If there is still but one person who can believe in peace and love, even in a world filled with violence and hate, then all is not lost.

Demand a better world.

Just remember that it will not exist unless you help create it.

For those of you so convinced that the government needs to reduce spending by cutting social services, I have this to say:

The burden of the rich on society is far greater than the burden of the poor.

Why would you refuse assistance to one unable to walk on their own, and then allow another, so arrogant and undeserving, to walk over you unimpeded?

We are all hypocrites, but there are those of us who choose to be compassionate in spite of it. Judge us as you will.

Imagine a world where wages were competitive universally, where companies were held to the same labor and environmental standards regardless of the location of their manufacturing plants, where healthcare was accessible and affordable to all who needed it, and where quality education is provided to everyone, regardless of economic status, ethnicity, or religious/political/social beliefs.

It wouldn't even be that hard to create that world.

Think about it. If corporations were required to pay their workers in third world countries comparable wages to workers in the US, there wouldn't be third world countries anymore. And it wouldn't companies wouldn't even have to raise the cost of goods because the dramatic increase of potential consumers would mean significant increases in demand.

It is a fallacy that there must be poverty for there to be wealth. Money is an artificial construct, so there can always be more of it. And there can never be a shortage of possessions while new ones are constantly being made.

And do know what would happen? There would be less disease, less famine, less suffering, and less senseless killing. Peace would become commonplace, because there would be no need to fight tooth and nail over the barest of scraps. Open-mindedness and reason would replace fear and ignorance.

We live in a world full of vast disparity because a small handful of people desire it to be that way, and the majority do nothing to change it.

Take a while and really think about it. Which world would you rather live in? This one, or the one I described.

It can be difficult being a thinker. It's easy to look back at a day (or a month, a year, or a life), and say "What have I done with my time?", and feel like one has done nothing at all. When in truth the answer is "I have thought".

And in those thoughts all the secrets of life can be revealed, if only for a brief moment.

We carry the dead on our shoulders
as we pass through the forest.

Flowers of flame and smoke grow from our footsteps,

consuming all in our wake.
From the ashes come fresh life,

old stories retold by young souls.
We are fated to destroy what we create,

but only so that we can create anew.

In the end, I am but a child of thought traveling through life in a broken vessel.