July 31, 2013

Uprisings in North Africa and the deterioration of major U.S. cities (Detroit, Camden NJ, Watts, etc.) have at least one common strain: Poor citizens are demanding more creature comforts from their government. TV and Internet have exposed these folks to the Kim Kardashian life style with its abundance of luxury. That life seems highly appealing to people at the bottom of the economic pile. They demand similar comforts and they want them now.

When I was a kid wanting a new bike I had to pay for it by picking strawberries from our tiny garden and selling them door-to-door. It never occurred to me that my parents or the town would provide me a bike.

A full and complete education, coupled with hard work, is prerequisite to a life of comfort, unless you are lucky enough to be born to a billionaire. TV depictions never consider those factors.

Teachers are now denigrated by the media and entry level jobs are too demeaning to the young. (That job disrespects me, man.)

Too bad technology has not found a way to emphasize the importance of delayed gratification. The resulting unintended consequence is anarchy: In North Africa and coming soon to your neighborhood.