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A Meditation on the Blame Game
"The master in the art of living makes little
distinction between his work and his play, his
labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his
information and his recreation, his love and his
religion. He hardly knows which is which. He
simply pursues his vision of excellence at
whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether
he is working or playing. To him he's always doing
both." - James A. Michener
"Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work
with love but only distaste, it is better that
you should leave your work and sit at the gate of
the temple and take alms of those who work with
jpy." - Kahlil Gibran
How many of us are truly happy with our lives ? Or do we
just stumble along blaming our current situation on :
{Pick one}
* Our parents.
* Society
* The government [A biggie]
* Our teachers.
* The competition [Another biggie]
And on and on.
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
Julies Caesar Act I Scene I
That the reason that our lives do not measure up maybe because
of something we are responsible for. That we - ourselves - have
made some decisions that were not wise. Yet we carry on and blame
and blame. "if only my taxes were not so high.." "if only had gotten
the brakes I deserve." etc.
How many people live lives of anger and resentment refusing to
look at their part or take the risk of moving out of their current
situation. Like a spouse in an abusive relationship. Because staying
is safer and more comfortable than leaving.
Not all of us are cut out to be executives or teachers or nurses or
engineers or lawyers or business owners. But we stay - rationalizing
our decision to do so. "The money is good." "It looks good on my resume."
"This is an important job." "it;s a very secure position" - using greed and
ego and what ever as our excuse. Or maybe our expectations for
life and carrier were vastly out of whack.
So people get pissed off and resentful when anybody threatens our lives -
lives that we resent anyway. And sometimes we even take our resentment
out on others. "my live sucks...so yours should too"
"Of course I hate my job. And you'll hate yours too. That's normal damn it !"
Mark Slackmeyer's father - Doonesbury
But is it ? I know that sometimes we have to make compromises in our
life choices. But that does not mean giving up or caving it.
It's far easier to sit an blame other people or forces for our problems.
All the while being pissed of sitting in our own lousy puddle.
C
distinction between his work and his play, his
labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his
information and his recreation, his love and his
religion. He hardly knows which is which. He
simply pursues his vision of excellence at
whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether
he is working or playing. To him he's always doing
both." - James A. Michener
"Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work
with love but only distaste, it is better that
you should leave your work and sit at the gate of
the temple and take alms of those who work with
jpy." - Kahlil Gibran
How many of us are truly happy with our lives ? Or do we
just stumble along blaming our current situation on :
{Pick one}
* Our parents.
* Society
* The government [A biggie]
* Our teachers.
* The competition [Another biggie]
And on and on.
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
Julies Caesar Act I Scene I
That the reason that our lives do not measure up maybe because
of something we are responsible for. That we - ourselves - have
made some decisions that were not wise. Yet we carry on and blame
and blame. "if only my taxes were not so high.." "if only had gotten
the brakes I deserve." etc.
How many people live lives of anger and resentment refusing to
look at their part or take the risk of moving out of their current
situation. Like a spouse in an abusive relationship. Because staying
is safer and more comfortable than leaving.
Not all of us are cut out to be executives or teachers or nurses or
engineers or lawyers or business owners. But we stay - rationalizing
our decision to do so. "The money is good." "It looks good on my resume."
"This is an important job." "it;s a very secure position" - using greed and
ego and what ever as our excuse. Or maybe our expectations for
life and carrier were vastly out of whack.
So people get pissed off and resentful when anybody threatens our lives -
lives that we resent anyway. And sometimes we even take our resentment
out on others. "my live sucks...so yours should too"
"Of course I hate my job. And you'll hate yours too. That's normal damn it !"
Mark Slackmeyer's father - Doonesbury
But is it ? I know that sometimes we have to make compromises in our
life choices. But that does not mean giving up or caving it.
It's far easier to sit an blame other people or forces for our problems.
All the while being pissed of sitting in our own lousy puddle.
C
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I really really like this post, I wish I could recommend it 10 times.
And I agree that many people prefer to sit on their ass, whine, feel sorry for themselves and wait for help rather than pull themselves together, get up and do something about their lives. This is hard, though, and I will be the first to admit many occasions when I should have done it and didn't.
In a way, it's like fitness training. You really hate it until you start and see the first results in a month or so.
However, I don't agree that some people who will never get anywhere in life because they are INCAPABLE (in reference to "Not all of us are cut out to be executives or teachers or nurses or
engineers or lawyers or business owners.").
A few years ago, Jared Diamond wrote in "Guns, Germs and Steel" how illiterate and "primitive" tribesmen in Papua New Guinea were successfully trained to become aircraft pilots, if I remember correctly.
Everyone would want to and act to improve their lives if they have two things (1) desire and (2)incentive to do so.
But that would require a system that creates that environment.
In a system of income confiscation and re-distribution, like ours, the much bigger incentive is to vote for Democrats and then sit back and watch them do all the work for you.
August 16, 2009 5:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I suspect that a lot of those you see as preferring "to sit on their ass, whine, feel sorry for themselves and wait for help rather than pull themselves together", do so less in response to the possibility of their incomes being redistributed should they succeed, than other factors regarding their opportunities, and availability of resources.
August 16, 2009 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Surprise! Nearly everybody does have (1) and (2). What many don't have is the power to make the changes that would give them the quality of life our constitution so cavalierly "guarantees". There are a thousand reasons why millions of people are either out of work or working at underpaying jobs. Most of them have nothing to do with a lack of desire or incentive.
A system fair to both business and the workers could be accomplished, but won't be as long as money is the total name of the game. When the value of ethics is as strong as the value of money then maybe we can have the kind of utopia we all dream about.
In the meantime, can we please be spared yet another demand to "pull ourselves up by our bootstraps"? In today's climate, it's getting really old.
August 16, 2009 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
No they don't and you know it.
Inequality has existed in this country since "Day One" and despite the trillions wasted on the wonderful government programs it's still with us.
Our government does not exist to CREATE opportunities for people to lift themselves from poverty or improve their lives in general - it exists to COMPENSATE the poor for the fact that inequality exists.
That's where our policies got wrong and that's why the poor prefer to sit back and wait for the Democrats to haul in someone else's money.
August 16, 2009 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolute nonsense. Not worth a comment.
August 16, 2009 6:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks Nancy.
August 16, 2009 6:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely Ramona. A system where money is the be all end all is why this is a Third World Country not damn better than some crappy little despotic South American autocratic state.
C
August 16, 2009 6:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
The people you talk about in your post sound a lot like the non-union people who resented the wages and bennies the union workers got so much they worked against them to LOWER their wages rather than try to raise their own. It never made any sense. Still doesn't, but now it's our way of life. Low wages, low benefits, the death of the middle class.
And the rich get richer, laughing all the way to the bank.
August 16, 2009 7:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm a strange duck. I love my job, I love the people I work with, I love my neighbors, so I don't know exactly how to respond to this post. Except to suggest this. Above a certain salary point, I think additional reward in terms of cash is largely irrelevant. I wouldn't trade energy on the market for $200,000.000.00 I wouldn't know how to spend $200,000,000.00 I wouldn't enjoy hanging around with the people who work to earn $100,000,000.00 shorting oil. What they do to earn a subjectively incomprehensible amount of money would bore me to tears, and hearing how important these people thought their work was would set me to yawning in their faces. I start my 38th year in my job next September, and for the first time I'll take make a wee bit more than a hundred thousand. Don't tell my boss, but I'd work for a lot less.
Everyone I know who is truly happy in his/her work doesn't do it primarily for the bucks. This includes my barber who happens to be my next door neighbor, and his son, who gardens for a living. I'm a very lucky man.
August 16, 2009 10:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
You are indeed amike. I wish I could say the same. Not the I hate my job...it seems so irrelevant some how.
Working in IT for a state university that by all appearances is teaching kids how to make better iPods and video games and the best way to market them.
C
August 17, 2009 12:16 AM | Reply | Permalink