I Have to Change
December 2, 2008 Robert at Musings of an Episcopal Padre asked an insightful, albeit disturbing, question the other day in his entry thought for today. Robert was commenting about how privilege-laden executives at US auto makers were flying to Washington in their private planes to seek a bailout for their industry. He then concluded with "How do I make use of my privilege in such obvious ways to others while I'm completely ignorant of it?"
We complain about politicians who seem so out of touch with the suffering of those they are supposed to look after. We rail against the obvious abuse of privilege that corporate executives apparently take for granted. We fuss and fume about our inconsiderate and wasteful neighbors and co-workers.
But we don't consider how our actions look to others. Especially those who are further down the prosperity ladder. Truth be told, we make use of our privileges all the time.
Each time those who are buying gasoline fill up their gas tank with ethanol fuel made from corn, imagine how privileged and uncaring they must seem to those who can no longer afford to buy food to feed their family.
Imagine how privileged the people who buy the imported fruit and vegetables year-round at their local supermarket must seem to people who live in huts at the edge of the sea and watch that gradually rising sea wash away home, cropland, their family's future.
Consider how unbelievably wasteful our houses and office buildings with their lights blazing in empty rooms must seem to those who can no longer afford to pay their electricity bills. Or how all those Christmas lights must look to people who live in countries that are not driven by consumerism.
And each time we flush the toilet with sparkling, clean water how must we appear to those who have no access to clean, safe water for their children to drink.
Perhaps if we stepped back from our lives and viewed them as the majority of people on this planet would view them, we'd discover that there are many times in out privileged lives even in the course of one day that we can softly say to ourselves "No. I have to change."
Reader Comments (5)
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Corn is not the only crop used for Ethanol production. The newest discovery is that algae is 20 times more efficient than corn and other crops for Ethanol production. Pond scum is good! ;-) Pond scum can also scrub water of toxins. It grows even better when exposed to a factory's CO2 emissions, helping to scrub our air as well.
When others make us happy, we should consider how we could make others happy and not just keep the happiness within us but spread the happiness to people around us. As others in this world do not even experience the happiness we have daily and deserve to experience the truth happiness.
We know it's time to change, what need to be change, how to go about making changes and the action is needed now before it's too late. The changes should be made through our self not from others as others reacting in the way we react. If we make positive changes, others will follow. Let us all work together to make positive changes start from within our self as we believe the goal(s) is (are) achievable. Let's take action to make changes now.
the higher one goes, the more prosperous ... it could be harder to see clarity as attachments for oneself, also for family increases. i will said "they" have a missed opportunity to learn in life but become a lesson for us to learn and remember.
Yes, wisdom lies at the core of our changing. Otherwise we'll exchange one harmful, erroneous behavior for another all the while mistakenly thinking we solved the problem.