The pen can terrify people, but then so can Twitter!

This was first posted in February 2014.  I think it is still relevant today.  What do you think?

Reflection versus direction

In this day and age almost everything we say or do can be broadcast to the world.  You never know if your picture is being taken on the street or in the shops.  Movie cameras have moved into our workplace, our leisure time and our wars.  We have instant information at our fingertips.  But I have a question for you:  does the instant relating of news serve as a reflection of what is happening or is it directing us.

The whole strategy behind marketing is to influence people in their decision-making.  If one soap brand has a really cool commercial, they will probably end up with more sales than another brand.  So, it stands to reason that if the newsmakers present, for example, a war with the appropriate packaging it will be accepted more easily by the general public.  We want our world neatly packaged and delivered painlessly to us.

Who was it that said you can never be too thin or too rich?  Well if you’re too thin you die and if you’re too rich, ummmm, I’m thinking.  Okay I got it!  If you are too rich then you become insulated from the human condition.  Okay maybe not.  I’m not too thin and I’m not too rich.  What I am is too damn tired of Hollywood and its environs telling us how to look, how to act, how to think, how to live.  They’re trying to mold us into perfect little automatons.

In order to be yourself you have to disregard the advertisements that tell you what shampoos to use and how your makeup is to be applied, how to dress. If we can be true to ourselves and honour the person we actually are and not the image that society wants us to project, then I believe we have a chance. We need to raise children to be forward thinkers and not sheep-like followers.

I don’t have any children so why am I so concerned about other people’s offspring?  Simply put:  other people’s kids are our future.  If I love this world then I should want it to continue.  The only way that will happen is if we have people at the forefront who care. News needs to be analyzed and marketing gimmicks need to be dismissed. The truth is there, it is just sometimes difficult to see.

I was raised by parents who loved me.  They never taught me to hate.  They did teach me to care.  And I do care.  I care about the atrocities I see happening in other parts of the world.  I care about the horrible greed that exists around so many of our politicians.  I see hate, I see rage, I see iniquities, I see despair and I see fear.  What I also see is love, understanding and compassion.

I also see hope.  Above all else hope will save our world. If we stick together, we will overcome adversity and we will flourish. The world is ours.