We can clone a human but we can’t save a life in Israel.
We can synthesize Methadone, but we can’t destroy H.I.V.
We can preach love, and we can slit throats.
We can preach Gospel and rape children, under the same roof.
We can spend billions to see if there is life on Europa, but we cannot feed our nations hungry.
We can proclaim daily, " with Liberty and Justice for all " and yet I am reminded daily, sometimes hourly that my life is what it is because I am a white male.
As George Carlin said, " The same words that can hurt can heal" and yet we chose words incessantly that gore away at those we love the most.
Right now, I hate the world almost as much as I hate my own brain.
Cartooniverse, your question and your sorrow and despair are old and common.
You do what you can do to make the World better. That is all that you can do. You make a change that is positive, and try to influence others to do the same.
These things in life are too large for you. Do what you can, then rest and reflect on what is good in life. And the World - for while there is much injustice and pain in the World, there is also much justice and happiness. There are things in the World that are wrong, but things slowly but surely move towards a better state throughout history.
Help history move along towards that better state in your own, small, personal way. And be happy that you have done good.
Sorry to have bothered you with old and common concerns. Next time, they’ll be new and unique. :rolleyes:
I respectfully disagree with you. Define all I can do. Define all YOU can do, or anyone else. Perhaps the genesis of my frustration was the very inability to alter those things in my/our world that are most painful to my mind these days.
Being a good father or decent person in no way affects the issues I stated specifically.
Oh c’mon, Anth. Pardon me while I contemplate life’s more difficult issues, and allow myself to believe that they are NOT in any way too large for me. Would it make you feel better if the sum scope of other people’s attentions never went beyond whether or not Barney is real? Please. Jesus wept… I’ve got news for you- it’s the large things in life that are worth thinking about, considering, pondering and yes, becoming despaired of sometimes.
No argument there, but I didn’t post my distress into the Pit so I could point out a litany of Susie Sunshine Happy Moments around the globe. It is IMHO that there is small happinesses and infinitely small justice, day to day. The larger issues that I raised will not- again, IMHO- be adjudicated wtih any real justice. It is the very nature of how we are to each other as humans that distresses me so, and brought about that rant.
I happen to disagree. History repeats itself, with heart-breaking regularity.
Doing good day to day doesn’t erase the pain of realizing that the larger issues seem to be so badly skewed- evidenced in my O.P. By the way, this is in no way an attack on you personally, but you’re the only respondant so far, so I used your quotes here of course.
It’s overwhelming - it’s an evil world out there. Always has been, sadly, it probably always will be. We’re a weak, imperfect, self-absorbed, self-indulgent human race.
Yet, as individuals, we can be generous, compassionate, selfless, courageous, ingenius, as well as vicious, wicked, hateful, immoral… Scary stuff.
Wish I had an answer for you, but I don’t think there is one. Human beings are flawed. The best of us work to make ourselves and our world better. The worst of us don’t give a damn about the rest.
We can hope that we teach our kids to avoid the worst of the world so that they can make it a better, more civilized place. We can hope that in the end, the best in us will defeat the worst. We can do what we can to make things better.
Or we can dwell on the worst and make ourselves crazy and angry and frustrated… and die in despair.
I believe that we should do the best we can and be the best we can. Maybe I’m overly optimistic or maybe I’m in denial. Dunno. I like to think my little contribution makes a difference.
Hmmm, sounds like you could do with a good read of the World Wide Rant. Sorry, your thread title brought me in here - thought we were about to get flamed for our site.
And yes, in many ways, the world sucks. I don’t suspect that’s going to change.
Not to be a wet blanket, but I believe the money we’ve spent studying Europa isn’t even close to the money we’d need to spend to feed the world’s hungry. I seriously doubt it’s “billions,” at any rate.
Now, if you want to compare feeding the world’s hungry vs. Bill Gates’ fortunes made from competition-crushing monopolies, that’ll work.
Nitpick: the OP said “our nation’s hungry.” According to this source, $14 billion a year is spent searching for life on other plants. I don’t know how much it would cost to feed everyone, but there is currently enough food grown - it’s just a matter of distribution.
Thank you, chula. Excellent site. Now to be honest, I cannot imagine even TRYING to figure out what links to provide to show what is spent feeding our country’s hungry. Head Start budgets? Welfare? Food Stamps? It was a Rant, not a college thesis. Lucky for us at least there is only ONE group spending the big bucks on space travel.
My point was well taken, even though sadly I couldn’t figure out HOW to provide decent numbers. If we have kids going to bed hungry in America, then perhaps THAT is more important than knowing if there are indeed bacteria living in the roiling waters under the ice oceans of Europa. IMHO.
Homebrew? Anth is without A DOUBT one of the most thoughtful and articulate Dopers out there. She’s got a mouth. Howzabout if you allow her to use it, m’kay? :rolleyes:
jlzania, I’m half German. I love those words. I am also VERY enamored of that languages ability to do what I DO when writing longhand- insert capitol letters with seeming impugnity. Also, when I was prepping to go to Berlin for a movie shoot that didn’t happen, I was stunned that the name " Oak Lane" translated into "BerlinnerOakkenschplatzzerrhondoPlatz 92 ". Ogre is spot- on. AND, the Foundation cited there is putting a great amount ( NO, not all, so don’t anyone go insane here…) of those resources into worldwide innoculation programs. I think he’s absolutely brilliant with his money. Ferrous, I happen to adore the word Widdershins. What is it about the W’s ???
Yes, the world is a dreary defeating place, and I was feeling incredibly dreary and defeated. Still am. I’m grateful for the dialogue, though.
We can understand the irony of those with the ability to heal instead choosing to hurt, and yet we can choose to hurt someone else with no apparent recognition of how ironical we’ve just made our entire thread . . . .
Nope. You knew exactly what I meant, and thank you for trying to defend me. There’s no point anymore, so just join me in walking away for good. I’ll buy you a beer…or maybe you can brew a good one, as fits your name.
