Army to deploy robots that shoot

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There it is

Even you have a point at which you will do whatever it takes to protect yourself or your way of life. What's difficult to accept sometimes is that others feel the same way, only their threshold is different than yours. What seems excessive to you may not seem so to others. And what constitutes a 'way of life' varies depending on your circumstances.

And that, I think, is the root of many of the problems we have in this country (and around the world). For example, for most of my adult life I have been a wage-earner, making pretty good money, paying taxes like a good citizen, and providing a nice living for my family. All during those years, I couldn't conceive of robbing a bank or selling drugs, and I looked down on those who did such things. In the last few of years, however, I have only been able to find part-time work, I have run up tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt (which I have no way of paying back), and I have run up a considerable credit card debt to pay for medical care (my wife has cancer, and I have no health insurance). Lately, I have begun to understand how someone could be desperate enough to do whatever it takes to survive. After all, when you have nothing to lose, what's stopping you? Jail? Free room and board (just don't bend over in the showers). Death? Meaningless, when there's no future. Loss of societal status? Meaningless, when you don't have one.

The poor and low wage-earners, not minorities, are the invisible people in American society. For all their big talk, politicians don't really care about people; they only care about getting re-elected. Liberals and conservatives don't really care about people; they only care about demonizing the other side. The news media don't really care about people; they only care about ratings. Aid organizations don't really care about people; they only care about getting their funding. Churches don't really care about people; they only care about increasing their congregation size. Businesses don't really care about people; they only care about profit.

The only ones who can care about people are other people, on an individual basis. Everything else is unimportant. In the long run, all of this stuff about Microsoft or Linux or rigged elections or religious extremists or pre-emptive wars or terrorism or liberal media bias or neocons doesn't really matter. Nothing matters if people don't care about each other. And if people care about each other, everything else will take care of itself.

Sorry to ramble on like this. Sometimes my fingers get a mind of their own.

Carl Rapson

Posted by: rapson   Posted on: 12/02/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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