Born On Second

It seems to me that one of the things critical to the success of the American Dream is the inviolable nature of the last will and testament. One works long and hard, and at long last reaps the material reward of all that effort. After passing on, what one can't take with them is passed down to the next generation (or whoever), presumably giving them a leg up as they pursue the course of bettering the family generation by generation. I believe in this and I don't.

Here's how the ambivalence breaks down. When you take what is passed down to start your own thing, I'm for it. When you take that legacy and just ride it, I'm not for that. I don't think that's what it's meant to be. Whether the inheritance is very much or very meager, it's a stepping stool and not an easy chair. I don't know what may be waiting for me (although in the past talk of firearms has been bandied about),  but I sincerely hope that I will invest it in service of something and not merely expend it.

Do It Yourself!

Something quite despicable is happening, and it's all under the guise of empowering people. Perhaps that's the typical way of it. What it is has to do with media. I think it started as a case of necessity being the mother of invention, as did reality television, whose rise I trace to the emergence of 'COPS' during the late 80s writers' strike. There was no interest in buying such a show until the value of one which operated independent of writers became apparent. In a pinch, that program became a hit with an incredible profit margin and the rest was quite inevitable. Consumer-driven content for media outlets was probably likewise inevitable.

Those running the outlets probably never dreamed that anyone but trained, experienced professionals would be fit to do things like contribute film reviews or footage of news events. They weren't qualified, they didn't possess the necessary equipment, and who would ever work for free? It was a dream too ridiculous to entertain. Certain factors made it less ridiculous. When certain media began to struggle and cheaper content became very appealing, I suppose they were quick to dispense with antiquated notions of professional pride. The proliferation of good consumer technology such as camera phones made it practical. Now we have Joe Schmoe's video footage of a mudslide and his review of the latest Indiana Jones movie. The tv station runs the former and the paper runs the latter, both at no greater cost than attribution to Joe Schmoe, who is a sucker.

With Which I Am Fed Up

One of the most detestable qualities in humankind is a propensity for whining and complaining. It's an accepted part of life that we are constantly exposed to things that rub us the wrong way, and one might have guessed that we would have learned to deal with it more gracefully in the thousands of years since the first two people were cast from paradise. If a day goes by during which you weren't upset by even the most inconsequential thing, then it must have been spent in uninterrupted slumber.

I have been thinking  a great deal about the complaints which loom largest both online and in real life. This isn't meant to be a heavy, ponderous treatise with some grand solution from on high or one big complaint in itself. It's only a series of observations I have made and some conclusions I drew, all in the spirit of curiosity and thoughtfulness.