In the interest of trying to reverse the effects of not taking care of myself for the last forty years, I have begun walking around my hometown, Southbridge, and surrounding areas. I’m ashamed to admit it but for so many years I never knew of the beauty surrounding me. Whether it is walking through the neighborhoods of Southbridge or the many hiking trails (who knew?) around me I have been constantly surprised by what I see.
I have to admit it, I miss driving for a living. These days I spend my time sitting at a desk looking at a computer screen or my office mate or the same people that continue to come in and out of my office.
This week I am sure you, like me, were terribly annoyed by the emergency warnings broadcast over our cell phones regarding the 911 system. I guess this was sort of a 911 about the 911. Besides the annoyance factor, especially since I was in my office surrounded by 25 or so cell phones that would all activate at the same time, there were two other thoughts that came to mind.
Is Atlas finally shrugging? After our emergency alert from the president yesterday I am beginning to wonder.
When did we replace rational, intelligent, calm discussion with shouting, vulgarity, and irrationality? Back in the old days, this kind of conversation was relegated to barrooms and pool halls. Now it takes place even on the national news. What happened?
Photo by Carla Oliveira on Unsplash
How do we get to the truth when we live in a world of sound bites, tweets and facebook posts that can spread lies around the globe in minutes? We can polarize millions and cause action and reaction with one click of the share button.
The more things change. Now that I am semi back from my self-imposed writing exile I think I will throw out some random thoughts. So much hasn’t happened since I stopped writing regularly.
The more they stay the same. Today I spent some time looking at some of the blogs I created over the past years. The most popular one was called “It’s Clear as Mud” which doesn’t appear to exist anymore. Probably because I didn’t renew the domain name. I also wrote the “Sturbridge Tea Party” blog. Both of these were mostly about politics.
Photo by Christopher Burns on Unsplash
Here is the latest from the “Who’s right and who’s wrong” department. It seems a five-year-old boy from Kansas decided to hug a sculpture at a local community center causing the sculpture to fall from its pedestal. The sculpture was damaged. The cost to replace this sculpture? $132,000. Here is the question, actually two questions: Whose fault is it? Who should pay for it?
Does the government have to right to decide who lives and who dies? Does the government have the right to decide who is useful and who is not? Does the government have the right to decide who will make better use of universal healthcare dollars? Does the government have the right to play God? (Originally published: 5/23/2018)
