One of the first things that came to my mind when getting up this morning was remembering if reading about Alex Kuhn’s death was a dream or reality. It’s terribly sad to see someone as young he passing away when in the prime of life. The tremendous amount of time and talent he offered our community was noble. Having listened to his suggestions and remarks at the council meetings, it didn’t take me long to realize how much he really advocated equality and fairness. I commended him on his remaining steadfast with his opinions regarding the proposed slaughterhouse. Far too often people look at short term effects of what we consider to be progress, but if we step back far enough and look at the whole picture as well as thinking forward in time, that’s when the real clarity of a proposal manifests itself. I was thinking today about a few of the so called “pillars” in our community who’ve already made their plans to move away to some quaint area and live a rich life of anonymity after having received their golden parachutes. I happened to see one of those “pillars” at the grocery store this afternoon and knowing what he’s done, I work at not exchanging any more words than necessary.
I dislike it when I see people who’ve made a great deal of money in business here in our City, and upon retiring, they sell their homes and carry off their suitcases full of cash that our community helped them to make. There seems to be no concept in their minds of giving back. It’s just take, take, and take some more. For better or worse, you really gotta love the natives who’ve seen businesses come and go along with those who’ve profited from North Iowa. They’re usually the ones who give more back when they have less, and instead of selling their homes and moving to the Sunbelt, they stay and become an even more active part of North Iowa by doing their share of community service. If you start thinking about many of the businesspeople who’ve retired and moved away over the years, you’ll likely remember how little they did freely for others when in business. The takers really do like talking about their pathetic legacies which is nothing more than a cloaked form greed.
It was quite the house-shaking storm we had last night. I’m glad I looked at the weather and prepared myself for it before calling it a day. I had to shake my head in dis-belief when driving past a home today and seeing the owner was running a lawn sprinkler in the yard. People can sure find ways to waste water. The more I read about our natural resources being depleted, the more we all must start becoming consciously aware of everything we do that could possibly be a contributing factor to its decline. I’m not expecting everyone to turn into raging minimalists, but to at least take stock of our surroundings and decide what really is the most important. With clear mindfulness, we all should be able to decide what in our lives is based on need, and what’s based on greed.
I happened to watch a very troubling documentary last night called, “Hungry for Change”. I would encourage each and every one of you to find it and watch it so you can encourage others to view it as well. You’ll discover how what’s been happening with our heath is a product of what corporations are feeding us. Let’s all get hungry for change.
