Dear Readers:
Today is Independence Day in America, so I would like to take this space to wish all Americans a very happy 4th of July, and to say a few meows on the subject of independence. Specifically, I would like to ask; how independent are we?
We Americans are dependent upon so much. We import our good and export our jobs in search of fiscal savings, and then complain that we have become dependent upon foreign countries. Our clothing, our textiles, our electronics are all imported. Even our food is imported. How ironic is that? Our country includes millions of acres of arable land, yet we import our food because it is cheaper to buy that way.
Americans have become dependent upon others to do the tough jobs. For whatever reasons that may be, our children are not receiving (or are choosing not to study) an educational curriculum that will allow them to compete with foreign labor for skilled and educated positions; yet we don’t complain that our highest paying jobs – Medical Doctors and Engineers – are being filled by immigrant labor. Instead we complain that immigrants (here legally or illegally) are taking our low-skilled/unskilled jobs – jobs that have traditionally been held by immigrants to our country, at least until they learned enough to move up into a better job or a management position. When did Americans start this race to the bottom? How can we expect to remain an educated citizenship when we refuse to make the sacrifices required? How can we be free when we are walled-in by ignorance? An education should not be out of reach to anyone who seeks to learn, and yet is has become so. Where have we failed, America?
Americans are dependant upon foreign oil, needed to fuel the motor vehicles on which so many of us are also dependant. Who but us four-legged ones walk anywhere anymore? When is the last time many of us rode a bike to work or to the store? How about our children? Some are not free to ride their bikes down the street due to the danger of crime that infects and blights our inner-city neighborhoods; others have been raised in a culture of fear that teaches that pedophiles and others who prey on children are just waiting for the opportunity a child on a bike would present. How are we independent if we are dominated by fear?
How many of us live with hate, prejudice, or outright bigotry in our hearts? Such a small attitude imprisons you inside your own mind and keeps us from being a united country. If we are truly to be a United States of America, we need to learn to put aside our differences and embrace those we see as different. How can we be free when we are oppressed? We need to get past the dogmas and ideals that order us (or so we believe) to condemn another person based upon who they are - no major religious figure preached hate and intolerance. Learn to treat those who disgust you in a way that you would like to be treated: with dignity and respect, if you cannot muster acceptance. If the tables were turned, would you appreciate being treated in the way you treat others? If not, it’s time to make an attitude adjustment. Nobody is perfect so it is time to stop acting like it; we all have our faults and flaws so nobody has the right to claim superiority over another, even a sweet little kitty-cat like me!
As for me, I am currently on a diet! Yes, even I, Tazi-Kat, have issues! I gained a few too many pounds from eating a few too many treats and needed to lose five pounds (which for a cat is around 30% of its body weight). My Mommie tells me she wants me to live a long and healthy life. Dieting stinks, but I know that Mommie is right, so I ask: How many of our lives have been curtailed due to illness and infirm? Sometimes, such issues come naturally, but many times they are a result of unhealthy living or a fear of seeking preventative care? How many of us are owned by our addictions? How can we say we are free when a substance has such control over us that we allow it to rob us of our health and well-being? Even if we are not addicted to a substance, it is possible to be addicted to an unhealthy lifestyle – a lack of sleep, a lack of exercise, a lack of healthy food, a lack of….
This Independence Day, make a commitment to free yourself of what controls you.
This Independence Day, let’s work to make America the best she can be by working to make ourselves the best we can become. In the words of the late President John F. Kennedy, ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.
Wishing you all a Happy Fourth of July!
Snuggles,
Tazi
Ask Tazi! is ghostwritten by a human with a Bachelors of Arts in Communications. Tazi-Kat is not really a talking feline.
Today is Independence Day in America, so I would like to take this space to wish all Americans a very happy 4th of July, and to say a few meows on the subject of independence. Specifically, I would like to ask; how independent are we?
We Americans are dependent upon so much. We import our good and export our jobs in search of fiscal savings, and then complain that we have become dependent upon foreign countries. Our clothing, our textiles, our electronics are all imported. Even our food is imported. How ironic is that? Our country includes millions of acres of arable land, yet we import our food because it is cheaper to buy that way.
Americans have become dependent upon others to do the tough jobs. For whatever reasons that may be, our children are not receiving (or are choosing not to study) an educational curriculum that will allow them to compete with foreign labor for skilled and educated positions; yet we don’t complain that our highest paying jobs – Medical Doctors and Engineers – are being filled by immigrant labor. Instead we complain that immigrants (here legally or illegally) are taking our low-skilled/unskilled jobs – jobs that have traditionally been held by immigrants to our country, at least until they learned enough to move up into a better job or a management position. When did Americans start this race to the bottom? How can we expect to remain an educated citizenship when we refuse to make the sacrifices required? How can we be free when we are walled-in by ignorance? An education should not be out of reach to anyone who seeks to learn, and yet is has become so. Where have we failed, America?
Americans are dependant upon foreign oil, needed to fuel the motor vehicles on which so many of us are also dependant. Who but us four-legged ones walk anywhere anymore? When is the last time many of us rode a bike to work or to the store? How about our children? Some are not free to ride their bikes down the street due to the danger of crime that infects and blights our inner-city neighborhoods; others have been raised in a culture of fear that teaches that pedophiles and others who prey on children are just waiting for the opportunity a child on a bike would present. How are we independent if we are dominated by fear?
How many of us live with hate, prejudice, or outright bigotry in our hearts? Such a small attitude imprisons you inside your own mind and keeps us from being a united country. If we are truly to be a United States of America, we need to learn to put aside our differences and embrace those we see as different. How can we be free when we are oppressed? We need to get past the dogmas and ideals that order us (or so we believe) to condemn another person based upon who they are - no major religious figure preached hate and intolerance. Learn to treat those who disgust you in a way that you would like to be treated: with dignity and respect, if you cannot muster acceptance. If the tables were turned, would you appreciate being treated in the way you treat others? If not, it’s time to make an attitude adjustment. Nobody is perfect so it is time to stop acting like it; we all have our faults and flaws so nobody has the right to claim superiority over another, even a sweet little kitty-cat like me!
As for me, I am currently on a diet! Yes, even I, Tazi-Kat, have issues! I gained a few too many pounds from eating a few too many treats and needed to lose five pounds (which for a cat is around 30% of its body weight). My Mommie tells me she wants me to live a long and healthy life. Dieting stinks, but I know that Mommie is right, so I ask: How many of our lives have been curtailed due to illness and infirm? Sometimes, such issues come naturally, but many times they are a result of unhealthy living or a fear of seeking preventative care? How many of us are owned by our addictions? How can we say we are free when a substance has such control over us that we allow it to rob us of our health and well-being? Even if we are not addicted to a substance, it is possible to be addicted to an unhealthy lifestyle – a lack of sleep, a lack of exercise, a lack of healthy food, a lack of….
This Independence Day, make a commitment to free yourself of what controls you.
This Independence Day, let’s work to make America the best she can be by working to make ourselves the best we can become. In the words of the late President John F. Kennedy, ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.
Wishing you all a Happy Fourth of July!
Snuggles,
Tazi
Ask Tazi! is ghostwritten by a human with a Bachelors of Arts in Communications. Tazi-Kat is not really a talking feline.
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