Being and Optimistic-pessimist as defined by the R.A.D. dictionary, I understand why people take so much for granted these days.
Every time I drive to work in my car by myself I realize that I'm as guilty as everyone I see drive to wherever they're going by themselves. That's me viewing the world through the pessimistic side of the polar belief system I hold as referenced above. The other side of me knows that there are more efficient ways to transport people. Instead of adding more lanes (that become overcrowded with a year or two), why not foster the idea of a future with more mass transit and fewer cars and trucks with single occupants. Widening the roads is how they've addressed the increasing traffic in Miami since I moved here in 1985. Sure, it's made contractors fabulously wealthy but at what cost? Far too many Miamians are spending more time getting to and from work these days and that number is only increasing. While subways are not currently feasible in places like South Florida, buses have been proven to work to alleviate the strain on traffic and on people's wallets.
As an optimist, I can appreciate the advanced in technology that allow Humanity to light up the dark, extending the hours available to do work for so many. As a pessimist, I don't understand why so many people love leaving lights on, and appliances like the TV running when no one is watching. Just because we have more energy to power these things, that doesn't mean we should. No matter which side of the climate change discussion you fall, the money spent on leaving all the lights on all the time should be of concern.
I used to think it was just those in my life that love wasting so much energy and money. I do say that I live in a halfway house after all. Not the kind of halfway house you may be thinking of, I live with people who do everything halfway: They can turn lights on but seem incapable of turning them off; they can fill the refrigerator up with odd unknown brands of food, but they only eat half of it, leaving freezer burnt bags of crap with no apparent expiration date. This however is seemingly not the case as I see the same behaviors at work. I guess their rationale is that it's not they who pay the electric bills for the office spaces in which they work. Even though my job site is subsidized by taxpayer dollars and it is in fact our money that ultimately pays for the light bills, they will never view it as such.
In a much larger stage, few people (if any) that I know pay attention to the debt that endless wars creates. If they don't care about the misery, death and insecurity that America's attacks around the Globe is causing, they should at least care about the wealth that such activities extracts from them and their heirs. They should be concerned about the fact that more than 50% of America's discretionary budget (taxpayer dollars) goes to the military. That's money that would be better suited helping Americans recover from things like the fires in Maui, the chemical spill in East Palestine Ohio, the led-poisoned water in Flint Michigan, the homelessness across the nation. America does not need to create more refugees that it doesn't want, it needs to create an equitable Society where all people are created equal and have unalienable rights endowed by their Creator.
There are solutions and NO, they're not as complicated as the Elites will have us believe they are. For one, resources would not becoming more expensive by the day. There are the same resources on this closed system called Earth today as there were yesterday and last month and last year, so why have the costs gone up so much? It's all because of the conflicts into which our leaders push us. Enlighten yourself and find out about the ways with which we can free ourselves from the tyranny that poses as benevolence in our ruling class.
In 2018, I wrote a book highlighting the problems Humanity would face if more power, wealth, and control was funneled to a small group of elite individuals, groups or organizations. In my book, I provided solutions (from myself and others) to the inevitable problems and also a means for the Public to analyze, compare and contrast the words and deeds of those we choose to follow against reality. In my book Solutions: Enough complaining. Let's fix America.
In "Solutions...", provide the means for readers to disseminate information as provided by their news sources of choice, their elected officials, and any other authority they chose to follow. The book also offers a means to hold their leaders up, not just to a higher standard than is currently accepted but to one that would improve their lives and the lives of those they care for.
