14 January 2011

Early Morning Epiphany

So I sit here with my cuppa, a sizeable thought on my lips.  “America’s problem is…”
First off, one has to suppose there is a problem.  I mean, merely flip on the news or turn on the radio {talk- or Top 40, if you get me} and percolate for twenty minutes; one quickly gets the impression there is a problem.  So this in mind, {and realizing that this is going to be a generalization on a rather grand scale} in general terms one can infer it’s a problem of dissatisfaction.  For simplicity’s sake, lump America into two halves, say {and I do; really, the American middle classers tend to lump themselves in either one of two directions, being upper- or lower-} a ‘high’ and ‘low’ classation[i].  The lower end of the spectrum possesses all the wonderful amenities and entertainment devices our civilisation has to offer.  Despite this, there persists this gnawing sensation of unhappiness that pervades the cultural scene.  Without realizing it, perhaps, these people are unsatisfied with the kit and I daresay want the caboodle; the status, the sense of accomplishment, the money.  Always that one extra thing…
Little might they realize that, up on the high side of things, the folk with both caboodle and kit are likewise unsatisfied[ii].  Money they may have, but only in a perceived state of precarity.  Many worries cloud the financial stability they’ve built:  investments, mortgages, Taxes, potential court action, credit repayment, monthly-rate services; a seemingly endless list.  Money they may have, but it never seems to be enough and as easily as it comes it seems to disappear as easily {or moreso} as it came.  And really there’s not much to show for it, at the end of the day.  All the sweat and cramps and worry and people stepped on, and for what?  Virtually the same kit as even the most modest income-generator.  The brands may be nicer, the functions more diverse, the car more exotic, but as evening falls they still have the same 250 channels to watch.  Simply put, ‘success’ and ‘hard work’ apparently afford few extra comforts, and little peace of mind.  To wit, a recent study indicates that the average household ‘happiness’ does not increase beyond a salary of $75,000[iii].
It’s an easily overlooked piece of information, but we are the most fortunate nation IN THE WORLD TO DATE, IN THE HISTORY OF EVER, at least in terms of palpable wealth and ease of living.  And yet the world is never enough.  No, a circular and somewhat paradoxical unhappiness persists, fed in large part by a system of commerce and media that simply[iv] feeds off of the ideas it sows.  Insecurity.  Entitlement.  Comfort.  Status.  Et cetera.  All illusory and preying on people’s ego and their collective bewilderment {misplaced, I say} that this is indeed it.  It begets a phantom frustration, an anger which few know where to vent for lack of a clear source.  They do so through the only mediums they have available; viz. the political scheme that {not to sound cynical and/or paranoid} essentially fronts the aforementioned system of commerce/media.  Not to say these things are necessarily bad; grains of salt, bad-and-good-and-all like.  It’s just that there are far too few voices out there suggesting that we’re doing alright.  That it’s a matter of perspective, and requires a due amount of patience and understanding and such to mend what problems we do have.  Perhaps there are plenty of said voices; perhaps they are merely drowned out by the cries for blood and of fire and falling skies and communist takeovers.  Just remember that there’s more to life than lower taxes {i.e. a quick ‘fix’} and bigger TV’s.  In light of recent events it becomes important to remember that all the shouting and muckraking is merely political manipulation for the short game.  In all it’s nothing to get bent out of shape about, regardless of what tantalizing promises and exaggerated threats are made. 

&ca

[i] I know, I know… new word.
[ii] If political rhetoric is any indication.  Mind, these are all only impressions of the general climate.
[iv] Actually, it’s quite complex.

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