What Are People Thinking?

Ever wonder what people were thinking when they made pronouncements or took actions that were contrary to your ideas? A Place for the Eye to Rest presents ideas to consider and places to jump off when coming to your own conclusions.

What Are People Thinking?

We live in tumultuous times. It is easy to be confused by the conflicting points of view that are screamed from the rooftops by various media outlets, social networks and self-promoting individuals. Add to that chaos of opinions, the proliferation of Fake News that muddies the waters and promotes the very chaos it reports about. No wonder so many are confused and mentally exhausted.

Despite the constant chatter of positions and opinions, we must take a stand, and often must defend it. Opposing philosophies and positions make themselves known, and confusion often ensues.

We live in a rabid capitalistic society. It appears that the worst of capitalism has reared its ugly head and eaten its own best qualities. The growth of the bottom line has become an overarching goal. As a result we are led to believe that anyone can and should “make it big.” This idea is reinforced by the published reports of people--ordinary people--who have done just that.

Our national history supports this theory. We were founded by people who were committed believers in the possibility of a better life, in a new location, with new beliefs and a culture of their own making. This defined ‘making it big’ to them. They were so committed to it, they were willing to work in adverse conditions, persevere against extenuating circumstances, and even risk death to ‘make it big’. Their descendants perpetuated their beliefs as they moved forever westward in search of continually better outcomes for themselves and their families.

Even the 'get rich quick’ participants in the Gold Rush believed that with hard work and luck, they could become wildly successful. Many did that and perpetuated the national story that anyone can achieve notoriety. They have passed this story forward for generations and it lives in the psyche of our population.

Take a minute to look at this element of our culture in a rational way. Starting with the early settlers and moving forward to our present day life, the story persists. Enough of the early settlers survived and prospered to establish a new civilization on a new continent. History tells us that many died in the process. They died on the journey and died as they tried to work their way to success. They died from hard work, extreme conditions, starvation and bad luck or bad judgement. They even died from competition from previous occupants whom they tried to supplant.

In this light, they were failures. For every 10 survivors there were 10 or 20 failures. Those odds are daunting. But the stories that are told about them and their experiences omit the failures, accentuate the successes and form a foundation for the ‘anyone can do it’ mindset. It is a story and a mindset that is ingrained in our culture. Survivors became heroes.

Westward expansion also created cultural heroes. We revere and elevate to the level of heroes those who crossed the plains and the Rockies and survived. Little mention is made of the thousands who lie buried in shallow graves along the sides of the trail. They died during the journey. They were failures. We celebrate the survivors who became farmers on large plots of land, or cattle barons in the unfenced west, or those who manipulated immigrants and become railroad magnates, or the public servants who represented these survivors. Once again, the cultural story of the heroic survivor is preserved. They became heroes. Those who died to make it happen remain anonymous failures. The supporting cast was legion. Their roles formed the foundation upon which all celebrity was built. Their contribution to society and its relevance for success stories exist, but remains unrecognized.

Adventurers and risk takers in the West were notable for the few who ‘struck it rich.' They were the successes that everyone thinks about. Were they really successes, or lucky or big picture thinkers? The successes were not alone. Unsung successes were the supporting players. The merchants and innkeepers who supported the miners and adventurers were heroes. The law makers and peace keepers who kept the chaotic influx from overwhelming themselves and creating anarchy were heroes.

These were the people who were not elevated to the status of the super wealthy and the famous. They were the failures who were capitalized on by the lucky. Without them, success would have been even more challenging. They have gone unrecognized and ignored. They were not a part of the “anyone can do it” story.

So what are people thinking when they worship the 1 percent whose success is built on the backs of the unrecognized. The 99 percent are the survivors. They are the bedrock upon which the castles are built. They are the 9-5, work-two-jobs populace that makes the 1 percent possible. They promote the story of “anyone can do it”, and may never attain that level of prominence due to training, education, inheritance or luck. In this case of hero worship, it appears that people are not really thinking at all. There are thousands, even millions who support the successful with their thousand points of light that illuminate the way for the few. This is a built-in attitude in our culture. Anyone can do it, yes, but few who have done it recognize the support and participation they enjoy and make an effort to give back to the supporting crowd. “I got mine, so who needs you?” What? Wait. This means the story of the few over the many is flawed. We can and must rewrite this story to become one again. Separation based on fame and fortune is an illusion.

In modern times, the media can hardly cover the few, let alone give credit to the participation of the many. The many remain nameless and unknown. Amazon prospers because of the millions who order through it. Stars become and remain stars because of those who purchase their records, attend their concerts and appreciate their talents. The Fortune 500 would number in the tens or twenties if no one was supporting their stocks and buying their products.

Time has long since come and gone when reverence for the super successful is justified. We should be celebrating the now anonymous middle class, the middle class who embodies the American Dream, holds on to the ‘anyone can do it’ national story. They are today’s heroes. They are buying the goods and working every day to pay for them. They are paying the taxes and attending the meetings and casting the votes that support our communities and our culture. The super rich need to consider this foundation that supports their income and their lifestyle.

The next time we ask ourselves what people are thinking, the answer should be that they are thinking the same things that we have always been thinking. They are thinking that individuals, working together, are successful and important. Separated we are none of those things. The middle class are the survivors that make the culture work. They are the rocks upon which the foundation for castles must be built.

Think about this clearly in the midst of today’s chaos. Find a quiet place in your thoughts to be contemplative in the din of screaming. Know you are successful in your contributions and your opinions and your efforts. Realize your thinking is colored by our cultural history, and in recognizing that, obtain objectivity and clarity. Become a passionate proponent of individual rights, not just the rights of those who have “made it”. No one succeeds alone. We all succeed together. We all make it big. We are all successful.

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Have an opinion about this article? I would love to hear about it at Karenmac1999@hotmail.com.