These days, from most families, you hear the same song: that times are hard and there is just not enough money in circulation to satisfy people’s needs.
In past years certain things were clear, one being that you had to be employed in some way and the little that you earned you had to pinch in and for future success you had to save.
Fast forward to today and everyone wants everything, but will try only devious ways to obtain their needs, rather than using the yard stick of yesteryears.
In times gone by, most people were satisfied with what they had. If the house was small, they all huddled together, most would plant the food necessary for feeding themselves and their family, and hard or difficult jobs were never a problem but instead a satisfaction and in some cases a blessing. Not everyone cared about having gold around their necks, there was nothing like branded shoes, or ownership of the finest cars, far-less owning expensive gadgets or having big appliances at home for show-off purposes.
Education was a privilege that few could get at will and opportunities were far apart. We went to church and prayed for a better tomorrow, and we did not steal from our neighbors, or cheat our friends or loved ones and despite our human state we coexisted. Spending our hard-earned salaries was strategic, waste was seldom and blowing it all off on alcohol and loose women or drugs, were unheard or rarely heard of.
Back then, one had patience, determination, tolerance, aspirations, love and cooperation. And despite the fact that we were living in hard times, in a post-slavery era, we never let conditions make us lawless or without discipline.
Today the media, the advertisement, the enticement, the influences, the thought of getting rich quick, and by any means, is all present-day thinking. And today most people have cultivated a way of life full of risk, malice and deceitful behavior.
Some want every material thing possible, but want to obtain it via the back door, through scamming and devious means and every other person accepts stealing as okay and gambling is another source of obtaining and when buying especially food at the supermarkets, they want every item on the shelves.
Things don’t last as they used to. After use, they are usually discarded. There’s no more repairs or reconstruction, everything has a high cost and everyone seeks to make profits from another.
We now live with greed as our motto. Dissatisfaction is the order of the day, killing another human being is no big thing because the lawyers of the day will most-likely ensure that you get bail and the medical institutions are there to repair your damaged bodies and brains after you have poisoned yourself through the junk you feed yourself with, due to modernization.
Some people knew how to plant to have for tomorrow, some learnt how to save for a rainy day and study to obtain an education, but in today’s times it’s all about instant gratification, a modern-day culture and the social behavior that we have inherited is based on our material greed and pure selfishness.
When do we ever have enough ? We do all that in our fight to obtain, but what happens to it when we die? Who are we really pleasing with our so-called successes? What good deeds would we have done to improve humanity? What legacy are we leaving behind? What story will we leave for the prosperity of our names and our history?
I just sometimes wonder if what we do to obtain is worth it.
As the Good Book says: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?”
We must all try to answer that question honestly.