Responsibilities of the individual in society: Arising from discussion of A Fair Go. We are what we think.

All that we are arises from our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. Buddha Negative sentiment is a difficult thing to embrace as a positive, in fact it seems to be oxymoronic in nature. However; it is from negative experiences that humans make their greatest strides forward. While war is a terrible thing we have benefited from much of the technology created for war and modified for peace. The flip side of this is that too much positive belief, too much success and too much easy living can lead us down the road of complacency. It may not even be that we recognize our lives as being particularly easy as we do not take the time to compare our lot with that of others. This does not necessarily provide a mandate for our slothful behavior as a species. In school, many students want to get high marks, however; when they are asked why they often respond with either I want to make my parents happy. or I want to be the best in the class. For the students who have achieved these goals there is often another barrier that awaits them. After you have beaten your competition and established your worth with those whose opinions matter to you what next? Why are you trying at all? It eludes many students but surprisingly it also seems to elude many adults I have spoken with or whose lives I have followed. They wish to succeed so they are seen to be successful, it is basically ego that drives them. While their efforts are commendable in themselves I would urge these individuals to look beyond themselves and towards a higher purpose. The betterment of all. I am lucky, I know it is one of the defining features of my life. I have good parents, a stable upbringing, a relatively stable job, a wonderful loving partner and relatively good health. Many of these things were not directly caused by my actions and as a result I term it luck rather than saying it is all my own doing. I have faults, many more than I would like to admit but although it seems like an egotistical remark, I am aware of them and most of the time I can control or minimize the negative impact of my faults on myself and those around me. I do not identify as a fatalist, a Buddhist, a Christian or anything else with a popular label on it but I do believe that the principal tenant of my continued fortune is balance. I am lucky and so I need to give back to the wider community to maintain that balance. I do so by supporting my charges as they try to make their way through the confusion of adolescence and writing and sharing my ideas, be they negative or positive, so that readers can themselves reflect on the part they play in the greater scheme of things. Are they complacent? Do they have a sense of self entitlement? Do they believe that success is just one more job interview around the corner? More importantly, why? Do people ask themselves this question and give themselves an honest answer. In my work I tell my students this is the most important question. To understand the reason behind decisions, events, beliefs and arguments they must understand why they occurred. Many adults do not seem to do this and as a result they are manipulated by the unceasing tide of rhetoric, half-truth and psycho-babble that flows from our televisions, newspapers, magazines and computers.

When people do not understand the connection between Why and happiness, the progression of humanity and the lessening of suffering for the downtrodden they make themselves beholden to the status quo. When they do, they are empowered by the realization that they can help, should help, not just stand and watch. If they are in the position of the downtrodden they are empowered to strive for understanding, for opportunity, satisfaction and happiness. During the renaissance men and women strove to unleash their imagination, to spread new ideas, to try new things and to put aside the time worn traditions that had held entire nations in thrall for hundreds of years. From that time we saw the birth of democracy as it is today, the first steps towards the amazing technologies we have now and the establishment of rights that at the time were revolutionary but now are an accepted part of our lives. We as a race seem to have stopped dreaming and instead wait for A smart person to do the thinking for us, to solve our energy, employment and social dysfunction problems. We ourselves need to stand up and begin the process ourselves as our society is slowly but surely stagnating into a high-tech mirror image of the feudal system of the Middle Ages. A dramatized image of peasants slaving away, not in fields but in fast food stores and minimum wage factories, harvesting minerals from the ground not for their own wealth but that of a titan of ownership and taking pleasure in eating meagre foods with questionable nutrition. The progress of the late 19th century and the revolutionary idea of an eight hour work day is being ground down as people decide to work harder, not smarter and end up working multiple jobs in a struggle to achieve monetary success, sacrificing the greater success of family and contentment as a result. It is not revolution I call for in our society for we have everything we need. Clean air, food, medical care and opportunity. What we lack is drive, not for trivial things such as money or a new plasma TV, we lack drive to hurl our race into a new Enlightenment, where ideas and innovation are more highly prized than piles of cash and credit balances, where the people we idolize are humanitarian, selfless and determined to make their dreams reality. Some would say these hopes are pointless, that one person cannot make a difference. Those people are wrong. Countless times throughout history individuals have through force of will, determination and perseverance, shaped the world as they see fit. Some of these people are remembered as heroes and juggernauts of humanity, others are remembered as despots and maniacs. I hope that by reading this I help people to assess what part they play in the world and if they are doing what they can to help the children and our childrens children grow up in a world that is not simply grinding along but that is fulfilling our dreams and achieving everything we are capable of. Lets make the future one we can be proud of, make our children remember us as those who made the change, hold out your hands and help you neighbor, lend your arm to a stranger in need and show the world that kindness, imagination and dedication can make a difference. B.Groot