In this topsy-turvy world one finds the blessing wherever
one can, the fulfillment, the satisfaction. But the curse comes along sometimes like an undesirable
uncle showing up unannounced at the door.
We knew he would eventually arrive, we just didn’t know from where, and
we didn’t know when. But we’ll
have to live with that. Like the promise of death, or ageing.
But there is an even more sinister family member who
increasingly insinuates himself into our lives. He masquerades as a big brother. And big brother has become a tangible curse for most people
these days, just like George Orwell said he would. He finds his way into our life most inappropriately, and at
the most inopportune time, bringing with him new laws, taxes, fees,
regulations, and requirements of every kind. Listening in on us, tracking our every keyboard stroke or
smart phone transaction. But it’s
for our own good, he says. It’s
for our own wellbeing, and to help with our own security.
Yeah, real nice brother. Always looking out for us!
The main problem with that kind of brother is that he
actually believes his own fiction.
He pretends to be a loyal, moral and ethical member of the family,
working hard on our behalf. And
yet he wallows in his own self-importance stroking himself, and his buddies,
for gratification, all the while thinking that we see him as the character he
so disingenuously masquerades as for the rest of us. The truth is, we can
see him, but for whom he actually
is. The sad part is that for the
most part we don’t care. That is
the real tragedy. It’s how he’s
able to continue being a disloyal, immoral, and unethical member of the family,
entertaining delusions of grandeur, and working hard on his own behalf.
He is not our savior, by any stretch of the imagination. And he is not our brother. He has, in fact, become our master.
Most of us are giving it our best, just trying to get
through life, and haven’t got the inclination to supervise the behavior of a
government that insinuates itself into, and imposes itself upon, our struggling
lives. Big Brother knows
that. Of that you can be sure.
And it’s really how he gets away with
the charade.
But we, as the recipients of his untoward affection, must be
aware of him and his spurious ways,
and make the time and effort to resist his
unscrupulous advances.
That is something we can and must do, and we must do it with
vigilance, the best that we know how.
