There was a French polymath who lived in the 17th century named René Descartes. He is remembered for many things, but one of the most famous is a quote of his, “Cogito, ergo sum” that is, “I think, therefore I am.” You can read more about him and his life here:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/
With apologies to the truly brilliant man, I added to his quote with the tweet below: “I think, therefore I am. I think.”
https://twitter.com/redclayj/status/1165063683808145408?s=21
It seems to me that one thing this 750,000 case, 40,000+ death virus has created for most of us is the one thing most of us are not using: time to think. Perhaps you have met someone who has said “I don’t have time to think”? Maybe you have even said it yourself in a flurry of activity? Well, this post may anger some, but I hope it helps someone think. I apologize in advance for airing my inner dialogue, but here is the thing: the only thing I have is time – time to think.
Some who read this may know my life history, some may not. Those who do are welcome to skip this next part. But it is important. The reason it is important is this: I have lived both sides of the argument. I have benefited from capitalism and socialism. I have won, then lost, then won and lost more times than I care to remember. I have made “good money” and managed facilities and people. I have also been homeless – though not truly homeless – because of family who love me and have given me a place to live with a roof over my head. I lived almost 5 years with no income at all – again taken care of by family who made sure I had a place to live and food to eat. But I have also owned two houses (built one), had fine vehicles, and more than my share of money to spend. Through circumstances, mostly of my own doing, I lost it all – more than once. I now live on SSDI – Social Security Disability Insurance. It ain’t a lot of money, but it allows me to live comfortably – for now. When I was working, I was convinced that capitalism was the American Dream. When I became disabled, I was very thankful for bleeding heart liberals like FDR and LBJ. And, since I ain’t probably ever gonna be compensated for my brain and what I can do mentally, I am left with the hope that my income continues. I am very thankful for it. And, I am certainly not “too lazy to work”. Just ask anyone who worked with or for me during the 30 years or so I was working. My own personal pride caused me to work just as hard or harder than anyone, regardless of my “position” in life. That pride, ultimately, put me on the path I am on today – my body finally broke.
Now, you may be wondering what this has to do with the corona virus and current events? Well, since I have time to kill, I try to keep up with what is happening in the world. I monitor all the media – from Fox to CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and the social media platform Twitter. I would encourage everybody to watch all the platforms – whether you agree with them or not. If I changed the channel because I disagreed with them, I’d never stop changing. None are 100% correct, none are 100% wrong. But how can you know unless you watch and use your own filter(s) to try and find the truth? My personal favorite is PBS, but its coverage gets awful boring after a while. Will Hoge wrote a song about this a few years back. Fair warning – a lot is tongue in cheek humor, but I think the point still rings true.
https://youtu.be/isrbNC6Ge7s
Which brings me to my next point. This will put some bees in bonnets, but it NEEDS to be said. I apologize if I anger anyone, but since I have a B.S. in Theology, I think it gives me the ability to do so. Jesus and his apostles were socialists. There, I said it. Do you know who the treasurer was for Jesus and his disciples? Judas.
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/why-was-judas-carrying-the-moneybag
I will now return to the reason for this post. I have been watching, with mounting concern, the protests designed to “reopen” America. I have yet to see one of the Koch brothers, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, or Jeff Bezos attend or create one. This begs a question then. Why is it that neither the rich, nor the poor are starting these rallies? Why is it that the (so called) middle class who are living on a knife’s edge are the ones who are hurting and forming these protests? What does it say about our economy that it is designed to keep the middle class on that knife edge, and what does it say about us that we live our lives that way? I know what happens when you can’t work for a month, two, a year. And you know what, I am still alive, right here, with a different view on life. When a person loses everything, they not only acquire a new perspective, they gain a new way of living. Please don’t misunderstand the message – I don’t want anyone to lose their lifestyle – especially through circumstances beyond their control. Most of my problems were self inflicted. But I also don’t want to lose people I love – especially older members of my family who are much wiser than me. I don’t know what the answer(s) is/are. But I do know this: scientists, health care workers, lab workers, and many more are working EXCEEDINGLY hard to understand how the virus works, what medicines help, and doubly hard on a vaccine that may prevent the disease. The point of this whole shutdown was to buy them time to research, saving lives in the process. My brother Jim works for a pharmaceutical company, directly with other scientists and Mds, and they are working 24/7 searching for answers. They are making inroads, but the answers are not easy.
My question is this: how many lives are worth restarting the economy? And, why, are we structuring our lives this way regarding the economy? There has to be a middle way, but it may take a lot of pain and suffering to get there. If this virus can stop our economy, there are many, many other things out there that can also stop it. Maybe it is time for the 1% to be called to task. It breaks my heart to see people who want to work, can’t because of this virus, and are worried they are going to lose everything. I have been there, done that. But trust me, there has to be a better way. I just hope someone much smarter and wiser than me can find it, and cause it to be. If you are hurting financially and struggling due to this virus and our shutdown economy, I feel for you. You probably want to protest or form a protest. It ain’t fair, but life ain’t fair. I beg you to take a deeper look at why our lives are structured this way. Cause I promise you this. There are those better off than you, but there are many, many more in much worse condition. It is embarrassing that the richest country in the world has an estimated 11 million CHILDREN living in hunger. It is there folks. We just don’t wanna watch.
https://www.nokidhungry.org/who-we-are/hunger-facts
Like this:
Like Loading...