Jul 22 2008
The true meaning of sacrifice
“Oh, I can’t give that up. Its just a little indulgence that really costs just a little bit.”
BULL&*$%! And get used to it. Giving up your little cell phone so you can talk to your friends while you drive is not even a sacrifice. This country has been built on a model that was destined to fail since the end of WWII. Open your eyes and keep your excuses to yourselves. Look at the energy prices in Europe, in fact most of the rest of the world. How long did you think we were going to escape those prices? The war is at best just an excuse, at worst just a catalyst, a tipping point for the balance to swing the other way. And all most of us can say is “why should I have to give up my petty little indulgences?”
Since the end of WWII we have been building the massive system of suburbs so we can all live farther and farther from where we work. So we can all have a yard, and big status symbol house that has far more space and uses far more energy than it should. The typical house in the US, for the same size family, has doubled in square footage over the past few decades. Those same decades that we were enjoying those cheap energy prices. Now, how many people are sitting on top of a FOR SALE sign hoping their white elephant will move? Or worse, a FORCLOSURE sign. I can tell you this, I and many like me are out of work because of it.
Who even remembers that there used to be one, maybe two phones in your house based on actual use instead of how many minutes you think you are going to use. And the same phone for possibly the life of the house. Now you buy new one every year. Or sooner. Only it isn’t a phone, it is a GPS, MP3, Video Game, PDA, Video Camera. And where does it come from? JAPAN! From which it is shipped overseas on container ships that measure fuel use in gallons to the mile, not miles to the gallon. Just like so many of the other little indulgences that cost you so little.
You think giving up your cell phone is going to be a sacrifice? You are in for a shock when you find out what you are really going to have to give up.
2 Responses to “The true meaning of sacrifice”
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People don’t understand the concept of small changes, I believe, as they adopt something I call the lazy man’s sophism (an explanation can be found on my page).
People need to realize all we do effects an outcome.
I recently saw a bumper sticker “Those who put security over liberty deserve neither”. Rather than dealing with issues of sacrifice and helping others we are preoccupied with spreading our safety nets. America’s entitlement mentality and belief that only what affects my pocketbook is important will lead to our demise.