Our Future Is Still Up To Us.

I was watching a clip on the news recently. The people of Greece are on the streets, there was a shot of a middle aged man, who looks as though he had just got off the couch threw on his jacket and, though he did not know what, he was out to do something. He did not look like a punk kid trying to take advantage of a situation, or an activist with passionate pleas, something about the look in his eyes seemed to say that he had had enough and he finally had to make a change.

Lately I have been learning about social sentiment and how it affects a society.

Right now, at least in Canada, we seem to be on the leeward side of a very high high in social mood. People are generally happy, or at least apathetic, they have their own lives that are generally unaffected by outside circumstances. The prevailing attitude is that the sky is the limit, yes we had a falter in our finances recently, but that is behind us now and we are returning to that place in the sky...

We, being seemingly unaffected, do not feel the need to question situations or opinions around us. In Canada it sometimes seems that this is considered rude if not a violation of some sort of unspoken moral law.

I believe that this attitude is something that has been cultured into us only recently. Our grand parents, and for some of us our parents, were typically people with strong opinions that they often made sure they were heard. Our generation on the other hand seem to be quite indifferent. Our laws, education, and to some extent our media has helped this. Libel and slander laws help us fearfully keep any strong opinions to ourselves, whether they are 'right' or 'wrong'. Socialized school systems educating to the lowest common denominator have created a homogenizing effect on our opinions. The media has incrementally thrust one idea after another upon us, whether it is some new moral doctrine, the latest fashion trend, or the forecasts of 'educated' pundits. Each increment is a step somewhere. Though I have some, I would like to think, good ideas about where that might lead, I am probably going to be wrong.

We of 'lowly' opinion do have values though, a set of beliefs that govern the way we live or want to live. If you will allow me to speak for you, I believe we want above all freedom. Freedom to live by our own convictions, freedom to love who we want to love, freedom from being hurt, abused or killed. Freedom to keep what belongs to us, and from having it stolen from us. Freedom from being ripped off, from being taken advantage of. Freedom to scratch out an existence for ourselves and the ones we care about, and to reap the benefit of our accomplishments. I'm sure I could name much more, but I think we can agree on at least those. We have laws to help us shore up these values for us,

but...

Yes I say BUT. This is the crux of the story. Keep reading please.

...but, there is a line between freedom and oppression. No I am not wearing a tinfoil hat, I am serious as a heart attack, has anyone you loved died of a heart attack? Yes, that serious, please.

We all know that we are entering a new idea of what society is, the internet, the free fast flow of information, has changed so many aspects about the way we live now. Also perceived threats, like terrorism, economic collapse, and environmental issues. We have scientists, politicians, philosophers, economists, etc. all giving us facts, opinions, charts, plans, and even threats. Can we trust them? I do not know for sure but we do need to push forward.

One of the ways our government has chosen to do so is to add to the laws that govern our lives. Many laws are being talked about that are promised to bring us more security and a more balanced economy, they are attempting to balance an idea of freedom with an idea of security, greater wealth with greater control, but they must be watched.

Have you ever watched CPAC for a while? Sometimes there are great civilized discussions going on and other times it is purely cat fights and posturing.

Please believe that these people are human beings and they are representing 'you' in more ways than you are lead to believe. As human beings with the rights and privileges you have given them, they must be watched and held accountable. If you can imagine, what they say is not always what they mean, what they fight for is not always superficially defined. You must understand that those rights and privileges we give them can and must be revoked when our values and way of life are at stake.

So with a large people group that is generally indifferent, and a small group of people representing them and not being held to account on many matters, we have a potential for things to go badly. I believe that people, especially people in politics love power. Yes there is people in it for the right reasons, but I wonder if they might just be out numbered. There is the opportunity for the balance to fail, especially with the circumstances that are currently upon us.

Now this has happened before, thousands of times in history, we are not immune. It is happening in Greece right now, other countries will soon follow.

Look I am not saying that things are going to be as bad as pre-world war II Germany or even Greece here, at least not for many years, and with many bad decisions. What went on in those places was in the making, and scores of people allowed it to get as bad as it did.

But we need to be careful and observant now. While we are still happy and complacent, and when we don't necessarily want to.

Our economy did take a big hit and the fallout has not been fully realized yet, the market is very over priced right now, there is a gap between what things are actually worth and what people think they are worth. Companies are taking losses in order to pay out to shareholders to keep the perceived value up, unemployment rates are still up, economists are saying things like 'jobless recovery'(wtf?). This cannot continue forever. We may have a few more years of grace here, but it could very well be 'borrowed time'.
Our government, and the American government are treating this recovery as bona fide.

So what am I asking you to do?
Well I am asking you to not wait until the social mood catches up with the reality of what is happening to our world right now.

All I want you to do is look at the ideas and opinions that you have about what makes up our society, look at your values and how you have been educated. Realize that there is a huge diversity of ideas and ways we can be educated and that they are not necessarily better than each other.

I believe that many of the doctrines that are supposed upon us in all levels of the Canadian socialized education may not be entirely correct, and when fleshed out may not reflect our values, to suppose otherwise would have to be ignorance.

So educate yourself, watch videos on youtube, read articles, listen to podcasts, whatever is convenient for you. Don't get all your news from one source especially mainstream sources, these are owned by people that have disturbing and silent agendas that are well documented. Take advantage of the vast resources we have at our finger tips!

Talk to your MP. Talk to people about politics, when you find a differing opinion challenge it and engage it, learn more about it, present counter arguments, consider their refutations. You may find a better opinion in the gap between your opinions. Be willing to change your opinion, your opinion is not you(This is important). It is your best interpretation of truth, and your interpretation can always be improved upon, we are not perfect and to think that we are is a delusion at best. Be humble!

As far as doing something, when the time is right, if you have educated yourself you will know what to do, because that is when something will 'HAVE TO BE DONE'. The reason I am asking you to learn more now is that you will likely take action before that man in Greece would have and that means there will be some positive change before we will have riots in the streets or soup lines.

Do I advocate violence? Never. A smart person when dealing with a civilized political system, which we still have by the way, will never have to resort to violence, and if they do it will always backfire. Revolutions only happen when the government refuses to concede to the people's wishes, or some social change, and the dialogue has far from broken down in Canada.

Maybe this is far fetched for you, for many people I believe it is. What if I am wrong? Well if I am wrong and you take my advice, what is the worst that can happen? Your head will contain a little more knowledge? You will be able to have great social, political, economic conversations at dinner parties?

If I am right our country could be better off for it, better suited to serve us at our values. Our country is us, it is designed in such a way that it represent us and is not a servant of someone else, but if we do not have values supported by strong opinions we will be over run by people who will determine them for us.