The Tobacco Farmer, the Bartender, and the Drug Dealer

A Part of the Problem... or the Solution?

     So the news station had a special report about a local tobacco farmer.  He was a good family man - husband and father, had good values, and seemed to be a hard working, loyal American... just an all-around good guy.  
     But, they asked him, "Why are you growing tobacco when you know it's the Number One cause of cancer and kills 500,000 people every year?"
     The tobacco farmer said, "I can make money growing other crops, but I grow tobacco because I make a lot of money off of it.  Hey, people can choose not to smoke or they can choose to quit if they do smoke."
 
     Another report asked why a man is a bartender when alcohol causes one of the most prevalent and worst types of addiction, and the bartender replied, "Because I can make a lot of money in only a 30 hour work week."
 
    And in another report a street drug dealer was asked why he sell drugs when he knows that drugs destroy people, families and entire neighborhoods, and the drug dealer replied, "I had a shitty job and I found that I could make as much money in one week selling drugs as I did in one month on that job.  I made a lot of money."
 
     What's the difference between the tobacco farmer, the alcohol bartender or the drug dealer?  Legality aside, the truth is that they all participate in industries that hurt and kill people, families and communities…. industries that neglect the health, safety and welfare of children and families - all in the name of money.   
 
     Of course all three can try to justify what they do at some level. People always do.  But the question is:  "Is it really worth it?"
 
     It's all about the money…. and, unfortunately, some people will do anything for the money… sell out their family, their friends, even sell their souls.  The point, here, is that we have a lot of problems throughout this country and throughout the world, and, you can be a part of the problem or a part of the solution - but only you can choose.
 
     At some point everyone will be "tempted" by money - perhaps lots of it.  Many people have already lost their values - and most often they sacrificed them for money.

      Lying, cheating, stealing... overcharging for goods and services..... not paying your taxes.... lawyers, bankers, doctors and dentists, car mechanics, pharmaceutical companies, businessmen, the list goes on and on. 
 
     Certainly, everyone will be tempted at some point - and one truism is that anyone who did something majorly unethical or criminally wrong, started by doing small things first. 

      We all face opportunities to lie, cheat or steal.... probably everyday as a matter of fact.  What speaks to our real nature, though, is not what we say but what we do.
 
     There are two types of people in this world:  people who are part of the problem, and people who are part of the solution.  We can't complain - we don’t have a right to complain or gripe about the status of the world, unless we identify with and obligate ourselves not to be a part of the problem but to always be a part of the solution.