We really don’t know what to do when the reality of the world descents upon us. If there is anything that could define the generation of today, it would be the phrase “ignorance is bliss.” Yes we are blissfully unaware of the world as it is. To know is too cumbersome. The information age. The easiest thing to get is information and we don’t want it now.
No, please don’t misunderstand me. I am not accusing anyone. I am just making people aware of “our” condition. Yes it is important because I am part of it. Every morning I stare across the room at my father as he sits down to read the newspaper with his coffee. He takes his time. He has to go to work soon. Yet he reads in the gravest of detail, starting with front page.
I, who have nowhere to go, sit across him browsing through the supplements. I have never read the front page, except if there is something with a really catchy headline at the bottom of it. I am also not too much of a sports fan and so the main paper is basically out for me. I do browse through it at times, stopping to read only that which reads weird, sort of like a Ripley's Believe It or Not on paper.
The world is changing and I don’t care. The little bubbles that we have created for ourselves are all that matters to us. We, I, us, our family, some friends, our jobs and that’s it. And to ease that process in, we have facebook, twitter, digg, gmail…..etc. We want to know what happen every second of every day to everyone in the bubble. As for the rest of the people, well they might as well go to hell. Tada!! Rhyming lines.
But then, I stop. You know bad things have happened. And bad things happen. What the fuck can I do? Nothing. I know it’s a defeatist way of living. But there are too many people out there and I want to care about myself. Yes I say that with the highest of pride. I am not a bad man. I have never hurt anyone and I have tried to change myself the maximum to the comfort of others.
Also what I have observed is the selfishness of all humans. Each one of us. Yes you idiot, I am talking about you. You are very selfish. No, you don’t want to believe that because….. you do want to help people. Yes that’s it. You “want” to help. You never do. You will do it soon. Maybe tomorrow. Or if it is already tomorrow you will do it day after tomorrow. And for those now smiling because they have actually done something, you are just marginally less selfish because you did only that which was convenient to you. I made you feel good about yourself and you were happy after not being selfish. Good people.
You have to accept that fact. No don’t become the devil. We should try to be unselfish. Instead of believing that we are unselfish, good people and doing nothing, we should accept that we are selfish animals and try not to be so. It is that trying to not be an animal that makes us human. It is that which gave us the civilizations of old and new.
Don’t go out and change the world tomorrow. Start small. Take a second, read the front page. Maybe something happened to someone that is important. Maybe you can do something little. Maybe a mail. Maybe a facebook status update. And so we go….Tada!!!!
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