Truth Or Consequencies

I wrote this essay as a comment to articles on the following site:

http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/archives/2007/02/

One might not think so, but there is a relationship, between trans fat, global warming and the drunk driving issue. Unfortunately, I think that the problem has to do with education. These days in school, we are so afraid to step on someone's toes, so we avoid teaching morals in school, and why should we? Are you shocked? Read further.

It has always seemed quite interesting to me that no one can come up with a simple means to start teaching community, integrity, self responsibility and the like to young children from their very first textbooks. I don't see that the word God has to be in there or in order to do that. All great religions teach a core of values that cross borders.

There are values that are there in the constitution and the creation of America. By the way, a constitution created by people (whether or not you want to call it a democracy or a republic) that were escaping religious oppression and freedom from excessive taxation. Anyone remember the Boston tea party? I would say that looking at the U.S, at present, teaching values of how to live is just as important as being able to do the math. In fact, maybe if Johnny were taught some values and had some good examples that those values would be upheld in the world he was about to enter into, he would want to do the math or is he supposed to learn all of that from parents who are working all day and taking care of younger siblings, TV advertisements and his set?

If one takes notice, no matter what political party one subscribes to, we have become more territorial and gang like. This gang like mentality is reflected in our youth. How so you say? Let's start with who gets elected. How many smear campaigns do we have to get have for our youth to understand the message of how to win? How many companies do we have to have concerned about pleasing their stockholders to the detriment of their employees for Americans and young people to get the message that people don't count and for them to receive the winner takes all message?

How many Americans are now walking around with the idea that their job can be gone tomorrow, if someone can think of a way to replace them? So they sit with their mouths shut at work not trying to make waves and give up in apathy about any significant issues or become one of the territory swatters, because they are even afraid of the basics of their life being removed from them and sent overseas to another country, where the people are being paid the slave wages that immigrants of my grandparents time were paid and which this country once stood up against--wanna tax someone and make money for health insurance?

So you have people who feel overwhelmed, can't trust the integrity of their employer or their fellow worker trying to get ahead by what means? Denial of issues teaches us to lie, cover the facts and not look at consequences.

So Jim and Nancy come home from work, after being exposed to a long run of episodes that have taught them not to take anything seriously or think too much about anything, and whip up dinner to the tune of quick, easy and getting the kids taken care of and off to bed.

They turn on the TV and, in this mood of just wanting to escape into the world of not thinking about anything, they are flooded with advertisements of foods that have absolutely no discretion about the consequences of how they effect one's body in chorus.

You put the food in your and your families mouth, because 30 years of advertising teaches you not to look at the consequences, and besides this is America the land of apple pie, where you can trust American made products. Food in mouth and the result ten years down the road is not there. And, you are certainly not thinking about the resulting health issues and cost to insurance companies or to your family, children and friends. Obesity is an issue of being taught not to look at consequences and to grab for immediate gratification or relief, and the addiction caused by 30 derivatives of flavor enhancers put in our foods is not seen as a drug.

You go to take another drink, because you want some relief and you are not thinking about the consequences to yourself, those driving with you and those on the road--let alone how your behavior may or may not become. And, if you are young following your set, your drug of choice is very likely not just alcohol. Why not? You’re a fool if you think about consequences, because it is so crazy out there that, we probably are never going to see it to the end anyway, so pass over those potato chips and that beer and........Now you want a society taught incessantly not to look at the consequences to think about global warming....not going to happen.

Could you follow the dots? I hope so. To top this off on a personal note, after my parents coming here fleeing the Nazis, I am now expected to see the light and know that (Even though, more people in the world believe in reincarnation than not, and it was striped out of the bible through political persecution by Emperor Justinian.) that if I believe in the ONLY divine savior (who has had how many battles fought in his name already), I will be forgiven. Now, the idea of Grace has its virtues, but when a book that was written originally in poetic language and translated how many times suddenly has one view of what is said about the end of the world and is mixed with politics, then no one has to worry about the consequences of their actions at the end of their day, do they? My personal proclivity leans towards variations onBuddhism, but there is one thing that I always liked about the Jewish religion; a man's deeds were more important than whatever he thought God might or might not be. But, they are still being blamed for the Roman tradition of putting people up on a cross. This whole society tends to keep putting people on the cross day after day after day. Can anyone do that that feels responsible for the consequences of their own actions? It is an excuse for one’s own irrational behavior.

Having a connection between one's actions and the consequences is supposedly what keeps us civilized--has anyone noticed the rise in sociopathic behavior? How can you care about global warming, health insurance or anything else, if you don't think many of us will be here much longer or you are only interested in the biggest slice of pie, because then the evil with the d for domination in front of it--though sometimes cleverly masked-- has become your ally. One of the marked symptoms of sociopathic behavior is the inability to feel.

And, one of the scariest things I have seen over the last year, was a young boy at CompUSA standing at a computer game terminal, pretending that he was going through a maze of war torn buildings in a remote looking village, looking for the hidden enemies and shooting them down. This was not Billy reading a cowboy story or watching TV--with adrenalin pumping through his veins, as he pumped the joy sticks and banged on the buttons, all his senses were involved, as he alone stood there and killed the faceless enemy that had no reality besides what he wanted to do to it.

Now, if you look at this from another point of view, that we are living in community with each other and need to learn the lessons of being in community--so that each individual can learn to rise up-- things take on a different view no matter what your God is, but if your God is money and power, with all its faces, then there is only the moment. We all have Gods that we worship, and, unfortunately, some of the present Gods are no better then those of the pagans. Now, I can just hear the voices shouting and hands flying in the air (Well, hands flew in the air during the last major war also, and we fought against that, in fact it turned a whole country upside down.), but, if you bother to put the pieces of what I have written in context and as it was intended, you will NOT get a picture of attacking anyone’s religion, but how we practice, for what ends, what are we aligned with and with what consequences?