Independence Day
Happy July 4th...
... not really. It's days like this when I wonder if the history books just glorify that era in history, that time when we gained our independence, that time when we had dignity and ideals. Surely, our founding fathers could not have planned nor even wanted this. Today's America is hardly the America they left behind.
Sure, we're definitely better off than many other countries, and I feel fortunate to live in a place where I have the freedom to decide my own fate and the fate of my country (soon enough anyway). I know we're lucky to have food and to not have to worry about dying upon stepping foot outside our houses. But I feel that the centuries have left our founding fathers' fortified thoughts forgotten, and instead, corruption and greed has leeched though the many holes left purposefully behind for breathing under the heavy document we are responsible for upholding.
I do not speak of that upper strata of society, though who knows what really goes on within those pristine buildings on their perfect green grounds. I'll leave that to more knowledgeable others. Instead, I address what the many of us deal with daily. I address what affects us most, that which we must suffer through on a first-hand basis, as students at least and as the result of our brainwashing as children.
America was supposed to be a place where we may pursue our passions, where we were not to be restricted by the chains of society and structure. It was supposed to be a place where hard work would lead to success. However, this is hardly the place we live in now. Today, hard work only goes so far, producing only a few "victory stories" along the way. Instead, greed and the need to surpass others have driven us. We were not taught to work hard, but rather to work harder than the others. We were not taught to do our best, but to do better than the next person. Our generation is dictated by meaningless numbers, numbers that translate into monetary amounts in time, and the theory is the same. The higher the number, the more successful you are.
That makes some sense, but today these numbers have become a game. Getting high numbers means success, not because they reflect personal achievement, but because they increase the chance of being above another person, and it is not scoring high that makes a person happy, but being above others that does.
Even if we do realize though, we cannot escape this game. For those of us without money, we must rely on our smarts to get us there. For those of us without the luxury of not having to worry about basic things, we must rely on that which will propel us farthest in the game, and even at that level, we must also rely on the next person to fail and fail miserably. In other words, even the most hardworking are probably also the most covetous, for if we can't be stingy, we'll be selfish, and we don't care. If we end up ruining someone else's life, we just don't give a shit.
It's no longer about hard work. It really isn't. It's about working harder than the next person, and doing whatever it takes, whatever it takes, to get there.
Life's a goddamn gamble. It's all about luck and knowing how to play your damn cards right too.
... not really. It's days like this when I wonder if the history books just glorify that era in history, that time when we gained our independence, that time when we had dignity and ideals. Surely, our founding fathers could not have planned nor even wanted this. Today's America is hardly the America they left behind.
Sure, we're definitely better off than many other countries, and I feel fortunate to live in a place where I have the freedom to decide my own fate and the fate of my country (soon enough anyway). I know we're lucky to have food and to not have to worry about dying upon stepping foot outside our houses. But I feel that the centuries have left our founding fathers' fortified thoughts forgotten, and instead, corruption and greed has leeched though the many holes left purposefully behind for breathing under the heavy document we are responsible for upholding.
I do not speak of that upper strata of society, though who knows what really goes on within those pristine buildings on their perfect green grounds. I'll leave that to more knowledgeable others. Instead, I address what the many of us deal with daily. I address what affects us most, that which we must suffer through on a first-hand basis, as students at least and as the result of our brainwashing as children.
America was supposed to be a place where we may pursue our passions, where we were not to be restricted by the chains of society and structure. It was supposed to be a place where hard work would lead to success. However, this is hardly the place we live in now. Today, hard work only goes so far, producing only a few "victory stories" along the way. Instead, greed and the need to surpass others have driven us. We were not taught to work hard, but rather to work harder than the others. We were not taught to do our best, but to do better than the next person. Our generation is dictated by meaningless numbers, numbers that translate into monetary amounts in time, and the theory is the same. The higher the number, the more successful you are.
That makes some sense, but today these numbers have become a game. Getting high numbers means success, not because they reflect personal achievement, but because they increase the chance of being above another person, and it is not scoring high that makes a person happy, but being above others that does.
Even if we do realize though, we cannot escape this game. For those of us without money, we must rely on our smarts to get us there. For those of us without the luxury of not having to worry about basic things, we must rely on that which will propel us farthest in the game, and even at that level, we must also rely on the next person to fail and fail miserably. In other words, even the most hardworking are probably also the most covetous, for if we can't be stingy, we'll be selfish, and we don't care. If we end up ruining someone else's life, we just don't give a shit.
It's no longer about hard work. It really isn't. It's about working harder than the next person, and doing whatever it takes, whatever it takes, to get there.
Life's a goddamn gamble. It's all about luck and knowing how to play your damn cards right too.
prism:
raindrops (thoughts)
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