"only a fool would say that" is the title of a steely dan song. i feel like, i get that a lot. not in so many words. the words i have got were more along the lines of, oh you just want a star trek world where everything is free. to which i say yeah! sure, I'll take that. this type of remark is usually delivered dripping with scorn for some reason. oh, right. the reason? it's socialism. ok? so what? people are working, busy, purposeful. they're educated and the system is designed to support itself.
if the idea of any of that seems preposterous, unthinkable, that is funny and incorrect. the fact that star trek is well known enough to scoff at is proof it's part of the zeitgeist even if one's never seen it. the thing is, can you conceive of making it a reality? can you allow yourself to picture in your mind, you living that life? to all appearances, there's rarely a dull day in star fleet. can we let ourselves imagine ourselves there in that world? if you can and do, then boom! that's a first step taken in the direction of making it a reality. not that you are expected to construct it, it's probably enough to be open to the idea. if one can go from skeptic to participant, even better. we see others' lives improve and we want a piece of that too. it's called following suit.
it just seems unnecessarily harsh to say only a fool would say that. it's hurtful, especially when one's only trying to help and knows that people's minds tend to allow themselves look at with greater openness if someone else they know looks like they're doing well. wink.
what if things did get better for us, for you? feel free to offer your own presentation. seriously, if someone has any other ideas step up! no need to wait for an invitation, get started. it's amazing what doing that will set in motion, even if the idea doesn't take home, join the club. there will be critics and competition and not every idea will gain a foothold. that's okay, it's good. there are a crap load of us and a lot of permutations to exhaust before enough of us will be satisfied enough to reach a consensus.
in the song the scenarios told in the verses are stories of people whose lives sound not entirely to their liking, but are so tired, burned out, and uninspired to see any image other than that of their daily life and no more. they only need a bit of help to move them from their malaise. a gentle reminder that this is not all there is. to remember a time before the miring in drudgery and head down slide into a depressive state. one where we fall into a belief we can't have better, do better, be better. heart and mind, what is there to lose if misery is the only thing we know? it's a like disease, a delusion and we can overcome it. return to ourselves and to normal.
so, here's the thing about the song. when i wrote everything prior to this new paragraph, i did not know that the steely dan song was in reaction to john lennon's imagine. now i get why it was so snarky. on the other hand, i get where john lennon is coming from. was. i know i wasn't saying what people in reaction to what i actually said came back with. that was in angrily stated remarks about how everybody can't just be friends! they won't have it! that just can't happen! it's impossible! or beliefs sort of testily expressed about how there's no way a world can exist where we're just nice to each other or words to that effect.
what i did say was, in all of these contentious situations we find in the world today, as has happened in the past, they come to an end. somebody always has to start it. there's always someone that is going to finally be at the end of their rope and put down the sword or the gun or whatever it is because they don't want to continue with the violent action or the war. they don't want to accept slavery any longer. whatever it is seems to be always some kind of unjust situation that goes on for maybe a really long time, and then does what eventually? come to an end. endings always begin with a catalyst and it's usually due to a person having said or done something that inspires the rest of the population to join them in rebellion and that's how change happens.
it doesn't matter to me if you can't believe it or you can't picture it, that could change. people's minds change on a dime. there is historical evidence, to proove the fact i will cite an example: east germany. the ending.