Perception is Reality

As I sit this morning, as many before, in solitude and cynicism, it occurred to me that perception IS reality.

As many other curious kindred spirits, I spend my down time watching Discovery channel and the like.  Watching shows that are now being aired to introduce us to the REALITY of differing cultures, especially and notably the shows concerning remote African tribes, has helped bring me to the understanding of how far perception can be swayed.

These remote African tribes run on antiquated and uniquely strange customs.  As an outsider, these customs often appear brutal, uncultured, and unenlightened.  It is difficult to understand how these people accept these rules that brutalize them.

Many days, I ponder the state of our own Union.  I internally debate the way of life our culture here in the US has decided to live, the vast stretch between our stated ideals and the truth of our actions.  History will be a judge of our culture, just as we stand in judgment of every culture past.  I fear for how we will be viewed.

Watching the tragic choices made in the leading of the lives of these African tribes seems far less vulgar than the atrocities created by a country that has chosen to grant itself world leadership. 

Comfort comes in the knowledge that the only thing as certain as death is not taxes, but rather, change.