Wednesday, December 01, 2004
No, I Do Not Agree
when did the word no become a curse? when did the word no become politically incorrect? why is it that we as a society and culture (the west) find it so hard to tell someone, something, no?
at some point there has to be a rationale given, one cannot simply stand there like a parent does, who looks at their children and answers, "because i am the parent". it would be good to offer an explantion for saying no to someone. when did it become unacceptable to not only not say no, but unkind to offer explanations on why one should not do something? when did an honest no become impolite?
no, you will not get your hair dyed purple. no, you will not drop out of school. no, you will not do heroin.
we have govts that cannot say no, they make budgets and continuously negate their own figures by giving in to groups who are always standing in line with their hands out and when they dont get their share they bolt the govt and speak about the evil coalition that they were members of only two minutes ago.
we have unions that cant bear to hear the word no. a corporation says it must lay off worker because they cannot be afforded yet somehow the workers refuse to go, a strike is organized, and the economy suffers and then the corps are often asked to pay the workers for the time in which they striked.
we have int'l institutions which refuse to see the truth, no - we are not corrupt, no - we will not agree to be investigated, no - we will not accept less money for our expenditures.
does the truth hurt? yes,but that isnt even the beginning. when did we forget to say no to ourselves? when did we forget that perhaps eating that extra serving, stopping for a snack, wasnt within our realm of control? when did we decide that we didnt have to have control over our own diets, we did we stop saying no to needless consumption.
just why did those people in the lines at the stores need to run into the places the day after thanksgiving? why is it so important that we buy things for people that they probably dont need and in a lot of circumstances dont want and cant really use? when did it become a command that we have to upgrade every year our electronic gadgets and our latest fashions?
when did it become unacceptable to say no i will not participate, no i dont agree.
we are killing ourselves with politeness, we are refusing to say the most basic of things.
why is it so hard to say, "no, you are not correct." "no, they shouldn't be allowed to get away with that." "no, they dont need a slap on the wrist." "no, you will not stop going to piano lessons." "no, you will stop watching tv."
"no, your govt will not be allowed to be corrupt and no we will not continue to give you money until you can make a proper accounting."
at some point there has to be a rationale given, one cannot simply stand there like a parent does, who looks at their children and answers, "because i am the parent". it would be good to offer an explantion for saying no to someone. when did it become unacceptable to not only not say no, but unkind to offer explanations on why one should not do something? when did an honest no become impolite?
no, you will not get your hair dyed purple. no, you will not drop out of school. no, you will not do heroin.
we have govts that cannot say no, they make budgets and continuously negate their own figures by giving in to groups who are always standing in line with their hands out and when they dont get their share they bolt the govt and speak about the evil coalition that they were members of only two minutes ago.
we have unions that cant bear to hear the word no. a corporation says it must lay off worker because they cannot be afforded yet somehow the workers refuse to go, a strike is organized, and the economy suffers and then the corps are often asked to pay the workers for the time in which they striked.
we have int'l institutions which refuse to see the truth, no - we are not corrupt, no - we will not agree to be investigated, no - we will not accept less money for our expenditures.
does the truth hurt? yes,but that isnt even the beginning. when did we forget to say no to ourselves? when did we forget that perhaps eating that extra serving, stopping for a snack, wasnt within our realm of control? when did we decide that we didnt have to have control over our own diets, we did we stop saying no to needless consumption.
just why did those people in the lines at the stores need to run into the places the day after thanksgiving? why is it so important that we buy things for people that they probably dont need and in a lot of circumstances dont want and cant really use? when did it become a command that we have to upgrade every year our electronic gadgets and our latest fashions?
when did it become unacceptable to say no i will not participate, no i dont agree.
we are killing ourselves with politeness, we are refusing to say the most basic of things.
why is it so hard to say, "no, you are not correct." "no, they shouldn't be allowed to get away with that." "no, they dont need a slap on the wrist." "no, you will not stop going to piano lessons." "no, you will stop watching tv."
"no, your govt will not be allowed to be corrupt and no we will not continue to give you money until you can make a proper accounting."
// posted by Zevchi @ 10:33 AM 
