The Great Depression

80 years ago this country was in an economic depression, now I believe we find ourselves in the midst of a nationwide emotional depression. We have lost our sense of the worthiness of others and consequently started spiraling down a path of angst and anger. We no longer have a collective idea that something important is all around us, we don’t feel insignificant any more. Those feelings have been replaced with the ideals of self entitlement and arrogance. We are casting off the so called “shackles” of the past and leaving a path of destruction in our wake. We have begun to move away from ideals that were once a cornerstone of society. I’m not saying that you have to be a Christian to be a good person, I have a great friend who is an atheist, she is also a vegetarian. This woman’s core beliefs however are that every living thing has a purpose and is valuable. She is kind, gifted, and intelligent. These are the beliefs I feel we are losing as a society, that everyone is valuable. Just watch the news and you’ll find that while it is on literally all day long there may only be a few minutes of coverage on what they call a “feel good” story. I worry about the direction that our world is being pushed; I’m not sure where we’re going but every day I see fewer people respecting each other. You can sit on a street corner for a day and just watch random strangers yell at each other over non-events. People are becoming so arrogant that they are shooting each other in traffic over a 10 second set back or a parking space. That’s not to say that there are no good people left in the world; it’s just that the good people are becoming the timid ones. There once was a time that being a decent person was expected of you and if you weren’t then the whole of society would set you straight. These days we expect the worst from each other and sometimes that’s just what we get. I still like to put my faith in people, I think that’s where it starts. If we ever want to take back society it’s going to be through kindness, faith, and trust. Perception over time equals reality, we have perceived society to be evil for so long, perhaps we should change that. Just put yourself out there and trust that people are inherently good, believe that everyone is valuable. It’s that simple.