A number of years ago I heard a song that I really identified with. The song was called "Banditos" by a group called The Refreshments. Though I enjoy the whole song, the line in the song that I'd like to use to relate to today is part of the chorus, 'everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people'.
I've been thinking about this over the weekend. I only started this blog last week and this is only my 4th post and I've already failed miserably to exude the type of attitude that I'd hoped. What I've found in posting these blog entries is that it's hard to not become outraged and sucked into the current day's argumentative banter that is ultimately unproductive. My last post, in particular, was almost completely reactive. Here I will try to do better.
Having thought about it, I've decided that today I am going to try to focus more on solutions, instead of complaining about a world full of 'stupid people'. I checked out a book from the library the other day. I chose it from the other books on the shelf that dealt with the same topic because of the publisher mainly. The book had been published by the Harvard University Press. For the purpose of this post, neither the title nor the contents of that book are of any relevance. As I read through the preface, something occurred to me regarding knowledge. Having been someone who has in the past given in to believing there could be some kind of conspiratorial illuminati-type of group, I realized, reading just the preface of the 600 page text that I had checked out at the local library, that there is no reason for any sort of belief in any sort of illuminati per-sey. What occurred to me is that people who believe in such ideas like an elite ruling class that with-holds knowledge or keeps people in poverty, is not necessary(at the very least in the United States). The fact is that most people who buy into those kinds of conspiracy theories are keeping themselves down and it's easier to blame someone else for their situation than take any responsibility for their own actions or lack thereof.
When it comes to certain ideas regarding the current health care reform, I actually tend to believe the following now: There is not enough emphasis placed on making sure the individual is taking responsibility for his/her own health care. Insurance companies ARE flawed and the fact that they can over-ride a doctor's order is insane just because the insurance companies don't want to cover what the licensed doctor has ordered/prescribed. There are those who don't have insurance because they have not personally made it a priority. There are those who can not afford it and actually need it and want it but don't qualify for coverage or don't have the availability. The issue of preventative health care does not receieve the amount of attention that it deserves. There is too much time and energy focused on 'putting out fires' instead of preventing them when it comes to health care and everyone suffers because of it. This last point especially is why I think the reform is neccessary. Personal accountability is something that many people need to take but don't because they want to rely on others, like the government to take care of it. However, there are those who need the assistance and at times the system needs some regulation.
It has become important to me to take personal responsibility for my health, my well-fare and my general well-being. This has meant that I am personally accountable for the things I put in my body. I am responsible for educating myself about the foods I eat, the vitamins I may need, any medicines I might need and doing all I can personally to treat any ailments that I face. If I put a focus on healthful living, I will be encouraging my body to withstand illness that could detract from my quality of life.
Today I take personal responsibility for the things that I can. But I recognize that there are things I cannot do by myself and that is occasionally neccessary for me to ask for outside help. In the same way with health care, I think it is important to encourage personal responsibility to pursue health while providing an opportunity to recieve help when it is needed and asked for.
Have a good day.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Shameful acts
Y'know, I walked by some guy standing on a corner by himself, holding a sign that was condemning homosexuality. I shrugged him off and walked by him, pitying the man for his lack of understanding. I walked a couple of blocks, and then it occurred to me that this idiot was claming he was Christian. I turned around and walked back to where he was standing. I asked, "Hey, I gotta question. That sign your holding that's condemning the sins of others there... ...could you remind me where it says in that book you're holding that it's your job to not only pass judgment on others but also condemn them? Because if I'm not mistaken, it was that 'savior' guy, y'know Jesus, who said 'let he without sin cast the first stone'. And didn't he also say something about 'judge not let ye be judged'?" Well of course he proceeded to tell me from his platform of false-pride that I hadn't read the Bible. He quoted some verses out of Romans as if the words of any of the apostles should be taken to superceed those words and actions of the one they had called Master. Just sayin'.
I've been so apalled by society at large, especially recently. I think so much of it is the unconciounable amount of hypocrisy, ignorance, arrogance and just plain lunacy that so many people seem to suffer from. I've almost gotten to the point that I don't blame most people because they've been indoctrinated into this world and have been spoonfed their cultures, complete with their warped senses of patriotism, warped religious views(which often have little to actually do with what the religion actually teaches), etc. We in America are almost completely oblivious. We are so self-righteous, and we cling to delusional ideas that "we're number one". I want to be proud to be an American but honestly America and Americans disappoint me.
Right now, we are occupying no less than 2 countries that we are actively fighting a 'war' that we waged, which can never be won. You can disagree and say we were attacked. Maybe we were or maybe it was a false-flag operation that we won't know about for a long time or ever. Either way, we had an opportunity to put aside our differences and we squandered it. Wake up people. There are something like 7 billion people on the planet and each and every one of them has a heart and a brain and yet we need to be divisive. Wake up!
I heard a report that more money is being made through internet scams now that there is money being made through illegal drug trafficking. I know you've seen some of them. Either your 'dream girl' you get to chat with needs you to send $2500 for a plane ticket so you can 'be together' or some guy in Ethiopia has been given a large amount of money, some of which he will give to you if you just open an account at this bank by depositing this $1500 for a security deposit so that he can use the millions of imaginary money to organize a way to educate starving kids. Heartless, shameful acts that some governments, like the United States, claim that the 'terrorists' are using that money to carry out attacks with.
The other day I read a report that the United States Navy is looking into a way of developing a 'biofuel' for jet fighters that is made through some process which extracts carbon dioxide from ocean water. Sounds good at first huh? Think it through though. First, the motivation is entirely wrong. Sure, the fish and sharks and whales and other animals in the ocean need oxygen but even as big as the ocean is how long will it be before we have moved from fueling war planes to go bomb other countries into submission so we can plunder their natural resources before we think 'hey, let's power cars and homes and our computers with this ocean water bio-fuel' and the next thing you know the oceanic ecosystem is completely turned upside down because we are extracting all the carbon-dioxide that the plant life needs to live, which the animals in the ocean need to live and then we have dead oceans, all because we wanted to pretend like we were being 'eco-friendly' when we go bomb the crap out of some country that doesn't even have freakin' jet fighters...
Let's let the oil companies dictate the future of energy and let them just charge us more for something that burns a little cleaner instead of using existing technologies and developing those even further so that we have completely emission free means of grid-independent, self-contained and self-powered solutions. The energy companies' profits are more important to them then the environment. If that wasn't true, they would not be looking at bio-fuels. Shameful acts.
Y'know that old Jesus fellow these 'christians' are always talking about, saying he's gonna come back and raise the dead... that's right, that when you die, you don't go straight to heaven, you have to wait, dead, for the J-man to come back and when he does he will wake up those he 'judges' to be worthy... Read the Bible? The key is wisdom which is laughable because mere common sense is so uncommon, let alone wisdom. Science proves, PROVES UNEQUIVOCALLY so many things, yet people still cling to their 2000 year old doctrine and dogma that even contradicts at times what the book they base the doctrine and dogma on, instead of looking at physical factual proof that removes certain mysteries.
WAKE UP!
I've been so apalled by society at large, especially recently. I think so much of it is the unconciounable amount of hypocrisy, ignorance, arrogance and just plain lunacy that so many people seem to suffer from. I've almost gotten to the point that I don't blame most people because they've been indoctrinated into this world and have been spoonfed their cultures, complete with their warped senses of patriotism, warped religious views(which often have little to actually do with what the religion actually teaches), etc. We in America are almost completely oblivious. We are so self-righteous, and we cling to delusional ideas that "we're number one". I want to be proud to be an American but honestly America and Americans disappoint me.
Right now, we are occupying no less than 2 countries that we are actively fighting a 'war' that we waged, which can never be won. You can disagree and say we were attacked. Maybe we were or maybe it was a false-flag operation that we won't know about for a long time or ever. Either way, we had an opportunity to put aside our differences and we squandered it. Wake up people. There are something like 7 billion people on the planet and each and every one of them has a heart and a brain and yet we need to be divisive. Wake up!
I heard a report that more money is being made through internet scams now that there is money being made through illegal drug trafficking. I know you've seen some of them. Either your 'dream girl' you get to chat with needs you to send $2500 for a plane ticket so you can 'be together' or some guy in Ethiopia has been given a large amount of money, some of which he will give to you if you just open an account at this bank by depositing this $1500 for a security deposit so that he can use the millions of imaginary money to organize a way to educate starving kids. Heartless, shameful acts that some governments, like the United States, claim that the 'terrorists' are using that money to carry out attacks with.
The other day I read a report that the United States Navy is looking into a way of developing a 'biofuel' for jet fighters that is made through some process which extracts carbon dioxide from ocean water. Sounds good at first huh? Think it through though. First, the motivation is entirely wrong. Sure, the fish and sharks and whales and other animals in the ocean need oxygen but even as big as the ocean is how long will it be before we have moved from fueling war planes to go bomb other countries into submission so we can plunder their natural resources before we think 'hey, let's power cars and homes and our computers with this ocean water bio-fuel' and the next thing you know the oceanic ecosystem is completely turned upside down because we are extracting all the carbon-dioxide that the plant life needs to live, which the animals in the ocean need to live and then we have dead oceans, all because we wanted to pretend like we were being 'eco-friendly' when we go bomb the crap out of some country that doesn't even have freakin' jet fighters...
Let's let the oil companies dictate the future of energy and let them just charge us more for something that burns a little cleaner instead of using existing technologies and developing those even further so that we have completely emission free means of grid-independent, self-contained and self-powered solutions. The energy companies' profits are more important to them then the environment. If that wasn't true, they would not be looking at bio-fuels. Shameful acts.
Y'know that old Jesus fellow these 'christians' are always talking about, saying he's gonna come back and raise the dead... that's right, that when you die, you don't go straight to heaven, you have to wait, dead, for the J-man to come back and when he does he will wake up those he 'judges' to be worthy... Read the Bible? The key is wisdom which is laughable because mere common sense is so uncommon, let alone wisdom. Science proves, PROVES UNEQUIVOCALLY so many things, yet people still cling to their 2000 year old doctrine and dogma that even contradicts at times what the book they base the doctrine and dogma on, instead of looking at physical factual proof that removes certain mysteries.
WAKE UP!
I don't watch television much (I don't even own an idiot box) I had chosen not to focus a whole lot on following the news really closely. I am online a lot. I have focused quite a bit over recent months on more historical research, a lot of it centered around the Greco-Egyptian/Roman transition of power and the signifigance in those events upon the formation of the three major world religions within that relatively brief 1000 year period. The idea of being able to think, because we have been given brains, is key to all three of the world's major religions. Wisdom is not just knowing some facts, of course.
I'm not a political science major. I'm not, nor have I ever been, a public servant in any capacity. My understanding of politics and government is limited but I tend to think that I might actually have a better understanding of politics and government than at least 80% of Americans, which I'd say gives me at least some room to have an opinion because I will try to make sure I understand at least something about the issues that I feel I deserve to opin about.
Last November, following the conclusion of the presidential elecction, I was watching a certain 24 hour cable news station. I was impressed by a certain political commentator/pundint that had been active as a voice for the Republican party. I didn't agree with the commentator's politics or most of her arguments. At times, I sincerely thought, "how can she possibly believe the things she's saying?" It was only after the election, when I saw her making strides to encourage other Republicans to back the man who would be president, that I was impressed by her.
Within the past two weeks I'd started paying a little more attention to the 'debate' that was heating up over the health-care bill. The 'dissent' that was being justified as free speech was not dissent at all and was only a thinly veiled attempt by some remarkably ignorant people to justify hate speech. I saw no rational arguments coming from those holding up a swastika in protest. It seemed amazingly hypocritical to see those holding up swastikas yelling about... whatever, I'm tired of attempting to justify or legitemize that type of lunacy.
I saw the same pundint's blog and read a post that was insulting to my intelligence. It was off base and was little more than hard right propoganda. Right now I see that the democrats are trying to pretend like they are listening and are in fact only posturing and although it may be understandable it is a no more acceptable position to be approaching any sort of legislation than the way the republicans are right now. The republicans are fighting for changes in this bill and not a single one that I've heard of has indicated that they have any intention of ever actually voting for the bill. So, to clarify, they are 'wasting' time and money to work on adding amendments to a bill that they don't believe in. Yet at the same time, no one is proposing any other ideas. Don't like the bill, write a new one, but working for changes to make it work for everyone, as much as is realistically possible, should be the goal. Senators and Congressmen are public servants... Serve the people. You are there to represent the people who cannot represent themselves.
I chastised the one pundint because I believed she was abusing her position to help other people understand the facts, not opinions without any basis. Today I was happy to see Andrea Tantaros take a stand and actually embrace facts and not just propogate the conservative republican propoganda that has been lacking any real argument. I don't agree with her continuing to encourage the devisive party loyalty but she did make what I view is a realistic and logical argument.
George Washington in his Farewell Address (really just an open letter) talked about several things that we as a country should avoid to preserve the country. One of the biggest things he warned about was partisan politics. Get that?! By the time the FIRST PRESIDENT left office, he was already able to warn about the danger of partisan politics. I don't have a solution for that because I know people have different ideas but I also know that there are so many who claim to be something they are not and that we are all more similar than we are different, if only we could see that...
I expect my posts to become more poignant as I continue to blog so I hope you will forgive me if this seems a little scattered. That said, now as always, I welcome your comments...
l8r,
Chris
I'm not a political science major. I'm not, nor have I ever been, a public servant in any capacity. My understanding of politics and government is limited but I tend to think that I might actually have a better understanding of politics and government than at least 80% of Americans, which I'd say gives me at least some room to have an opinion because I will try to make sure I understand at least something about the issues that I feel I deserve to opin about.
Last November, following the conclusion of the presidential elecction, I was watching a certain 24 hour cable news station. I was impressed by a certain political commentator/pundint that had been active as a voice for the Republican party. I didn't agree with the commentator's politics or most of her arguments. At times, I sincerely thought, "how can she possibly believe the things she's saying?" It was only after the election, when I saw her making strides to encourage other Republicans to back the man who would be president, that I was impressed by her.
Within the past two weeks I'd started paying a little more attention to the 'debate' that was heating up over the health-care bill. The 'dissent' that was being justified as free speech was not dissent at all and was only a thinly veiled attempt by some remarkably ignorant people to justify hate speech. I saw no rational arguments coming from those holding up a swastika in protest. It seemed amazingly hypocritical to see those holding up swastikas yelling about... whatever, I'm tired of attempting to justify or legitemize that type of lunacy.
I saw the same pundint's blog and read a post that was insulting to my intelligence. It was off base and was little more than hard right propoganda. Right now I see that the democrats are trying to pretend like they are listening and are in fact only posturing and although it may be understandable it is a no more acceptable position to be approaching any sort of legislation than the way the republicans are right now. The republicans are fighting for changes in this bill and not a single one that I've heard of has indicated that they have any intention of ever actually voting for the bill. So, to clarify, they are 'wasting' time and money to work on adding amendments to a bill that they don't believe in. Yet at the same time, no one is proposing any other ideas. Don't like the bill, write a new one, but working for changes to make it work for everyone, as much as is realistically possible, should be the goal. Senators and Congressmen are public servants... Serve the people. You are there to represent the people who cannot represent themselves.
I chastised the one pundint because I believed she was abusing her position to help other people understand the facts, not opinions without any basis. Today I was happy to see Andrea Tantaros take a stand and actually embrace facts and not just propogate the conservative republican propoganda that has been lacking any real argument. I don't agree with her continuing to encourage the devisive party loyalty but she did make what I view is a realistic and logical argument.
George Washington in his Farewell Address (really just an open letter) talked about several things that we as a country should avoid to preserve the country. One of the biggest things he warned about was partisan politics. Get that?! By the time the FIRST PRESIDENT left office, he was already able to warn about the danger of partisan politics. I don't have a solution for that because I know people have different ideas but I also know that there are so many who claim to be something they are not and that we are all more similar than we are different, if only we could see that...
I expect my posts to become more poignant as I continue to blog so I hope you will forgive me if this seems a little scattered. That said, now as always, I welcome your comments...
l8r,
Chris
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
My 2 Cents
This blog is only my opinion. You are welcome to disagree or agree. I invite you to share your opinions. I will attempt to be open to your opinions and hope you will do the same by attempting to be open to my opinions. I believe we can only be right sometimes if we can be honest with ourselves and be humble enough to admit where we are wrong. Admitting we are wrong allows us to grow into greater understanding. Being 'wrong' is often just a matter of lacking a full understanding, or at least enough of one to make an informed decision.
I will focus my energies on this blog in a variety of areas that interest me. These will not be limited to any one scope. Nothing is off limits as far as I'm concerned. Politics, religion, technology, history, science, health, movies, music... ...all of these and likely more are topics that I'll talk about.
Hope you will enjoy my perspectives and help me hone my perspectives by sharing yours.
l8r,
Chris
I will focus my energies on this blog in a variety of areas that interest me. These will not be limited to any one scope. Nothing is off limits as far as I'm concerned. Politics, religion, technology, history, science, health, movies, music... ...all of these and likely more are topics that I'll talk about.
Hope you will enjoy my perspectives and help me hone my perspectives by sharing yours.
l8r,
Chris
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