Although my husband and I are not Catholic, we sent our kids to Catholic schools because of the good values and habits taught there. One point of emphasis was demonstrating that actions have natural consequences. Our son found that out in the spring of his sixth-grade year when he got bored with the math homework, which he already knew, and calculated that he could just skip doing it for the rest of the term and still be passed on to seventh grade.
When the principal found out about that, she made him spend the first week of summer vacation coming into the office every morning and sitting in a chair next to her desk while he worked through all that homework, which she inspected every day to make sure it was complete. The lesson he took away from that experience was well worth all the tuition in itself.
The rule of natural consequences also holds true in the realm of politics. Without getting into the merits of anyone’s views or goals as to particular issues in American politics, I’ll simply say that this might be a time when we collectively need to learn a few lessons the hard way regarding the calculations and shortcuts taken to accomplish those goals.
I am hopeful that after a few years of dealing with the natural consequences of a fractured political landscape sadly lacking in values, we’ll ultimately come out of all this as a better people.
Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.
Hi Meg, I’m not in US, but until now I can’t believe what has happened. It wouldn’t affect only the US but all the world. A mistake that everybody will pay for. But like you said, lets hope everything turns out well.
Yes, our world has grown so interconnected that decisions and events in one country often affect what happens across the globe. One of the main reasons why there was so much anger this election season was because Saudi Arabia decided to sell a lot of cheap oil two years ago, which made fracking unprofitable in the United States and put a lot of people in rural areas out of work.
A timely and thought provoking post, Meg! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Becca, yes, doing my part to provoke some thoughts…
I think it’s time for all the educated and well informed people all over the World to take a step back and spend time on thinking about consequences.
Hi Rupali, I would say that everyone needs to think about consequences, whatever their education. You’ve raised an important point, though, as to the class divide based on education, which is a large part of the problem. The educated class should indeed spend time thinking about what part of the problem they’re responsible for. I may turn that into another post — thanks.
Great and timely post, Meg! I hope you are right in that we will emerge from these times as better people.
Thanks — although we have a lot of work to do, I believe it will happen.