Yesterday I was told in no uncertain terms that I was naïve for believing that we (as in all of us, every single living soul on the planet) are living in the best possible time to be alive there has ever been, at least as far as recorded history goes.
The person who leveled that accusation at me is someone I consider very intelligent, and also very socially aware, but at the same time I regard that person as intellectually blind and, for lack of a better descriptor, envious.
Not envious of me - actually not envious of anyone in particular (that I know of) but still, envious.
Yesterday was not the first time this person told me I was naïve, BTW, and this might not be the first time I've written about him stating it. Life repeats itself and so do I.
If I had to describe the specific type of envy this person is afflicted with, it would be an envy of other people's living situations - not of other people's material wealth or status or abilities, but of their actual living situations, how they go about their lives on a daily basis without having to deal with the stuff he has to deal with.
For, if you ask him, he has to deal with a lot of bad stuff that other people do not, and it's all because of either big business or the government or some other external factor.
From the perspective of an outsider looking in there are people who would be amazed to learn that I consider this person envious, as this person has everything most people could ever want - a home of his own (really a condo, but it is a sweet condo in a great complex - the amenities included with his HOA include a community center with a pool and a nice little gym), a newer car (it's electric, too!) and a great job (technically he's self-employed, but works as often as he wants too, and makes more than most people I know).
He also goes on a lot of vacations, but that's something I'm envious of and this is about his envy, so we won't discuss that.
Because his envy seems to me to be the specific reason why he believes that I'm naïve.
See, this person has a habit of pointing out things that he perceives as being "unfair", and then elaborating on the unfairness as being the result of either A) big business, or B) the government.
Yes, I realize that it is odd for a person to lay the blame for world problems at the feet of both big business and the government, but this is truly something he does without fail.
The point is, whenever he does this I am in the habit of contradicting him, pointing out flaws in his reasoning, and generally maximizing the positive aspects of whatever it is he's harping on and minimizing the negative aspects.
Our discussions are never really contentious BTW, as he and I have somewhat of an unspoken agreement that each of us are entitled to our opinions, no matter how wrong they may be.
However, I have a blog and he doesn't so I'm going to tell the world how wrong he is for being unable to see how good we all have it (again, as in all of us crawling across this big blue & green marble), and that while he may level accusations of naivete at me, I'm going to retort with accusations about him being envious.
Because we live in a wonderful time to be alive, one in which the technology exist that allows me to publicly post rants that anyone on the planet with access to the internet can read, and nod their heads in agreement with.
Right?
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