Please remember that you are choosing to read my opinions.

Written Feb. 2nd, 2004

When it comes to the world, my views are ever-changing. I like to think that people are mostly good because they are born that way. We aren't born into the world trying to get the most money we can to buy the coolest new thing. The only motivation we have as babies are our feelings. We cry to get what we want as babies, but the only thing we want is to be taken care of and have our needs met. After that, we learn what should motivate us from society, and social institutions like school, family, social interaction, and the media.

So, while people are still mostly good, our motivation is corrupt. Money, power, fame, fortune... we've been taught to desire these things, and that these are the only things that bring happiness. What we value has become tainted and unrealistic. Our expectations are raised so high by the media that happiness is nearly unobtainable, and that is why so many people are depressed and burn out so early in life.

If suddenly the world decided that the ideal life was to live modestly in a small house with a family and a moderate paycheck, imagine how many people could easily be happy.

* http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/luddite.html *

I gave that link to the Luddites to you because they were people who saw what was happening first. They raised the first big arguments against "progress" that we think we’re making. The idea that we need to advance alone is enough to show you what is wrong with the world. All we have to do is be happy with what we have, but instead we think we have to do better, achieve something, make a mark, become rich, hit pay dirt, etc.

I think the most important thing to pass on to the next generation is the idea that life is better when it is simple. That you don't need to be rich and famous to be happy, and that happiness isn't about clothes, jewelry, fast cars, and indulgent pleasure, but about living life to the fullest in a realistic manner. If you keep things simple in your life, the simplest things can make you happy. It goes against everything we’ve been taught about being happy.

And of course, the Golden Rule. That is something we should drill into our children. It teaches us to practice empathy. We all should care what are actions do, who they effect, and how they effect them. And when someone doesn't follow the rule, we should remember that we still need to keep it. Just because someone treats you the wrong way doesn't mean you should mistreat them. We need to learn to be the better person, because how we live our lives affects people.

Our country is on a path now, and some will say it’s a good path. I say "good for whom?" We've progressed so far now that we leave our children at home in front of the TV with hired, impersonal help, or with complete strangers watching so many children that each child is neglected. How much further can we "advance" until it is perfectly clear that we've damaged ourselves beyond repair? Is it already becoming frighteningly clear?

I don’t think that we all have to walk blindly down the path we are set on. I firmly believe that, individually, we control how happy we are, and how our life turns out. We’ve got no strings to hold us down, as a wooden boy once said. Living our lives in a happy way is as easy as making the best choices for ourselves. If you aren’t happy, you have to do something about it.

We can’t change things instantly, even though we’ve been programmed to expect that. All our lives we’ve seen the hunt for the miracle cures, and quick, easy solutions. On TV, we’ve seen the good guy save the world hundreds of times in less than an hour, but an instant solution is not what it will take. If we can all just live a simple happy life and take care of the next generation responsibly, then slowly there would be change.

And don’t we need a little change?