Hardly Thinking

For those that do, but don't worry about it.

You've been told: just do it; the early bird gets the worm. To the winners go the spoils. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Everybody reveres action-oriented people, those that aren't afraid to strike out and get the job done. You can't win if you don't play. You'll be rewarded by society. All rich people wormed their way to the top, or at very least their ancestors did. They're the elite. They are better.

Of course you know actions have consequences, but thinking about dull things like consequences only slows you down. Keeps you from succeeding. Push, don't stop. If you try hard enough it will get done. If you don't do it, someone else will?

That bad things that are done by you, or in your name? Just trivial side effect of your great efforts. It all evens out in the end. Your accomplishments more than justify a few small problems. Complaints: just more wining. Whatever. You net worth is not negative. Acting is more important than thinking. It must be, look at all of the winners.

Those people hurt by your actions? It is their problem. If they were action-oriented it wouldn't have happened to them. They were in the way. They can't keep up. It is their fault. They aren't as good as you are. They are slow. They didn't work hard enough, not like you.

The damage caused by your short term focus? Not important. It will sort itself out eventually. Not your fault, it happens. You need to think in the short term, that's how you maneuver. Be light, and be nimble. Get to the next step, eventually it should work itself out. Long term vision is too stiff, too slow. Why think hard when you can act instead.

The angry words spoken behind your back? Foolish, jealous people with small minds. The little people. Narrow minded, what do they know of your grand plan. They just can't see it. Its perfect, your sure. If only you could remember it again.

Your karma? Why believe in something like that. It is what you have now that counts. Morales are for slow people. The nice guys finish last. Look at your mansion, your cars, your cottages. Look at all of the dishes you have. Not that Walmart stuff, you have real class. Real stuff. Class that karma can't buy. Your net contribution is not that negative, some good things happened. Focus on those, forget the rest.

So what if every one hates you? So what if your all alone? So what if all of the bad things that you've done in you life come together in some cosmically unconnected coincidence and sent some of what you sent around back your way? Its not a message, not a warning. Ignore it. You'll be back. They can't stop you. After all, action people rule. Your the cream, you'll float to the top again. They were just jealous. You get out what you put in. Don't you?

Actions, you see, are neither good nor bad. And so often they can be a bit of both. It is all about what we do and when we do it. Had you stopped, just that instance to think about it, or even after it was all done to think about whether or not it was good, you might have understood the ramifications of your actions. You might have changed. You might have redeemed yourself. But had you done that, ironically, you wouldn't be an action person anymore and none of this would apply. We humans fail so very often because we run out and do stupid things. Things that should have been avoided. That didn't need to happen that way. Thinking oneself out of every action isn't any better, but at least the net effect isn't less than zero. Sometimes a little though can save everything.

Running out of Time

Every so often, the idea that "we should change the world for the better" pops into someone's head. When this occurs, they -- like all thinking people that ponder over the deeper structure and meaning they see in this world -- sincerely wish for the world to become a better place.

After which, they go back to their lives. They go back to worrying about money or they go back to worrying about their future. They go back to worrying about their kids if they have any, and they certainly go back to worrying about their friends and family. They go back to eating, and sleeping; to reading, and to talking to people. They go back to following the world as it moves through its many various patterns.

Back to all of those things that bind us to our day-to-day existence. Some common things, some cultural and some regional ones.

In that instance, just before they turn back to focus on their own existence, they usually wonder: why is the world such a harsh place? Why do so many horrible things happen to people caused by other people? Why can't we fix things? Why?

And then they go back to their lives. Back to themselves, and away from all of the miseries that drag down humanity. Answering, by their very actions, the question that they just posed. For it is that we live in a harsh world because we choose to. Most people, most of the time, mostly prefer to direct their attention towards their own self interests. Of course, why would you not? It is after all, built into your very soul; possibly even your DNA. But it is that same evolutionary instinct for self survival that opens up the door for all of the world's horrible people to do their horrible things; all, of course, in the name of whatever poorly conceived justification they can conjure.

And so people follow, or they allow it, because at the end of the day they are just too tired from merely existing to be able to stand forth against the terrors unleashed or defend us from strife.

If it where, that the idea that "we should change the world for the better" would stay just a little longer in the minds and actions of more of the world's people, then we might reach civilization just in time to stave off our inevitable doom. Then again, grey might just be a better color for my SUV, it tends to hide the dirt a little better...

Tumbling Towers

Building something is easy, sustaining it is the real challenge. We cannot bear the weight of our own creations; they come tumbling down faster than we can patch them up.

Common Ground

Continuing on from my posts at Yahoo 360, where I restricted myself to just using two sentences in a 'thoughtlet'. The first sentence is a general statement, while the second should appeal directly to the reader, possibly suggesting some action:

Faith can be an excuse to hide error or misdirection. We need to demand reasonable answers to reasonable questions; even spiritual beliefs must be rooted in truth and reality.