Happiness, Selfishness Or Greed

The last few years have been strange and volatile for many of us around the world, and as we have moved out of the turmoil which is a pandemic, here in the UK one would think the public would just be sighing a breath of relief in regards to getting some normality back. Yet I am finding we are no happier, in fact more stressed, and there are many reasons for this, but not typically ones that may that may pop into our minds to begin with. What is really driving us to become the society we are, are there big disconnects in communication? when I say that I do not mean social media more face to face, physical and emotional which is not in front of a screen of a phone or a monitor. Our media is so negative, I often wonder to myself why I watch the news, there is nothing hardly ever good being showcased. The funny thing on the media and negativity is this is nothing new, but it certainly influences how we feel, how we operate. The real reason I am writing this is through my feelings of the last year and the terms crisis and austerity, I have been confused at times by what I have listened to or seen, then witnessing the complete opposite. All that I am writing here is just my personal opinion, I utterly understand others may not agree, however it is healthy to have debates as long as constructive. The term crisis I hear a lot especially in regards to environment but that discussion is for another day, its the cost of living crisis I want to debate. Time and time again this term ‘cost of living crisis’ is raised, just recently we had a local rally where the RMT union representative visited to attended, I believe there was a good attendance, the rally was splashed all over local social media. The event was held at the local church, but all I could think about was why not have it at the local drive through McDonalds, people may then really see how the public’s priorities lie. A cost of living crisis, yet there is always a lengthy cue on a daily basis. Are we in austerity? yes but there are reasons for this, pandemics, governments, war, politics. Does this reflect on businesses, well friends and colleagues who are self employed face having to get on with it, muddle through, make ends meet, although that is their decision as well as mine, being self employed of course. Strike’s, it is a word that has become a daily part of our living agenda, people wanting more money, there are some who I do agree deserve more due to the nature of their jobs. But many strike speaking of wanting a % more in wages, we have not had a raise for over a decade. These issues may be form poor management decades before today and lets not forget a global pandemic, now I am thinking, my word don’t we forget things quickly. And that austerity is there for a reason, governments possibly trying to balancing books, we cant please everyone maybe? People running these rallies, are they really doing it for the right reasons or is it a matter of making themselves visible to the communities they look after, I nearly wrote lead but that word is not really what they should do, they are there to look after in my mind. I have now found myself going of on a tangent, why the real reason for me wanting to discuss this. I have been lucky enough to visit many countries, all paid for myself mind. The reason for many of my travels in the last 12 years have been to look at how other communities and cultures live, mainly in reflection to wildlife they share their environment with. These travels have really made me think though how lucky I am, we are, but also how unappreciative we can be. We have many opportunities open to us, education, health, McDonalds, many of us can just flick a switch and the light bulb goes on, yet when I have seen communities which live utterly different to us I become embarrassed by our attitudes. I am not pointing fingers, just merely being honest, we may be a take it for granted society, maybe without not even knowing how lucky we really are. So back to us as a society, is it social media and the way we really manage our lives, is it the media drive of turning all into a drama. Are we selfish? lets be honest are we? are we greedy? lets be honest are we? could we be happier, maybe? Are MP’s and local government officials really doing these demonstrations for those who we should not forget, the people who just the ‘thought’ of having a McDonald’s would just be a luxury, one they simply can not afford, to me they are the people facing austerity within Britain. Possibly just being happier with what we are achieving would be a healthy start, are things really that bad compared to others in the world? possibly not. That is not saying that some do deserve more % but is it more a bandwagon that institutions and people in politics jump on to become noticed, I not sure. What I feel sure about is I am lost with how I view society in the UK currently, but would this be the same in any other country around the world if I lived there? Who Knows?

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