While stuck in traffic, do you sometimes think how much worse it would be if our social clocks were somehow synchronized " with everyone leaving home at the same time? It would be a horrendous gridlock like the collective lack of ethics that has imperiled our nation. When just a few of us make poor choices the effect is moderate. But with chronic widespread self-serving decisions, such as illegal drug use, consequences amplify.
So what do you think would happen if we reached a tipping point with a substantial number of persons on drugs depended upon to detect signs of danger throughout industries? Chaos! Hate to say this, but we are already there. Consider the untold mountains of drugs that regularly pour into the U.S. These drugs are readily being distributed and consumed or there would not be such a steady flow. I'd say about 1 in 7 people encountered daily are under the influence. What a mess, so many out of it, so much to do.
What's the big deal? It's affecting all of us, particularly with respect to safety and progress. From a safety perspective, just ask a parent if they mind the school bus driver transporting their kids after taking just one drag on a joint; or ask anyone if they want to be on a plane whose pilot took a drug and no takers. Many reserve the option to casually use but would restrict use to others like surgeons. Speaking of medicine, why do you think a visit to the pharmacy has become a hassle? Controls like not being able to obtain medications until you completely run out have been implemented to foil an explosion of fraudulent transactions involving painkillers.
While prescription medications like Oxycontin may be regarded by abusers as "clean drugs, misuse can be as dangerous as street drugs. Moreover, yesterday's pain medication abuser is tomorrow's heroin addict who suddenly switches to the illegal opiate because it's cheaper. So you've got not only addicts out of it, but also their caretakers are drained emotionally and financially, spending time trying to "bring them back . So here we are, a nation afflicted.
Most are not born craving a drug (best reason to never experiment), making addiction undeniably an illness that usually begins with a poor choice, one that is really doing us in. The compelling evidence is a lack of people stepping up to solve the mounting problems we face. Even when people do step up like T. Boone Pickens' promoting a renewable energy plan, progress can be hampered by other's unethical behavior, such as, that seen in investment banking. It is astounding that we can't find swift solutions, but what if the answers are trapped in the head of a person strung out on drugs?
I am convinced that among the God given genius in our nation from curing cancer, to restructuring the economy solutions could lie dormant in the minds of drug abusers on the path to mental ruin. Even if addicts are able to emerge from addiction with intact minds, there's a lifelong struggle to stay off the stuff as well as overcoming credibility challenges if they do have the answers we so desperately need. Few are able to play the Ironman as Robert Downey, Jr. has resurrecting a career after returning from such despair.
Drug use is but one of the poor choices some of us make that can adversely affect all of us holding an easy ethical solution. Just do the right thing, a choice that always supports the greater good. Using our example, reducing the nation's drug demand could lead to decreasing drug supply. Wouldn't it be awesome if it were only the drug traffickers suffering economic collapse because no one purchased illegal drugs? (It wouldn't bother me either if loan sharks posing as lenders making predatory "pay day advances went away also).
You see how ethics can be so important even to the point of national security? Without progress, a nation is vulnerable. Advancement is unlikely where there exists a mentality of "everybody for themselves . Some say we don't need any laws or regulations, just "live and let live . But that approach won't work because some are too greedy, high or selfish to rely upon. The only certain way to progress is for each of us to start with ourselves.
Kudos to Senator Olympia Snowe, who in the face of opposition from her party is righteously voting on behalf of the American people to advance health care. Sadly, her determination to do what is in the best interest of the country is not as common as it should be. Still, we all come to that important cross road where we must decide whether we will do what's best for the common good even if it may not seem to be in our own best interest. But standing up for what's right always works in your favor. Just consider how many accolades, including from President Obama, Senator Snowe has received in her ethical decision-making to ensure health care reform.
Choose "right not only for yourself but for your country; it's the patriotic thing to do. With so much on our plate we need "all hands on deck and as with any crisis, those not infected or afflicted are just going to have to work harder. So goes its people, so goes a nation; in the long run, only the ethical will survive.
