Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court passed away this week of natural causes. Up to the point of his death I have heard nothing of his greatness. The fact is most of what I heard was he was an ultra-conservative to a fault. The Liberals certainly didn't like him while the Conservatives loved him. In a divisive society he seemed to be very divisive. Since his death all I've been hearing in the news, TV and print, that he was a great man with great ideas and he should be revered by all, liberal and conservative alike.
What the hell is going on here? It seems one has to die to be recognized or is it that both points of view are wrong and a little bit of both is the real truth about the guy or gal. Unless one is in the entertainment or sports (Sports is entertainment) industry the good things have to wait until one dies before they are said. This seems very, very wrong to me.
There seems to be a culture of "I" that is permeating every age group, from the young to the old. Whatever happened to the culture of "we"? It starts with our young in grammar school through College. The children make it known that they want to play sports, wear the best clothes, go to the best schools, eat only the foods they like. I want a car. I want to experience the College life. I want a job that pays a lot for doing less. They enter relationships and before you know it the couple is arguing over where and when they will do anything from the first kiss to marriage. The Bride says "I want...", a beautiful gown, all my friends and family to be at the reception and the groom wants a lot of "I" stuff too. They are married and then it becomes "I want..." I don't want...", children, a house, to move, to go to sporting events, my own bank account. What ever happened to "We plan to live a great life together doing what we agree to do."?
On all levels of age even sex has become an "I" thing. "I need to be satisfied!" and if not well then there is always divorce where I can be satisfied until I am not satisfied anymore. Whatever happened to "We", fall asleep in each other's arms because we love each other? Whatever happened to becoming one because we try to lose ourselves and become a new person. "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh.". The "I" is lost and becomes "We".
People argue over when they should retire and all one hears is "I don't want you to retire." Not an attempt to explore why there might be a need to retire physically or psychologically. Usually it is because "I" want to do do this or that and I don't care what you want the only thing I care about is what "I" want. Lost in all this is "We".
Our Political life is reflecting this here in the United States of America. We are supposed to be working for a "more perfect union". This is a state of "We" not "I". Where we as a nation share values and work to achieve the values which unite us to form this more perfect union. Where we leave our mothers and fathers to cleave to one another as in marriage to become "One Nation". But we fight Conservative against Liberal, Tea Party against Progressive. We lost the "We" and have become a nation of selfish people who are more interested in "I", full of super egos wanting to fill only our own desires forgetting the needs of our fellow citizens who might need some of our abundance to close some of their needs which if not filled they might perish, and not quickly but very slowly.
They only way to bring needed change is to start with one's self. Individual change is needed. We need to return to the "We" concept and reject the cult of "I".
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