
-Americans CHOOSE to consume so much that produces so much garbage.
-Americans caught up in a “support our troops” fervor CHOOSE not to resist a massively polluting and murderous military-industrial complex that treats our soldiers so badly.
-Americans (with means) CHOOSE to not grow any of their own food in gardens on their property.
-Americans CHOOSE to consume whatever prescription their doctor thinks they need today without looking for alternative treatments.
-Americans CHOOSE not to turn part of their individual talents and skills towards small business entrepreneurial endeavors.
-Americans CHOOSE to support the sexualization of our youth by watching it on TV and buying their sponsors’ clothes and products.
-Americans CHOOSE to jump on any chance at ownership (of homes, cars, etc.) without thinking long-term if they really can afford it.
-Americans CHOOSE to split their families apart and not help take care of older generations that helped take care of them growing up.
-Americans CHOOSE to follow emotional responses to conflicting political views instead of saying, “what can I do to help?”
I’m guilty of it too, and do support the government having a certain role in our society. It cannot, however, be everything for us.
We have enshrined (and rightly so) the ideals of our nation’s founding fathers that came from a time when “the government” as we understand it was barely there. What made our country great back then really was The People; helping ourselves, helping each other. We knew our neighbors. We knew the shops we chose to buy from, and we knew the consequences of our choices would last for generations.
Our nation has become so caught up in consuming “the moment” that we don’t stop to think about tomorrow – or our neighbors or children that will have to share tomorrow with us.
Turn off the TV, step away from the Internet, and go outside to meet your neighbors and see how you can start changing the world for the better right here at home.
“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
Posted by robertsalmanac 
