Saturday, September 20, 2008
Gratitude
Mom's and Jef's latest post made me think of an e-mail I received from one of the teachers at Davis last week. The article is entitled, Made in the USA: Spoiled Brats by Craig R. Smith. You can click on the following link if it interests you. It does provide some perspective on what we have to be grateful for. www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53028
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6 comments:
I will agree to disagree, again.
I think those of us that he was talking about have nothing to be unhappy about unless you actually give a damn about the hundreds of thousands in this country who can't afford to utilize any of those things that this country has to offer. America is a wonderful place to live if you have money.
What the media is trying to do is wake up those out there who might like to know that the world fears and hates us, that is not a good thing. I do agree that they go after salacious idiotic car chases, celebrity's and lip stick many times, but give me a break.
What is wrong with wanting to fix the obvious problems our society has, doing better because we know better is nothing short of doing the right thing.
I don't have much empathy for most of us jerks who want for nothing, me included, it is not complaining to realize that we can do better.
I will go quietly about my business fighting for change where I see a need (umm the state of our healthcare system), not because I am a spoiled brat but because when something CAN be better it SHOULD be better.
Jen, I really enjoyed that article and there is a lot of truth in it.
I am one of those whiners. I hate my job, and let's face it, I don't want to work at all. But I still want a nicer house, prettier furniture, 2 beach vacations a year and a bank account full of money. I want a block wall around my yard, a roof on my porch, hell, I want my porch finished. I want a wrap around deck, pretty patio furniture, a soothing outdoor fountain and a fire pit. I want a nicer RV and to go to more than 2 races a year. Crap, I'd like to burn my house to the ground and start over. No wait, I want to live closer in to town so I don't have to drive with all the other morons on the road for 30 minutes twice a day. I want a lap top computer of my own and one for Rick so that we don't have to share and I can set mine up any way I want to. I want to sit on my fat (and getting fatter) butt in front of the TV while I play on it instead of being at a desk in the back room. I want to spend at least one weekend a month in Utah and one in Erie. I want, I want, I want.
What I will end up with is exactly what I am willing to work for. I am willing to work at a job I dislike, because I want those things, and I know the only hope I ever have of getting any of them is to earn them for myself. No one is going to hand them to me, and that is as it should be. That is fair.
The great thing about this country is, that if I am willing to work long enough and hard enough I may actually get everything I want, and anyone else in this country that is willing to work has just as good a chance as I do.
I agree that there are those out there that need a hand, and they should get one. If they need a handout, they should be given one until they can get up and do for themselves. Wouldn't that be the ultimate goal? To make sure each person is self sufficient and dependent on no one?
Because each of us in an indiviual and a unique being, there are going to be that many ideas on what needs to be done to solve the problems. All we can really do is agree to disagree, and each of go about doing what we can do to be a part of the solution. What Jen does will be different than what I do, or what Ang does. Denise's ideas will be different than Jo's, and Steph will have a take that is all her own. Jef will be proactive in a different way than Julie or Jessica.
Regardless, I hope I am a little less whiney and a little more proactive for having read that particular article.
Let's all keep pulling together while we work in our own way to provide for ourselves, support one another and give to our communities and fellow humans.
Love you all. I hope we can agree on that!
that was the article I read as well and gave me the thoughts on my blog.. plagiarism I tell you.
I agree that our country is far from perfect. The fact is that there is no perfect, but what we have here is pretty darn good. I also think that being appreciative for what you have and working to make things even better are not mutually exclusive, they are complimentary.
My friend Raelina is from a tiny island in Micronesia. She grew up in a tiny grass shack with no plumbing and a dirt floor. She shared that shack with her parents and 21 siblings. Yes, 21 siblings all from the same set of parents and no, they are not LDS. There are only three foods found naturally on their island: fish, bread fruit, and something else I can't remember. The boat from the big island came once each month to deliver fresh produce and meats. Because there were no refrigerators on the island, and because the people were too poor to buy much, they were able to buy enough food to last about 2 or 3 days. The other 27 or 28 days out of the month they had to eat the three foods that were found on the island. She told me that once as a child she grew sick of eating the same thing day after day. She threw a fit and refused to eat for a couple of days. Her father tried to explain to her that he couldn't give her what he didn't have, but she didn't understand.
Even though she struggles to make ends meet here in America she was overwhelmed at the great abundance and the many opportunities that we have here, and she is grateful to have the chance to work to earn those things for herself. That is the point that I took from the article.
While there are definitly people in this world who fear and hate everything that America stands for, there are millions of others who see the opportunities we have here and who are willing to do whatever they have to to become citizens of this country. Millions more are willing to risk everything to get here legally or not. Of course there are other countries in the world where people enjoy a similar standard of living, but there are many other places in the world that do not. I for one am grateful that despite our imperfections I live in one of the most blessed nations on earth. We can focus on the negative and be misrable, or we can focus on the positive and be happy. I make the choice to try to focus on the positive.
It is human nature to categorize, separate and compare. These things are natural to us, if we stopped doing these things how could we possibly strive for a better life.
Fear and guilt are apparently the best tactics at keeping the masses docile so that you never expect more. And apparently it is working!!
I for one choose more. And by more I mean equality and opportunity for all not "stuff". Keep telling yourself that this is a blessed nation and I am sure one day you will all really believe it. I for one don't. The word "blessed" should be taken out of circulation it is a ridiculous word to describe a nation.
ARGHHHH!!!!!!
I will also have to agree to disagree.
The article was written in a conservative paper for political purposes. I just think it’s so great that once again people are going to fall for this load of crap. If you oppose the war; you’re unpatriotic. If you elect a democrat; the U.S is going to be attacked. If you think the country is moving in the wrong direction; you’re a WHINER. Give me a break. It is this same ignorance that says that the U.S is the most BLESSED nation in the world. Does this imply God plays favorites…that because you were born an American, he blesses and loves you more? This is the type of ignorance that I “whine” about.
We count our dead in Iraq, but we don’t count the hundreds of thousands of Iraq’s who have lost their life in the name of “freedom”. I guess these people are not as blessed as the 3,000 US soldiers who lost their lives. We are going to spread “freedom” all over the world, no matter how many innocent lives we take, because God has our back; he loves and blesses us more!
For the second time in the last 8 years we are in a recession. And this time it’s the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. I’m sure it is somehow Bill Clinton’s fault. We, as tax payers, are going to “bail” out big business and it will trickle down and help us; “Capitalism” at its finest. It doesn’t really matter whose fault it is. The point is; it’s a huge problem that needs to be fixed and feeling grateful for what we have is not going to fix the problem.
As for me, I will continue to be a whiner, because I’m not going to have these people scare or guilt me in to SETTLING for something that I know can be so much better.
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