License to Survive????

In today’s world of politically correct dictates, nanny governments, and the propensity to lawsuits it makes you wonder if you, the individual, have the right to survive on your own terms anymore.

Honestly, I don’t want to be one of those boring, old dinosaurs who laments the good old days. Really I don’t….BUT not so long ago…

Competition was a good thing

Ambition was encouraged

And moving out on your own was expected. Not just by your parents but by yourself. You wanted to make your way in the world. You wanted to prove that you could.

The whole idea used to be that you wanted something and you worked for it. And usually you worked your ass off for it. And people actually admired you for all that hard work and go-getted-ness (nope, I don’t think that’s a word). Nobody but nobody felt sorry for you because you didn’t get a 10 minute break every three hours. Or sick days, or personal days, or paid vacations.

You didn’t need health insurance because you had a family doctor whom you could afford to see because they weren’t required to carry a million dollars in malpractice insurance.

If you were broke or needed more money you took a second job – you did not move back in with mom and dad. You did not go down to get food stamps. You did not panhandle at your local 7-11.

Teenagers were typically able to spell their own names and master basic math. They didn’t need their own cell phone, personal computer, $150 sneakers, Starbuck coffee cards or a personal trainer. They didn’t get chauffered all over hell and creation by their parents – they walked, rode their bikes or took the bus. They were self-reliant.

Now? Now the government, the ACLU, PETA, Al Gore, The Surgeon General, your neighbor, The Guardian, (fill in the blank) tells you what you can and cannot eat, drink, inhale, breathe, think, and believe. We mustn’t think original thoughts, lest someone feel left out. We mustn’t have our own opinions lest someone feel disenfranchised. We mustn’t be ourselves, lest we earn, own, excel, have more than the collective. Competition is bad because then someone loses and that’s not fair. It hurts someone’s feelings. Ambition is bad because you’re sure to use oil or smoke cigarettes, drive a gas-guzzling vehicle, vote Republican or eat junk food because of all the stress – and apparently that affects others adversely. Your children must never be raised by you but be raised by the whole damned village!

I’m asking – are you sick of it? Doesn’t it make you want to scream? Aren’t you tired of asking others for permission to survive? To live your life the way you want to? Believe what you want to believe. Eat food that tastes good? Smoke a cigarette without feeling like a criminal? Are we meece or men? I’m just wondering.

(Though I originally posted this on Smoke & Mirrors while guest blogging, it’s one of my favorite rants, so I thought we could revisit it. What fun!)