Being sociable is important. Meeting new people is the best source for intellectual stimulation, and reflecting on my experiences, there’s no exception to that statement. Always try to seek out new friends, you’ll never know how important they were to your life until after you meet them.
My Thoughts for the Day
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” - Oscar Wilde
People always ask me what my beliefs on death are when the learn of my faith (or lack thereof). “So, you believe in nothingness?” they ask. “Do you believe you’ll turn into a tree when you die?!” they guffaw. Those same people seem to view life in a hazed perspective: what one does in the present holds no face value to what’s in store for them in the afterlife. While this view could also spawn into many other heated debates over religion and the relative idiocy still found in the Western world, I’ll stay on point.
Life in its current form is an indisputably tangible thing. It’s really the only thing you can be sure of: you’re experiencing it, riding it’s wild journey. Whether or not you think there’s an afterlife of sorts in store for you, your life is inarguably real compared to an afterlife.
With that asserted, I come unto you with this: live life for the present, not for what you think you’ll be rewarded with. Ever since I became a “convert” to nothingness, my life priorities have had a deafening change. Mostly because before, I never thought about “fulfilling life.” I just woke up, ate, and continued on. I don’t wait around for something I’m unsure of. That’d be wasting my good time. That logic, if applied any where else in the world, would be deemed daft. I see life before me as an opportunity to make change, make love, make friends. Innovate, procreate, befriend. I honestly don’t care if you will always bide by the belief of an afterlife, that’s respectable. Obviously, who am I, a lowly individual, to tell you otherwise. But, life is bigger than you may make it out to be. Live it with the doubt of an afterlife. Live it only by the sureness you know, only then will your life have purpose. There are religious individuals that go into death thinking that their life wasn’t pious enough for salvation. There’s doubt emanating from their souls, regrets for not doing more. If one was to actually put in an effort to strive for good, squeezing out the opportunity life gave them, he/she wouldn’t go into death unsure of anything. They can be sure of the fact that they lived life. They achieved the great aforementioned feats of life: making change, making love, making friends. If there is a God, what justice is it to deny salvation to someone who lived a life of peace and prosperity? If there isn’t, death wouldn’t be scary. Far from it. Peacefully leaving, knowing they’ve prospered. To be laid down in the brown earth, nature rustling over, with no worry in sight. That would be the greatest gift and greatest good bye for a life that truly lived.
(Disclaimer: This was written while the author was half asleep. He apologizes in advance for any ridiculous allusions made in this writing)
Note: This was an op-ed I was nicely asked to write about a month and a half ago. I thought it deserved to be online. Cheers!
Typically considered taboo, the subject of wealth inequality and financial irresponsibility has recently been brought to the attention of millions of Americans (and a considerable amount people overseas) by Occupy Wall Street (OWS). OWS is a movement that began on September 17th, 2011 in NYC, but later expanded to over 1000 cities across the globe. The movement’s purpose, according to its ridiculous array of online presences, is to end the irresponsibility in the American financial industry that resulted in one of the most corrosive financial recessions in recent memory. Though admittedly, they may not have their aims/objectives in order, they’ve garnered considerable support over the issue.
The issues OWS has brought up aren’t exactly unheard of: During the early 1900’s, Henry Ford paid 3 times the average factory salary to his workers because he believed “Workers have a right to afford what they make.” The New York Times published an article by Robert Frank, an Economics Professor from Cornell, arguing the notion of a “growing income rift in America” over a year before the Occupy movement was even thought of. Through this comes the question of the purpose of the movement, its legitimacy. If it’s been argued before, and since some solutions have been applied, what’s the big deal? Shouldn’t they just bring up their concerns to their locally elected officials? Two things: The country wouldn’t be dealing with a recession if that were the case. Secondly, anyone who’s worked in a government office, particularly Beatrice Walton of the Harvard Political Review, can say that “the people protesting today have tried incessantly over the years to do just that and have largely been ignored.” OWS, in essence, is a backlash to that lack of representation. In banding together, the protesters are saying that, because they’re tired of being ignored, they will be heard. Enough is enough, etc. Aptly enough, this protesting boom comes months after the American Census Bureau reporting that 46.2 Americans are living below the poverty line, and 1 out 7 are dependent of Food Stamps, making people wonder why such an outburst as OWS’ didn’t come earlier.
In the end, ignoring such issues as socioeconomic inequality is relatively easy. Similarly enough is easily dismissing the Occupiers as smelly, fervent, bongo-banging beatniks who are asking for handouts. Such an outlook might make Americans feel less iffy about the topic, allowing us to keep our societal and economic norms untouched. Such a view lets us avoid the question of class division among other things. But, ignoring the class question and dismissing movements such as OWS won’t address the problems of income inequality. Pushing the issue aside does nothing to the problems of income disparity plaguing the nation. If England’s summer rioting has taught us anything, it’s that not confronting a problem just delays the solution. For making this issue explicit to the public eye, OWS has done us a favor.
