'via Blog this'
I don't really know how my posts and status updates appear on your screen when you use Facebook. A friend of mine commented yesterday that I have a Facebook addiction. Well, perhaps, but what I am feeling is an overwhelming desire to speak out about my concern about the way things are going in the world right now. The conversation the nation is having right now seems to be divided between people who believe that if you work hard enough you'll do fine and if you fail to succeed it's your own fault, and those who feel that that way of running the world is somehow unfair or not good enough.
I suppose if the argument is boiled down to only these two choices, I would have to side with those who say the "work hard and don't blame anybody else if you fail" camp is not good enough, and here's why I say that: Right now, most of the world is failing by the standards of those who support the first position. Perhaps there are those who are starving to death because they were born in Africa, or dying of disease because they can't afford healthcare who think they deserve to die that way, but I can't imagine why they would feel that way. I think that most people would do the things they needed to do to live a good life, if they were given the chance. I believe in the phrase, "it's easy if you know how."
Unfortunately, too many people don't know "how." Certainly, there are some who, if given the chance, would rather not work, but would rather lie down and take a handout. I'm not worried about those people now. At this point, I'm worried about people who want to work but can't find a job, or if they do find a job it doesn't provide health insurance, so that if you're sick and can't go to work you might lose that job. Or if you get hurt on the job, you're just hurt, trying to find a way to pay to get medical help, and you might lose your job. Or the job you find doesn't pay enough to pay for rent, food and utilities, not to mention any luxuries like a vacation, clothing or children.
How about retirement? What's that, you say? Well, that certainly is the question for many who don't know "how." I understand the, "you don't work, you don't eat," point of view. But for how long? Hopefully, a person under that system can die at work so that they won't have to be too hungry or sick after they become too old to work. Otherwise, getting older is simply a slow, painful, waiting game while you consume whatever savings you accumulated during your lifetime on food, shelter and medicine until you run out of money or luck and you finally die. No wonder, faced with these prospects, suicide rates are at epidemic levels among both young people and senior citizens. Still, some people say that that is the way the world works. "You have to take your chances, and everybody dies one day anyway, so just get in the game and take your spin at the game of life."
I've never been a gambler. I really don't like games. I play it safe and by the rules, for the most part. I just see too many people like me who have played by the rules and still lost. I've seen smart people who have gotten good educations and worked hard, still lose everything; not to mention those all around the world who don't stand a chance because people don't care about the part of the world they live in. I just hope that we can do better, because life is NOT a game. It's real, and dying hurts, especially dying of starvation, disease or by violence, which should be preventable. I believe we can and that we must do a better job of making the existing "game of life" more fair, and I hope that we can eventually move away from our current system, where the future for more so many of the world's people depends not on their choices, but upon the hand they are dealt.
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