GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT GRANDMA MADE ME DO IT!

I was flipping through the television channels last night and came across America's Most Wanted. They went through about 6 unsolved cases involving murder, rape, theft, assault and/or kidnapping. I thought about the ripple effect these crimes will have on everyone involved. I thought about how these things will probably even effect a large number of people NOT associated with the crimes in an indirect way.

I'm a big fan of the band Our Lady Peace. They have a song entitled, "Innocent" which includes the line, "We are all innocent" within the chorus. I thought about the generations and generations that came before us and all the screwed up things that have happened that rippled through the centuries. I'm a believer in social conditioning which means that in a sense, maybe we are all truly innocent in a way. From birth we are born into a world stained black from the bad choices of our ancestors. This is a rather pessimistic statement but...at some moment in time aren't we bound to hit a point where we can't save ourselves? We won't be able to make a difference because too much pain, torment and confusion will inhabit each new life brought into the world?

Of course if poor choices can create a ripple effect, so can good choices. Good choices don't get the airtime poor choices do, so I would like to believe there is as much good going on around the world as bad and maybe we just don't hear about it. I feel naive writing that.

Now having written this I want to state that although I believe we all have baggage to deal with (some more than others) the point is that we ALL have something to overcome. And I feel bad for those thrown into lives that give them less of a chance than the next person. But as I watched America's Most Wanted I could sympathize but not reconcile. I think we all need to be held accountable for our actions. Which in turn may create a ripple effect in both directions.

I hope that at the end of my life I have created more positive ripples than negative.