V For Vendetta, “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.”Why?
Why is there such a deep craving for power and money?
When life was simple, there was no need for money. The idea of being better and above someone else was almost completely unheard of. Yes, there might have been one hunter who was stronger than the others in his clan and therefore lead the clan to food. That is not power.
Governments in many countries crave more power than what they already have. The governments that are in place to protect the people that live within their country are the same governments that set up powers to hurt the people of their country so they can make more money. Now a days, governments are in place to make money. However, many people live ignorant of that fact. Because someone from a high ranking company or from a government section say that everything is peachy fine, common people believe them and everything is alright.
Stated above is precisely what had happened to the people living in Hinkley, California. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG & E) paid for a doctor to tell certain families that the chromium in the water was not the cause of all of the health problems they were having. PG & E also had employees talk to the people in Hinkley that the chromium they were ingesting into their system was actually healthy for them. Until Erin Brockovich looked into the problem, everything for the people of Hinkley wasn't too bad. Yes, they all had medical problems, but it was not the fault of PG & E and so, everything was good.
All that I have left to say is with a question:
How come so many documentaries, songs, speeches are given about fighting back the power and yet so little is done to stop it?
Hints of change in power come up now and then, but really there is nothing big done. Over the past few weeks, I have learned a lot about the American government and systems and of human nature.
The environment is dying. Soon, it will be beyond repair. We know this. We know that if we do not do something now, then we will be caught up in our own demise. Why, if we know how to fix this, will no one do anything to stop it? The environment is about one to two hundred years from collapse. Health care in many countries means 'how much money can we suck out of people until they die and we discontinue them?'
People do not have homes to live in. Why should they have to pay to be able to have the basic human need? The same with water. People should not have to fear their water be poisoned and they should not have to pay for it. There is problem after problem with the world that we live in. We also have a solution that should prolong the life of humans and the planet. However, humans are prone to postponing solutions and letting someone else deal with it. But what can one say? Humans have become corrupt.
One of my high school teachers has a Masters in history. With the studies that she has done, mankind is due for another dark ages. It is something that has happened roughly every five hundred years of man's existence on Earth. In this time, the basics of life, the family as a solid unit become the focus of life. Time dedicated to the sciences and arts are cut back some. I feel that it is time. However, I feel that this dark age just may be the worst and the best that has ever passed. Without it, there's a chance that mankind just might die all together.
[This is excerpted from a paper that I wrote for Sociology]
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Very interesting, and true. One thing I really can't agree with however is your romantization of primitive societies. The world is full of problems, but life in general at least, is better than what it used to be. Your description of the hunter wasn't power, but power was still possible back then; living a luxurious life on the backs of others.
ReplyDeleteI'd say the two biggest problems around right now are a lack of knowledge combined with too many laws, and the idea that one person can't make a difference so you might as well just make yourself comfortable. If instead the idea of, regardless of how much difference you make, not being a hypocrite and not contributing to anything you dissagree with took hold, I think we'd be much better off.
I think you may over-idealizing some things here, Jessi, although I like your basic idea.
ReplyDeleteIn your first point: be careful about romanticizing primitive technology. Even the natives had tribal wars between one another - remember the Mohawks and the Hurons, renowned across the country? And in some circumstances without leadership, people can devolve into mere animals and slaughter each other to further their own gains.
Governments aren't merely in place to make money, although they spend it quite unwisely. If they didn't tax us, no one would pay for our water, give us health care, electricity, police support, education, or anything the government currently does for us.
If governments didn't subsidize universities, it's unlikely any of us could afford to go. Is that the government's fault, or is it the university's for wanting to pay its professors, and fund research?
Private corporations are shit in some cases, I agree with you there.
Regarding the environment, you can blame that on the Western consumer and industrialization, for the most part. How much power does your average family use, how much water? How much carbon dioxide and methane do our farm animals expel to grow our food? Transportation here and there?
The only way to fix the environment is to drastically reshape our way of life, and/or reduce our population. But one person acting cannot achieve this - a complete shift in environmental consciousness among the people is required. After all, one person may be environmentally friendly, but a hundred more won't be. This is changing... but slowly.
Regarding water, that's simply impossible. I read an article recently - did you know the government massively subsidizes our water industries to keep it cheap? The result is that people waste water, take long showers, and use it without regard - no matter how much they use, the price remains the same.
Can you imagine how much water people would waste if it were free?
The argument that this would hurt poor people doesn't hold water (pun unintended), as the rich people use so much more water in their big mansions that the poor are actually subsidizing the rich.
The alternative, to get rid of water regulation altogether, would lead to everyone going down to the local stream or river for water. I've done this before, it works fine - but in a more populated area? Human waste (oh, which we can't treat without the government) would flow into the water, and like in Africa, there are many deadly diseases that we don't have now. Many worse than chromium.
We have to pay for water in order for it to be given to us. To demand we can use everything for free just reeks of the wasteful western society. =S Let everyone pay for how much they use - that will give people an incentive to conserve nature's water and to save their money, as well. Same applies to electricity.
I was here.
ReplyDeleteUmm, I meant to say "too many LIES" not laws. Sorry.
ReplyDelete