This Place Sucks

I can't sleep again. A few things have been bothering me lately--the defeat of the healthcare for 9/11 first responders bill, Sheila Dixon's corruption in Baltimore (and the fact that she gets to keep her $83,000 a year pension in spite of everything), people thinking it's okay for the US government to forbid citizens from peacefully worshiping on private property....

The ignorance, corruption, and greed in this world is staggering. As frustrating is how unaware of their own ignorance and bias people tend to be. One of Socrates' greatest claims to fame was merely pointing out that most people who seem authoritative are little more than capable actors. I suspect that not realizing this simple fact can cripple an otherwise good person's ability to change this world for the better. Unless you know an issue thoroughly--meaning you have done more than entertain opinions that flatter your own--there's no reason for you to have a strong opinion. Your opinion isn't worthwhile because you don't know enough to make a compelling, reasonable, and concise argument. You can't cite that you've respectfully considered conflicting opinions. You don't have a thorough knowledge of the issue and its implications. So why make a fool of yourself by parroting what you heard some talking head say? If you're at this level of ignorance for a particular issue, then you have no place imposing your opinion on others.

What I find most encouraging are people who both genuinely live their lives for others as well as for themselves and have the mental capacity to realize when they should or should not impose an opinion. Sadly, these kinds of people are few and far between.

I hope to live up to this description someday. In all honesty, many of my "selfless" acts are done not because I enjoy doing them, but because I want to be a "good person" and the injustice in this world and the frustration it brings are never far from my thoughts. I can't stand the thought of being another American consumer wholly possessed by the pursuit of comfort, wealth, and position, ignorant of the worlds problems, trading in a lifetime of service for an isolated world of selfishness and pleasure.

So what can I do? What can anyone do to stop the endless parade of selfishness and suffering that is human history? How I can maximize my impact on this world has been in my thoughts lately. It's a daunting question with tiring implications.

Speaking of which, I'm feeling tired now. Let's see what suffering and depravity tomorrow brings.