A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE

 WHAT'S YOUR PERSPECTIVE?

I was thinking of the story of the Ant and the Grasshopper today. For those of you who haven't heard it - it's the story of the grass hopper who plays and farts around all during the summertime without preparing for winter.

Back in the day when our ancestors lived where there was snow, you prepared all year for the harsh winters. You had to prepare and store food to last the winter. You had to make sure your roof was in good shape to keep the snow out. You have to make sure you had enough firewood cut and kept dry to use to heat the house and cook your food during the winter. You had to store water for the winter.

So you spent those spring and summer months preparing to get through basically being locked in your house for the winter and survive. In the story, winter comes and the ant who has worked all during the spring and summer months chopping wood, storing food, making sure his roof is in good repair, etc. is prepared.

The grasshopper however finds himself without shelter, food, water, heat, etc. So he knocks on the door of the ant and asks for help. The ant basically tells him "I warned you to be prepared as I was preparing but it's not my job to take care of you."

The story ends there because it really then makes you think - can you rely on other people to care for you when you didn't care for yourself - and should you take care of people that didn't care about themselves at your expense. Because now if the ant does take in the grass hopper, he now will run out of food and water sooner than he prepared for which harms himself.

By "perspective", what is your perspective on life? Is it up to you to take care of yourself? Here's an example - have you set aside money and also made plans for your death? My mother and grandmother had not done this and I had to take care of them when they died. I didn't want to wish this on my daughter, so I've set aside enough cash to take care of my cremation. I've told my daughter where the money is and what to do. I've also made out a medical power of attorney and given it to my daughter so if I suddenly am in a coma, my daughter can make medical decisions for me like whether or not to resuscitate me or not. So to the best of my ability, I am taking care of my own business. I don't want to rely on winding up in potter's field if I die and someone doesn't step up to take care of that for me. Since my parents are both dead and I'm not married - it's not anyone else's job to take care of my final arrangements but me.

So I feel I'm an ant. When it comes to things like medical care, financial aid, etc., some people feel it's the government's job to do for them. Other people want the government to butt out and take care of things themselves. Conflict believe it or not was actually the very foundation of our political system. Our forefathers believed that leaving things up to the "mob" was going to not be the best decision, nor would it protect the more vulnerable.

They believed two opposing sides SHOULD fight it out and the COMPROMISE accomplished by these two opposing sides was going to be the best decision. Why? Because England, where we basically came from if you're not native American or Mexican, was ran by the royal family. They made the decisions and you either got along or you were on the outside. The same with France and what their revolution was about. With the mob, or the side with the most money and power calling the shots - people got left out and exploited.

So it was CONFLICT, and not kissing butt, that our forefathers of America believed was the best way to run things. That's originally why we had a two party system basically. Of course this was before people who had lots of money like the Rothschilds got ahold of BOTH sides and controlled them both. For proof, read up on Sheldon Adelson. He would DONATE TO BOTH PARTIES EVERY YEAR. Why? Because he was able to control BOTH sides of the equation by then - thus no matter who won he was still in the position of power.

I bring this up because you then can look at this like the man who wants to be in power, or you can look at this like the guy who is being controlled. I used to hear about West Point a lot when I was young. West Point was known as a school where the wealthy and powerful sent their sons to go to military school. If you came out of West Point, and got drafted, you'd then not be a private, but a general or corporate or someone in POWER. So you were taught at West Point how to be a leader for that reason.

That's because it was a given you weren't going to be a private, but someone in power. Being in a position of power is NOT what is taught in public schools where the kids who come from families who aren't of wealth and power send their kids to school. I can assure you, having known people who have been in a very high positions of power - they don't look at things like those who aren't in power or control look at things either.

Meaning are you thinking only of playing in the lovely spring weather and believing someone will take care of you when the winter comes - or do you spend your time preparing for the winter during the spring so you KNOW you are going to be fed and warm and safe come the winter time without any worries about being left out to die in the cold? This is one of the reasons why I LOVED it when during the debates Trump said "I know the system is rigged because I have USED the system to my advantage." So he doesn't rail against that system because he USES that system. He in fact SETS UP that system.

I remember in his book "Art of the Deal" for example he taught that YOU should always be the one to outline what a deal is going to be about to keep yourself in control of the deal. Yes he who writes the rules is in control. I saw this never more clearly than I remembered the day my father had to decide whether or not to cut his hair to get a job. I also don't believe you have to agree with everyone in order to learn from them. Think about it - if you only agree to learn from people who you agree with on every point in life - you won't be learning much.

You see I was conceived in the back of a Buick by a 17 year old box boy and an 18 year old mom who met in high school. Now they didn't consider abortion in 1959 because it wasn't easily available then legally, nor was birth control for that matter. You see birth control in 1959 was restricted to only be prescribed to married women, not 18 year old girls.

But by getting mom knocked up, my dad was able to escape the draft for the Vietnam war - so it was okay for them to have me and get married. But you can't support a wife and baby on a box boy's wages.

Back in 1960 when I was born, people grew out long hair to protest the war. Long hair on a man was a sign you were in protest of the war. The good paying jobs for adult men to support families usually had dress codes. Big companies who paid well didn't generally hire "long hairs" or "hippies" because the pop culture portrayed them as being also drug addicts, into "free love" and other such images.

My dad got a job in the steel mill. They didn't care he had long hair in the physical work on making steel rails and such. They only cared he was strong. They paid well, but my mom said my dad would come home covered in soot and in horrible pain from the hard physical labor. I was old enough I remember him coming home and collapsing in exhaustion at the end of a work day. It was good pay, but a job that one wouldn't be able to do as you got older or if you were frail or got sick.

He was offered a job at the local gas company, but they had a policy you had to wear their uniforms to work for them. As you represented them in your uniform, you also had to therefore cut your hair. That was because you couldn't work for the gas company and wear their uniform while also having long hair.

I remembered my dad looking at that dress policy and I could see him carefully considering his perspective. Was he going to keep his long hair and all that went with taking that position, or was he going to cut his hair, get a better paying physically easier job?

This wasn't about hair mind you - it was about was he going to conform to standing behind the government and the war or not? Yes he could keep breaking his back. Maybe he could sell drugs even. But what about how he was going to keep working when he got older?

But the line was drawn - if you want a nice white collar good paying job with benefits then you need to cut your hair which means not protesting the war.

I went with my dad to the barber and I remembered how emotional he looked when they cut his hair and he also shaved off his mustache. You see mustaches from the 70's that were also popular in porn were also from war protestors. The dress code for the gas company required him to also have no facial hair. Which by the way also meant no Jewish men who had those long curls couldn't work there. It also meant Amish men who had beards couldn't work there.

JUST BY HAVING A DRESS CODE - the gas company was able to not give work to men of certain religions as well as anyone who was protesting the war. Did the gas company state they wouldn't hire orthodox Jewish men who sport those long curls off their side burns as a symbol of their faith? No. Because it's "just a dress code".

That's a matter of perspective as well because when you would talk to the gas company officials - it was "just a dress code". But to my dad it was much more than that. Just as I'm sure that for Muslims who wear turbans on their heads as a symbol of their faith who also couldn't get jobs with the gas company because also forbid any head gear or hats when wearing their uniform as well.

But this is why for example the Amish make furniture, farm cows, and have their own economy. It's also a way that if you went to work for the gas company back then, they had a pretty good idea you were a "conformist" and not a man of principals because I remember the way deciding if he wanted to "conform" or not impacted my father's spirit.

So are you the one setting the rules, or abiding by them? Are you trying to change those rules so others can benefit? Look at my dad - did my dad start a campaign to change the gas company's rules about their dress code? Or did he just go get a shave and a hair cut and apply for the job?

All a matter of perspective . . . .