Awareness

How much tolerance is given in the workplace? What number does a parent count down from before taking action? Should authorities have endless patience before enforcement? Standards are quite important. There is a point where a student has failed, then starting over at the beginning. 

I was posing facetious questions to myself about old grudges. The time-tested Hatfield and McCoy’s feud symbolic of hatred with unknown origins. A clash that was carried on by relatives and decedents. History is filled with things decades or centuries old. Which ones are still fervent enough to have emotions about? 

A country based around capitalism is the foundation for inequality. The entire structure is to outwork those around you and prosper. If everyone worked varying amounts and led the same life, what would then be the motivation to try at all? Social programs propagate being able to rest easy during tough times. They are not made for a long-term stay. 

The debate about minimum wage for jobs with introduction to the workforce, requiring minimum skills... Well, those are base pay jobs which are not designed to pay mortgage and later life tithes. Though they serve as good second jobs for folks, the concept remains the same. Someone in their twenties graduates into management and then takes on more financial responsibility. Possessing greater skills, they can increase their income. Spending responsibly is something that should never change. 

Going back to my inquiry about the sensitivities of various cultures: Are the veterans still carrying hatred for Vietnamese people because of the POW labor? How about Hebrews for what the Egyptian Pharaohs did before Moses had to lead people astray? The other (because Egypt is in Africa) slave traders and work camps by Africans who sold people as exports to "Caucasians" (who are actually Europeans)? You may not be aware these are all biblical connotations. Each group being of Hebrew descendance even as they were shipped worldwide.  

How about the forced labor of Germans? I may be unaware of a quiet revolution by Jewish folks, but they seemed to have found prosperity and peace. Further North, is it still a thing where the Bolshevik families despise Putin? Russians seem to be doing well, despite many setbacks. Though, like many Asian nations the veil of truth depicts the citizens in upstanding ways despite what we know of their government agendas. 

Are there Christians still discussing the fallacies of the Ottoman Empire? People enslaved for work and sex for hundreds of years. This went on well beyond the American Civil War. The countries have slavery in the name... Serbia. Has it never occurred to folks what Yugoslavia means? Seems to me we've even let go of the hatred of September 11th. Which could have reignited the old flames of when the Turks attempted to or did enslave a great many of our ancestors. 

Living in the New World, I cannot see anyone still pissed at the English for their forced labor through serfdom. What about William Wallace's people having to sharecrop and live under Lords and Nobles? You don't see the UFC or sports matching up those nations to settle the score.

The Industrial Revolution brought work from a variety of places throughout the world. The railroads notorious for one form of labor; Northeastern cities from another; Southern states another. 

Communities have their own version of holding people back. Companies have been able to do this through their general store. The work and pay never get past necessity for families to save. They'll never be able to leave the job or the town. Walmart does internal studies to show that employees spend a great deal of their income back in the stores they work. 

How does this apply to prison/forced labor still happening today? The idea of slavery and forced work is wrong, but you could be sentenced into it? Just not sell them into it. They wouldn't want to be called slaves or servants... Inmates, however? People get stopped, they video the cops, they tell them how to do their job. And they label them public "servants." The incompetency of these actions staggers me. 

People are so strange about the content of their language. The lack of education present in our practices truly bogs down the discussion. "You know what I mean." No, I don't. Because of the hundreds of thousands of words in the English language, there is a modem or presentation and having yourself together. Emotions are no substitute for preparation. Take the time to have well-thought out points with the corresponding words. 

How about having a military draft? Where does this weigh on the sanctity of life scale? Men used for war, but they serve side by side with all ethnicities. Selections are forced to go or imprisoned for refusing. Other folks will be exempt from the system. Famous men like Cassius Clay refuses to go; a man who would become President Clinton refuses to go. Do they deserve the same criticism? Maybe a new term is on the horizon:  peripheral equality. 

So, let's bring this back around to social programs. Is it only working against your will, lacking the rights? Because even with the rights we pay for folks who don't have health care. The risk of having to pay your own car repairs when hit by the uninsured. How about paying into Food and Nutrition programs for EBT and stamps? Folks extending the court system through flagrant abuses of civil pursuits? If you're part of housing aide and welfare instead of gainful employment... Who's working for who? 

There's such a strange dynamic of what is considered poverty of a fixed system. People immigrating into America are able to own businesses and prosper. They struggle with the language and have rough beginnings. This is true for all sorts of demographics. The value systems of those households have structure. Often there are religious and shameful sort of elements that motivate people to not fail. The lack of dedication and morals allows for a different sort of outcome.

For instance, everyone pays the price of inflated retail because of theft. Society foots the bill to help educate one another. But the working world falls apart with the lack of responsibility. Abandoning work, embezzlement, dishonest customers abusing merchants all change the cost of living. A lack of punishment with the empathy for malicious people opens doors to deviance. 

Not caring for your home brings down the property values of the neighborhood. There's a lack of accountability for being an uninsured driver, for abusing social programs, and generally failing to continue to learn. An increasingly complex world is drowning because the buoyancy of logic has been pulling us down for too long. The fresh air of the surface, breaking even, will never happen until folks have some idea how much pressure they are putting everyone under because of their individual actions. 

At what point is there a chain of responsibility? We are fashionable to buy the Air Jordan sneakers manufactured by folks paid slave wages. They are disadvantaged and exploited to feed profit. Advocating for oppression with dollars is alright. You can even wear the shoes proudly as if you've got style and taste. A collector's item... Does that label come from the heart and soul someone put into those shoes? Have you collected their broken spirit? You know, before the company moves the factory to another location avoiding union workers or having to pay wage increases? 

If you aren't aware, companies scout an area and build operations. They can move the operations to a new place while being given new incentives in the next town. This happens right here in America. The corporation negotiates with your town. They bargain for incentives, like not paying sales tax for an extended amount of years. The jobs they "create" don't generate money.

A sales pitch by the company, when successful, will purge the economic flow from your town and dam it up, drowning everyone. If they eventually leave, the dam has burst, and it leaves the people behind washed out. Lots of water metaphors here... Back to the sneaker food chain: You keep playing musical chairs with those third-world areas so that no one has bargaining power. They're never able to strike or demand anything of fairness. 

The cost of these outsourced "jobs" to serve our tastes is beyond cost analysis. The loss of industry is almost immeasurable. People lose their work and have a community with a lower standard of living. That's what's happenings here at home. Unless you consider the Earth one community.

Companies will do this sort of business have a documented history of product quality issues. Items are made through inferior and unsafe means. Corporations have workers that aren't protected by the same safety standards of the United States. Don't worry these health and community issues stay behind with the factory workers when they ship things to your door. 

Although... recalls happen more often. Lucky for the consumer, these cost-cutting measures mean that there's room to settle lawsuits and get your goods at a cheap price. You put out a rushed or generally defective item which will eventually be found out. However, like with pharmaceutical companies the price point is built like a rebate. So, if you never collectively discover what should be a recall, like with the thermostat of a Chevy Cruze, no recourse is ever given to the public-at-large. 

In the case of that automotive issue, there's never been a recall. Just a great deal of independent mechanics being paid by the customers who own the faulty car. The company should be responsible, but we're not on the same page. We could say not to eat meat because of what cattle farming companies do with methane. We want the animals to be treated "humanely." Recognize the species in that word? But the herd of drivers are more like sheep. 

So, we fight about the cattle and develop Impossible burgers and Vegan recipes. Where's the alternative slave wage aversion to the Nike shoes? Shouldn't you buy Earth friendly and local footwear? Sure, you're running to support a good cause. Those feet look stylish as you do the March of Dimes and a 5K for Susan B. Komen. Meanwhile, somewhere in a shop without air conditioning a man is working for a fraction of what your fellow countrymen would be making to support your nation's economy. 

Strange isn't it, how people are alright with climbing that ladder of hypocrisy. Maybe it's better to be at sea level. On the sand perhaps. The same height as the proverbial buoy I mentioned earlier. There's a side of us that struggles to make ends meet and to work together with our own community. Another side of us is devoid of accountability for knowing who else we are holding back. 

The waters are full of sharks. Some represent greed and others are predators without currency. Folks mostly want to know they can survive. We live in a world with changing weather dominated by mammalian minds. People have so much influence on the planet that we have changed the climate. Imagine the way we have shaped other human beings around us. 

Possessions that we own are simply material things. Most of those are made by people who do not share our political systems or freedom. We're spending dollars that make a voyage away from democracy and their being laundered at the border. This currency changes hands but remains our individual responsibility. Many of these places still practice the politics and social castes of the last millennia. Sending your money back in time hundreds of years, now working against the systems we hoped to outrun. 

Modern social structures could easily include courtesy, product knowledge, environmental responsibility. Those things can only follow being educated. Taking the time to think before action and to treat other people well. Acknowledging one another with a friendly word or gesture. This process includes knowing when you're ignoring parts of the problem. No matter how far away the damage is, be conscious. 

Knowing how the world works can open the loopholes for people to take advantage. If we all have the insight, then we can take away those opportunities for abuse. People doing their homework can then have an intricate understanding of the good and bad in every choice. This takes away the anchor of selfishness. Together we hold each other accountable. 

Like a life preserver of truth, being informed is a social gospel. We may not all interpret things in the same direction or believe to the same depths. We are however, now on the same page. When people can have sophisticated conversations, we can solve the most complex problems. The more each of us knows, the more folks decide the outcome.

Integrity plays a vital role in what we want to accomplish. Parenting and guidance remain important throughout life. Share with people who have less experience and information. Putting everything on the table, like the discovery phase of a court case. Companies audit one another for mergers. Everyone is seeking a thorough understanding to avoid deception. This is important as people step back with a hand out waiting... 

As individuals we ought to be trying to enhance the people around us. We have individual responsibilities to be educated and practice ambition. Stronger ideals are means to compassionately achieve more together. Standing on firm ideas with dense air. The higher we climb in the social stratosphere or above sea level, the harder we work to breathe. Balance is key to survival and comfort. Staying above water and having it nearby for all of our needs. A sea of truth is a wonderful place to live. 

A person can see through the crystal-clear water against the shore because we've not polluted or disrupted the fragile sea. A place where conscience and clarity have protected the world around us. People keeping a natural balance and leaving the elements free of disruption. Some of the most beautiful places like Hawaii remain the most naturally volatile places on Earth. The snows of Kilimanjaro cut short, often hard to find, destroyed by carbon footprint of a human yeti. 

Judgment and fear play important roles in being able to open the discussion with strangers around you. The same type of folks will share the ventilated air of a restaurant with us. Fellow customers in anonymity. A simple hello takes you from being an unrealized neighbor to an acquaintance. 

There's never a wrong time to do the right thing. Share with people around you. Be yourself and give it to them straight. Act on opportunity and avoid being malicious. Stop holding grudges and embrace education. Having knowledgeable vision allows everyone to open doors, even for one another. There will come a time for us to stop destroying the world around us. 

The inequality of capitalism and America will always remain. That doesn't mean we can't be comfortable. There is no excuse for a lack of personal accountability. Vanity is that ultimate price as we try to outshine one another. Then I remembered the basic concept of why I began writing and named my web-space Escaping Vanity. 

My belief is that with clarity we all hold each other and life to be sacred. Love is a tough road. Especially for an entire society. Listen to the people around you. Sometimes they are the warning. In other moments they will deliver the truth. Sometimes both of those things are happening.

No one sets out to be judged or to feel guilty. Shouldn't we presume wonderful things about the possibilities each of us have inside? Why would you ever intentionally hold people down? Be straight with one another and together we all share responsibility. When we have the facts together, we are only left with the innocence of honesty.