Self shorting

To a lesser degree it’s a version of self-sabotage i.e. a cheat here and cut-the-corner there, fewer crunches, one more chip or an additional squeeze of ketchup.

Over time, unchecked atomic habits stack up, as we surrender to the current of time. We’re our worst enemies.

Then we shift the blame. It’s the parents, politicians, preachers and police.

All their fault.

We’re born perfect until the “system” corrupts us, by not supplying us with proper nutrition. Opioid is plenty, baby formula scarce.

After the body, then it’s the soul. We seek cheap grace: just believe the lies.

We’re all going to Heaven, without a need for Peter pence or indulgences (by faith alone).

No one is guarding the gate. It’s wide open even if the road is narrow, since we’ve got insiders’ tips. Don’t worry (sounds like a great stock tip). It won’t be like what you thought.

And so it goes. A life under-lived. A disgrace to our parents. A disappointment to our teachers. And an undesirable to society. Blame it on Hollywood, who in turn, blame it on screenwriters, who in turn, blame it on corrupt cops. Art imitates life.

Voila.

No one is responsible. No one is held accountable. (I don’t even want to touch Climate Change, a consequence of collective neglect).

Meanwhile, our leaders’ hands are tied. Every country now resembles Sri Lanka or the Philippines. Unrest that spreads from the Middle East (remember Arab Spring) to Asia summer. It’s hot. It’s the Climate, stupid. It’s the Economy, stupid.

It’s someone else’s fault. Never ours.

So J6 Commission keeps questioning. Civil society at work. Functioning and humming in air-conditioning. The internet (social media) keeps pumping out tabloid-news. Bad news and sensational ones sell. And we’re all suckers whose eyeballs are monitored and monetized.

The gym puts crunch machines in the corner. People walk right by. No one seems to pay attention. Even when we use them, we tend to count our reps faster. Human nature seeks the path of least resistance.

It’s been centuries of civil societies: architecture, art and literature. Yet it’s always sex and violence that attract most and make the most money. Richer = better. And so, it goes. Keep the popcorn coming. More Top Gun, more maverick whose formula always works, from the studio standpoint. After all, we’re stardust.

Who cares about a little short-changing and self-indulging. Let the Cassidy’s of this world help with the clean up. I rest and watch Animal House to relieve stress. Perhaps we all wake up to a better tomorrow, after cheating ourselves just a bit today. Keep kicking the can down the road. Somehow the moral arc will right itself. It’s the system, stupid. Not us who believed, sworn, and promised to be good.

God always help those who help themselves. Get to the gate. You’ll find some Peter pence laying around. But get there early: climb, use your feet, hands and foreheads.

Discern and believe not in the call to wrong action, the summons to unworthy cause.

Always ask, in a Capitalist society, who is benefiting? Whose pockets are we lining.

When we cheat ourselves out of thinking and living our full potential, we’re the victims of our own making. Crunch anyone? Or stand there holding the bag waiting for the get-away car that never comes.