I know it every morning when I wake to the sun rising from the edge of the horizon.
My personal problems are few and forgettable.
Most days I cut wood and collect water.
Some days I catch a fish. Some days I don't.
I'm at a place where even when the wildest winds are buffeting, when the rain is mixed with the salt spray from the sea and hitting my Flying Tortoise at a million miles an hour, there's still a peacefulness about being here,
this place I choose to call home, for this moment.
Living simply. By this tree. In the now.
It's a place kissed by the sun and lit by the moon. It's a place where the stars are the brightest.
It's a place of infinite natural beauty where the rest of humanity isn't and I like that.
But I grieve.
I've been recently reminded of some words of wisdom by Martin Luther King.
'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter'.
As a human being I have a voice.
As a social commentator I'm compelled to speak.
The world is an untenable place for many.
The little country of New Zealand, once touted as the best place in the world to bring up children,
is I'm afraid, no longer.
It has become, just like yours, a country where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Where the have's want more and the have not's just want enough.
There are just way too many living lives of quiet desperation. Inequality is alive, well and thriving.
And the greater the inequalities in a society, the more crime and social ills there are.
Corruption implicating the Prime Minister and his government is alive and well in New Zealand politics too. Political arrogance is rife.
We are about to have elections and it won't matter who we vote for, the government will win.
And impose more and more restrictions rules and regulations on the population at large.
But as usual, those who make the rules and seek to impose them, are themselves
rarely affected by them.
Banks will continue to offer an umbrella while the sun shines and demand it back when rain threatens.
Corporations will continue to make vast fortunes at our expense and drug companies will create illnesses for the world to have so their products will gain greater market share.
And I grieve.
When I was a child I grew up with complete freedom. The doors of the family home didn't need to be locked at night,
I went to the beach unsupervised, with other children, we played on the streets, child molestation and rape were unheard of.
People were free to be who and what they wanted. The gap between rich and poor
was hardly noticeable.
How I grieve for what was.
And how I grieve as you may, that none of our grandchildren will see the beauty of that world.
They won't know about climbing trees, learning to catch and prepare fish.
They won't know the simple pleasures of life.
They will never know how amazingly free and beautiful their country was.
They will know another world. A virtual world.
They will know about greed and consumerism though. They will know about hate, jealousy, killing and bigotry.
They will be consumed by Social Media.
It's taken over the world. It's taken over lives.
It will take over theirs.
It will consume them and spit them out.
Abject trivia is the order of the day with people sharing their most intimate and boring secrets.
And the owners of Facebook, Twitter and others are ever encouraging. They love it.
They can and do track our every movement as we make our way, often stumbling through our inconsequential lives.
Our privacy is no longer. Future Shock is past and 1984 is well and truly here having surpassed it's author's wildest dreams.
Whatever you do and whenever you do it and whoever you do it with is easily known. The GPS on your smartphone isn't for you, it's for those who wish to track your every movement. Your every purchase is recorded. Communication companies store your phone calls, your emails are available for scrutiny.
Your deleted texts are easily found.
And the Social Media that was spawned in the western world is being used now by those who despise the ways of the West.
And the West cannot escape criticism.
It too has guilt on its hands.
Social Media is a weapon of mass destruction.
Social Media, the plaything that billions of people use every day is wrecking havoc with the fabric of society throughout the world.
It will remain unchecked and we will have our minds and lives altered and destroyed by the ongoing videos of the most vile, grotesque and despicable crimes against humanity.
Such as the propaganda videos of the recent beheadings in the Middle East that were presented on Social Media to the world.
I believe in Freedom of Speech and I grieve...
