By Michael Smith (Veshengro)
This culture that governments have nurtured over the last decades that was really what lies behind the UK riots. The wanting and thinking that during a “riot” is the ideal time for a bit of looting.
It is this culture that is destroying our community and it takes away any and all feelings in a charitable way towards others amongst us. The very fabric and structure of our society is being destroyed by this attitude, this culture of “I want and I want it now”.
The UK riots of August 2011 are a good example for this as they had nothing to very little to do with deprivations, poverty, etc., but everything with this culture of want and greed and with criminality pure and simple.
The biggest problem is that we have been conditioned into this “I wand and I want it now” culture from a very early age and by our very own governments even and by easily available credit. Well, the latter before the credit crunch.
Now, with less credit available and with less money too many seem to believe that they are entitled to have and to get what they want when they want it and, if the cannot get the money to buy those things then, well, they just simply go and steal them.
Unless we – the majority I am referring to here – begin to understand that there is no entitlement to have everything that we want when we want it our society is headed down the tubes and that rather rapidly.
In addition to that this wanting now culture is also bad for our wallets and the Planet for all those new goods that the majority, it would seem, demand have to be made, often in places such as China; have to be shipped here, etc., and that all at a great cost to the environment and the Planet.
The majority of people, in the UK at least, want to “upgrade” their cell phones at least every six months, their PCs and Laptops every year, and their TV, it would seem, about every two years to new and racier models. My question is: “why?”
Their answer to that is that the newer models have all those bells and whistles that they “need” but which, in fact, most will never, ever use.
This creates a race of keeping up with the “Joneses”, the peers, and thus we MUST HAVE new every time they get new or, better still, before the neighbor gets the newest version. Oneupmanship is the game here and if they can't afford the latest... well then one either buys on the never, never or, if that does not work, one goes and steals it.
I have many, many years decided that keeping up with the Joneses was not what I was going to do. In fact I was taught this already as a child, and thus never ever, even with money in my pocket or the bank, wanted to have always new.
When I was a child we could not afford always new and most of the time we repaired something that others had thrown out, and I still like to do that today.
There is no need to always have to have the latest and there no one is entitled to have everything that he or she wants at the very moment that they want it. We must kill this culture and that the sooner the better.
© 2011
