I just heard an essay on NPR this evening as I drove home from work, grapefruit juice in hand. Be Cool to the Pizza Delivery Dude. It is the first part of a series that they are reviving from the 50’s radio program This I Believe, wherein listeners were presented with the condensed wisdom of celebrities, educators, and taxi cab drivers. NPR is accepting submissions for the new run of the program and I am vaguely intrigued.
However, what could I say that would get on the air? The most profound and important things I could present would likely be discarded on the grounds of their being too specifically religious. The most interesting things I could say would likely not be serious or polite enough to go on either. Oh well.
What do I believe?
I believe a lot of things. I believe that people are basically good, but that they are also basically selfish. They must short circuit their physical programming in order to act in the interest of others – it takes a good deal of emotional and mental strength in order to be selfless, even in small matters. But I also believe that people have the capacity to develop the strength required to make those good decisions, and that most of them have the desire to develop it.
I believe in gummi bears. But not gummi worms, eww.
I believe that racism is stupid and that it would just all go away if people stopped bringing it up all the time. I believe that it’s not worth getting worked up over most things, and that people should let stress wash over them w/o being affected by it. Not that it is easy, but it’s one of the only ways to stay sane at times.