You are being groomed.

You may have heard about this story out of Los Angeles. City planners are implementing a one year moratorium on new fast food restaurants in one neighborhood because there are too many fat kids there.

Have you noticed that the more you can be made to think that your actions don't have much to do with the consequences, somebody gains power? I don't think people realize what's happening with our basic perception of how life works, but left and right people are disconnecting actions from consequences, and it gradually turns them into victims, ripe for governmental rescue.

Examples:
A fat behind is the result of the nutritional content in a McDonalds burger, not careless eating habits.
Lung cancer is the result of unethical advertising by tobacco companies, not years of smoking.
Poverty is the result of corporate greed, not the failure by an individual to be educated and trained properly.
AIDS continues because of a lack of research funding to find a cure, not because individuals continue to practice risky sexual behavior.
Home foreclosure happens because of predatory and unethical lending, not because individuals made a foolish and hasty financial decision.

I could go on and on and on, but I think you get the picture.

I may sound a little over-the-top, but we're being groomed. Once we're convinced that our sad situation is the fault of someone else, then we're powerless. We're victims needing to be rescued.

On a spiritual level, we've been convinced that our agency is not in play.

Who's the rescuer? It's the one doing the grooming. Often it's the government. Sometimes it's large movements or groups pushing for social change.

While tobacco companies and predatory lenders are not blameless (and should be held accountable for their part), you always have veto power. It's your god-given right to veto the negative influences in your life.

Doesn't there seem to be a sort of energy associated with this trend to remove your active role in the outcome of your life?