Society may need a ‘you first’ mindset

With everything that’s happened in today’s society these past few years, I simply sat back and continued to shake my head in disbelief at everything I heard and saw when it came to how our elected officials and others with a sense of power act when it comes to certain issues. Instead of people acting civil to one another, all I see are members of society coming unglued and lashing out at those they disagree with.

Many times, it seems these people are reaching the point where they want to severely punish those with opposing beliefs versus doing the smart thing and simply taking time to calmly sit and talk. In Idaho, for example, we had people vandalizing political signs from those with opposing political stances when it came to Proposition 1 that dealt with rank-based voting.

That proposition seemed to have people across the state with opposing positions on whether to approve this amendment to state election law. However, it seemed those wanting to get this proposition approved were also the ones who went out of their way to destroy signs that opposed that proposed amendment.

In some cases, we had news reports across Idaho where those proposition supporters went out of their way to draw Nazi swastikas on the signs they deliberately vandalized.

I’m sorry, but those of us who remember this moment in world history know what happened when one political party took power and used that symbol to represent their beliefs. Similar to what we’re seeing now in our own nation, we have people out there wanting to impose this type of unrelenting form of fear and intimidation to seize power from those who don’t agree with them.

The last time this happened, we saw more than six million people in Europe alone who were rounded up, placed in prison and executed all because those in power were unwilling to simply accept that not everyone shared their beliefs. Let’s just hope this doesn’t start once again.

While I’m sure there are many people out there with possible ways to help repair today’s society, I believe what we need is something I refer to as the “you first” philosophy.

Let me explain.

When it comes to those in power demanding that society needs to change its ways, it always seems these same people repeatedly fail to set the example they expect and often demand others must follow.

Case in point: Way too often, I keep hearing lawmakers on Capitol Hill demanding this nation impose oppressive (and unconstitutional) gun control laws by restricting people’s access to various firearms. However, what you never see are the countless armed guards standing nearby, each of them carrying the same weapons these legislators want to take away from law-abiding citizens.

It’s one of the best examples of hypocrisy that I’ve seen to date.

So let’s adopt the “you first” policy. Simply put, each time a lawmaker makes demands for strict gun control laws, we’d order each of them to do away with their armed security guards and order each of those guards to turn in all of their weapons and walk away.

After all, guns are bad, right?

So let’s make those lawmakers set the example first before we do the same.

Of course, these lawmakers would likely suddenly stand up and refuse to follow those orders because, from their perspective, they are “more important” than others around them and need armed guards to protect them. I’m sure a lot of them would demand they need these guards to protect them from all the criminals out there – the same criminals those in power have repeatedly refused to hold accountable for the damage they’ve caused to today’s society.

Another shining example involves the constant times those with power demand that others in society must give up certain things. This includes the countless times they want people to stop owning gas-powered cars or flying on a commercial airliner somewhere to take a needed vacation or to meet up with their extended family.

The reason? Because those in power want society to do everything they can to stop “global warming.”

But once again, those yelling the loudest represent the ones doing the most damage to our world.

Consider this. These are the people who live in multiple luxury mansions around the world. After blasting their message over the news media, these people will then walk over to their luxury limousine and have their chauffeurs drive them to the airport where these people of power climb aboard their private jets and fly to events where their other self-entitled counterparts demand that society do more to prevent “global warming.”

If that doesn’t represent hypocrisy, I don’t know what does. After all, instead of wasting so much fuel to fly to these events, wouldn’t it be better for all of them to simply meet via a Zoom chat from their own homes?

Instead, what these same people need to do is show how they are setting the example they ask others to follow. As part of the “you first” mentality, each of them would simply get rid of all of their mansions except for the one where they live with their family, dump all of their luxury vehicles, yachts and aircraft and live like others in this nation.

If anything, this would provide additional homes for those across this nation who struggle to make ends meet.

Most important, we need people to help set a positive example for others to follow. It’s not something they need to force others to watch and pay attention. Instead, they can simply do things that pique people’s curiosity and have them asking questions.

One example I offer involves the time my family and I spend trying to fill our recycling tote. It’s something my wife and I started during our time in Great Falls, Mont., in which we set aside glass bottles, cardboard and certain plastics and drove them to a recycling collection place in town.

In return for our efforts, the company provided us with a few dollars as a way to say thanks for our efforts. It represents something grocery stores across the United States used to do when customers brought back glass bottles to the stores, and these folks received some spare change in return.

In the case of my family, we tend to go out of our way to get things ready to recycle. We set a used storage tote in our garage that’s connected to our home that we use to store the cardboard boxes we flattened to save space as well as aluminum soup cans that we cleaned out using the water left over once we wash dishes after lunch and dinner and much more.

While I don’t brag about what my family does with regards to recycling, a few of our neighbors saw what we did and started following our example. It became our way of presenting the “you first” mindset and sharing it with others.

It’s something I really wish those in power started doing versus living in their fantasy world in which they honestly believe they are more important than everyone else. If only they took time to show others in society how they are working to help make society and our world much better by implementing the “you first” mentality, maybe they’d get the respect from people from both sides of the political spectrum versus being looked at as the hypocrites that do nothing but continue tearing things down.

– Brian S. Orban