The Man in the mirror – revisited


I’m gonna make a change, for once in my life
It’s gonna feel real good, gonna make a difference
Gonna make it right…


As I, turn up the collar on my favorite winter coat
This wind is blowin’ my mind
I see the kids in the street, with not enough to eat
Who am I, to be blind? Pretending not to see their needs
A summer’s disregard, a broken bottle top
And a one man’s soul
They follow each other on the wind ya’ know
‘Cause they got nowhere to go
That’s why I want you to know

I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

I’ve been a victim of a selfish kind of love
It’s time that I realize
That there are some with no home, not a nickel to loan
Could it be really me, pretending that they’re not alone?

A willow deeply scarred, somebody’s broken heart
And a washed-out dream
They follow the pattern of the wind, ya’ see
Cause they got no place to be
That’s why I’m starting with me

I tend to disagree with the majority on the oldest profession, it definitely has to be politics. Oh how indefatigable corruption is! Especially when it comes to politics : they could be liberal or conservative, left wing or right wing, communist or capitalist, democratic or autocratic but the only common denominator they have is corruption. If indeed there is something called the “most institutionalized” in the world, it is corruption.

This article just goes on to prove that the whole world speaks one language when it comes to corruption, they might have different accents but it is definitely the same language. Be it the only remaining superpower in the world or country like Eritrea where most people can’t afford one square meal a day.

I agree that this topic has been taken through the cleaners and juiced to the maximum. Though the one aspect of it that has not been taken note of are the ordinary people like us who condone it, by doing nothing about it. Most people don’t care or are part of the malice by using it. I know it takes a lot to take a stand, but stand we must take. Anybody who cannot stand for something that he believes will for anything. Rhetoric apart, I believe individual corruption is more dangerous than any disease know to man.

Its easy to take pot shots(specially people like me) at all those high flying people who get caught.
What’s harder is to keep the focus at the root of the problem. Sometime back I had a discussion with a friend on the best way to tackle this issue. (Like everybody else I believe I can solve all the worlds problem!!) He was of the opinion that the people at the top have to change first for the world to get rid of corruption. By that he meant that the political and business class have to change before the bourgeois can change and he was going to do things by hook or by crook till the world changes.

I on the other hand am of the opinion that the middle class is the key to the issue. If you are not corrupt when you are at the bottom of the food chain there is a good chance you would remain the same at the top … that or you would never get to the top! But like Mother Theresa “every drop of water makes the mighty ocean” its starts with each one of us. Instead of complaining at how people are making money in corruption, lets try to do things without giving that “bribe” that would make things easier.

That said, corruption scandals have become the norm of the day all over the world, either more people are getting caught or the number of incidents is just skyrocketing. The only thing that has accomplished is that people are so sick of corruption that they have become numb to it. That is the kind of attitude that is not going to help! Sprinkling of outrage once in a while keeps the world moving along without degenerating into anarchy.

Before I run out of steam just wanted to let you where I come from!

Slums may well be breeding grounds of crime, but middle-class suburbs are incubators of apathy and delirium. Cyril Connolly

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ReadyMade Excuses

To join issue with CrakerJack, I don’t use those articles because I don’t need those excuses to explain why I like food. I just love food so. (Period) That been said this is not the only article that tries to explain why we do certain things. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think scientific reasoning and research is a fable; and the truth cannot be farther from the truth. But sometimes we let scientific data overshadow common sense. And before you are crucify me as a right wing fundamentalistic rabble-rouser, let me state my case.

Lets start with the most prevalent excuses to commit a crime …

  • Society doesn’t care
  • Childhood environment was not conducive to all round growth
  • People always made fun of me
  • Nobody don’t understands me/what I go through
  • Mom/dad was drunkard/drug addict
  • I had nobody to love me
  • The world is unfair (sic)
  • I did not understand the full repercussions of my action (criminally insane)

a note of caution: I do not believe that these are entirely false but to just blame them for everything … come on give me a break! The world is fair because it is unfair to everybody, so just deal with it. To blame their hard childhood for all their actions as grown ups just speaks to how much they have really grown up. Hardships usually make people better, so the actions of a person usually speak about the inner character of a person rather than what people did to him when he was kid.

From criminal behavior to the hornets next that CrackerJack stirred up … its become a case of statistics and percentages now a days, actually its totally chaos on what to do to keep healthy. Though things aren’t that bad, the basic premise still remains the same: eat just enough and move your body. But some people take it the extreme, starving themselves or working out more than two hours a day. Chill out people … you ain’t going to live forever, so why give up on that banana split or the cream filled doughnut with chocolate on top?? (Man I am going to get myself a banana split after I finish this). I would classify anybody working out for more than an hour as insane and maybe somebody who needs to get a life! I know people who are too lazy to work around the house but not too lazy to hit the gym. There are also people who look all buff(like me!!) but have no real strength!

Science is the scapegoat used as an excuse by people for all the above mentioned. I heard once heard this from a friend, that it is possible to prove any premise if you have a sufficiently skewed sample population.

Oh did you know that 1 in 5 kids has ADD (BOSS you can correct me). So all you do when you see a hyper active kid is give him some tablets to calm him down. Where I come from they just call those kids mischievous!

I accept that we need scientific innovation and the role that science plays in making our lives better. But science does not have the right to trample common sense underfoot. These are the reasons you have people who need stupid labels warning about obvious dangers(Anybody seen ‘this is not a toy’ sign on plastic covers).

Also I think our drug abuse problem stems from the fact that we always want to quantify stuff and need a readymade solution to all of life’s problem, be it either a simple headache or a severe trauma!

Maybe we are not generation next but generation ReadyMade

“The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action.”

P.S: CrakerJack seems to have generated more comments on a single post than I could in a month!

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