A passage in the bible tells us that "the meek shall inherit the earth." As a child, I always wondered why that should be so. I never really saw meekness to be a particularly desirable trait. Yes, I know that dictionary definitions simply tell us that the meek among us are simply humble and modest. To me, however, meek meant mousy and sneaky. It meant too cowardly to stand up for anything, too timid to speak up, even when something catastrophic happens. Maybe it's just the word itself that gives me those impressions. It just sounds so damned wishy-washy.
Well, here I am, all grown up, and what do I discover? While I was busy growing up, learning from my mistakes, taking on responsibilities, building a business and a family, the meek did indeed inherit the earth. By cowering and flinching their way through life, they have helped create societies world-wide where they effectively are the agenda. The productive exist to support the unproductive. The meek don't have to think, work, or do anything at all useful. They just have to exist.
Why does this piss me off so?
It annoys me because I can't stand lazy, unproductive people. It further annoys me because the power-grubbers in our world need the 'meek' in order to further their own agendas to rule over us all. If everyone took care of themselves, promoting we-can-do-everything-for-everyone government would be difficult, wouldn't it? The self-sufficient among us would tell crusaders for bigger government to go screw themselves and the horse they rode in on. When threatened by terrorists and other miscreants, we would tell them to go screw themselves and the camel they rode in on. We would take care of ourselves, individually or collectively, without self-important, meddlesome morons turning anything and everything into an excuse for passing yet another law.
How did we get to this state?
I have nothing against immigrants. I am an immigrant myself. If Canada hadn't opened its doors to my family and others like us, I wouldn't be as prosperous, as free to speak my mind, as I am here in Canada. I love Canada and don't want to see it deteriorate. In my ideal world, immigrants are very welcome to come here to live and work. But when they come, they must take full financial responsibility for themselves, the way immigrants did in times past. Otherwise, many will turn into human sponges, developing the welfare habit and raising generations of do-nothings and whiners.
And no, I have nothing against the merely laconic, the shy, the bashful. I have always been a bit shy myself. I just want everyone to take care of themselves and their families and not make me (and you, and you, and you...) pay for their upkeep.
That's not much to ask, is it?
You probably have read the original version of Robinson Crusoe. Despite that, I would recommend a second go at it, and relate your do-it-alone attitude to that of his unromantic struggle for survival. Part of growing up, is realizing most humans fight against great odds,one of which is the pressure of peers. Your blog comes across as the outlook of someone who does not acknowledge the existence of peers. "Leave me alone, and I'll make it." Have you ever considered how what appears to be the success of ordinary "Joes" are folks who make it by discovering there is a system that can be worked.
ReplyDeleteThese are not the meek who are inheriting the earth, but rather the sharks who set the rules for swimming in their ponds. The meek get the crumbs, and the sharpies eat the bread.
To me, a peer is someone I consider my equal, not necessarily just anyone who happens to be in the same age group or in the same room. While I believe everyone to be born equal, there are many who abrogate their reponsibilities to themselves and to those around them. Squandered opportunities, poor choices, shirked responsibilities, all combine to create a net drain on the 'system' and a real cost to the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteI interact well with others if they contribute, work hard, accept responsibility, and work co-operatively. That means voluntary co-operation, not something created from the top down as in anything decreed by government. In the first instance, (voluntary co-operation,) there is no conflict of intent or purpose, there is instead some sort of exchange of values where all parties get more or less what they want. In the second instance where 'co-operation' results by government decree, there is often conflict of interest, of ethics, of philosophy, of intent.
I co-operate voluntarily with people every day. It is impossible to run any business without having the allegiance and respect of your employees and customers.