Social Service and Its Rewards: The Solutions to Complacency

There are many things that we complain about in our lives. Whether we focus on the lack of socioeconomic advantages, lack of proper education and enough experiences to compete for a job, or we just complain because we can, we most certainly never consider the fortunate circumstances that permit us the luxury of complaining. One such fortunate circumstance is the blessing of being alive and being able to help the less fortunate and more destitute individuals in our midst. However, we are so caught up in focusing on the negatives of the talents we possess, that we are unable to see the positive light that emanate from them. Why? We have essentially forgotten the struggles of our parents and ancestors, the struggles of our neighbors both domestically and internationally, and the fact that we now have the opportunity to appreciate more than most individuals possess in this life. For example, it is not a hidden fact that many of us owe some type of debt and are living on a paycheck-to-paycheck type of system. Thus, the reasoning for, and among the justifications given for the continuous complaints and lack of humanity to others we perceive as threats to overcoming our distresses and dilemmas. Some of us owe student loans and are struggling to pay our rents, mortgages, car payments, credit card bills, electricity bills, telephone bills, and too many other bills to list here. Others become dismayed because just when they thought one bill was resolved, another bill arrives in the mail. Well, I say that challenges in our lives serve purposes even though we might be blinded by our prejudices and unreasonableness in focusing on the purposes they serve. Whenever you sit down and commence feeling sorry for yourself and the amount of bills you have to pay, try to think about your decisions, privileges, and the rights afforded to you by this wonderfully inhumane world. We choose whether we want to use phones, televisions, and other material items that we so crave to give our lives meaning. Our neighbors do not have many choices except for hunger and pain. I presume that the choices of hunger and pain are not ones that are easily adapted to especially when food, clothing, and shelter are so accessible to so many who are able to assist by engaging in social services and volunteerism. There are places in Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, and many other third world countries where women, men, and children would give anything to have food, clothing, and shelter. Our system seems to be geared towards the incarcerated and those who can afford to pay for health premiums…usually individuals who are at a certain income bracket way beyond the $30,000 per year job. We have access to so much, with compassion for none. We are selfish, ungrateful, and egoistic to the extent that we will only assist the destitute once or twice per year (Thanksgiving and Christmas) and then boasts of our goodwill to our neighbors. What about the rest of the year, and the rest of our neighbors? I am yet to encounter an individual who only eats, sleeps, and become sick twice per year throughout his or her lifetime. I may not be able to solve all the world’s problems but I hope that you can join me in changing one dysfunction at a time. Let us not be hypocritical and speak of the obvious derelict in performance of our government and leaders, while we display the same pompous and underhanded behaviors we speak of. Change begins with one person and complaining never resulted in any issues being resolved in a venerable manner. Help someone else and help yourself. Continue paying those debts while reducing your need for happiness in material items by reducing and eliminating unnecessary spending. Do not complain without taking action or else you only succeed in whining, and that is just not proper or admirable. Change your outlook on life by making informed decisions and being accountable for your own actions. While you’re doing so, go volunteer at a soup kitchen for homeless individuals and visit www.volunteermatch.org to locate some volunteer work to occupy times when you become too complacent and pompous. There are always individuals who are suffering much more than we are.

Presidential Hopefuls

O.K., am I the only one who believes that Rudy Giuliani is milking the September 11th ticket for all it's worth? A mean, here's a guy who has no minorities on his campaign, has placed Bernard Kerik of all people on nomination for Homeland Security and for Police Commissioner in 2000; yet, he has the audacity to enter the presidential campaign. My advice to the guy: drop out of the race, and make yourself obsolete. No one cares for you to become president and I feel like vomiting just thinking about the possibility of you being in office.I know that Giuliani believes that the Hispanic population in Miami are going to hand over Miami to him, but he needs to awake from his sleepless slumber and realize that Miami is not Florida. He still has to go through all the other minority groups in the state including Blacks, who he so fervently ignore during his domination of New York. The presidential election is not the mayor's office in New York, where he was backed by his corrupt colleagues whenever Black men were being killed and could be classified as an endangered species. If he wants to run this country, he needs to explain why cases and corruption such as "Black and unarmed, Ahmed Diallo was gunned down by New York police with 41 bullets" are still unresolved. In my perspective, Giuliani was not fit for Mayor, and he is definitely not fit for President of any country. He has been extremely insensitive in his continuous manipulation one of our nation's most painful and traumatic moments during this millennium--September 11th, 2001. That boat has sailed and he needs to get off it and try to focus on issues that are important to the American people. As long as globalization exists, there will always be terrorism or some level of deviancy that exists in all societies. So milking September 11, will not make it go away. We need to move on with our lives and if we cannot even resolved inequities, poverty, and racial issues within this country, how do we expect to resolve those issues abroad. Most candidates stay away from these issues because to ignore them is to pretend that they do not exists. However, Giuliani has been Mayor of one of the richest States in the United States and had the authority and the budget to work with such issues and has ignored them. He speaks about immigration issues with such contempt and distaste when he, himself is an immigrant. America needs a president that is extremely open to realizing and if not, educating himself on the benefits of immigration within this country. America needs a president that understands that the education system has been failing for the last couple of decades and that students are being taught by their intellectual equals and inferiors. Stagnation occurs when there is no room for growth--well, welcome to most students college experience. America needs a president who can pass laws to prevent the new loan sharks and mobsters (student loan agencies) from keeping college students and future generations in poverty with unreasonable student loan interest rates. The only difference between the Italian mobsters, loan sharks, and the student loan agencies is that student loan agencies do not break your legs. No, the student loan agencies do worst. They destroy your life and leave you suffering for the rest of your life. If you ask me, I would prefer to take the broken legs and has a home to nurse them back to health. America needs a president who realizes that domestic issues are as important, and even more important that international issues--especially when the majority of the nation's people are struggling. America needs a president who was not born with a gold spoon in his mouth and who can understand the struggles and pain of the country's populace. America needs a president who understands that college graduates have been leaving college in massive numbers with an average of $60,000 in student loan debts while working a $6.50 - $10.00 per hour job if they are lucky. Giuliani is definitely not going to deal with these issues. Maybe, just maybe Obama or Hillary will. If not on the democratic side, maybe Romney will be able to do so. Whatever the case, I would prefer to have a high school dropout in the presidential chair than having Giuliani influencing the country negatively.

Ever Wonder Why 1 in 4 Veterans are Homeless?

Well, ask the Department of Veterans Affairs employees who choose to use the VA credit cards and money for assisting disabled and homeless veterans, to purchase lingerie, computers and other electronic items, gifts, hotels and casino gaming, and other personal pleasures. Any other questions relating to social and political injustices, please re-read the above statement