As we approach retirement age, many of us pause to reflect on our lives and generally conclude something to the effect of, "What a fool I was." Take me for example. At an early age, football was very important to me. I have played on undefeated football teams in high school and college. Now nobody cares. In my career I have installed real time computer systems and solved problems which no one else could solve. Now nobody cares. In one major company where I was employed the employees revered the company president and were awed by his rare presence. Today I cannot remember his name. 

King Solomon, one of the most intelligent people who ever lived, reached the same conclusion many of us will reach over two thousand years ago: Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:11)

Every generation should build on knowledge learned by the previous generations. This transfer of knowledge does occur, especially in technical areas. But in other areas this knowledge transfer to the youth is often minimal. The young believe they are smarter, have a long life ahead of them, and believe they will make wiser choices than the previous generations. When they reach old age they reflect back and conclude, "What a fool I was." We thus cycle. Each generation is forced to learn that their way is not the best way. It is a rare and intelligent youth which takes time to learn from his elders. We hardly learn from our own mistakes.

After all, it cannot be us which made the mistake. Therefore, we must find someone to blame. School teachers know the answer to the following question before it is ever asked: Who hit who first? The answer is obvious. "He hit me first. No, he hit me first. No, he hit me first ..." These children were born as perfectly spotless and without even a knowledge of sin. What happened? Observe their learning environment. Daddy blames Mommy. Mommy blames Daddy. Brother blames sister. Sister blames brother. Grandpa blames Grandma. Grandma blames Grandpa. Et cetera.

When did this blame cycle begin? In Genesis: And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. (Genesis 3:12-13)

Neither the man nor the woman accepted responsibility for their actions. Man blamed his sin on the woman, and indirectly on God for giving him the woman in the first place, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." The woman blamed her sin on the serpent. Men and women have had a problem trusting each other ever since. Is this attribute of blaming others for our sins an innate characteristic of man? If we isolated a newborn boy and girl and raised them together on a deserted island, they would likely grow up blaming each other for their failures. Once again, we cycle.

Who do we ultimately blame? When we accidentally hit our thumb with a hammer do we accept responsibility and shout "Damn me?" Probably not. Most of us curse the omnipotent creator and say the "GD" word. After all, if He had not given us a thumb, we would not have hit it in the first place! So we still do as Adam and blame God. 

Thus, man has not progressed very far in six thousand years when it comes to accepting responsibility. While we quickly accept credit for successes, we remain like Adam and Eve in accepting responsibility for failures. We must have that someone to blame!

Man is thus cursed with religious hatred, racial hatred, sexual preference hatred, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Americans are fortunate to live in a multiracial and ethnic country. Our differences are obvious. Thus, we can say the black guy did it. Or the white guy, or the brown guy, or the guy with slanted eyes, or the Jewish guy, or the Christian, or the Islamic guy, or the homosexual, or the atheist, or the Democrat, or the Republican. I can't find a job because they're only hiring illegals, or minorities, or women. Americans may thus pick and choose freely from a wide selection of groups to blame for their failures. Some use several groups while others repeatedly blame the same group. Either way, America is blessed with many groups and most of us can find at least one to look down on and even hate. In fact, much effort and many resources are expended due to hate.

But what about countries like India and Rhodesia whose citizens all look basically the same? Incredible, unnatural separations were created to divide them into separate competing groups. Thus India has the caste system and Rhodesians are either Tutsi or Hutu. Ah, now they can blame each other for their shortcomings. These systems illustrate the importance of having someone to blame. When there are no natural differences separating us, we design artificial ones.

In actuality, if we could stand back a very long, long distance and observe all the "diverse" groups, we would discover that we are not that different! If you are a parent for example, you want a good life and future for your children and grandchildren, no matter what you are. The objectives, hopes, emotions, and desires of all of us can be listed in only a very few short sentences. This is no great or new discovery. Such lists exist from long ago. My favorite and the one I love the most begins with the words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident ..."

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