The sadness of the world, at least to me, is that we have lost our desire to determine our fate. Instead, we rush to the Gods of science, medicine, religion, politics, psychology, social interaction, and social media to define who we are and what we think.
We make a limited effort to determine the direction of our own life. We tell ourselves we are personally in control, but in reality, power is given to others. We enlist others to manage, organize, and maintain our lives. We allow them to tell us how to believe, how we should act, why we should feel guilty, tell us what is right and wrong. Do you not believe me? Read on ~~
Medical Science: We run to the gods of medical science. If we have the smallest sniffles or pain in our bodies, we run to the medical doctor to treat whatever problem we believe we have. We do not trust our immune system. We do not think that the body can heal itself. We have been so indoctrinated by medical science that we run immediately to receive relief. If not the doctor’s office, we run to the drug store and search through the rows and rows of over-the-counter medications which promise relief. Doctors have told me that probably half of the people who show up in their office have nothing seriously wrong. The patient is expecting the doctor to “cure” their aliment. The doctor gives some advice and some small, innocuous medication or a placebo and sends the person on their way. WHAT????? Do you not trust yourself? You do not trust your own body, your immune system? And understand me. I believe in medical science. If there were no benefits of medicine and surgery, I would have been dead many years ago. I am a true believer, but running to the doctor for every sniffle, cough, and pain is foolish in my view.
And if that is not enough, have you ever seriously paid attention to the myriad of ads in the media (especially on TV) professing medications to help you with this or that or the other problem? Do You Listen Closely?!? For ten seconds, the ad tells you how wonderful your life will be using the particular medication, and then for 40 seconds, the ad tells you all the adverse conditions the medication could do to you!!! Maybe you do not gamble in Las Vegas, but you sure might be doing so at the local pharmacy. Again, understand me. Some people need certain medications. I know it. But do each of us need all those medications which produce the multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry?
Politicians: What about politics? Most people will vote for whichever politician promises or says they will give the voter the one or two things the voter wants. The massive list of things a voter may want will not be discussed here, but you know what is on that list. If the politician promises/says they will give what is wanted, they get the vote. WHO CARES about whatever else the politician will do when in office. The electorate mentality is ‘give me what I want, and I will vote for you.’ Of course, once in office, the politician does not give what you want, and the fault is projected onto someone else, not YOUR elected official. Then, the voter can be angry at someone else who had nothing to do with the promise. Most people are stupid. They do not think about the big picture. Who cares that the one for whom you vote may attempt to destroy the constitution and the laws contained therein, make a solid effort to line their pockets, pass laws/requirements that suck up more of your income in taxes. Idiots! Self-determination? No!
You prefer to leave your life in the hands of politicians, most of whom are liars and thieves. Most politicians are liars. They have to lie to get elected. They must promise one group one thing and another group a different thing to get elected, knowing good and well they cannot produce both promises. I guess you cannot blame them for lying. And most are thieves. No, you say? Let me ask you. How many of them are living the high life on your tax dollar? How many fancy up their office, their home, their daily life on your tax dollar? How many take vacations hauling the whole family, staff, grandma, and grandpa and call it a “fact-finding mission?” And we, the electorate, put up with it or, worse, think it is so cool. I promise you the IRS is not your tax problem. It is your elected officials.
Religion: The world revolves around religion. I am sorry to tell you atheists and agnostics, but the truth of life is that the world revolves around religion, for better or worse. By the way, I do not understand the atheist position. Are you atheists telling us that we, humans on planet earth, are the most highly evolved in the universe even if you want to use Darwin’s notion of the evolutionary process? Are you serious??? It would help if you looked at a bigger picture. Perhaps you believe there are more evolved entities in the universe, but you think they do not care to communicate with us about avoiding the problems/difficulties/downfalls they encountered. Such a belief would make you an agnostic, not an atheist. At least such a belief would be something. You see, if you truly believe we are the BEST in the universe, then I feel for you. Personally, I can understand the agnostic position: There is something higher than us, more evolved, more intelligent, but who knows if that something higher cares about us. That I can understand. That I can believe as a possibility. But the atheistic position is stupid.
Of course, most religions will drive a person to drink. Every major war has been fought due to religion; at least underlying religious issues have existed in every major war. (Although I must admit that wars also got started in ancient times because of a woman, not that the woman caused it, but some man wanted her. Men can be infinitely stupid!)
The problem with most religions is that we, once again, allow religion to determine our direction in life. If we have a problem, rather than fight it and figure out how to solve it, we run to our pastor/minister/bishop, whatever you call your leader, for the answer. Do not get me wrong. It is good to seek guidance. Many people pray for guidance from God or a Higher Power; however, they define your Higher Power. But you know what????? This Higher Power is not going to solve the problem for you! The system in the world is set. YOU must learn to solve your problems. If the Higher Power solved your problems, what would you learn? NOTHING! The program in this life is for you to learn how to manage your own life, help others, and be a helpful person. Therefore, your Higher Power is not going to solve your problems. You might be given courage, given thoughts to lead you in a solving direction, support you in your dark, depressing moments, but the work will not be done for you.
For example, many of my Christian friends say, “God has a plan for me.” OK…but that seems to assume that God controls their life. I do not believe this. Certainly, God can know what would be a good plan for your life. But CONTROL….no way! A basic gift from God is free agency, the right to choose, the right for each person to manage their own life. Everyone has this agency, although it is often stolen by warlords (of one sort or another). Worse! We give away our agency to others to manage. It is your choice. Just remember: The right to choose is inseparably connected with the right to suffer the consequence of the choice.
Now, if you hold the atheist or agnostic view, you are screwed. There is no greater power to offer help to you. Or maybe you do not know what to believe. I guess that is why so many people put their faith and trust in so-called experts, scientists, doctors, politicians, religious leaders, and counselors to save them from their ills.
Social Networking: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google Plus, Instagram, Pinterest, Tik Tok, etc. Do you present your true self on those networks, or do you falsify yourself in order to impress others? Social networks are, or at least can be, the great mask behind which a person can hide. Is your social networking persona becoming who you are in reality? Do you need a mask to be an authentic person?
And the other person who is posting? Do they speak the truth about themselves? Is that person really a gorgeous female looking for romance, or is the person a twelve-year-old boy having fun? Is the person really a caring adult hoping to assuage the sad feelings of a teenage girl, or is the person a pedophile hunting? There is no fact-checking on social media other than vulgarity, pornography, and unwanted political statements the site does not want. So take your chances with that one.
The major issue here is your identity. What is it? Do you know? Are you becoming whatever social media expects you to be? It is easy enough to say you are in charge of your life. But the more you pander to social contacts without sufficient internal self-checking, the more you will slip away from self-determination.