Lesser Evil

I caught a part of "The Richies" season premiere. The basic plot is that a family of cons, The Mallorys, get into an accident with a wealthy couple, Doug & Cherien Rich. The Mallorys lead a life filled with scams and sucker punches. These nomads help themselves to the spoils, i.e. the keys of the Rich's posh suburban home.

The nagging thought of what happened during the accident kept coming to mind. They Mallorys were apparently in some dispute with another party, both of them were driving RVs and they were playing chicken, bantering back and forth. The Mallorys were in the correct lane while their antagonist was in the opposing traffic lane. The antagonist crashes into the on coming BMW with Doug & Cherien Rich. The antagonist continues on his journey fleeing the scene, while the Mallory's stop and go back to help. Cherien was killed on impact, her wrangled body lay outside the car. Doug has a severe injury and gasp a few labored sentences to Wayne Mallory, the father, before dying. The Mallorys happen upon the keys, not only to the home but to a new life for themselves. Apparently the deceased were new to the neighborhood so no one initially suspected the Mallory's scam.

Okay, here is where the line gets fuzzy, after they take the keys they push the BMW into a pond and watch it sink. I felt such a sense of anger watching this, it was an outrage. How could they live with themselves and furthermore involve their kids in this? Seeing those little hands on the trunk of the car pushing it into the pond, woke a righteous indignation in me. This just seemed to shout wrong on so many levels.

I made the comment to my husband that it would have been better for them to leave the scene than to make the Rich's situation worse. Is there a "lesser evil"?

Personal belief, it becomes a matter of the intention of the heart, the decedent depths of human heart are yet to be defined. Thus we are bound to the technicalities of the law, for it is only by the endless definition of the letter of the law, that we build the platform for our loop hole seeking lawyers. This slippery slope mentality seems to wage war in our justice system. He wasn't smoking pot because he did not inhale. I wasn't having sex with her because no penetration occurred. Where do we draw the line? Rather, should I say to some, "Is there a line?"

Forever pursuing the vanishing vapors of a value system. Should one dwell too long upon these thoughts, a sense of pessimism settles in. Thus my adherence to the law of the harvest, you reap what you sow, and the belief in karma, it will come back around. The higher power comes into play here, for ultimately all scores are settled.

Altered Realities

I was watching TV late one night and came upon a True Hollywood Story Investigates episode on Internet Dangers. The stories they shared were quite disturbing. They each seemed to be about people who all had an altered realities. Some struggled with online gambling, others with bullying, some with gaming, and even suicide support groups (where they encourage you to end your life).

I went to bed with many of their stories churning in my mind. The next day I couldn't stop thinking about what causes this obsession. For example one young man was addicted to Ever Quest and would not stop playing, for days. He become so engrossed that he eventually lost his job, his apartment, and had to move back in with his parents. He continued his behavior and his mom eventually sent him to a rehab facility. He seemed to be progressing and becoming more productive, i.e. he got a new job, his own place and was getting on his feet again. Once he had saved enough money to buy another computer he locked himself in his apartment for two weeks and did nothing but play Ever Quest.

His mother went over to check on him and he wouldn't open the door, she forced it open to find he had committed suicide at the computer. I found this so bizarre.

Another young middle school girl suffered a seizure in school to which her peers labeled her "retard girl". She started getting hate e-mail and scorned to the point that the mob rallied on a website raving about their depth of hate for her. She seemed so shocked that people could be so cruel. She believed what they said about her, there must have been something wrong with her. She lost herself in the dis pair of depression and had to start home schooling. After a semester at home she transferred to another public school. The problems followed her and she withdrew to the safe haven of her home once more. She had started therapy and decided to change her mental state, and not allow the bullies to win. Some time passed and she finally adjusted to a private school.

In both instances these individuals unplugged from reality and entered a state of altered reality. Some people use substances while others follow false belief systems. The young man believed that he was accepted in the gaming world, he had status and was a part of a guild whose joint venture to defeat the demons of Ever Quest united them. This experience offered such gratification to his need for social interaction and acceptance. Real life seemed to fall short. He chose to accept the illusion as reality and stayed there.

The middle school girl had normal social interaction but allowed the bullies online to give her a construed view of herself. She believed their slurs and accepted what they said. She eventually gave herself to the task of dispelling their snide remarks. This self-justification engulfed her mind, time, and energy. Her life purpose became to correct what others thought about her, rather than focusing on what she knew to be true of herself.

Perhaps the common denominator is that these individuals believed something about themselves that was not true. To their favor or falter they plunged themselves into an altered reality. Perhaps it is time to evaluate how we ourselves accept reality, or false belief systems. The power of projection has been a common theme in my recent thoughts, this seems to emphasize how important our mental state is, yet again.