Facing the Consequences of Being

Facing the Consequences of Being: Breathe! Not too much though, for you might inhale some of the carbon monoxide coming from that flaming car! What a way to go out! Smoke inhalation - isn't that nice? And yet it is happening all the time to those who smoke cigarettes. Ah, the consequences stemming from human actions are dreadfully serious, but when is man going to realize this rather mundane fact? Where is Mr. Discipline when you need him? It seems to me that he has been on a permanent vacation to Never Never Land since the end of World War II. The fate of Western civilization rests on the shoulders of Mr. Discipline. He taught us how to export more than import. He taught us how to produce more than consume. And he taught us how to win more than lose. Perhaps Mr. Discipline was wearing a mask when he taught us Westerners how to thrive. Maybe his real name is Confucius, and quite frankly, the way the Chinese are prospering these days, that idea would not be all that unbelievable. Even so, as a self-indulgent individual who comes from a decadent Western society, I tend to endorse the notion that once man starts something, he simply cannot help himself to stop.