Reality Check

This is in response to Writer Lady's post HERE.

Dear Writer Lady,

I wanted to inform you that if things don't work out with Obama, you could always be my running mate. I realize you are a woman and that fact alone will cause massive amounts of voters to turn against me, but I am confident enough in my abilities to take you onto my staff. I am just as qualified as Obama and McCain for the following reasons:

1. I support broad and abstract concepts like freedom, liberty, and prosperity.
2. I am against broad and abstract concepts like poverty, war, and suffering.
3. I am perfectly capable of reading speeches and supporting programs given to me by my political party.
4. I have a good and healthy family full of good looking people who will make me look good by association.
5. I can point out every flaw in my opponents and stir up my party to ruthlessly and shamelessly attack every aspect of the personal lives of my opponents.

While this is enough to easily compete with the other candidates, I have many more qualities that make me far more qualified.

1. I'm not old.
2. I'm not African American.
3. I'm not a woman.
4. I don't have any reputation in the political community whatsoever.
5. I have not raised a family, calling into question every possible mistake I might have made in doing so.
6. I do not have children, calling into question anything they have ever done.
7. I do not have possible ties to terrorism, calling my morality into question.
8. I do not rave about empty and idealistic promises with no logical idea of how I will carry them out.

And here's why I am hands down, far more qualified than any other candidates:

I AM NOT A POLITICIAN. I don't make a living manipulating people for my own means. I don't live solely to promote my political party. I'm not a puppet. I'm not in this for the glory. I'm not in this for the fame. I'm not in this because demographically and politically I was deemed the best possible figurehead for a collective political mind. I actually care about what matters to the people of America. I actually focus on solutions to problems instead of digging up dirt on people I have no business caring about.

So vote for me and I will make sure of the following:

1. Everyone will be genuinely, truly happy...even those who are only happy when others are unhappy.
2. Every American will be rich beyond their wildest dreams, even those of you who do not work for a living.
3. The environment will be perfectly safe forever, even though our country will continue to run effectively.
4. There will be no war and total peace in the whole world, and I will make sure of this, even though some countries are bent on our destruction.
5. There will be plenty of gas for everyone, even though we are increasing our fuel consumption while decreasing our fuel supply.
6. There will be total tolerance for all races, all genders, all ages, and all walks of life. Everyone will love each other and get along, even the ones who hate everyone.
7. The opposing political party will like me and deem me a great leader, despite the fact that I am in the opposing party and their candidate did not win. No one will hold grudges against me for becoming president. No one will attack every political decision I ever make. No one will call me stupid or make fun of my every move, even though that is what political parties do to anyone in the opposing party.
8. There will not be a massive wave of suicides when I win the election. There will not be a massive exodus of politically minded people moving to Canada as a result of my election. I do not support abandoning the country and I am against death of any kind.

Vote for me and ALL YOUR DREAMS WILL COME TRUE!

It's amazing how life in general seems to have its own version of inflation. Our whole society has evolved so many new "needs", it's absolutely staggering. To make things worse, these necessities have gotten ridiculously expensive. In order to fit into a normal American lifestyle, we have to live in debt. I think this is a lot to do with the financial situation we are in. Those of us who work the hardest do so to feed the already bloated pockets of those who don't do nearly as much, and don't contribute real goods into our society.

When you look at the actual producers in our society (those who make tangible food/clothing/items we need to survive as a nation), those people are barely paid in the broad scheme of things.

Now look at those who don't produce any tangible goods , like lawyers, bankers, insurance agents, marketers, and health care professionals. That's where all the money is going. They make no tangible contributions to the actual survival of our society or the basic needs of our people (food, shelter, clothing, etc.).

At the same time, the cost of living has gone up. This is not because those who produce the things we need are making more money. These people are struggling to survive. It's because there are so many along the way who dip their hands into the revenue until it's hard for consumers to afford. And we still blame the President for our financial problems. If you want someone to blame, go to your local hospital and ask them why a ten-cent aspirin costs $100 when you get it there.

I think as Americans, we have grown so accustomed to such a hectic and full lifestyle, it just seems like the norm. We inhale our food. We sleep just a few hours a night. We keep conversations shallow and concise. We keep relationships shallow and concise. We keep moving and busy at all times. Even when we relax and rest, we tend to do so under constant visual and mental stimulation. And we wonder why we are always so stressed out.

I see people in other countries who don't do this. Then again, those countries aren't nearly as wealthy as we are. It makes me question, is it really worth it in the end? Is it worth making the extra money if we have to spend it on gym memberships, health products, medical bills, and psychotherapy to help us cope with our lifestyle? Would we still need to work so hard to de-stress if we didn't work so hard in the first place? I think perhaps this is what old people mean when they speak of the "Good Old Days".

Will things keep escalating? Will our economy become even more cutthroat and competitive? Will we have to kill ourselves just to survive in this world? Can we keep up with our own progress or will we all come crashing down because of our own ambition?