OFCI Report Editorial: Has the Social Conscious of the World Fallen Asleep?

Growing up as I watched television I remember that I was made aware of the social problems in the world by commercial campaigns that opened me up to them. Problems such as Drugs, Drunk Driving, High School Dropouts, and many more that advertised to us that these problems are here, we need to be aware of them, and if these problems bother us then we need to take a stand against them and drive them away. In other words it seems like the world had a conscious. Groups and Organizations were created to fight these evils and they warred with a purpose as they marched, did television and newspaper interviews to get their point out there and across. It even came to the point that a First Lady of the United States got involved to campaign against some of these problems. It seems we were on a roll with us fighting against these challenges.



Now, today as we watch television, listen to the radio, read the newspaper, or even turn on our computers it seems that the struggle to continue to make people aware of the social problems of the past and current problems have taken a back seat or dare I say gone asleep and it seems we can care less that there is a struggle. It seems we are more facinated with celebrity gossip, gay marriage, social network drama, and reality television, more than we are interested of the plight of our fellow man. Gone are the days when you really see people march, campaign, rally, or even shout aloud about how in this world there are problems that are damaging our world and they need to be fixed. Gone are the days when even the first lady is involved with the challenges the community without worrying about receiving celebrity status from it.


Has The Social Conscious of the world gone asleep? This is a question that needs to be asked when we as a people around the world are more worried about a character name Snooki than we are worried about poverty. Asked when we are more worried about "The Housevives", "Basketball Wives", and even the Rappers Wives than we are worried about the divorce rate and Spousal Abuse. Regardeless to what the problem is, it seems that becoming aware of it or doing something about it has become less important than seeing the next Scandel episode. What happened to the warriors like we had in the 60s and 70s or early 80s that saw a problem and stood up against it to rid the world of this evil? Ask youself this and see how fast you come up with an answer. When was the last time you saw a commercial letting us know "A Mind is a terrible thing to waste." or "Don't Drive Drunk", or even the classic "Just Say No To Drugs." or for that matter any commercial telling of the harmful effects of drug use and warning us not to use them. Have we become afraid that we are going to become too preachy or too judgemental? If that is the case then why even bother getting involved if we  will be worried about offending anyone. Have we become that backboneless that we have decided not to take on any of the challenges any more or has it simply come down to the fact that we just don't care anymore? There are still problems out there that need to be solved, and true there are still warriors on the battlefield fighting to solve them. But as time goes by and we continue to move on, it seems that as one group of warriors retire from their work, those coming after them choose to either pick up the work and fight on or take the batton and lay it down to take interest in their own affairs and forget about their fellow man. So again I pose this question to you....Has the Social Conscious of the World Fallen Asleep?

OFCI Report Editorial: Does Making it Legal make it Legit?

 

I know I am a little late in discussing this issue, but I am feeling that it is important for me to speak on this as parts of the nation embarks on this mission to make this an all around event that will be forever landmarked as a victory for some an a defeat for others. That which I am speaking of is the legalization of marijuana. Just recently Washington and Colorado voted to make the use of this substance in certain amounts legal. Now having thought long and hard about how I feel about this (even though my opinion may not matter in this issue.) I have had many conversations about it , and in having one particular conversation a very interesting point arose that really made me open my eyes about how the system may look like it is working for your good, but if you look closely under the surface you will see the only purpose it is serving is their own. People in support of this measure cheered and "lit up" when the law was passed to make pot legal, an in doing so I can imagine in their minds the thoughts they were having of just smoking the day away and it is all legal. But as I said you have to always look under the suface when it comes down to things of this nature when you say you are doing for the people. Which leads me to the point that was made in the conversation. Pot was made legal for you to smoke in various amounts correct...and even if you get caught with it on you now in those state which made it legal as long as you are with in the legal limit of holding you are ok. But what you don't realize is that even though it is legal now, it now opens the doors and gives employers the right to randomly drug test existing and future employees to see wheather you can keep, or get the job you have or are applying for. Now those folks can say, 'Well since we know Johnson is a weed smoker or Mary Ann like to get her buzz on, or this person is a good canidate for this job or promotion, lets test him or her to see if the whacky tabacky is in their system so we can make some decisions. And don't say if they are trying to get rid of you anyway, now they have even more grounds to test you everyday if they like because, "Even though the use and holding of Mary Jane is legal in these states now, they didn't put a ban on employers from hiring you or firing you if found in your system" So as you cheer and light up in the streets as smoking pot is legal....will it be worth you losing your job, career, or even worth you not getting a job or career because it is now legal to get high....It is called by The System a "Catch 22" and you are the ones getting caught...Now this is just my opinion and I may be wrong, but if I am not, you have a lot to think about. This is just one factor of how the System may work against you, there will be more...There is an old saying that comes to mind when you look at this which says, "Be careful what you wish for".....Enjoy and smoke in peace,,,,