May 13, 1607 a group of hungry and oppressed people washed
onto the shores of the American colonies to make a new start. July 4, 1776 a
country under oppressive rule picked up their guns and fought for independence.
September 1, 1939 an entire generation of young men and women join together to
fight for freedom and to fight inarguable evil. September 16, 2015 a kid builds
a questionable looking clock and is arrested when the school officials
overreact, allowing the kid to reach super stardom in the blink of an eye.
What’s different between these 4 dates other than their legitimate
impact on our lives? In the first 3 instances the individuals had to work for
their progress, in the fourth instance all anyone had to do was be a victim for
gain. It’s sad, but the best way to get ahead now a days is to be a victim. You
could be the guiltiest person in the world, but if you can be seen as a victim
you will get away with nearly anything. In early September two high school
football players attacked a referee mid-game and were ejected and suspended
from school. After a week of silence, their lawyer advised them to speak
publically about what happened. All they said was that they were coerced into
acting poorly by one of their coaches. In other words, it’s not their fault -
they’re victims.
The ugly brother of victimism is instant gratification. They
might even be twins with how similarly they show human character. By
definition, instant gratification is the act of wanting to experience pleasure
or fulfillment without any hesitation or restraint while victimism is when an
individual or group live in constant anxiety because they feel they are owed
something by society or someone. You can see how these two definitions can work
hand in hand in someone’s life. If you feel like you are owed something, you
probably feel like you deserve it now. We may not feel like this is a societal
cancer that permeates into nearly everyone’s life, but it’s the culture that
everyone is trying to adopt.
We created an entire food industry because we wanted it
faster and easier. America has perfected the health industry into a market of
quick fixes. If you’re fat and you want to be skinny have surgery. If you back
hurts have surgery. Don’t like the way you look, have surgery. We’re one of the
only countries that allows pharmaceutical companies to advertise so intensely
on Tv, and that’s primarily because we want our problems to be fixed with a
pill. Our desire for instant fixes has allowed some companies monopolistic powers
on our lives. Just recently a pharmaceutical company raised the cost of a
medicine from $13.50 a pill to $750 per pill. The only reason that they can do
this is because people like us petitioned the government to help these
companies make more medicine without giving anyone else authoritative powers. None
of their drugs are patented, but we the people demanded that they could make medicine
without the threat of another company copying the drug. Why did we do that? Because
we thought it would make the drugs cheaper. Now we have to spend $750 per pill
to keep someone alive.
We may live in a selfish world but that doesn’t mean that we
have to be a part of it. It all starts with taking credit for your mistakes. If
you’re overweight, it’s not McDonalds fault. If your back hurts, it might be
because you need to strengthen it. If
you think your life sucks, it just might be your fault. When we worship ourselves,
we quickly realize how ungodly we are. We’re not perfect, we’re not innocent
angels, we are people who make mistakes and we need to own up to that. Once we
start to take responsibility the whole dynamic of our life can change. It’s
that simple.
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