Tomorrow's Headlines?

Everyone has a bone to pick, an axe to grind, a row to hoe, a point to make. Since 'everyone' includes me, and since visitors to this blog are presumed to be capable of comprehending my diverse ramblings, I think it is fair to say that my views on the world and our place in it are no secret. I am what I am, I say what I think, and mostly live my life on my terms.

My point?

There are ups and downs in every life. There is good and bad in everyone. There is potential for disaster in every relationship, in every transaction, in every step we take.

So?

So, when things go wrong, I don't blame you, or you, or you. You are not responsible for my happiness, my well-being, my health, or anything else. I am.

Sure, I gripe about things like taxes, bad manners and stupidity, but I hope I do so with a smattering of humour and that everyone understands that I don't want you, or anyone else, to do anything about the things that irk me. Sure, maybe you could not vote for the idiots who tax us, not exhibit bad manners when I'm around, and not behave like those sheeple who think the world owes them everything. That's all I ask of anyone, generally. I don't want you to do anything for me. I just want you not to do anything that will offend my sense of responsibility. I'm responsible for me. You're responsible for you. If we each mind our own business, we'll get along just fine.

Many (I fear most) people are not like that though. They wake up every morning looking for things that they can 'fix' by creating (or asking for) a new law, another regulation, another restriction, another prohibition. Then, still unsatisfied, they seek ways to take from Peter to pay Paul. I don't understand what drives meddlers to be what they are. In yesteryear, they might have been executioners. Today they are taxmen. In days gone, they might have been eunuchs guarding the sultan's harem, surrounded by pulchritude, but not equipped to enjoy it. Today, they are politicians.

I find myself reading news less and less. It is not that I am not interested. It is more that I am constantly amazed by the rampant stupidity in the world. Frustrated? Let's kick the dog, molest the kids and beat the wife. Too stupid to run our own lives? Let's tell everyone else how to run theirs. I just wish people would suck it up and deal with their problems, without involving the rest of us.

Here are headlines I want to see:

• Parliament (or Congress, for my American friends) votes to cut spending by 50%.
• All victimless crimes repealed, effective immediately.
• Conversation among teenagers overheard, without use of single f-word variant.

Maybe tomorrow. I'll check the news to find out.