Desperate Times...... and a call for sweeping change.

I'm going to say something that no one will ever say.

I mentioned at the end of 2021, that some of what I would be saying going forward, might be slightly politically incorrect. At least I alluded to it…

In essence I am hoping it helps us all better understand what's happening around us. I hope you will know that in spite of what I’m saying, I’m still a lovely person.

It seemed so odd to me... the fervor with which criminals commit crimes these days.

It used to be that you robbed a bank and the payoff for it was... money.

Today people commit crimes out of anger, despair, hatred, mental disorder... and a need for notoriety.

To paraphrase Bob Dylan... the times, they are a’different...

Here’s the thing. I do not see much of any other possible reason for violent crimes, except that the criminals possess a desire to die.

I imagine that there are people who have a basic and mildly subconscious notion that this is true. I'm also guessing that there's a good chance that people will argue me back on this, no matter what I say.

But to me the idea that you can go against six heavily armed law enforcement officers, with multiple weapons pointed at you, defying their directives, scaring them, and making them angry, is a direct indication that someone wants to be killed.

It’s not so much that they are willing to die for their cause. It’s more like finding a cause that will get them killed. No one will care if you don’t pay your parking tickets. But if you resist arrest, or mow down parishioners during vespers, you might likely be committing ‘death by cop’.

I think it's important for us to realize that people are just that desperate. So much can go wrong in a person’s life. We don’t learn how to cope with it. As humans we tend to find ways to blame others for anything that goes wrong. Those with volatility in their make-up, are willing to put their life on the line, and sometimes even take other people with them, in an effort to get someone to end their suffering.

The reason our police officers are under such great strain, is because once people are trying to be killed, they have nothing to lose.

And it appears to me that death-by-cop is on the rise, which indicates that despair is also on the rise.

When it comes to the new efforts towards dealing with emotional and mental stress, my point here is going to be that individuals need attention early in life, to prevent becoming derailed. Along with teaching them algebra, and how to glue macaroni to a can, we need to teach people the reality of mental health. Life is difficult and doesn't turn out the way you plan.

We need to be made aware of the realities, so that reality doesn't put a strain on our ability to function.

I can't be the only one that sees life getting harder as I get older. I can't be the only one that sees that life is difficult to handle. I can't be the only one that wasn't prepared for it.

Everything that is happening to society today, that is causing us grief, is preventable. We can teach men the right way to treat women. We can teach people the right way to deal with anger. We can teach people the right way to negotiate and maintain civility. We can teach people how to stay healthy. We can even teach them how to be successful and prosperous.

We can teach people everything we need them to know. But we have to stop wasting our time and our resources. We have to stop ceding control to happenstance.

Children should be in school for longer hours in the day. Think of the daycare issue we would eliminate if children’s lives were accommodated by a longer school day, focused on raising well-rounded, stable, intelligent people.

Instead we focus on 'letting kids be kids,’ giving them freedoms they haven’t earned, providing them with less-than-sufficient educations, and then placing them in front of American television.

I can’t be the only one that is seeing the results of this dereliction.

Why create multiple places all over town, in an insufficient attempt to get them educated? Day care. After-school and tutoring programs. Sporting matches. Medical services.

Why not create one place for them? Streamline and develop our schools to be what they need to be, in order to raise responsible, well-prepared people. The daycare system in American is failing. There aren’t nearly enough after school programs to go around. Taking time to get to sporting events and medical visits is fairly time consuming.

Think of the benefits to the family. A ten hour school day might sound extreme at the onset, but think about how much you could accomplish if your children were safe at school all day from about 7 am to about 5 pm five or six days a week. One place where they could eat, rest, play, and learn. Think of the jobs it would create.

Think how much safer they would be and how much more efficient it would be to have children in one place, learning, protected and cared for, and being raised properly by trusted professionals.

And think of how many people we could help, and save, by teaching the skills necessary to cope with other people, with difficult situations, with disappointments, with authority, with adversity….

…with LIFE!