I have been trying to cut back giving all of my time to my writings on wikiHow. I had too many hours spent here in solitude, and not enough spent outdoors in socializing. I bumped into a dear friend and her husband yesterday and we enjoyed a few hours of fun and frolic...They are fun people, but get to see them seldom.
I guess everyone just has their own life and deeds that keep them busy...I liked it better when we lived in what was called a 'neighborhood enjoying the friendship and gossip of those that lived in the same building. It was like a great big family, 6 stories high, and 8 apartments to each floor. Each family within each apartment had their own story that was shared with all. It was a place where friendly people surrounded us with love and concern and a helping hand.
Everyone knew everyone, helped everyone, and was welcome in anyone's home..There were no locked doors when I was growing and no bars on the windows. I never met anyone on drugs or even aware of guns. We were more interested in playing simple games, like jacks on the bench outside, or hop scotch, on the street. The boys played stick ball, and flirted innocently with the girls. We went to school to learn, and we both respected and feared our teachers. We respected the police and every boy dreamed of becoming President.
It was nice.....when I had a date, everyone sat outside, watching me come out with my date.....Life was simpler then, a lot of gossip, with a lot of love and concern....Now, I could lay down in the middle of the street and a car would run me over. No one would even help, because everyone is locked away in their own condos......
Even on wikiHow, as is the norm on the Internet, no one knows who or what sex anyone is, or are they young or old or black or white. Everyone takes on a new persona, carefully selected I guess to be the exact opposite of their own life or personality.
They hide behind weird names, afraid to reveal their identities. Thus they build new identities with new names. Here they might be bossy while at home humble......Those that boss the most in the hidden world of the Internet, where no one knows where they live, or how they live, or their age, or their abilities outside of this closed room inside a screen, are probably the most humble, frightened, incapable of making their own decisions in the 'real' world. I pity those that have to hide behind this glass wall, but at the same time, pleased that they have some outlet for their aggressions. I am however, glad that I do not have to live or be with them, in the outer world....the bitter world, the newly uneducated world, where the young do not know how to put a sentence together, cannot spell, and hatred abounds from one end to the other.
Where is the love that had used to be, where is the pride in oneself, and in Country and our fellow man. Watch the TV, those we entrust with the stability and safety of our Country, have deceived us. Those we entrusted with our space travel, are a sham, those that we watch on the big screen, to amuse and entertain us, are not worth the millions that they earn. They squander it on drugs and drink, while many honest working , God fearing families go starving.
Is this a world? Is this a place we are eager to raise our children in. I am glad that I have seen and lived in the best part of America, when I was proud to salute the American Flag, when we celebrated Christmas in schools, and even though I am Jewish, I was not the least adversely affected by decorating a tree, to adorn our class. We said the pledge of allegiance proudly, and verses were read from the bible, not of my faith, but never detracted from my own....It was a ritual and a memory. We walked down on graduation, to the music and words of "Our Father Who Art in Heaven'....and I remember every word even now.
What memories are we bestowing on our own children? I shiver when I think of them. Maiming of teachers, killing students, friends who they shared meals with, inability to read, and lack of ability to write or spell, outside of using the Internet Chat shortcuts, which, when put together in a paragraph distort meaning of what they intend to say.
When we cannot be proud or believe in our President, one who holds the highest office in this nation, then we just have to sit back and wonder!! What is to become of us, our dreams, our hopes, and our future.
3 comments:
It's really one of the biggest ironies of human nature. We are social creatures. We desire attention and recognition of whom we are, and yet we are too afraid to interact with others to reach this goal. We pass by an acquaintance on the street and quickly look down, for fear of rejection. We prefer the use of self-checkout systems so that we don't have to interact with that "weird", apparently unpleasant cashier.
As a result, we've come to keep to our close friends, and have little to no social or communication skills with the public. Half of the people around me can't finish one sentence without uttering the word "Um" at least once. It's turning into an infectious disease.
Why is it so awkward to congratulate a classmate on their presentation? Why is it so weird for me to smile and say hello to a familiar professor?
Our society has turned into that of a superficial, short-term desiring, instant-gratification nature. As more things become systematic and procedural, we move to block out all of those things that were once important, but are now granted the responsibility to something or someone else -- in this era, seeming to be technology. We use calculators to perform math, and now, most teenagers can't perform basic mathematical skills that are trivial to past generations. The same goes for spelling and grammar. Now that this new generation can rely on unreliable spelling/grammar checkers. Instead of adapting to ideals, they take the short-cut. They write in short-hand on the computer, which would be highly frowned upon in normal handwriting.
But I'm adopting a jaded demeanor here. There are many good things in this world that are still cherishable -- the love, shared by the friends that we still have. There are memories that exist of the "good times" which, even if sounding idealistic, still suggest that times can return to said memories. Even if not, they are comfort zones -- not painful reminders of reality.
You and I have much in common. I'm only 21, and I already feel very similar to how you do. I can't even begin to imagine how much I'm going to dislike this world in the future.
Rob S
Oh... how long I've pondered this. Although I've only existed for sixteen and one-sixth of a year (tomorrow) I've always been the inquisitive type.
"How are you?", "'sup?", "How's it going?" How often do we hear these interrogatives? How often do we respond with something more than "fine, and yourself?" These questions have become meaningless phrases of recognition rather than inquisitions into another's well-being. It's sad, really. If I were to respond with my true feelings, "I'm not doing so well. I'm completely swamped with work and ...," how many people do you know who wouldn't sit and pretend to pay attention as they say to themselves I'm really not interested. I'm too busy; I wish he'd stop talking...?
It's unfortunate that even being aware of the problem doesn't protect you from it. I find myself remaining quite when I really want to yell. I won't shake hands with people unless they offer their's first (and this isn't due to slight germaphobia).
Society's many problems are so obvious once one knows what to look for. After it's noticed, the whys and hows become incomprehensible idées fixes.
The answer to why is simple, though. Commercialism, Consumerism, Materialism, Television, etc. The human mind is so easily trained to believe certain things to be right and others to be wrong. It's also easily fooled.
While America's #1 rank is spectacular, I'm afraid this is a Pyrrhic victory, costing us so much in communication with others that it almost outweighs the fact that we are the most powerful country in the world.
People are so lucky to be born in America. Three hundred million people, almost, have been legally living in the United States and so few realize how lucky they are. As rob said, "our society has turned into that of a superficial, short-term desiring, instant-gratification nature." We want, want, want, but give very little to achieve that want. Instead, we whine and complain till we either get what we want or die. Some people spend their entire lives whining to others about how they never got what they wanted. No matter what you want, it can be achieved through hard work and persistence.
Our literacy rates, despite our rank as the world superpower, is 99.7%. While this may seem great, it is representing those who can read and comprehend and write, not who can read efficiently.
Has anyone else noted that the United States is the fattest country in the world? Interesting how this corresponds directly with the number of fast food chains... (Interesting to note, Texas is the fattest state in the country).
And what's worse... we can't keep up with the motor vehicle efficiency standards of China! Why can't we? Because Americans (and I'm generalizing) want more. Big vehicles (Hummers, SUVs, etc.) that get horrible mileage.
It's sickening. What has happened to geniality? To a sense of caring? Sickening.
The world is sunk. You say life was a lot simpler when you were growing up, but I can bet a generation before yours said the same thing. Unfortunately, the world has been, and will continue to be, basically dead. We are parts in a machine. A machine that is bound to break sometime; and when it does, only the survivors will be able to bring it back to something recognizable.
I recommend Ayn Rand's "Anthem", Leonard Peikoff's "The Ominous Parallels", George Orwell's "Animal Farm" and "The Jungle", Robert A. Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land", Janet Tashjian's "The Gospel According to Larry", and Khaled Hosseini's "Kite Runner", which may not be as relevant as the others.
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