Is it just me, or have the rest of you began to notice the mixed messages we send and receive in this country? It seems that no matter what we do or say, there’s an equally important and opposing point of view, law, rule, regulation, policy, procedure, or practice. Little wonder that we’re all in a quandary trying to figure out what we represent. I like the words of a popular Country-Western song of a few years back that says, “You’ve got to stand for something, or you’ll fall for any thing.” How true. How true.
Let’s take for example, simply being an American. In the beginning, there were Indians; lots of Indians; reports say upwards of 25,000,000 living in this land pre white-man, in their aboriginal state, in perfect harmony with the land and their creator; a true Garden of Eden. Okay. They’re certainly Americans and most never spoke a word of English.
Then came the European invasion, pouring into this Eden in massive numbers, drawn by promises of a new life, fortified with lies from their prospective reining countries whose agenda was to have the predominant hand in this new land of untapped riches. Even this country’s fledgling government got in on the act by promoting free land in the West and the Indians were friendly! Go west, young man! This is manifest destiny. Problem is, nobody bothered to get permission from the presiding land owners or tell these unsuspecting pioneers that they were told this just so the United States government could have a substantial representation in the west to make sure that citizens representing England, Spain, or Russia didn’t out populate it and claim it. Smooth move, Jackson.
Somehow, in this slurry of immigration soup, English became a predominant language and European customs in general the accepted and preferred culture. Assimilation was occurring and a new American culture of apple pie, mom, and baseball was evolving. Life was good.
But wait! As more and more people poured into and over this land, immigrants sought the company of others from their homelands and pockets of old country lifestyles developed; customs and grievances were kept alive and in tact and to bolster this divisiveness, some genius came up with the idea of celebrating this diversity! What a great way to widen the gap!
Wait a minute! Mixed message alert! Assimilate and celebrate diversity . . . right. Isn’t this like having your cake and eating it too? My mother always said that wasn’t possible and my religious upbringing told me that a house divided against itself was doomed to fail. OMG! What have we done!
Here’s another one of my favorite oxymoronic policies: Who amongst us isn’t made to feel guilty for using disposable products or tossing a single plastic baggie in the garbage? ‘Recycle’ is the mantra! We are running out of places to put our crap! We must conserve, reduce, and recycle. Everywhere, we are reminded of our wantonness and gluttony.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m an avid recycler and always will be, but if you’ve visited your local landfill lately, you will realize that there is a preponderance of building litter and debris being deposited at these sites. Great mountains of sheetrock, shredded framework, bricks, cement, and scrambled portions of every product ever known to man.
Hey!! Mixed message alert!! What about these guys?? According to my estimates, one rather modest building remodel could equal about five years and 50 families worth of extravagant garbage. Whatever happened to lead by example? Can one person saving a baggie really make up for the tons of commercial waste that are the real culprits in the recycle picture?
These are but two of a myriad of controvertible evidences that we live with daily. There are others, but this a blog, not a book. (My book is available at Amazon.com.)
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american, indians, mixed messages, recycle
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