And you don't have to understand it all. Or read it for that matter. But you are here so I guess I should give you something.
Constantly, it's occurred to me that I take more interest in everything I don't understand and for some reason once I can understand it then I neglect it. For instance, I'll read someone's thoughts on their blog or see someone on T.V. or just life in general and I'd really wish I had gotten to know them more. The rest of the day, I'll find myself constantly thinking about that person I'm only given a snippet of information about, not able to completely summarize them. I start to wonder what my life would be like had they somehow been able to contribute something to it or I to them. I wonder about how other things could be different if I had done something else in a split second that could have altered my entire future somehow, but I just go on living, assuming that these things happened to me because of some reason or another. Suddenly, I become deeply and erratically paranoid over everything I do, be it a few seconds or a few years ago, and I start to wonder whether I'm doing the right thing, or if I do this, then it may affect that person. Or could some decision I deemed insignificant at the time really lead to my own death? Well, it seems crazy to think that I deserve life more than anyone else deserves it. And it becomes instantly, painfully clear that I should be waking up by now.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
My turn to rant about politics...
Today I went back to Mr. Thompson's blog to see if I was added to "the list" yet and Rachel K's blog title really caught my eye, "My rant on politics part 2" and I thought "Wait there was a part 1?!" so I checked it out and she had some really interesting things to say. They were things I thought I would never hear another person around my age talk about in that way so it did cheer me up but also got me agitated in a way. (towards the topic not the poster). So definately check it out - http://rachelksblog.blogspot.com/
Personally, I would take it a step further and say that they know that it's easier to reach the people through Ads rather than through speeches, but their dream is for us to vote for them without them ever telling us what they're going to do in office. Believe me, we've almost reached that point already! It seems like they are more interested in winning the moniker, the title Mr. President, than actually doing what the people want to do. So, today, it seems we can break down campaigns into a series of promises, accusations, and denials.
Each of the two parties makes promises. It doesn't really matter what each of them promise so long as it's the exact opposite of the other party.
"If elected, I will abolish the citizens' right to own guns and replace it with a mother's right to an abortion," said the member of the one party anyone in the U.S. ever cares about.
"If elected, I will give every 18 year old a gun, and force every pregnant woman to have their child, no matter how prepared or unprepared they are for the baby," said the member of the other party anyone in the U.S. ever cares about.
"If elected, I will pass tighter gun laws and make sure our teens have access to various methods of birth control," is what would have been said if that particular party had been given enough money to get their message out in the first place.
The top two parties continue in this fashion for an indeterminable period of time, stating their ideals. After they are sure they have won the vote of their respective sects of followers, they start playing the slander game. They bring out their oppenent's dirty laundry and declare, "Aha! Here we find that my opponent's step-brother in law running a red light! By the association, we can assume that my oppenent also runs red lights! He is not fit to run this country!" The other candidate, in turn, denies his step-brother in law ever running a red light in his life and accuses his opponent's distant relative of commiting some kind of worse debauchery, proclaiming himself the lesser of two evils.
So, the two parties continue in this fashion for an indeterminable period of time, until election day. By now, such and such celebrities have been arrested, such and such T.V. shows have been cancelled or have ended, countless children have fallen down wells or been kidnapped or been the victim of a drive by shooting, and almost everyone in America can not recall what either of the two candidates really stood for anymore. They give their candidates peculiar nicknames like "republican" and "democrat" to help distinguish one from the other, so they know they are voting for the person that will make sure that the half of the country that voter belongs to is happy.
Slowly, we divide ourselves into two goups: those voting "republican" and those voting "democrat." Between then and election day we watch the campaign go on through the T.V. As it turns out, those who consider themselves to be "republican" end up watching one channel and those who consider themselves to be "democrat" end up watching another. The two channels jump on this opportunity to further divide us and each offers us bits and pieces of the same story, only allowing us to hear what they decide we want to hear based on who we are voting for.
And election day comes and half the country votes one way and the other votes the other way and one side wins and one side loses and pretty soon we can carve turkey, open presents, make promises we know we won't keep for the next year, fall in love for a day, watch the super bowl, light a bunch of explosives, and repeat. We fall back into routine, watching our favourite shows when we're not working, eating, or sleeping.
Occasionally, we'll check back on our government, you know, just to check if everything is running according to plan and we find that it surely is. The three branches are still there, which means the people we voted for are doing there job. Which is to do what we put them there to do. Which is... what they promised to do... that.. umm.. we agreed with! and.. we thought it was good too! so now.. uh.. they are there and doing those things we can't do you know? Like, passing laws and putting the bad guys behind jail and veto, veto, veto, and making speeches.
Sure we could take more interest in our government, but why bother? The system works! We designed and set the system to run like a giant machine, perpetually in motion, needing no maintinance. We take comfort in it's complexity, the sheer size, design, and efficiency.
And soon, election day comes and half the country votes one way and the other votes the other way and one side wins and one side loses and pretty soon we can carve turkey, open presents, make promises we know we won't keep for the next year, fall in love for a day, watch the super bowl, light a bunch of explosives, and repeat. We fall back into routine, watching our favorite shows when we're not working, eating, or sleeping....
We make a big deal about something that we not only do not completely grasp, but something that doesn't matter as much as we think it does. Yes, the president is a big deal, but not nearly enough attention is paid to congress, the house of representatives, or the supreme court. More importantly, we don't pay enough attention to ourselves! You don't have to be a politician to make a change, but you also can't change the world with one vote for the president either. It's up to you to attend rallies, sign or write petitions, and really take action and interest in the changes you want to see. Without the people's participation governments can become very corrupt very quickly.
Okay, wow, I realize this is really long but it took me a really long time to write so I would love any comments.
Personally, I would take it a step further and say that they know that it's easier to reach the people through Ads rather than through speeches, but their dream is for us to vote for them without them ever telling us what they're going to do in office. Believe me, we've almost reached that point already! It seems like they are more interested in winning the moniker, the title Mr. President, than actually doing what the people want to do. So, today, it seems we can break down campaigns into a series of promises, accusations, and denials.
Each of the two parties makes promises. It doesn't really matter what each of them promise so long as it's the exact opposite of the other party.
"If elected, I will abolish the citizens' right to own guns and replace it with a mother's right to an abortion," said the member of the one party anyone in the U.S. ever cares about.
"If elected, I will give every 18 year old a gun, and force every pregnant woman to have their child, no matter how prepared or unprepared they are for the baby," said the member of the other party anyone in the U.S. ever cares about.
"If elected, I will pass tighter gun laws and make sure our teens have access to various methods of birth control," is what would have been said if that particular party had been given enough money to get their message out in the first place.
The top two parties continue in this fashion for an indeterminable period of time, stating their ideals. After they are sure they have won the vote of their respective sects of followers, they start playing the slander game. They bring out their oppenent's dirty laundry and declare, "Aha! Here we find that my opponent's step-brother in law running a red light! By the association, we can assume that my oppenent also runs red lights! He is not fit to run this country!" The other candidate, in turn, denies his step-brother in law ever running a red light in his life and accuses his opponent's distant relative of commiting some kind of worse debauchery, proclaiming himself the lesser of two evils.
So, the two parties continue in this fashion for an indeterminable period of time, until election day. By now, such and such celebrities have been arrested, such and such T.V. shows have been cancelled or have ended, countless children have fallen down wells or been kidnapped or been the victim of a drive by shooting, and almost everyone in America can not recall what either of the two candidates really stood for anymore. They give their candidates peculiar nicknames like "republican" and "democrat" to help distinguish one from the other, so they know they are voting for the person that will make sure that the half of the country that voter belongs to is happy.
Slowly, we divide ourselves into two goups: those voting "republican" and those voting "democrat." Between then and election day we watch the campaign go on through the T.V. As it turns out, those who consider themselves to be "republican" end up watching one channel and those who consider themselves to be "democrat" end up watching another. The two channels jump on this opportunity to further divide us and each offers us bits and pieces of the same story, only allowing us to hear what they decide we want to hear based on who we are voting for.
And election day comes and half the country votes one way and the other votes the other way and one side wins and one side loses and pretty soon we can carve turkey, open presents, make promises we know we won't keep for the next year, fall in love for a day, watch the super bowl, light a bunch of explosives, and repeat. We fall back into routine, watching our favourite shows when we're not working, eating, or sleeping.
Occasionally, we'll check back on our government, you know, just to check if everything is running according to plan and we find that it surely is. The three branches are still there, which means the people we voted for are doing there job. Which is to do what we put them there to do. Which is... what they promised to do... that.. umm.. we agreed with! and.. we thought it was good too! so now.. uh.. they are there and doing those things we can't do you know? Like, passing laws and putting the bad guys behind jail and veto, veto, veto, and making speeches.
Sure we could take more interest in our government, but why bother? The system works! We designed and set the system to run like a giant machine, perpetually in motion, needing no maintinance. We take comfort in it's complexity, the sheer size, design, and efficiency.
And soon, election day comes and half the country votes one way and the other votes the other way and one side wins and one side loses and pretty soon we can carve turkey, open presents, make promises we know we won't keep for the next year, fall in love for a day, watch the super bowl, light a bunch of explosives, and repeat. We fall back into routine, watching our favorite shows when we're not working, eating, or sleeping....
We make a big deal about something that we not only do not completely grasp, but something that doesn't matter as much as we think it does. Yes, the president is a big deal, but not nearly enough attention is paid to congress, the house of representatives, or the supreme court. More importantly, we don't pay enough attention to ourselves! You don't have to be a politician to make a change, but you also can't change the world with one vote for the president either. It's up to you to attend rallies, sign or write petitions, and really take action and interest in the changes you want to see. Without the people's participation governments can become very corrupt very quickly.
Okay, wow, I realize this is really long but it took me a really long time to write so I would love any comments.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
What feels like my first real post
Well, here we are. Coming up with things to write about that others might find worth reading. Hopefully, eventually, I'll come up with things worth debating for you instead of just writing down my thoughts and hope you were thinking the same thing. Really, I think I see myself posting more comments than my own posts. But if you're interested in hearing about myself as that's all i can think of to talk about lately, then right now I hear the T.V. playing some fake reality show, the radio playing some song I don't even know the name to nor bother to know, and as i find my own thoughts harder and harder to grasp i can only think of trying to finish this sentence in a way that sounds like it was written by someone who can hopefully talk better than he writes.
I miss the beauty of my own handwriting. I used to be able to be satisfied knowing that even if what was written wasn't my best work, at least it was neat and different and in it's own way beautiful at least in my own mind. Even if i could write something better than what i could on paper, if i could somehow copy it down to the paper then it might benefit from my handwriting, and in that way isn't it the blog posts that are at a loss here? I think just the venue of a computer makes everyone appreciate the words less, but at the same time you want to be heard and passing around papers of material might prove to be problematic. Hopefully I won't end up sacrificing quality for convenience.
I miss the beauty of my own handwriting. I used to be able to be satisfied knowing that even if what was written wasn't my best work, at least it was neat and different and in it's own way beautiful at least in my own mind. Even if i could write something better than what i could on paper, if i could somehow copy it down to the paper then it might benefit from my handwriting, and in that way isn't it the blog posts that are at a loss here? I think just the venue of a computer makes everyone appreciate the words less, but at the same time you want to be heard and passing around papers of material might prove to be problematic. Hopefully I won't end up sacrificing quality for convenience.
crayon
"Money! No discovery ever made by man is worse than the silver coin.
It's this silver coin which turns countries upside down.
It's this silver coin which sends men away from their homes.
It's this silver coin which turns the minds of wise men; makes them wander about, lost to evil deeds, teaches them to commit every sacrilege." - Creon
This is a very blunt statement by Sophocles about what the love of money can do to people. He says this obsession with silver can, not only distract wise men, but entire countries. Some who chase the silver coin may leave their family behind or not even start a family at all. All for their own success, to see their own dreams of fame and fortune become reality. But for some that is all they may need to be happy.
I think I know where I stand. I can say "Money is no object for me," not because I have it (which I don't) but because I don't want it. Some will tell you that it is needed, that it is necessary to survive now. I agree we all need money to just get by now, but do we all know when we will stop? Will we even be able to recognize if we have enough or if we need more and when we do will it be too late for us to do anything about it?
Who is teaching us to know our own limit? We surely cannot trust the T.V. or the radio or the magazines to teach us; they only have their best interests in mind which is to get you to have more money to splurge on their product: luxuries you don't need that don't make you happy.
So i have another message for you: go and do the things you love to do! Find something that makes you happy and chase it! But don't let anyone tell you what you want either. Only you can figure out where you fit in and if you don't then feel free to be the first. Feel free to be yourself. Feel free to express every little thing that makes you unique. Feel free from the accusations of your peers. And feel free to think for yourself! Just after you hear something and just before you accept it as true, process it on your own for a while before deciding whether you agree or not. Everything! Including this post from which I hope I've given you enough to over-analyze by now.
It's this silver coin which turns countries upside down.
It's this silver coin which sends men away from their homes.
It's this silver coin which turns the minds of wise men; makes them wander about, lost to evil deeds, teaches them to commit every sacrilege." - Creon
This is a very blunt statement by Sophocles about what the love of money can do to people. He says this obsession with silver can, not only distract wise men, but entire countries. Some who chase the silver coin may leave their family behind or not even start a family at all. All for their own success, to see their own dreams of fame and fortune become reality. But for some that is all they may need to be happy.
I think I know where I stand. I can say "Money is no object for me," not because I have it (which I don't) but because I don't want it. Some will tell you that it is needed, that it is necessary to survive now. I agree we all need money to just get by now, but do we all know when we will stop? Will we even be able to recognize if we have enough or if we need more and when we do will it be too late for us to do anything about it?
Who is teaching us to know our own limit? We surely cannot trust the T.V. or the radio or the magazines to teach us; they only have their best interests in mind which is to get you to have more money to splurge on their product: luxuries you don't need that don't make you happy.
So i have another message for you: go and do the things you love to do! Find something that makes you happy and chase it! But don't let anyone tell you what you want either. Only you can figure out where you fit in and if you don't then feel free to be the first. Feel free to be yourself. Feel free to express every little thing that makes you unique. Feel free from the accusations of your peers. And feel free to think for yourself! Just after you hear something and just before you accept it as true, process it on your own for a while before deciding whether you agree or not. Everything! Including this post from which I hope I've given you enough to over-analyze by now.
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