The haves and the have nots are at war again. It seems like this war is never ending, and it is justified in its persistence.
Each side has its argument to support why their ideas are the right one. The haves have earned the right to have. I have because I have worked for what I have. Or I have because someone has worked for what I have. Or even I have because I was lucky.
There’s the rub because the have-nots are always trying to find the golden vein in the mountain of presentation.
The have-nots look for what is found in a rainbow of irrational confluence. A place where the rainbow ends into a treasure trove just waiting for the bounty to be had. I proud discovery waiting to be had that leads to a life others will envy, and they too will then be able to chase the elusive road of prosperous contentment.
But until that day arrives there is nothing to do but hate. Hate what hasn’t been attained. Hate the ones who have the things that should rightfully belong to all. It just isn’t fair that others should have so much and many more should have so little.
I hate that today’s powerful elite can do whatever they want, while there are those who cannot afford cable. I hate that those with money can spend more on a pair of shoes that I can on rent. It’s just not fair that I am stuck with paying full price for everything and they are given (often very expensive) “gifts” that are not even taxable.
I have heard since birth “It takes money to make money” and there is truth to that. One cannot start a business without money – sometimes a lot, sometimes a little, but it takes money to start a business. It takes money to go to school. If you’ve got money, you don’t keep school in your budget for the rest of your life (or what feels like it) and you can put that education to good use – or not, which seems even less fair. If you’ve got money the world is smaller. The wealthy can go and do the things they want to without sacrifice. These days, a lot of money even gets you to outer space.
The have-nots find other ways to get to outer space, finding places and ways to forget the dreams that amass in the depths of those who cannot fulfill their ideas on a whim. Perhaps it’s in the comfort of food or the multi-color gems of the liquor bottle that are as balm to souls that dream of something more. Perhaps it’s the schemes of newness on the horizon with which the dollar store shopper delights, or the vortex of Amazon gift arrival. Perhaps it’s the hamster wheel of the illusional success in achievement sustained only by the weight of a new dream.
The haves do not understand what it is like to have an unattainable world that is forever on the horizon of the mind. The one thing that would change it all. It is the thing which drives masses of people to continue in their mundane existence. It is what keeps society moving forward. What would the world look like if there wasn’t this drive for a better future?
The utopia we strive for where everyone is the same. Everyone does only the job that they want. Who would choose to keep the streets clean? Who would do those jobs that no one wants to do? This is something I’ve been thinking about.
The answer is machines. Right?
Robots could do the dirty work. Robots to pick up trash, work in fast-food, stock the grocery store, fix the cars, prepare bodies for burial and cremation, clean up just about anything you can think of. That’s a lot of work now not needed to be done by humans. Can you imagine all the errands that you do daily, weekly being done by mechanical people, and what would the people be doing?
Would all the people be traveling around the globe visiting the robot slaves of other countries in their private jets and luxury yachts? Would we be swimming in our gigantic pools and eating food prepared by the machines in our command? Would we be writing books and creating art and music for the masses to enjoy in our unending leisure? Would this be a kind of heaven on earth?
Or would we all be grounded, with no one going anywhere or doing anything. Would we be slaves to the authorities in charge of making sure that everything is evenly distributed? Would there be people who still dreamed of having something more than what others have? Would there be jealousies and envious beings who would find a new source to hate?
We search for perfection. We want what we want. Would that change because someone doesn’t have mass amounts of wealth to envy? Would we be capable of existing in a mind of contentment in the leveling of the playing field? Or would the talent of one be taken as unfair if there was another who excelled in an area where I believe that I should excel in.
These are a lot of questions that go through my mind as I watch the world demand what they think should be “theirs.” There is so much discontent – and much of it valid. I watch Cuba searching for a better life, where they were offered the utopia of its generation. I hear Venezuelan’s wax poetically on how their country was before the dream of equality was shone in their eyes. I hear the cries of the American public searching for the dream of public funding, to even the score, to take what has been working and throw it away. There is no utopia. There is no perfect unity. There is only the goal to get along, to be a fully functioning body of people with a common goal. Without this, there is the dream that once was – the dream that many people in other countries strive to reach, and the owners have spit upon.
Spilling Marbles 