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The American car corporations for many years driven the SUV on the American public, and now these car corporations are suffering the consequences. The thinking as to why these corporations offered these vehicles to the American public was that they thought Americans would continue in their mind set that extra is better. The American car corporations nowadays are doing poorly as a business. They have continually laid off staff in order to sustain a level of viability. They have been very slow to innovate and the federal government has had to mandate fuel efficiency. Because of their sluggish response to the need for fuel efficient vehicles, American car corporations are now suffering the consequences.
On the opposite hand, Toyota and Honda, corporations which have put fuel efficient hybrids out into the market place, are now doing very nicely. Toyota is now the number one car seller in the world. Toyota and Honda have always placed fuel efficiency as an improved priority. A glimmer of hope lies in the declaration that Americans are commencing to create the mind set that extra is not good, and frugality is the way of the future. Simply put, driving SUVs is not clever.
One of the unalienable rights given by our creator is the suitable to live our lives. Our creator placed each individual on this earth for a reason. Is it not true that other people in the world have that same unalienable appropriate to live and fulfill God's purpose? So, if this is a founding principle for our country, does it not stick with that we as a country might be useful others less fortunate then us? Should not others, who had been born in underdeveloped nations, have a similar appropriate to life? In this article, I will address some of these questions, with the hope that by examining these problems, we can as a society, pass in a direction our founding fathers had envisioned. Americans have lost site of the declaration that extra without giving is not really what our founding fathers had in mind. Lets compare some examples which are symbolic of this immorality that currently exists inside the American society.
Has the United States lost it's basic principle of morality? Has the United States moved away from the guiding principles that this country was founded on? A single line from the Declaration of Independence describes these basic principles, and it is the meaning of these words which furnished the foundation for the formation of the United States:
Another signal of hope that Americans is also moving away from the mind set of extra and non-giving, can be seen in the enormous outpouring of giving monetarily in the wake of the worst hurricane season the United States has had on document. Americans have also given monetarily to the tsunami alleviation effort. Americans have not been giving readily to the existing starving in Africa. In December 2005, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization issued a warning that nearly 12 million Africans face the immediate risk of famine. Americans have not been giving to the Pakistani earthquake alleviation efforts.
This first example has to do with Americans and their relationship with their automobiles. Yes, immorality can be seen at such a insignificant level. More importantly, this example shows the pervasiveness of immorality inside the American society. Most Americans, if typical, need an automobile for basic functioning inside most areas of the United States. The automobile has become a perfunctory status symbol. Many people inside the United States can barely pay their rent or loan, but they will shovel out money in line with month on an automobile they really can not come up with the money for. They spend money in line with month in the kind of a car payment or lease, just to have a "nice" car.
Albert Einstein once said " the really worth of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is able to receiving." What many people do not realize is that Albert Einstein was a deeply religious man. He knew that only a God might produce such a frustrating universe, and that such complexity might not have been produced by random chaotic events. He noticed the order in the universe and the relation of the universe with God. He simply didn't wear his religion on his sleeve. He also had insights beyond physics in that he realized what truly gives a man a sense of happiness and inner peace.
Our society has been through a period of extra and over indulgence but adjustments, with a bit of luck, are on the horizon. Morality in the kind of giving desires to be reincorporated again into our society. It makes more sense to drive a more fuel efficient vehicle, and use some of the saved money to contribute to the world hunger problem. For most morally unsleeping individuals, this sort of sustained and chronic activity leads to greater long run happiness.
Creativity is basically long past from Hollywood and many of the movies coming out nowadays are remakes of successful earlier films. Once and a while a good film will be presented to the American public, but largely communicating most are junk. Most of nowadays's actors are not really household names. They come and go fairly briefly and lack the staying potential of a John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, or Humphrey Bogart. These actors displayed a level of integrity and they new roughly the personification they had been displaying to the American public. They had been not perfect, but they did display an improved level of morality.
Another example of the immorality prevalent inside our society is displayed by the films which come out of Hollywood nowadays. I am sorry to mention that most of these films really are to put it bluntly, rubbish. Most of these films lack the cerebral quality of the earlier films. From a technical perspective i.e. special effects, they are excellent, but from a cerebral perspective, they are lacking. They are only produced in order to make money for people who find themselves producing them, without any understanding to the implications they could have on society, especially younger people.
This lack of giving is not really due to Americans not keen to give, but rather due to the lack of media exposure. CNN would rather spend hours talking roughly whether President Bush broke the law by wire tapping potential terrorists in the United States, then talk roughly the important world problems such as the hundreds that are dying in the wake of the Pakistan earthquake or the starving in Africa. It is terribly important that the media expose these type of reviews. You can not give if you happen to do not know roughly the need.
The point is this. Giving on a continuous basis, produces feelings of long run happiness. For this country to get again to it's moral principles, giving to others in need is one way to pass in that direction. Which brings me again to my original point. Americans ought to fully get again to the mind set that giving and having less is of greater really worth then having more. We would need to pass away from trying to produce short term happiness via artificial means.
Driving an SUV when it's really not considered necessary is an example of overindulgence in the United States. Granted, there are scenarios where an individual desires a SUV such as Alaska or any area of the country where highway conditions are poor or winters are severe. Or, there are times where material desires to be transported in a SUV because of it's increase carrying capability. In these cases, there is a legitimate reason to own a SUV because of it's utilitarian really worth. But the majority of SUV owners are not in these scenarios or extreme conditions frequently adequate to warrant owning such a fuel wasting vehicle. Driving a hybrid is an example of clever frugality. In order to buy a Toyota or Honda hybrid, you would need to be put on a long ready list. This is a good signal that Americans are commencing to develop the mind set that having less is better and frugality is the way of the future.
Einstein had it appropriate in that happiness does not come from what you hold, but really from what you give. No matter what your religious belief, a life time of giving to those less fortunate then yourself, will lead to long run happiness. Give it a try. You might be surprised at the feeling it produces. A glimmer of hope is on the horizon. The United States can pass again to it's Biblical principles. But we would need to all do our part.
Giving does not have to be monetary, it will possibly be in other forms, such as giving time or knowledge. This deliver us to our next example of morality reduction that has been in existence in the United States. Many parents nowadays are not giving adequate time to their kids. Children ought to be nurtured. A parents wisdom, gained through a life time of experiences, desires to be imparted to their kids. Parents ought to impart to their kids the really worth of giving and a feeling of concern for others . When I was a child growing up, college shootings where kids are killing teachers and fellow students, was practically unheard of. Today, college shootings are occurring at an alarming frequency. To me, part of the problem is due to parents not spending adequate time with their kids. Again it comes down to giving. In this case, it comes down to giving time and knowledge. Parents not giving adequate time to their kids is an additional example of morality reduction inside our society.
Before presenting this primary example, we ought to have a clean definition of what morality is. From WordNet, a lexical database for the English language, developed at the Cognitive Science Library at Princeton University, morality is concern with the large difference between good and evil or appropriate and wrong. This first example of immorality is also regarded by many as one that does not have something else to do with morality, but if you happen to give it more then cursory thought, you would most likely take into account it a morality issue.
Artificial symbols such as what type of car you drive, how fancy your clothing is, or how many vacation homes you can acquire should be of less importance to any one who has some substance to them. The next time you locate yourself propagating one of these excesses, think of the 24,000 people in line with day that are dying of hunger. Think roughly the six million kids under the age of five which will die of hunger each year. Think roughly the downtrodden, the abused, and the tortured. When you think roughly these things, giving makes more sense. Give what you can and while you can.
The American obsession with the sport utility vehicle is one I still do not understand. One basic argument of the SUV owner is that by driving a SUV, they feel safer. If your driving skill is so poor that you can not avoid poor drivers, try working on your driving skill. This to me makes more sense then driving a tank (SUV) which consumes big quantities of fuel and concomitantly contributes to an increase in fuel demand. This increase in fuel demand drives fuel prices upward. With Americans so reliant upon their automobiles, higher fuel prices mean less extra money in their pocket. Money that may nicely be used to lend a hand feed those dying from starvation all through the world.
"We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." - Thomas Jefferson
All Americans are created equal and that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is a appropriate granted to every citizen of the United States. Our founding fathers acquired these principles from their religious beliefs, and regardless of what people may think, the United States was founded on Biblical principles. Our founding fathers didn't use certain aspects of the Bible just to satisfy what they needed in a country. They used the Bible as a whole in order to create an understanding of what the fundamental rights are for an individual. They concluded that these rights are from God and are given to all individuals.
