think happy thoughts?

so it seems to me that i might have come off a little harsh in my criticism the other day. my criticism about people taking part in the green/organic movement were meant for those who aren't sincere in their activity. those who actually care are fine by me, i just don't like people who only do it because it is trendy or treat it as a fad. anyway enough about that.

school is really flying by this semester, i am already over 1/2 way done. i am a little stressed out at the moment as i have a lot of papers due before it is all over. well, maybe not a lot. i have 5 due, so it is a lot to me. i am worried that i may be cutting it close in one class. i forgot about a paper that was due and got a 0. the rest of my classes i should do well in. my problem is that i hate writing, which is a serious character flaw in sociology. another problem i am facing this semester is just a lack of motivation. i find it hard to do anything for class. i don't want to study, i don't want to write, i just feel melancholy about school. this is bad bad bad! i need to graduate and get out working full-time. hopefully i will be able to pull myself out of this funk and get my work done.

speaking of working full-time, i hope that i can find a job that i like. the current job that i hold serves its purpose of providing income, but it just is not what i enjoy doing. i want to feel happy about going to work and feel fulfilled when i do my job. standing around in a warehouse filling orders to be shipped out by ups trucks is not what i want to do for the rest of my life. but as i said, it pays the bills so i am gonna stick with it until i get a better offer. considering the present financial situation of this country, i am grateful to even have a job. i know other people aren't as lucky as me to have a job, many thousands have been let go. i feel sympathy for them, and do not envy the troubles they are facing with unemployment. i wish them the best and hope that the country can pull out of this slump and recover.

so what can be done for the needy people in our society? what can be done for the needy people of the world? i get very upset at the tremendous level of inequality in the world. a small percentage of people living lives of immense prosperity and consumption while the great majority of people in the world live in abject poverty. every time i see some story in the news about some wealthy person living their extravagant lifestyle, about some celebrity dropping hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on their ridiculous rampage through the world it angers me. how can they live that lifestyle and be oblivious to the immense level of suffering around them? are they even oblivious, or do they purposefully ignore the plight of the destitute people? i believe the latter is probably the most realistic. i have learned about the great men of the last few centuries in school and how, after they had lived a long life and become immensely rich, they decide to be philanthropic. many of those men spent the majority of their early years ruthlessly pursuing wealth and power and exploiting the less fortunate. they eliminated all opposition and participated in horrible travesties. it seems to be almost a deathbed confessional to me. they start to see their mortality made manifest before their eyes and wish to right the many wrongs by doing good. they build a library and fund a few public works projects and they think all is well. death can be a sobering prospect methinks. it is the one equalizer in the world, the one thing that we will all experience regardless of our station in life. no matter what wealth, power and status you achieve in life, you lose it all the day you die. so why horde wealth and begrudge others a share?

i have had the opportunity to view a few films with an amnesty international group on my campus. the videos were about the less fortunate people of the world, child soldiers and exploitation on a level that most people have never seen. but even though the videos rocked me to the core, i still haven't done as much as i could to help alleviate the suffering of those people. i have gone on about my life, and started to forget them. i have forgotten what i saw, what i heard, what i learned. i am going to see another video on wednesday that will help to refresh my memory and strengthen my resolve to make a change in the world. i hope many other students come to see it, the attendance has not been very large with the other videos. i think the problem is that people fail to see the connection we have to each other. they fail to understand that we are all human beings and are linked together due to this. just because we may appear different from each other on the outside does not mean that we are not the same. people must realize that any injustice enacted in the world hurts not only the victim but all people. if injustice is allowed to happen and we do nothing, what is to stop it from happening to us? who is to stop it from happening? if we ignore others in their time of dire need, and if they are able to survive somehow, what would make them want to help us? nothing...