Commitment is another of those weird words in our weird language. It can mean anything from being bound emotionally or intellectually to an ideal, passion, or course of action, to being sent to prison or a mental institution. Be cautious to establish a core context before plopping 'commitment' into your writing. Use of the word can make a subjective piece even more subjective.
Commitment to what is right or what is necessary? Commitment to what is expected or what is acceptable? Commitment to strong held, internalized personal standards might well label you as a radical. And an opportunist's commitment to what you can get away with in a competitive society might label you as a success.
So it becomes quite difficult to establish a sense of strong human commitment in today's world when:
- Wealth is achieved by finding the loopholes in tax laws.
- Corporations spend more on ads and P.R. than on employee benefits
- We choose presidents in the farcical world of polls, primaries and the carnival of political conventions where the votes of the people are given to delegates to cast (or barter). And then the 'Electoral College' does the final picking.
- More money is spent on cosmetics and pet food than on eliminating poverty, pollution and disease.
- Where Athletes earn more than scientists, comedians more than teachers, and rockers and rappers more than social workers.
- Morality is preached and the exploitation of immorality is profitable.
- The government pays farmers not to farm and workers not to work, but ostracizes pacifists who won't fight, or free thinkers who won't conform..
- Kids spend more time with tablets and phones than with parents.
- Synthetic has replaced aesthetic and function has replaced beauty.
So, commitment is tough, but not impossible. Don't stop believing.
FAR
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