Opinions

Read these lines on India Uncut :

All the world is taking sides
It don’t worry me
Cause in my empire life is sweet
Just ask any bum you meet
Life may be a one way street
But it don’t worry me

Globalisation? Nuclear weapons? Racism? Corruption? Pollution? Population? Poverty? Rape? Everyone has an opinion on everything it seems these days. Heck, I have an opinion on everything, it seems. And in the middle of frenetic arguments I sometimes want to quote Nietzche, "Its hard enough remembering all my opinions without having to remember my reasons for them". There's the media, there's people you meet, websites you surf, and suddenly there's all this information falling at our feet and it seems like you have no choice but to have an opinion. Lunch time conversations that used to revolve around which passing lady had prettier shoes now somehow or the other veers around to election-fixing, or some similar, oftentimes obscure conversation. The world is full of issues. How did we, as a species manage to populate the world with so many issues? When I was growing up, my dad used to tell me every problem has a solution. So never despair, he would say. Now I feel he should have told me every solution has a problem, and where there is no hope there can be no despair. I'm not a cynic, or a pessimist, or any other depressing label that we attach to people who sound despondent about the state of life on earth. That's why I loved the words. When it seems like there's no direction in which you can turn without encountering a problem, perhaps its time to throw the towel in, cos Life may be a one way street, But it can't worry me (at least it can't if I don't let it).