Jim Murray

4 years ago · 3 min. reading time · 0 ·

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21st Century Report Card

21st Century Report Card

efa9e472.pngThis is part of a new series I have named Sunday Flashbacks. I have been going over some of my older posts and much to my delight, a lot of it is still nearly as relevant today as it was back in the day when, I wrote it.

I guess that doesn't say a lot for this century so far. In fact, you could argue that things are even more challenging than ever today.

Status 2012

I’ve been blogging since way before anybody even knew what they were. You might say I was ahead of my time. Or you might say that I was just a guy with a network of people who would read whatever it was I had to say.

This was back in the day, when things like Y2K and 9/11 dominated the landscape and the war on terrorism, and its attendant fear mongering was just starting. It was at the beginning of a speculative era in business that eventually led to a huge setback in the world  economy in 2008, a situation we are still trying to extricate ourselves from.

So if somebody were to issue a report card on the first decade of the twenty first century, it would most certainly be a resounding ‘F’. This is especially true when you consider all the hope and high spirits that accompanied the arrival of the 21st Century in the first place.

This was supposed to be the era when we conquered some major diseases. Instead we just managed to create a bunch of new ones.

It was supposed to be an era of prosperity and the development of abundant alternative energy. Instead we got an ongoing war over control of oil. And a new epidemic of financial sector greed and excess.

It was supposed to be an era of enlightenment through technology. Instead we got a bunch of video game and Social Media addicts and a whole generation of attention junkies who were willing to do anything, life threatening, sexually explicit or just plain stupid, to claim their 15 minutes of fame on the world wide web.

But most of all, many of us got to see, first hand what life would be like when the tables get turned completely around. And industries that were the lifeblood of their communities, dried up.

Recommendations

So now that we have managed to blow the first decade of the 21st Century, what will we do with the second?

I like to think that we are smart enough to learn from our mistakes and that in this new decade we will:

> Work hard to stay healthy.

> Embrace and support alternative technologies and renewable ideas of all kinds.

> Stop believing everything we see on the news, because mostly it’s just propaganda of one kind or another.

> Concentrate more on what we need as opposed to simply what we feel we deserve.

> Try and be more a part of the solution than the problem.

> Start to understand that there is more to life than the acquisition of toys.

> Insist on transparency from government and corporations.

> Start refusing to accept fear as the primary motivator in our lives.

All of this is possible. All you really have to do is make up your mind to think that way and it’s done.

Things in the world are not right. You can feel it in your bones. New signs of this dysfunction show up every day. And because the world is such a large place, it’s hard to believe that any changes you make can affect the bigger picture.

But that’s not true. Everybody’s looking for something to believe in. My suggestion is to go look in the mirror. If you don’t like what you see, change it. If you’re tired of the bullshit you are being fed by governments and corporations, ignore it. If you want to make your life better, do it. If you want to see how great the world can really be…open your eyes.

Footnote:

This was written right smack in the middle of the Obama era in America and at the beginning of the end of the Harper Era in Canada. The times, in fact were fairly benign, and the economy was really the main concern. All that changed a few years later. And, sadly, not for the better.

But it is what it is and it was what it was. And frankly, my soul was a lot lighter then, as I'm sure yours was too.


c5273492.pngJim Murray is a writer, a reader, a sports fan and a TV watcher who has been writing about the sports & entertainment worlds since1998, which is when he created the Couch Potato Chronicles.

Jim is also an ex-ad agency writer and art director and has run his own creative consultancy, Onwords & Upwords, since 1989. He lives with his wife in the Niagara area of Ontario, and works with companies that are trying to make a difference in the world.

You can follow Jim

On beBee: https://www.bebee.com/bee/jim-murray

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-murray-b8a3a4/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jimbobmur

On Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/y97gxro4



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