As election time looms upon us and what is left of Hurricane Sandy dissipates over the northeastern United States, I am reminded once more that our nation is truly an amazing place to live in. This topic, surely, would be easily debated by doomsayers and complainers, yet I ask you to let me entertain the thought.
I know you won't say no. Even if you did, you could just Alt+Tab me away. Is that what the kids are doing now? Or can I just be swiped away by a flick of the finger? Bah whatever.
Within hours of initial sight of storm clouds and tides, social media sites, news sites, news channels, radio stations, broadcasters of all kinds were giving detailed and up to date information to us all about Sandy and her progress. Days before she even made landfall, warnings were afoot and heeded. Thanks to how quickly information spreads these days many hundreds (and possibly thousands) of lives were spared a grisly fate. We are learning from history somewhat, and even if we're not, we're paying attention to the signs more closely now than we ever have. I look back at the tsunami that struck the Indian Ocean in 2004, Katrina in 05, even as recent as the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of early last year; we've come so far since then in social media. Everyone comes together during a crisis. Yes, in between those crises there is much to be desired of humanity (myself included). But it is nice to know that for the most part, we will have each other's backs if we're ever pinned against a wall.
We see so much vitriolic sludge spewed back and forth between candidates for office. Presidential hopeful, President, Congressmen, justices, soil and water conservation officials (?!). Everybody wants to get a piece of someone else's bigger pie. The highest positions are entangled in the highest form of payola, fraud and injustice that can be found in a democratic republic. Sadly, most of us will never see the extent of which they truly are embroiled in. After all that is said and done I still cannot think of a country where there is more opportunity to succeed. More opportunity to thrive. More opportunity to be known. More opportunity to prove yourself. To show yourself. To enjoy. To create. Yes, all of these things and their opposites too. There are governments with more transparency, sure. They have higher taxes, colder climates, stricter laws and far more population density. We hear and see the phrase 'first world problems' a lot these days. That phrase couldn't be further from the truth. At least we HAVE Facebook and Google. China doesn't even bother with such trivialities. At least we GET to complain about our government, organize events and share photos online. Some countries won't allow it at all. The rights and freedoms we have and take for granted astonish me constantly.
Speaking of freedom, I've realized something lately. We have a crap ton of choices in this country. Do you guys ever realize how many shows, movies, books, games, magazines, newspapers, albums and paraphernalia are all released simultaneously or close to the same time these days? It is literally impossible to catch up and do everything you want to do in this life anymore. Consider the timeline of a week in October. Given the amount of media available for consumption, the amount of time you have in your day after work/caring for family/caring for property/caring for self, the amount of time you have to sleep/eat/drink and all the time in between, there is no possible way we're ever going to get to experience everything we want. To some, this may be depressing. To me, this is exciting. It means that there are so many choices and so many niches to settle into that I can collect what I personally would like to do and execute. Within said niche we will also find others who like the same kinds of things and identify with us. If not, that's okay too. It all kinda falls together like a bubble chart, and I'm certain there are several people who meet with us somewhere in the middle. That's the beauty of choice. The beauty of the type of freedom that we enjoy here. The beauty of life. We weren't ever meant to all be the same, even if we are all meant to be equal.
Sorry for the long absence. It wasn't meant to be that way, but I'm back now. I hope this finds you well, and I will talk to you all again soon.
- Grant
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