Lately I have had plenty of time to think, and I mean Plenty. In that time there have been the equivalent of a batch of Arkansas storms upstairs. The dark gloomy tornader kinda storms that give you the, 'Oh Crap Y'all it's about to get really real here' sorta feelin. Amongst the gloominess, the clouds part on occasion for a bit of clarity and normal type thinkin. I have made some realizations about this world and society.
I have noticed that folks have become more self centered due to varying factors, most of which tie in to economic disparity in one way or another. Some of it is latency from the economic effects of big business doing whatever they please, cuz they can. So if each person or family has their own "fires" to put out, then their options for focusing on much else are limited at best. People work as much as they can to keep the bills paid, which leaves very little time in the day for social matters, like spending time with friends or coworkers and the like. Then, how about we go complicate this scenario some more? How about we send our military to a godforsaken place to fight a bunch of crazy people who hide out in caves, and have very little technology, but do well as hillfolk do, in whooping some tail of outsiders.
So, back to that economic thing. Due to the war, you now have households without one parent. That makes things tricky, but can be handled for a little while. We must give credit where it's due, because America has some pretty hard working resourceful folks. Let's go back to the "war" for a bit to see how that's goin. Well it ain't goin well, we got a bunch of wounded folks and some that just cashed in their blank check to the government. (Excuse me if this sounds callous at times. Military lives are no joke, but just for illustration purposes, I may come off a bit callous. I am not.)
Now we go back across the pond where a military transport brings home the dearly departed spouses of good American people. This economic thing gets worse for the folks who lost a spouse, and the children who lost a parent. Things quickly switch to damage control, and grief. Let's add to this scenario, the people who were injured in this war. They go home to their families, but they aren't the same anymore. The one parent now has to deal with that person who now has PTSD, and can't deal with things the same way anymore, and perhaps this person or many as is the case, was injured severely and has to be cared for. That makes it even worse for the other parent, and children who are trying to wrap their heads around the whole thing. This has now become a complex compounded problem. Now, multiply that times tens of thousands over a decade and a half. Crazy isn't it?
The war against economic disparity still rages at home, and so does the one overseas. Economic development is slow, and goods become more expensive, because those businesses have to hedge against the potential for loss in profit, and that equates to low earnings per share of stockholders. We haven't even begun to talk about single people in similar situations who are impacted by this scenario.
So ya see where I am headed with this? Hopefully you do, but let all this sink in for a bit, because just that little bit, which is a lot, is simple compared to what else gets thrown into the equation. Just let that simmer in your noodle. All of that is a drop in the bucket compared to the laundry list of other factors that come into play in this narrative. This is difficult gritty stuff going on across the country. The really difficult part is, this story isn't about to get any better soon. Sorry for the doom and gloom, but this is many people's normal day to day life. That ought to sober up some folks who think their life is difficult, don't ya think?
JP
