This isn’t about bridge!
Got to wondering today what it is about “modern life” that has made people put themselves and their own “needs” above others and their needs. What brought this on was seeing how many people constantly drive over the speed limit, and get really upset if behind a car that is going at the speed limit, or just a bit over. Not thinking so much here of highway driving, but driving inside the city. They all seem to make the assumption that their “need” takes precedence over the safety of others – the “need” probably being in a lot of cases to get home a few minutes earlier to watch something meaningless on TV. What if they were driving too fast down a residential street and hit and killed a child who ran out from behind a parked car? Having to live the rest of their life knowing that it had been their fault – that their meaningless “rush” ended the life of a child? An ounce of prevention is indeed worth more than a pound of cure!
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Bridge-related
JHG : Yes you are so right…..but before we start to blame the individual let’s first look at the type of society and world they have been brought up in. In the USA for instance the culture is all about success, self-interest, becoming the best, setting yourself goals and being committed to achieving them. We are all shaped and conditioned by these outside influences ( parents, peers, politicians, celebrity icons, TV and so on ).
Asking people to do the opposite of what they have been conditioned to do is a tall order I’m afraid.
Hi HBJ,
Right on the button and when one then considers the current recession (worldwide, but very noticeable in the USA) and how many years it may take to get back to where we were, the self-interest will only increase, making many of us much more irresponsible than we realize.
Let’s hope my forecast is totally wrong. Time alone will tell.