Compassion
What do you think of when you consider how America was back in the 1940's and 1950's?
I was born in the 60's and grew up in the 70's.
I heard about those old days.
This is how I picture it:
Americans were hard-working, morally centered, patriotic, and compassionate people.
The government cared for us.
We cared for one another.
The corporations treated their workers fairly...and we had a great grasp on the moral center.
Maybe I'm wrong in my assessment.
Perhaps it was as cut-throat and difficult back then, but I was having a conversation the other night about the state of the country.
A pointless, gripe session about how we are all lost.
But it got me thinking.
What do we miss the most?
Just for fun I often go on the social media comment sections whenever there is a big news story.
You know what is really gone?
"I got mine, who gives a shit about you," one of the guys said when asked to assess the world now.
Yeah.
The compassion is gone.
"People are going to die anyway," someone wrote on a message board after one of the national shootings.
"We need to take them all to an island and wait for their species to die out," another person wrote about the gays.
"Let them get off their asses and become CEO," someone wrote about raising the minimum wage.
"We need to blow that country off the map," was the assessment of a political situation.
It most likely wasn't idyllic in the 50's, but didn't we care about one another a little more?
Perhaps it's because we all have a voice and our own agenda's now...but is our personal agenda more important than the greater good?
I read a note a few weeks back:
In 1970, the CEO of the average company made 30 times more than his average worker. In 2013, the average CEO made 1,040 times more than his average worker.
I don't have an answer for any of it. I am blessed to work for a good company. There are some left. There has to be.
And I know I'm on the wrong side of a lot of issues...according to half the people...but I certainly believe that we care a lot less about our fellow man.
I vote for compassion for the future.
"It's true," my buddy said. "No one gives a flying shit for anyone else anymore."
Unfortunately, he might be absolutely correct.
I was born in the 60's and grew up in the 70's.
I heard about those old days.
This is how I picture it:
Americans were hard-working, morally centered, patriotic, and compassionate people.
The government cared for us.
We cared for one another.
The corporations treated their workers fairly...and we had a great grasp on the moral center.
Maybe I'm wrong in my assessment.
Perhaps it was as cut-throat and difficult back then, but I was having a conversation the other night about the state of the country.
A pointless, gripe session about how we are all lost.
But it got me thinking.
What do we miss the most?
Just for fun I often go on the social media comment sections whenever there is a big news story.
You know what is really gone?
"I got mine, who gives a shit about you," one of the guys said when asked to assess the world now.
Yeah.
The compassion is gone.
"People are going to die anyway," someone wrote on a message board after one of the national shootings.
"We need to take them all to an island and wait for their species to die out," another person wrote about the gays.
"Let them get off their asses and become CEO," someone wrote about raising the minimum wage.
"We need to blow that country off the map," was the assessment of a political situation.
It most likely wasn't idyllic in the 50's, but didn't we care about one another a little more?
Perhaps it's because we all have a voice and our own agenda's now...but is our personal agenda more important than the greater good?
I read a note a few weeks back:
In 1970, the CEO of the average company made 30 times more than his average worker. In 2013, the average CEO made 1,040 times more than his average worker.
I don't have an answer for any of it. I am blessed to work for a good company. There are some left. There has to be.
And I know I'm on the wrong side of a lot of issues...according to half the people...but I certainly believe that we care a lot less about our fellow man.
I vote for compassion for the future.
"It's true," my buddy said. "No one gives a flying shit for anyone else anymore."
Unfortunately, he might be absolutely correct.
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