This Life or Where? March 2014
AS we age we begin to think about the preservation of our
own lives. Like the ancients we bury ourselves in tombs so we can come back and
enjoy the life we wish to have here or somewhere else. We strive to find that blissful place in old
age and then prepare for the one we hope is there after this life is over. Many live as though there is no need for
concern about our present lives only of the one to come in some future rebirth.
I am of the belief that when one do not care for the life
owned now it will be a loss for their progenerates and many of those whom we
call associates of theirs. After all we are the keepers of each other’s even if
we don’t recognize it.
Considering this what do we do here and now for ourselves
and especially for our offspring and those we can help?
We know we can give a meal, offer a helping hand like push
the car, fix the door or notice the child but you know the saying “It’s best to
teach how, that will last a lifetime”. So what do we really do?
I am of the opinion that we learn as much as we can first of
all. (How can we help anyone if we don’t know how, that is what all the ancient
wise men of the past taught.
Once we learn something we should pass that knowledge on,
but not just pass it on but show by doing. To many of us want to be teachers
and leaders and yet we do nothing but voice to others how they should live,
where they should live and that they will be rewarded later for living their way.
I think one would do best by helping to build that
playground, participate in getting decision makers to make rules in the best
interest of the whole, volunteer without being asked to tutor young minds, give
money, without question, to an organization or group that builds lasting
support to communities.
Too often we give a few pennies than we want to be in charge
or if things are not going our way we criticize and withdraw espousing
negativism causing failure of the program.
We should remember once given it is not yours anymore and
give with understanding that what you give is for the best.
Young men, I say to them, cannot be wise, they can only be
smart or intelligent, they have to grow old to be wise. One has to live awhile
to be ‘one with life’.
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| Mentors Everywhere |
It is easy to try and tell others how to live, it is very
difficult to teach others how to live. That takes a lot of living. That is also
done mostly by observation. How can I teach someone how to live if I don’t know
how or if I don’t live that way?
Now that I have your attention this is what I would like to
leave with you.
As a Black person living in a country where I am a member of
a small minority of the population I am always aware of the fact that I cannot
do or participate in many of the activities of the majority. I know I am not
truly welcomed in those activities and I also know that in almost all aspects
of life here I am not an equal with the majority in any of the activities,
programs, and opportunities this country has to offer.
Knowing this and knowing that this is true all over the
world I must be aware that the majorities of the world take this as a normal
way of life and I must strive to make change that is best for myself and for
those in my minority group.
I don’t say this with any misgivings so one should not think
that because I see this others should too, nor should one mistake that I do not
care for my country. I think we live in the best place in the world and because
I think it is mine, I will defend it to death just as I would do the same for
other’s rights here as we know it.
So, to get to the point where will you, your offspring, be
in the near future, the next 20 or so years? Are we teaching our young to
survive in this environment showing them how to earn a decent life here while
they live? Are we providing them with a plan to maneuver through the difficult
paths the majority has paved for us? Do we know how?
Recently I have been very busy looking at colleges and
trying to help dig through all the degree programs of interest to a young man
I’m helping. The cost, the requirements,
the items that must be sent for evaluation for acceptance and the best future
outlook he should be concerned about.
In doing so I became interested in what the future of jobs
would look like. Having a life of technical and business background I tried
using all I knew to try and figure where the future was headed.
Being able to feed ones family may be of concern in the
future so farming has been looked at closely and we,
that is the minorities of
this country do not have a stake in growing anything. 
We need to get involved, owning and knowing how to achieve a
decent income from it. I suggest looking up your county’s ‘young farmers association’. See for example: https://www.facebook.com/WilsonCountyYoungFarmersAssociation
Note we are not in any pictures. Look at states throughout
the country and still we are not there.
Now consider this, engineering is the focus of where the
future is headed. What do you know about engineering? Here is some areas of concern I have been
looking at.
From observation the following should be of interest:
- 1. Innovation has created an economy based on automation
- 2. American producers say that investments in machines are more profitable than hiring people
- 3. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, the authors of the book "Race Against the Machine" the coming of the era of cheap production automation is a prelude to dramatic changes on the labour market.
- 4. Prediction is: 47 percent of active workers may be replaced by machines in the future
- 5. Others say: Various types of training, services and specialized skills will increase. We will start doing work 2.0 -- flexible, contract-based, hyper-specialized, mobile work demanding the ability to change qualifications. ..work will be based on creativity.
Remember "nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.” Victor Hugo
Where do your future offspring's time reside, here in the now or in some future
place of hopeful existence?
Preparing your family and their family, your community and your associates and those around you for the future is the only way to insure a place in time that is satisfying and peaceful.
