The title pretty much says it all. Hard work. It has become the enemy of Western Society. We will do almost anything to avoid it and the marketers of culture prey upon our pathetic proclivities like primal parasites. We want it easy. We want it delivered to our doors and desktops and we want it now.
Worse, we are willing to pay a price to have it. Phineas Taylor Barnum was right. We have become passive. We watch. We talk. We watch people talk to form opinion. And then we complain abut the costs and pass hostile judgments about those courageous enough to risk actually doing something. We have met the enemy and them be us. Whomever first quipped that change is hard opened the door to the scientific method. It is the first noble truth of the Information Age.
We have lost the appreciation and the appetite for the art and the taste of hard work. Most of us, anyway. Depending on to whom you turn for your facts. The NY Times says the percentage of Americans who get an "obese" rating is nearly 34 percent of adults, more than double the percentage 30 years ago. The share of obese children tripled during that time, to 17 percent.
Unhealthy, to be sure. Costly too, it turns out. The personal choice to (s)wallow in fast food on the couch has an associated cost. A big one. Medical care. A cost to the percentage of society that hasn't forgot (or been manipulated to believe) that hard work makes it happen. Hard work in taking responsibility for your own health and the discipline to research, support, prepare and promote good dietary habits. Diet and exercise: Hard work. Change: Hard work. Rewards?
Good health. Happiness. A penny saved. A contribution to society and my personal favorite....
The satisfaction that comes from knowing that you have put in a honest effort. You know, hard work.
Exampled is this polar extreme: This poor girl weighs in at 602 pounds. Her goal is 1,000. Fox News does a decent job at spinning her personal choices into real world financial impact. Please check out the numbers related to diabetes. I am going to refrain from making judgments. I think you could guess what they wold be. You can make your own.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is this eleven mile run that Steph and I will undertake Saturday in preparation for the Olympic Discovery Marathon. I will refrain from making judgments here as well. You can formulate your own.
Please do.
Pic: From Jeff's collection at Classic Cycles. You don't get your team bike or jersey on this wall from shying away from hard work.
6 comments:
Many decades ago I read a comic book called Magnus, Robot Fighter. It was set in the distant future where robots did everything for humans. Magnus was a good guy who was able to defeat rogue robots (it was a comic book, after all). A vivid scene that was burned forever into my memory was one where obese humans were carried by robots while they were being spoon fed by other robots. What an awful development, I thought back then. Who knew then that the future is now.
We are the new Magnus. Only the costumes have been changed!
Again, this blog has left me speechless.
Off subject robot, but here is something: http://www.toxel.com/tech/2010/03/16/treadmill-bike-concept/
Aw come on, make a speech. This is your forum. (Bernie said he kicked your butt today as a primer).
Bernie can't beat me. He is too old.
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