I read this week that violence, angry, mean and horrible is on the rise.

I read that there isn’t much hope for us as a culture or a society.

I read that hope for something better has all but disappeared and that there really isn’t much reason to bother at all.

I read that we are pretty much doomed to follow horrible examples and that our ability as a group, a society or even as individuals to improve and stand for better is a waste of time.

I read that the voices of the many outweigh the voices of the few a thousand, thousand fold and that there is little good in resisting the tide or popular point of view.

I read that it’s a lonely, scary place to go against the crowd and to think and act differently.

I read that in one-day Grand Theft Auto V generated more than 800 million dollars in sales and that it had broken the billion-dollar mark in three days.

Violent, ugly, malicious, harmful and hurtful is what this game is about and yet we are apparently powerless to stand against its meaning and backlash.

I wondered how lonely it must be to be a parent of an adolescent or a teen who wants this game?

I wondered how lonely and scary it must be to be a teen that lives in some circles and some places and isn’t interested in being like everyone else.

I wondered mostly if there is any room at all for clear thinkers and those who see the forest for the trees?

Mostly I wondered if the headlines will ever change.

Haven’t we done thoughtless long enough?

“Give yourself permission to reject.

I will no longer simply be part of a mindless group.
I will not care for and be influenced by gossip.
I will turn off the TV and think on my own.
I will give myself permission to be an individual and
not hope to be accepted by the crowd no matter what the cost.”