I Think We're in for a bit of a Rough Ride

“If there is one tendency of the day which more than any other is unhealthy and undesirable, it is the tendency to deify mere "smartness," unaccompanied by a sense of moral accountability. We shall never make our republic what it should be until as a people we thoroughly understand and put in practice the doctrine that success is abhorrent if attained by the sacrifice of the fundamental principles of morality."

--President Teddy Roosevelt--

I'm not much to rant on politics or politicians, but I happen to have a deep affection for Teddy Roosevelt as a man, leader, conservationist, and American. While this quote seems to embody much of the turmoil of today's American angst, what I want in our short time together is to hone in on the idea of morality in the modern world.

Morality, in this sense, is the perceived obligation we all have to think outside the ego, to act upon the best interests of both ourselves and our community whether great or small. To act within the confines of social obligation--to let it guide our decisions. What I want to know is: what the hell happened to our sense of morality? I'm not speaking on behalf of the "occupiers" of American financial and political institutions, but rather for our general sense of abiding by the golden rule in the treatment of each other and the re-instillation of this value within our society.

Look in the news today: corporate greed, political malaise and corruption, senseless murder suicides, unspeakable deeds committed in our universities, The Kardashians. You name the forum, moral evasion is omnipresent. It's heading to the top of the charts...with a bullet.

I'm far from a traditionalist, not The Lorax who speaks for the trees, no bible-thumper, not batshit crazy Dr. Bronner with his "Moral ABC's" and certainly not a politic, but I'm concerned. Nay, scared shitless at the direction our social machine is heading. When will the little sense of morality we possess as a society cease to exist? In my time? My children's time? What can we do?

That's when I think about Roosevelt. As you can guess, he is my favorite president, and for good reason. A dreamer, a radical, a rugged individualist, a conservationist, a 'pull yourself up by the bootstraps' kinda guy, a man who wasn't going to take shit from nobody. A man with high expectations of himself and others. A man with a conscience: a man with a moral conscience. An American.

Now, I always come down on those who lay blame without a proposed solution (much like Teddy would). So what's the solution? I don't fucking know. What I do know is our sense of moral obligation begins within ourselves and the values we instill within our kids. I ask myself every day: What am I teaching my children? To think beyond themselves and consider others first. To consider the consequences of their actions and realize the butterfly effect they can and will have. To act with a clear idea of the outcome. That being a member of a successful community (great or small) is dependent upon the actions of its members. Does this mean my kids will grow up to be fine, upstanding citizens? Win Nobel prizes? Meet the Dalai Lama? Host the Oscars? Perhaps not, but not for lack of effort on my part.

I guess my point (finally, the point!) is that I hope each of us, whether leading a great corporation or keeping the home fires burning, is acting with a sense of conscience and obligation to each other, and that we are sending this message to our kids. That we will grow out of this mess by using our minds to create equitable solutions to the very real problems we face as a society and culture. That we can find common ground in our ties as Americans that bind us together and cease to fragment our culture. Whether you believe in Teddy's teachings, Occupy Wall Street or Elvis, it's food for thought.

I hope we can create a society for our children worth preserving. Not some crazy utopia, but a working machine that is built on solid foundation; a society that values the simple law of physics that states: every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Well, I think I've about fulfilled my rant for the week and hope I've given you something to consider while you're stuck in traffic, stuck with your nose in the tall-guy's-armpit-who's-not-wearing-deoderant on the subway, or just plain stuck.

And you thought all I was going to talk about was bicycles...