Talk Thursday: It Was The Best of Times.....

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way."
I love Dickens. He was brilliant and timeless in his view of the world. Who can't look at that introduction and apply it to their life, right now? Turn on CNN, open a news paper, a magazine, look in the mirror.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times;" As of the 1st, I was laid off, which I find deceptive. "Laid off", to me, has the idea that this is a temporary state of being. Not really. On the off-chance that numbers pick up, or someone with more seniority leaves their position, then I have call-back rights for a year. On the off-chance. I'm sad. I loved my job. I was good at my job. The whole thing sucks walrus testicles, but what'cha gonna do? I understand the corporate side of the situation. It's not anything to take personal. I know that if my coworkers had their choice, I'd still have a job. They were shocked, and some even outraged, that I lost my position while others kept theirs. That felt good. A little up to the down. It's odd to have your worth validated at the time of your termination. 
"it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness;" We live in the time of "No Child Left Behind" but that has been molested and by lack of perception has been turned into "No Child Enabled to Excel". Instead of doing what was intended, this has led to a 'dumbing down' of curriculum due to lack of funds and foresight. We live in a time when parents aren't active in their child's education, many can't or don't do homework with their kids- so teachers assign less homework. My son is in the third grade and he has never had a text book. I find this outrageous! Due to budget cuts, classroom size has increased and the number of days in the school year decreases. And society seems dismayed that our children test considerably lower than those of our contemporaries.... Our current administration is encouraging single mothers to go back to school, but what will they do when they graduate? There aren't jobs waiting for them. No job, and now an education to pay back. I don't see this as any sort of a solution, it simply delays the problem.
"it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity;" People believe that the government can fix their problems, yet are afraid to trust in them to do so. People want health care reform, but they doubt the effectiveness of the solutions the government offers... Unions have done so much to improve the workplace, but many believe that they have out-grown their purpose. At the same time they are afraid to trust their employers without the protection of the Unions. There is an epidemic of passive faithful despair- the hopeless thought that it will all workout in the end, but lack of confidence in personally being active in the process. Everyone is riding it out, but who is fixing it?

We live in an age where those who've been successful fear the crumble of their sturdy foundation. Those who struggle to succeed are a breath away from ruin and find no aid when they reach out. Only those who have become complacent in the mundane will survive without fear. But without fear you can't truly know peace. Without effort, how can you realize success? Without hope, how do you find the will to try?


But what is the answer? Our world as we know it is in economic crisis. Our country is teetering on the edge of financial ruin. But what is finance? A system created by man, not a living breathing entity. Not a god, not a force of nature. We need a gross restructuring of everything, our entire life structure, from the ground up, but are we strong enough to allow such a major change once we figure out what that change should be? It's one thing to look at the current system and recognize that it is failing, but are we brave enough to leave it behind? Do we have the faith to move forward?