Being Human — It Ain’t Easy

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, education, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, guns, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

I think that being a human is not an easy task.  We care … too much.  Things that happen in our own backyard, but also across the globe, take a toll on our psyche.  I have decided that in my next life, I shall be a wolf … hopefully in an isolated area where humans don’t exist!  Meanwhile, I am stuck with being a human and there is a buildup of snark looking for a place to go, so …

Point your finger elsewhere … it isn’t the president’s fault!

People in the U.S. have long been spoiled, and when things don’t go just as they would like, they look around for somebody to blame.  Most often that pointed finger of blame lands on President Biden these days, but let me tell you something, people … Joe Biden is doing the best job he can, given that he faces a long, uphill battle to fight against the greed and corruption that has become a part of the nation’s unfettered capitalism, and he damn sure isn’t the one responsible for the rising cost of fuel!

The latest, of course, is fuel prices.  In most states, a gallon of gasoline costs anywhere from $4 to $6 and will be going higher almost immediately, now that we have banned Russian oil imports.  But who’s really to blame, if anyone?  Truth is we only import about 3% of our oil from Russia, so the impact should be minimal.  BUT … what everyone downplays or fails to note is that U.S. oil companies are still making record profits!  They could reduce their profits and keep fuel prices reasonable, but … no way, Josè!  No way is Darren Woods, CEO of Exxon-Mobil, going to agree to cut his salary of $23,494,900 per year!  Yes, you read that right … the man makes more than $23 million dollars each year and his salary has not been reduced by a single penny, while fuel prices have more than doubled!

And last year, Exxon-Mobil made $23 billion in profit, which more than made up for their losses the prior year due to the pandemic and lack of travel!  And that’s after paying Mr. Woods his $23 million!

The press plays a role here, too, in riling the masses.  At Monday’s White House press briefing, CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe recited quotes from motorists he had interviewed at a local gas station. Then he asked press secretary Jen Psaki, “What is the President’s message to Americans who are going to the gas station today and seeing prices so high?”  Ms. Psaki is a far better woman than I am, for my answer to Mr. O’Keefe would have been along the lines of … “Suck it up, Buttercup!” (Note to future presidents:  don’t hire me as your press secretary!)

Do you see the people in the UK blaming Boris Johnson or the Queen for the increase in their fuel prices, or the people of France blaming Emmanuel Macron?  No, it is only in the U.S. that people don’t stop to think or do a bit of research into the cause for rising fuel prices – they immediately jump to the conclusion that the president must be to blame!  If lightening were to strike their house and set it afire, they would find some justification for blaming President Biden!

My friends … we are all citizens of this planet.  No matter what country we live in or feel we belong to, we are all citizens of a greater global community.  When times are tough, they are tough for all of us.  The war started by Russia in the Ukraine is going to take an economical toll on every single nation on earth – that is an undeniable fact.  Food prices, fuel prices, and prices for other commodities such as vehicles, clothing, and housing will rise … temporarily.  It isn’t Joe Biden’s fault nor Boris Johnson’s … it’s the way the world works.  Don’t like paying $4 for gasoline?  No, of course not, but I predict it will climb even higher, perhaps as high as $10 before the end of summer.

How can you help?  Drive less, turn your heat down, buy fewer groceries (stop throwing food out and you won’t need to buy as much!), and put off long distance travel plans until next year.  If the oil companies start losing sales, they will have no choice but to re-think their price-gouging!  If you do none of this, then you are contributing to the problem, rather than to the solution, so instead of blaming the President, look in the mirror for a place to point your finger.

Meanwhile … another school shooting

It happened in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday.  A group of students was standing in front of the school when three vehicles drove past them.  The three vehicles circled around to pass them again and as they did, shots rang out.  One student was left dead, two seriously injured.  No less than 35 shots were fired.  Fifteen-year-old Josè David Lopez was killed, and two other students were injured. An 18-year-old girl remains in critical condition and a 16-year-old girl is in serious condition.  Six teenagers between 14 and 17-years-old now face first-degree murder charges in the shooting.

Where did kids 14 years old get a gun???  Did their parents leave it lying around, or was it perhaps, as in the case of Ethan Crumbley last year where the parents actually bought a gun for their child?  STUPID!!!  Guns do not … the people of this country have proven this millions of times … guns do not belong in the hands of the average civilian!!!  How many children have to die before Congress finally understands that gun control laws are essential???  Wake up, ye damn fools!  Get the guns out of the hands of everyone other than military or police!

Next time it might be your child who ends up dead or in prison for life.

32 thoughts on “Being Human — It Ain’t Easy”

  3. I’d be worse Jill.
    ‘What can I say? Bad stuff happens. Ask the Ukrainians about that,’
    Actually there are a number of us who blame Boris Johnson for everything, but then he asked for it by wanting to be PM when he wasn’t suited to the job….. What gets me is customers yelling at petrol station staff.

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  4. Is it really that being human is hard, or that humanity is easy, but humans make it hard? As almost everyone so far has mentioned, humans shirk responsibility. But why? I propse that it is because from our earliest years w are taught by those we see as authority figures to NEVER TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, but always blame someone else. I remember as a child, my parents trying to teach me responsibility (The subject ONLY CAME UP when they saw me as doing something bad, I was NEVER asked to take responsibility if I did something good!) Meanwhile, they were always blaming their mistakes on each other, or God, or politicians, or bosses or someone not them. Or there was alcohol, or breaking down products, or something! What message was that sending. It was okay for them not to take responsibility, but they wanted me to be perfect BY THEIR STANDARDS, as if I was supposed to know what was good or bad without anyone ever teaching me the rules. In order to just survive (I often thought my father was going to beat me to death, because he loved me, he said!) I had to learn to lie. The more elaborate my lies the more they believed them. If I told the truth I got beat.
    But enough about me. People are not taught to take responsibilty for their actions, there is always someone else to blame. I HAD TO TEACH MYSELF THAT I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR WHO I AM! And once I did that, it was just one step further to realize I have a responsibility to all my fellow living beings. And that realization changed my life…

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    • Exactly. More and more it seems that people want to take and never give back, to claim their ‘rights’ without claiming responsibility, leaving the rest of us to pay for their perfidy.

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  7. Pingback: Being Human — It Ain’t Easy | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  8. Pingback: BEING HUMAN – IT AIN’T EASY. |jilldennison.com | Ramblings of an Occupy Liberal

  10. We are, always, looking for someone else to blame, for the thing that are, happening around us, and, it’s, always, easier to, point fingers at another, to, divert the responsibility that we should all, shoulder, equally, after all, we still, all, share this, environment, called, thd global community…

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    • Well, it’s a sign of maturity when a person accepts responsibility for his/her own mistakes, and that is something that is sorely lacking in both government and society these days. With all those ‘rights’ people are claiming comes certain responsibility. Sigh.

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