Well, the big day has come and gone ... again. Oh, I know, most of my American friends already have the tree untrimmed, down, set out by the trash and the decorations all put away for next year. At some point, those shedding needles have to be shown where they belong. For me, the season is far from over. In fact, it has just started. (For those of you who may have missed it, go here and then read the following four or five posts for the whole story.)
I'll admit it: I love this time of year, I love this holiday season, and I love everything it's supposed to stand for. And, I'm sad about what's been made of it, I'm unhappy about what most people do about it, and I find it depressing how little most people know about it all to begin with.
Today is a holiday all over Europe, in fact. I'm thinking only the Americans don't have time for a second Christmas day. Of course, it's not about the days one might get off work. Americans dismantled that "tradition" a long, long time ago. No, for me, it's about being able -- regardless of how briefly -- to stop and reflect on how good most of us have it, how more-than-I-probably-deserve good I have it, and how we managed to develop a social and, above all, economic system that ensures, that guarantees, that actually judges its success by how badly others are doing.
We've made a lot of technological progress and are in a position to produce more than enough food to feed the world -- even with its overbloated population -- three times over, but nevertheless we allow 50,000 people a day to starve to death. That's something to be proud of, isn't it? It's not about lazy takers in some heathen corner of the world. Some of those starving live within 50 miles of your own home. But we all know that because there's enough for everybody, there's no reason why those without couldn't have more, if they'd only get off their lazy bottoms and work harder, work longer, or simply work at all. Yeah, if the amount and intensity of work were the key, Somalian mothers would be the richest people on the planet. As it turns out, those who actually do the least have the most to show for it. How perverse is that?
Well, I know that I'm one of the few who is willing to call it what it is: perverse. We don't need to get into a religious or theological debate, the system we've thought up and imposed upon the world is, in a word, inhumane. End of story. We don't need crazed Islamist extremists to strike terror into our hearts, an honest look in the mirror and a moment's honest reflection would do just as much. Pogo was right; he hit the nail on the head: We have met the enemy, and he is us. It really is that simple.
But, I don't want to disturb any of you while you're getting back into the swing of things and seeing to it that you get more of what you don't need or want at the expense of the rest of the world. Let's face it: Christmas is about us and how good we've got it, and now that we've got it out of the way for another year, we can get back to doing what we do best: ignoring those in need and praising ourselves for how great we are.
An un-Christmasy message, I know. But sometimes, you just have to get it off your chest. I've now got it off mine, and I'm going to stop and reflect and think about what I can do to help others to get more of what they deserve, whether they meet your standards of effort or not.
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