Through out
my life I've never really aligned myself with a particular political party or
social movement. Not because I didn't believe in some of the things they stood
for or thoughts they espoused. I never joined because it just goes against my
nature to be part of a group; I've always been a loner.
Not to say that I haven't tried to fit in. First there is the most natural of groups the family. I love my siblings and my mother (my father when he was alive) but I don't feel this strong need to see them or talk to them more than every few months. If by chance I see them more often, great, if not, no big deal.
For the 25 years I lived in Michigan and my family was here in California I probably talked to my mother on average 4 times a year (birthdays and holidays) and to my siblings twice a year. It goes both ways, it's not because we don't care, we just don't feel the need, so I guess it runs in the family.
To view the column in it's original form go to page 14 of the following link. Winters Express 3/27/14
Not to say that I haven't tried to fit in. First there is the most natural of groups the family. I love my siblings and my mother (my father when he was alive) but I don't feel this strong need to see them or talk to them more than every few months. If by chance I see them more often, great, if not, no big deal.
For the 25 years I lived in Michigan and my family was here in California I probably talked to my mother on average 4 times a year (birthdays and holidays) and to my siblings twice a year. It goes both ways, it's not because we don't care, we just don't feel the need, so I guess it runs in the family.
I had friends in school and some of
those friendships carried over to adulthood but I always still felt like an
outsider when there was a group of friends. I have to say that even of those
people I consider close friends I barely ever communicate with them. It's not
that I don't think of them or wonder how they are doing; it's that I don't make
the effort because I don't feel the need. Maybe it’s the loner in me or maybe
I’m just self absorbed, either way I'm going way off topic.
Back to my point about politics and social movements.
Personally I think that most of the so called “main stream” groups are to polarized,
short sighted, and narrow minded. They are just looking out for the self
interest of the rest of their like minded group. In essence they are thinking
too small. What we need is a group that thinks BIG, real BIG. Not a little big
like all of California, or medium big like the United States, not even big big like
global. I’m talking SUPER BIG, like the United Federation of Planets BIG.
That’s right I’m talking STAR TREK BIG.
OK, done laughing? I’m serious.
You see, a lot of my personal
philosophy about living life can be traced back to the society that was
portrayed as our future on the TV show Star Trek. A society that is referred to as the “Star
Trek Utopia”. I have long dreamed of that utopia. I guess you could call me a
Star Trek Utopian Dreamer, or STUD for short.
Please, stop laughing. I’m serious.
Why can't we strive for a
society where everyone's basic needs for food, shelter, health, and education
are provided for? A society where if you want, you work for the betterment of
the society in exchange for having those needs met. Or if you're so inclined you
go off and do your own thing. Either way it's OK and you're not judged.
I know,
it sounds like some kind of socialist / communist society but it's not. It’s
also not capitalism either because in my opinion that social model, like the
other two doesn't work very well. In this utopia you can still own property and
have possessions but they're just not that important, they don't have much
value.
Value, isn't that what kind of makes a society? Having shared
values, both moral and monetary? It’s us, the members of the society that
dictates the value of any object or thought. Why do we give more value to the
wellbeing of a wealthy person than a poor person? Why do we give more value to
the right to own a gun than the right to live without fear of guns? Why do we
value the rights of a corporation over the rights of an individual? Why do we
value the rights of heterosexual couples to marry more than homosexual couples
or for that matter why a couple, why not three, four, or more partners? Values,
they are what holds societies together and what can also tear them apart.
I've always wondered, how over thousands of years our loose
knit societies have given so much value to Gold? It’s just a shinny yellow
metal that can't do anything by itself, yet we as a people give it tremendous
value, it's conceptual, it's all in our minds.
Ultimately I think it's that simple. If we want to create a
future that resembles the Star Trek Utopia then all we have to do is change our
minds. That might sound a little simplistic but what else do you expect from a
STUD like me.
To view the column in it's original form go to page 14 of the following link. Winters Express 3/27/14
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