America has always been known for it's independent spirit. We are going to do it our way and no one is going to tell us otherwise.
In many ways this is a fantastic part of our society. We are always striving to improve and are willing to take risks to be successful in one part of our life or another. The individual business owner, the person who changes job fields to do something that they love rather than just have a job, the person who chooses to live a clutter free life and not to bow down to the current standards of society, but do their own thing instead.
Unfortunately, this independent spirit also has drawbacks. Rarely do we as a nation come to a consesus about anything, whether it be the best type of medical care, cell phone systems or vehicle regulations. This causes us to be woefully behind the rest of the industrialized worlds when it comes to things like technology, the reduction of pollutants in the air and universal health care along with a myriad of other issues.
At what point do we celebrate our independence but also temper that independence with common sense smarts that allow us to get the best of both worlds?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
13 comments:
As long as there are different types of people with different lifestyles and experiences we will always have people at odds and varying choices. It will never stop.
It's always been that way throughout all times... It probably goes back to the beginning of time...
On the other hand, one way for everything ends up being a monopoly. A degree of conformity which might likely require some heavy enforcement to keep.
I agree with DMarks. i don't think there are any easy answers. Wouldn't it be great if there were?
Diva ~ I agree and individualism is very important. What I am talking about is making common sense decisions that make our country more cohesive.
Babybull40 ~ I think that everyone may have differing opinions but that there can be majority decisions made for the good of the people.
dmarks & Churlita ~ I don't mean that there can only be one way for everything. What I mean is that we agree as a nation to use more cohesive programs that are easier to integrate. Look at cell phone services. When cell phone services became more mainstream there were a few different ways that the cell service could be set up (not the service plans, but the network). Most of the other countries in the world decided on one type of cellular communication grid while here in the use we utilized all 3 and each cell company chose the type of grid that they wanted to use. Because of that lack of foresight and general agreement, we are 3-5 years behind the rest of the world when it comes to the phones, programs and services that we can get on our phones because 80% of the country is the only area in the world that uses a certain type of cell phone service grid that doesn't interact with what the rest of the world uses. So the cell companies cater to the rest of the world that has 1 type of system grid and then eventually it trickles down to the small percentage that comprises of the US market. Am I making sense here?
We need a dictator to solve things. A leader who doesn't care what other people think. A leader who will stick their head in the sand and push the master plan in a effort to stay the course and get things done. A leader who will... oh, wait, we got that already. Nevermind.
This is one way to look at it: you have an absolute right to swing your arm, until it reaches the tip of my nose.
Limits on speech, as opposed to action, must, in a free society, be VERY broad. Short of publishing troop movements in war time or shouting fire in a crowded theater, I think the cure for bad speech is more speech, not suppression of speech.
I've said this before, but failed to credit Yippie and Merry Prankster Abbie Hoffman: To me, freedom means the right to shout movie in a crowded firehouse.
Freedom is becoming a subjective word...what is free to me might not be free to (they). What they like might offend me. I cannot be offended because they are free, but I am free to be offended. But if I am offended too much at their freedom I might offend them back and they have the freedom to be offended right back at me. Vicious cycle......where does it end?
You can please some of the people some of the time but you cannot please all of the people all of the time.
It's becoming a "Brave New World" order.....
hm. This one I have to chew on before really commenting. I wonder, what led you to post this?
I guess thats the problem with democracy as it exists...the sad truth is the masses need to have some freedoms, but not all of them, because most of the freedoms we have really are pointless and do not add to our happiness but rather our woes.
sometimes I wonder this on an individual plane - not just 'country'. How do I allow myself to be independent as I want to be and yet still allow myself open for other things? I can't even answer that question for myself to tell you the truth..
Rachel: You made sense, I understood.
Agreed.
Post a Comment