The Secret To Life

Its so simple that millions have overlooked it.

Its so important that millions have tried to keep us from knowing it.

The secret to life is to give a damn.

Caring brings meaning to life.

Caring gives us a purpose or two.

Caring compels us to make things better.

But if you give a damn, you'll want to fix things – and some people don't want that. Change could take away their benefits.

America's two party political system has been very resiliently resistant to change that could take away benefits for those actually run our system. America's health care fiasco is a perfect example. There are dozens of examples of nations who do a better job at taking care of their citizens than the United States. But, do we learn from their successes? Do we rationally try to figure out what we could do make things better? We could. But that would only happen if we all really gave a damn.

Instead, we allow our “elected representatives” to handle it for us. And consequently, we will get the system we have earned - politics as usual.

It seems the Republicans don't have a heart, and the Democrats don't have a spine. This is not an accident. This is an illusion of democracy. And it's our fault.

We have forgotten the secret of life.

We have been misdirected – to pay attention to those things that don't matter as much. We have allowed ourselves to look the other way. Because it's easier. If you don't care about something, you don't have to do anything about it. If you don't care, you don't have to risk anything. Just let the “activists” do all the work. Just vote for the right person, and they can fix things for you. Believe the lie and you can spend your weekends drinking beer and watching sports on the television.

How convenient...

They can make millions selling us bland, mindless entertainment – which keeps us occupied – and out of their politics.

Our Nation's founding fathers warned us:

A functional democracy requires constant diligence.

Therefore, a dysfunctional democracy only requires that you not care.

Those who want a dysfunctional democracy want us to feel disconnected.

Those who want a dysfunctional democracy want us to feel weak.

Those who want a dysfunctional democracy don't want you to know the secret of life.

Those who want a dysfunctional democracy don't want us to give a damn.

For if we show up at the table, they won't always get their way.

You should realize by now that they ultimately want us to be their slaves.

(Not all the time, of course. Slaves have to be taken care of.)

However, even slavery wouldn't be so bad if our system didn't reward critically irresponsible behavior. We are destroying the Earth's ecosystems - which humanity so critically depends upon.

In case you hadn't noticed, we are collectively shitting in our mess kit. But for some reason, we've chosen to ignore this obvious fact. How convenient...

Face it; we are ultimately to blame for our own ignorance and irresponsible behavior. We want to maximize our profits (without considering all of the costs). We want to diversify our investments (without regard for the consequences of some of those investments). We want to maintain “sustainable growth” (which is an oxymoron).

We want to eat our cake and have it to. Effectively, we want the physically impossible.

Is it any wonder our political systems are dysfunctional?

We want a better world, but we want somebody else to pay the price for us.

Of course, simple physics should remind us that we ultimately will pay the price - plus interest.

The secret to life is to give a damn.

And the secret to giving a damn is to recognize what to give a damn about.