Don't read to deep into this

I'm hopping mad. I'm fuming. I need a place to vent, a hole to shout into while I stamp my feet and pound my fist. I need a void to talk into.

You know why we have a bully problem? Because our children look up to us and see the bullies we have to deal with day in and day out and see us put our heads down in shame and we mumble "Yes sir, no sir, would you like some fries too, sir?" And we feel better in when we are watching the news, and we see the bullies get their comeuppance. The corrupt CEO goes to jail. The priest who touches children, well, the system catches up to him. The politicians who we say are bad, the police who are taking money from drug dealers. "They'll get what they deserve." we say as we keep our eyes on the grindstone.

Why? Why are we taught that this is a system that works? Why do we except that schools are a better path to a better life? Why do we chant the mantra, "If I work hard, then then life will be better?" Why do we see criminals and lowlifes and think of them as "the left behinds"? We tuck ourselves behind the security of our setup, and there seems to be this idea that it will reward us. We don't have to be lucky, we just have to find the opportunities in life, we have to take them, and in time we will have our dreams.

Stop for a moment, though. What does luck have to do with this? What about the people who were labeled the poor, the stupid, and the trouble makers early on in life? Not everyone is told that they can make it. Bill Gates was smart, and smart people get ahead. So was Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerburg. Ignore the fact that they had an opportunity that even smart people aren't given: the chance to drop out out of Harvard. The chance to brush shoulders with the elite. The rest of us will just smile and we work harder to have a bit more than our parents and give a better life to our kids. Some of us are looked at and told "You come from the poor side of X-town. You may get to a state school, if you're not like your trouble making drunk of a father."

I'm mad because sometimes I feel like people see young male, long hair, long beard, tie die and a drug rug and they think "well, he's up to no good", or sometimes they try to buy drugs from me or sell drugs to me. And sometimes I think about the fact that well, I could get a haircut, wear fine clothes, shave. But then, what about the people who can't? How about a Mexican guy who has a good job and is well know in his community, but is still searched by the police for drugs? The black lawyer who get hassled? Ivy League women who still have to deal with bullshit?