Shame on us.

I was just thinking, as I tossed my water bottle into the trash can, about what a disposable society we live in. I remember when I was a little tyke, that the baby bottles my parents had for me were made of glass. And, the ones I used for my first child were glass. Then came the age of plastic. I think plastic is a great product. But, instead of using something over and over and over....cleaning in between of course, we just toss everything into the garbage can. Our landfills are full of plastic that either won't degrade at all, or will take thousands of years to do so. We have become so wasteful. So much stuff goes out with the trash, when, if our products were re-usable...it would save our environment. But, that wasn't what I wanted to talk about.
I want to address this disposable society we live in. Because the things mentioned above are simply symptoms of a very sick phenomenom. Have you noticed that not only things are disposable, but our society disposes of people as well? It starts before some are even born....resulting in them not having the opportunity to be born. Lives cut short while still growing inside their mothers; delivered and toss aside, or mutilated and sucked from the womb before they even get chance to greet this world. And I am not attempting to lecture here. I know as a health care worker in obstetrics that there are situations that cannot be avoided, there are pregnancies that result in babies that have anomalies that are incompatible with life. And, I will never,ever judge anyone who has had to go through the heart wrenching experience of having to make the decision of whether to abort or allow nature to continue it's inevitable course. My heart hurts for and I reach out to those who have had this experience. As a nurse I have been involved in the care of these families. I love them and hurt for them, and I know that the decision to end the pregnancy is between them and God. But what hurts me, is the life lost because of inconvenience, embarrassment, fear, or selfishness. I think most of us know what causes pregnancy, and there are ways to prevent it. Once you decide to do nothing to prevent it, you've made your choice. But there are consequences to choices, and pregnancy is a consequence. If we remove consequences, what do we learn?
Anyway, back to my thoughts: I have watched people grow up being 'thrown away' by peers and family members, who tease, torment, threaten, physically or sexually or emotionally abuse them. What the heck? Why would we treat another human being like 'trash', to be tossed out, stomped on and disposed of? And now, as I am getting older, I see the older generation being disposed of. Someone in their 50's-60's who as been a great employee; who is educated, intelligent, hard working, knowledgeable, and able to teach so much to the generation coming up, is laid off and their job is given to some 'youngster' who is new to the field (and of course will thus be paid much less). Then, this older worker is not able to find another job, because 'nobody wants to hire the older guy', they may have health issues that could be a liability to the company (missed work, medical expenses heaven forbid). And, if they do hire an older person it will be with no benefits because of the possibility of missed work and medical expenses. What happened to us? There was a time, when we took care of our own...when we loved others, and looked out for others. Family members took care of their elderly. They wouldn't have considered putting them away in some 'home' where they would rot. What is up with this? The age of disposability needs to end. We need to stop being wasteful, neglectful, selfish and hateful. If we take care of what we have, use it, clean it for future use, stop throwing things away; it will save us not only resources, but money. If we learn to love those around us, from family to neighbors to the entire existance...the possibilities are endless. Can you imagine the change that would come over mankind, if love replaced all of the negative thoughts, actions, words etc that are thrown around every single day. This disposable society would become a miraculous society. I'd like to see that.