At any stage in life, getting an education is a tricky thing. How people learn differs so, it's difficult to get just the right mix of methods to make it work. In such a volatile world, nothing should be left to chance, nothing taken for granted. Above all, teachers should never miss a beat. Like surgeons guiding the lifeblood of the future, they should be masterful and attentive. But those traits have been neglected in so many instances, allowed to atrophy and die if they ever existed at all. From early education to higher learning, a pedagogical rite of passage has brought teachers down to the realm of mediocrity and thus doomed their students to frustration and failure. This rite of passage of which I speak is tenure.
Just as we trust doctors to our health and peacekeepers with our safety, we trust teachers with our education. They are the leaders on our journey. You want a leader to be knowledgeable, flexible, and attentive. You hope that no matter what comes along, that leader will remain strong. Challenges won't break them and accolades will not soften their drive. But tenure is something that can not only ease a teacher's intensity and passion, but can allow poor educators to remain in the classroom, doing decidedly more harm than good.
If a doctor hasn't studied trends in medicine in decades and trembles uncontrollably should they be allowed to treat patients? If a lawyer knows little of the law and even less about upholding it, should they be allowed to sit as a district attorney? If a professor has a poor track record in the classroom and rarely shows up for class, should they be allowed to continue teaching? The answers to these questions as stated may be blatant, but the last question sheds light on a harsh reality. There are teachers out there who have lost all respect for their field because they have been given a pass to behave as they wish. Their tenure allows them to be lax in their own learning and lax in their teaching. They flit from class to class in an indignant huff, ready to clock out as soon as possible because they know, no matter what they do, tenure keeps them safe from all punishment.
Rare indeed is the teacher who's skill is unchanged by tenure. I recognize there are those who excel with such an honor, but when people abuse a privilege, there should be consequences. I attended a private religious-affiliated university. I was lucky to receive many scholarships so a great deal of my tuition was paid for, but my heart goes out to those who feel they've wasted their own money to pay for lackluster education. The professor in my chosen major was a tenured professor who wanted nothing more than to be as far away from work as possible. When he did show up, he was short in knowledge and even more inept in the skill of sharing it. Had it not been for my independent nature and that of some of my classmates, no one with that degree would have found employment. Those who succeeded made their own way, but those who required more attention from a teacher, failed miserably. And that is truly the face of tenure, students left to fend mostly for themselves because lazy teachers no longer care to run the race. They're left holding the bill for an education they did not receive.
Unions, tenure, and social programs have destroyed the pride of work. People do only what is required for employment security or government money and nothing more. I saw this behavior first hand; I was a victim of it. The professor is still employed and likely still as abysmal as before. With the price of education soaring, he's wasting even more hard-earned money. No one wants to fight the hard fight to remedy the situation. We must not allow these abuses to continue. We must take a larger role in the education of those who will hold the future and find the lacking accountable. Those who no longer wish to do their jobs and those who don't have the skill to begin with must be dismissed. Teachers light a path in the darkness, but those who care not to ignite their lamps risk losing their followers in the chasm of confusion. If they teach only failure, the students will learn only failure. We must expect excellence in education and we must not stop until we get it.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Happy Birthday Adam!
This post is to wish Adam Baldwin a wonderful birthday. Thank you sir for sharing your amazing acting talent and perhaps more importantly, for sharing your intelligence with us. I salute you!
Jayne: Big Damn Hero
original digital painting by x_1013_x
original digital painting by x_1013_x
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The Man in Black: An Essay on the Anti-Hero
“What's right isn't always popular. What's popular isn't always right.” –Howard Cosell
They’re cold; their deep stares distant. Their methods, actions, and morals enrage because they confound. They exemplify defiance of explanation. Standing tall against a stark sky is the anti-hero, their shadow threatening the pure-hearted hero in all of us. What is it about this person that chills us and puts us on the defensive? Could it be perhaps, they are us, the us we are when no one is looking? Maybe our resentment of the anti-hero isn’t due to them at all, but to our fear and rejection of ourselves.
The human race has never been without critics. There have always been those who judge the actions of others through self-centered glasses. That unjust prejudice has been the catalyst behind our change from honest creatures into loping drones of superficiality. Moral majority has morphed into media majority, what’s good for ratings, is good for the world. Character is based solely on roaring crowds and box-office revenues. If one person’s opinion differs at all from that of the attention-span deficient public, they are deemed wrong and inherently evil. In a world that has tossed aside the basic principles of humanity, those of us who follow outdated “golden rules” are transformed into punching bags. Abnormal is normal, good is evil…and evil is?
Enter the anti-hero atop his arrow-wounded steed. He stands as a testament to unpopular beliefs, those of patriotism, decency, and doing right, no matter how hard. The anti-hero knows in order to arrive at the right conclusion the process may sometimes be unsavory. They have seen the carnage of war, felt the pain of loss, but know war and loss are not without their merits. They learn from mistakes and recognize mistakes are essential to progress. Nothing good is born good; nothing created by man can be done without missteps, for man is not divine.
The anti-hero doesn’t accept things at face value. They’ve been around and know full well peaceful facades can hide many dangers. They believe little of what they read and nothing of what they hear. Instinct and a finely tuned moral compass guide them. They are aloof and contemplative. And that opacity threatens, causing some to condemn them as calculating and cruel. When deeds and decisiveness dictate a person’s path, their intentions are clear, but a public so accustomed to ambiguity has no ability to grasp the clarity. The decisive person becomes brash and uncaring while society darlings flourish in their failure to make a decision at all.
So what does the anti-hero say about us? At first, we are impressed with their bravado, enamored with them perhaps. They laugh in the face of popular convention, thumb their noses at the norm, but in this world, the norm is anything but normal. Hence, the anti-hero is the true hero. Those of us who resent them don’t resent the person per-se, but the principle. If they are brave enough to stand up for what’s right in a world that seems to only value the opposite of right, if they risk reputation, life, and limb when we cannot, what we resent is our own cowardice.
Fairy tales and bedtime stories teach us heroism needs no explanation. The man in white saves the day not because his reasons are genuine or fair, but because he is “good,” the opposite of bad. The black hat will fall because they oppose the “good,” not because they necessarily deserve failure or their rationale is weak. We have grown from disillusioned children into cynical adults, conditioned to see only what is revealed to us. We read only one version of a story and are satisfied. All the while, that little nagging feeling troubles us. This is the feeling there is more to know, more to comprehend. And before we can succumb to our curiosity, we are bombarded again by the mainstream conventions that keep us from free thought in the first place.
If anti-heroes are the true champions of the world, what does that make of the so-called “good guy” heroes? As mentioned before, the term “good” is implied most often because someone is fundamentally opposite of “bad.” On the surface, they stand opposed to what we see as wrong. If someone is against murder, which is expected, they are good. If someone professes to be against the mistreatment of the poor, they are good. Sounds fair, but the logic is flawed. A belief or statement alone does not make someone good or evil. The devil is in the details and the true nature in the deeds.
The anti-hero falls into the watchful gaze of the critic far more than any other figure. Their reasons are questioned with fervent tenacity, though around them, the so-called heroes and villains stand unexamined. Oddly enough, society finds it much easier to victimize evil than to vilify the good. But what really astounds is most people’s inability to see good in the anti-hero. Their methods go down as the methods of madmen, their actions, no matter the outcome, emphasized as cruel. There are no excuses, no pity, for the people who make the decisions no one else is willing to make.
During World War II, one man held the loyalty of scores of people, military and otherwise. He inspired many with his words and passion. Another man was scorned for his nature, considered brash, rude, and dangerous. This man was even ridiculed and sanctioned by his own countrymen.
As history shows us, one of those men, the one who inspired such a following, would be responsible for mass genocide. The other would lead the allies in large strides to defeat the enemy and save lives. Adolf Hitler is regarded today as a villain, a man with a black soul on a crusade born of unadulterated hatred. But in his day he was thought by millions to be a visionary and harbinger of hope. The other man, General George S. Patton was an anti-hero. He was a soldier with true grit who never backed down from a fight, a man with unending patriotism. But his methods, his means to an end, have transformed him into someone ridiculed almost as much as the evil he relentlessly battled.
Now, more than ever, we are faced with tough decisions. To follow the crowd is more seductive than it has ever been. Opposing the ideas of “political correctness” and revisionist history can cause intense verbal onslaughts, get someone fired, blacklisted, and even physically attacked. Peace-mongers hurl firebrands along the paths of soldier’s funerals. The sons and daughters of the “free love” generation place as much value on the life of unborn babies as they do on a vermin pest.
Years of indoctrination have taught us to disregard what we don’t want to face. We address problems by skirting them. We respond only to rewards. Like a dog at the sound of a bell, we are controlled by our need to satisfy ourselves. The supposed issues that flood our senses are best served only when someone sees us doing our part. We brag on ourselves, trumpeting our actions on the Internet and pasting stickers on the bumpers of our cars. We trample each other in order to be the biggest hero.
Now is the time to take a good look at those around you and a long look in the mirror too. What have you done today and more importantly, why did you do what you did? The people who inspire you, the people you idolize, what do they teach you and who are they, really?
“Good guys” rise and fall, villains obfuscate and tantalize, but the world continues to turn. The anti-hero will always be working in the background, fighting the fight that changes the world, not just trying to put a band-aid on an 8-inch gash. Remember, doing what is right doesn’t always garner great rewards. Right and wrong are so much more than black and white. To know real evil, you have to know what it takes to be good, and good isn’t always easy. In the words of Johnny Cash, “I'd love to wear a rainbow every day, and tell the world that everything's okay, but I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back, 'till things are brighter, I'm the man in black.”
Friday, February 19, 2010
Unions: Expired Twinkies
I hate smug people; I hate smug things even more. Toyotas are smug vehicles. They have average-looking bodies with middle-of-the-road drivetrains and they cater to nose-in-the-air people who just want to be part of the cool crowd. If attitude is any indication, Toyota is the Apple of automobiles. These cars probably won't be classics, not in the sense of a '57 Chevy or a '32 Ford, but they will do just fine for driving the kids to school or going on road trips. As someone who knows a few things about the auto, I never understood why Toyota seemed so smug or why the people who owned one were smug too. Needless to say, I grew to dislike Toyota quite a bit.
When the government acquired GM by rights of a generous and ill-conceived bailout, my lifelong love of cars was tested. I had always been a GM girl. Fords were 'Found On the Road Dead' and Chrysler, can anyone say K-car? My family had Chevys, Buicks, and Cadillacs. The later was my all-time favorite. I had entertained dreams as a child of working in Cadillac's promotional department, cranking out advertisements that featured their powerful, elegant coaches. Those dreams were shattered by the reality that GM would probably never be truly great again. My deepening understanding of business practices and my growing distaste with the government led me to think more broadly about automobiles and the industry as a whole. I realized what had been holding American car companies back for so long, what had led them to their demise like sheep to the slaughter: unions.
Unions came to be the way a lot of things do: they were needed. Workers were being abused. They were overworked and underpaid. Long since, regulations and laws have been set in place to stop employee abuse, but at the time, the only way to ensure the rights of the workers was to organize and turn the tables on the employer. This method was successful, but was not without its dark side. As the years went on and unions continued to gain power, corruption crept in. Backroom deals were made, the overwhelming sense of entitlement soared, and quality of labor suffered. When people were allowed to believe the most minimal amount of work was enough for payment, they stopped trying. No one made an effort to excel. The workforce that had once dreamed of advancing to management, became complacent to stay working class, as long as the union secured their jobs.
GM, Chrysler, and Ford, the American 'big three,' all had union workforces. When times were tough, management tried different ways of making things better. It seemed, no matter what they tried, the unions opposed. For whatever grounds they cited, they never once admitted that they may actually be the problem. They demanded astronomical pay for small amounts of work. They made it impossible for people to shift their position by restricting who could do what job and how long they could do it. All jobs were specialized, compartmentalized, and subsequently doomed if the employees weren't there to do them. There was no way to replace someone unless management begged the union. And as for taking pay cuts? Never. If anything, they wanted more. These people, some of which had only meager high-school educations, were bound and determined to get their way, even if it meant their source of employment would go belly-up in a few years. Unions are short-sighted at best.
And all the while, as the big three struggled, Toyota and its other foreign counterparts were doing just fine. Their sales were up and consistent, their companies growing. I could never figure out why. Their cars weren't anything special. But then it clicked: Toyota does not employ union labor. They employ people the old-fashioned way. You do the job, you do it well, you keep the job and get paid. If you don't do your job, you're gone. There's no boss to push the company around. No strikes to threaten. No one is going to step in and claim the job is your right as a bipedal humanoid and nothing else. The skill and drive is what they pay you for. I had never looked kindly on Toyota, but knowing this made me see them in a different way.
Though I had this new-found respect, I couldn't help but smile when I learned the news of the Toyota recalls. Something about their haughty infallibility being tested made me happy. But I knew recalls were normal things. They happened all the time to all kinds of companies. Most didn't even make the news. My joy was shallow, I know, and it was short-lived. I cringed as the transportation secretary suggested people stop driving the cars involved in the recall, something that sent Toyota into a frantic tailspin. Confidence began to fall and the government was to blame. Something clicked in my head, sparked by months of news about union deals with the government. Ray LaHood's statement wasn't an accident, quite the contrary. Under-the-table money was in play here. The unions were going to have their revenge on Toyota and those like them. The government is behaving a lot like the leadership in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!" They are teaming with the ultimate army of wealth spreaders to try and take down a capitalist giant.
These are truly the times that try men's souls. We will be given a choice, a choice far more difficult than what car to buy. The automobile, this symbol of ingenuity and prosperity, is now a shining star of evidence, a spotlight on things to come. We must have the courage and strength to choose the right future. Toyota may not have the style of a '67 Shelby GT, the rumble of a Willys hot rod, or the glide of Auburn boattail, but it is a vision of how that stellar past can come to be again. An industry without the threatening and greedy underbelly of union labor is the only kind that will prosper now. Unions must be abolished, shown for what they truly are; an expired product for a different time. Believe it or not, some things thought to never expire really do eventually. Given the years, even a smug Twinkie will become inedible. And we all know what happens when we eat something that's gone bad.
When the government acquired GM by rights of a generous and ill-conceived bailout, my lifelong love of cars was tested. I had always been a GM girl. Fords were 'Found On the Road Dead' and Chrysler, can anyone say K-car? My family had Chevys, Buicks, and Cadillacs. The later was my all-time favorite. I had entertained dreams as a child of working in Cadillac's promotional department, cranking out advertisements that featured their powerful, elegant coaches. Those dreams were shattered by the reality that GM would probably never be truly great again. My deepening understanding of business practices and my growing distaste with the government led me to think more broadly about automobiles and the industry as a whole. I realized what had been holding American car companies back for so long, what had led them to their demise like sheep to the slaughter: unions.
Unions came to be the way a lot of things do: they were needed. Workers were being abused. They were overworked and underpaid. Long since, regulations and laws have been set in place to stop employee abuse, but at the time, the only way to ensure the rights of the workers was to organize and turn the tables on the employer. This method was successful, but was not without its dark side. As the years went on and unions continued to gain power, corruption crept in. Backroom deals were made, the overwhelming sense of entitlement soared, and quality of labor suffered. When people were allowed to believe the most minimal amount of work was enough for payment, they stopped trying. No one made an effort to excel. The workforce that had once dreamed of advancing to management, became complacent to stay working class, as long as the union secured their jobs.
GM, Chrysler, and Ford, the American 'big three,' all had union workforces. When times were tough, management tried different ways of making things better. It seemed, no matter what they tried, the unions opposed. For whatever grounds they cited, they never once admitted that they may actually be the problem. They demanded astronomical pay for small amounts of work. They made it impossible for people to shift their position by restricting who could do what job and how long they could do it. All jobs were specialized, compartmentalized, and subsequently doomed if the employees weren't there to do them. There was no way to replace someone unless management begged the union. And as for taking pay cuts? Never. If anything, they wanted more. These people, some of which had only meager high-school educations, were bound and determined to get their way, even if it meant their source of employment would go belly-up in a few years. Unions are short-sighted at best.
And all the while, as the big three struggled, Toyota and its other foreign counterparts were doing just fine. Their sales were up and consistent, their companies growing. I could never figure out why. Their cars weren't anything special. But then it clicked: Toyota does not employ union labor. They employ people the old-fashioned way. You do the job, you do it well, you keep the job and get paid. If you don't do your job, you're gone. There's no boss to push the company around. No strikes to threaten. No one is going to step in and claim the job is your right as a bipedal humanoid and nothing else. The skill and drive is what they pay you for. I had never looked kindly on Toyota, but knowing this made me see them in a different way.
Though I had this new-found respect, I couldn't help but smile when I learned the news of the Toyota recalls. Something about their haughty infallibility being tested made me happy. But I knew recalls were normal things. They happened all the time to all kinds of companies. Most didn't even make the news. My joy was shallow, I know, and it was short-lived. I cringed as the transportation secretary suggested people stop driving the cars involved in the recall, something that sent Toyota into a frantic tailspin. Confidence began to fall and the government was to blame. Something clicked in my head, sparked by months of news about union deals with the government. Ray LaHood's statement wasn't an accident, quite the contrary. Under-the-table money was in play here. The unions were going to have their revenge on Toyota and those like them. The government is behaving a lot like the leadership in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!" They are teaming with the ultimate army of wealth spreaders to try and take down a capitalist giant.
These are truly the times that try men's souls. We will be given a choice, a choice far more difficult than what car to buy. The automobile, this symbol of ingenuity and prosperity, is now a shining star of evidence, a spotlight on things to come. We must have the courage and strength to choose the right future. Toyota may not have the style of a '67 Shelby GT, the rumble of a Willys hot rod, or the glide of Auburn boattail, but it is a vision of how that stellar past can come to be again. An industry without the threatening and greedy underbelly of union labor is the only kind that will prosper now. Unions must be abolished, shown for what they truly are; an expired product for a different time. Believe it or not, some things thought to never expire really do eventually. Given the years, even a smug Twinkie will become inedible. And we all know what happens when we eat something that's gone bad.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Miracles Wrapped in Chemicals: The Irrelevance of Race
There are a number of things that hinder us from living up to our potential. Race should never be one of those roadblocks. Take a look at the 2010 Winter Olympics for an example of why race isn’t important. If you can ski or skate like nobody’s business, you can have purple skin and hail from Venus. We’ve all heard, it's not what's on the outside that counts. Some of us believe it, live by it, but a great number of us toss the adage aside like yesterday’s Twitter trend. Why? Because in spite of our parents’ best intentions, the world wants us to think the exact opposite: the outside is what's important.
Aside from the aforementioned athletics, there are few things in this world untouched by that stupid mantra. Only in the realm of competition can we truly see how things should be. What you look like is only a small part of who you are. In the long run, it’s the uniqueness of our character that makes us or breaks us. Lately, the jibe of choice, especially on the political left, is to call someone racist for just about everything. If you think the country should return to its roots as delineated by the Constitution, you’re racist. If you think someone should get a job or some other accolade because of skill or measurable accomplishment, you’re racist. If you disagree with leadership based on performance, strategy, or decision-making, you’re racist. Get the idea? What good does it do to cry racism in a world that needs nothing more than to rise above that pettiness?
Stereotyping is the most prevalent source of that pettiness. Those who cry racism at the drop of a hat are guilty of stereotyping themselves and those around them. Instead of agreeing we are all part of the human race, we’ve given in to the groupthink that our skin dictates everything. We use it as carte blanche to behave a certain way or as an excuse for failure. We use it as a weapon against those who would hold us accountable for what we do and how we live. It’s a ‘devil made me do it’ situation where people are allowed to do whatever their heart desires with no consequences. If you are ever called out on your actions, all you have to do is claim racism. After all, everyone else is doing it.
Social justice, political correctness, and multiculturalism have turned us into irresponsible, categorized blobs. Instead of using ingenuity, morality, and elbow grease to get ahead, we use race, gender, and religion because those tiny ingredients in our personal recipe are the manipulative, easy way to what we want. We’re the mice in the maze, conditioned to take the simple way out, even though a more satisfying piece of cheese waits at the end of the tougher road. Our world reflects that laziness. Societies are crumbling because of a lack of courage and initiative to do what's right, even if what's right isn't easy. People are submitting themselves to all sorts of things for the sake of misplaced racial guilt. Truths are hidden because of fears that said truths may offend one group or another. We stand by helpless to defend someone from religion- or race-specific abuse because we’re not allowed to disagree. Talent is squelched, futures crushed, all due to cowardice and the inability to look past the crust of things. In the end, all that matters is what’s inside the person. Nature, nurture, and history are important, but they’re not everything. The sad fact is, instead of saying something is a mere part of an individual, the individual has become that something.
When I was a child, I saw no reason for discrimination of any kind. I didn’t care what someone looked like. I struggle with that skill as an adult, mainly because people judge me for what I look like, but I maintain the ability nonetheless. If we allow ourselves to continue on this path of deconstructive segregation, we will face certain destruction. Our individual strength of character is the only way to survive. A world that operates on the same principles as an Olympiad (human equality, respect, and skill) would be nice, but that scenario is doubtful. We may never come to see each other as anything but the covers of books, but take it from me, a book designer, if every book was simply an amalgamation of its cover elements, no one would care to read them.
What we need today is leadership at all levels that understands people are not just categories. We aren’t easily grouped or tagged. Our leadership has gotten us into this mess by insisting we be more socially accepting of things that are unacceptable and teaching our children a debilitating fear of being individuals. We must accept our individuality and potential, not as groups first, but as single human beings. And we must refuse to be categorized by trivial things. Let us do what these amazing athletes have done; reach inside ourselves and find what makes us unique. Remember what Oscar Wilde said: "A man who does not think for himself does not think at all." When we decide to be true to who we are on the inside, we will see that the human race is the only race that matters.
Aside from the aforementioned athletics, there are few things in this world untouched by that stupid mantra. Only in the realm of competition can we truly see how things should be. What you look like is only a small part of who you are. In the long run, it’s the uniqueness of our character that makes us or breaks us. Lately, the jibe of choice, especially on the political left, is to call someone racist for just about everything. If you think the country should return to its roots as delineated by the Constitution, you’re racist. If you think someone should get a job or some other accolade because of skill or measurable accomplishment, you’re racist. If you disagree with leadership based on performance, strategy, or decision-making, you’re racist. Get the idea? What good does it do to cry racism in a world that needs nothing more than to rise above that pettiness?
Stereotyping is the most prevalent source of that pettiness. Those who cry racism at the drop of a hat are guilty of stereotyping themselves and those around them. Instead of agreeing we are all part of the human race, we’ve given in to the groupthink that our skin dictates everything. We use it as carte blanche to behave a certain way or as an excuse for failure. We use it as a weapon against those who would hold us accountable for what we do and how we live. It’s a ‘devil made me do it’ situation where people are allowed to do whatever their heart desires with no consequences. If you are ever called out on your actions, all you have to do is claim racism. After all, everyone else is doing it.
Social justice, political correctness, and multiculturalism have turned us into irresponsible, categorized blobs. Instead of using ingenuity, morality, and elbow grease to get ahead, we use race, gender, and religion because those tiny ingredients in our personal recipe are the manipulative, easy way to what we want. We’re the mice in the maze, conditioned to take the simple way out, even though a more satisfying piece of cheese waits at the end of the tougher road. Our world reflects that laziness. Societies are crumbling because of a lack of courage and initiative to do what's right, even if what's right isn't easy. People are submitting themselves to all sorts of things for the sake of misplaced racial guilt. Truths are hidden because of fears that said truths may offend one group or another. We stand by helpless to defend someone from religion- or race-specific abuse because we’re not allowed to disagree. Talent is squelched, futures crushed, all due to cowardice and the inability to look past the crust of things. In the end, all that matters is what’s inside the person. Nature, nurture, and history are important, but they’re not everything. The sad fact is, instead of saying something is a mere part of an individual, the individual has become that something.
When I was a child, I saw no reason for discrimination of any kind. I didn’t care what someone looked like. I struggle with that skill as an adult, mainly because people judge me for what I look like, but I maintain the ability nonetheless. If we allow ourselves to continue on this path of deconstructive segregation, we will face certain destruction. Our individual strength of character is the only way to survive. A world that operates on the same principles as an Olympiad (human equality, respect, and skill) would be nice, but that scenario is doubtful. We may never come to see each other as anything but the covers of books, but take it from me, a book designer, if every book was simply an amalgamation of its cover elements, no one would care to read them.
What we need today is leadership at all levels that understands people are not just categories. We aren’t easily grouped or tagged. Our leadership has gotten us into this mess by insisting we be more socially accepting of things that are unacceptable and teaching our children a debilitating fear of being individuals. We must accept our individuality and potential, not as groups first, but as single human beings. And we must refuse to be categorized by trivial things. Let us do what these amazing athletes have done; reach inside ourselves and find what makes us unique. Remember what Oscar Wilde said: "A man who does not think for himself does not think at all." When we decide to be true to who we are on the inside, we will see that the human race is the only race that matters.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Spinning on a Human Axis: Global Warming Ego-Worship
I have one word to describe climate-change fanatics: selfish. I bet you thought I was going to say stupid. Fooled you! Not that I don’t believe the fanatics to be a bit on the irrational side, its just that I believe their self-love is stronger. What does climate change or global warming have to do with egotism? Everything.
The earth isn’t a spring chicken. This rock has been spinning for millennia. Since the beginning of time as we understand it, hundreds of species have been eradicated, earthquakes have trembled, volcanoes have blown, snows have fallen and melted, water has dried up and returned. That is the cycle of things. And through it all, the earth has continued to orbit the sun in serene silence. In the later 20th century, people really began to question why the weather seemed different. Instead of looking to the past for proof of ‘natural weather patterns’ they looked to themselves, something they seemed to know all to well. An epiphany rested on their daisy-crowned hippie heads and they said, “it’s our fault!” Somehow, a tornado in Kansas, a rainstorm in Thailand, or a weak ski season in Switzerland was all the fault of humans. As the mania progressed, people began to think that the tiny act of recycling a soda can was going to stop a polar bear from drowning in the melting snow caps. Flower-child philosophy had turned into a religion.
So what’s the harm in stewardship? There isn’t harm in stewardship, none at all. The problem is when you believe humans are to blame for something they can’t possibly be responsible for and subsequently the only beings who can stop it. The earth does things that has absolutely nothing to do with humans. Did humans sit the earth on an axis? Are they the ones who force it to orbit? Those questions are obviously ridiculous, but just how off-base are they considering we ask questions like: “Is the exhaust from my car killing a species of tree-dwelling frog in Brazil?”
The proverb reads: “He who knows not and knows not he knows not: he is a fool - shun him. He who knows not and knows he knows not: he is simple - teach him. He who knows and knows not he knows: he is asleep - wake him. He who knows and knows he knows: he is wise - follow him.” The climate changers know not of science, not really. They think they have all of science on their side. But in science, there are only definitive absolutes. Either water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom or it isn’t. That fact has been proven, so water is H2O. For something to be scientific fact, it has to be proven absolutely.
Years of climate study has done nothing to disprove global warming, but the fact the warm-mongers refuse to accept is that this study has done nothing to prove it either. There is no ‘consensus’ among scientists that global warming is a fact. The notion of scientific consensus is completely against the principles of science to begin with. Merriam-Webster defines ‘consensus’ as 1 a : general agreement : unanimity b : the judgment arrived at by most of those concerned 2 : group solidarity in sentiment and belief. If you apply that definition to science, you come away with an oxymoron: absolutely factual opinion.
To wage a world-wide crusade fueled only by opinion, that can be one of two things: religion or greed. In this case, I think its both. The reason the global warming nuts are selfish is because they believe they have the godly power to change something they can't even comprehend. Their cause has become a worship of the human god in a guise of respect for the environment. They have so little regard for who they really are, so little self-esteem, they compensate by becoming superheroes in their own mind. Every step further into the self-righteous murk they take adds greedy flame to their fire. They support ridiculous legislation built around carbon footprints and credits. They scoff at traditional methods of conservation and stewardship in favor of their own 'human centric' versions. They want so badly to feel their life has an impact that they will impact everyone around them just to pat themselves on the back. That is precisely why I find them selfish. They toss aside all the evidence to the contrary because they have somehow begun to see this global warming belief as a measure of their own worth.
Taking care of the environment is a good thing, science, as well as common sense, will back that up. But being the earth's savior by imparting damage on your fellow humans, that's just silly. Little things can make an impact, but environmentalism, just like anything else, has to be kept in perspective. So 'he who knows not and knows not he knows not,' can continue to insist owning a dog causes as much of a carbon footprint as driving an SUV. They can live in a house powered by solar panels in an area that gets sun maybe 130 or so days a year. Let them eat organic food that costs more for farmers to produce, more for grocers to supply, and more for the consumer to buy. I've done my research, I've seen the science, and until every scientist on the planet says "put down that regular light bulb and step away from the lamp" I'm going to worship God, love my dog, and drive my truck. Besides, why would I want to put my faith in humans, they make too many errors in judgment.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
The Faith of General Washinton
We got a lot of snow this week. The temperature was blistering cold, the wind like tiny needles on the skin. I was reminded of a poem I wrote last year. At the time, I was watching the country I loved so dearly circle the drain. Reaching out for some kind of hope, I grasped onto the image of George Washington praying at Valley Forge. There's no definitive proof he did such a thing, but belief without proof, that's faith. I believe in the strength of the American people. I believe we can make it through anything because, frankly, we've made it through before.The Faith of General Washington
copyright 2009, x_1013_x
Through fearful passing of day and night
The winter snows and icy death
A weary army prepared to fight
For the fire of freedom’s breath.
At Long Island, they’d fallen hard,
A defeat at Brandywine,
Germantown had left them scarred,
But White Marsh held the line.
The season’s change delayed the war,
With rain and biting wind,
They huddled on the valley floor,
As food and spirit thinned.
His men were hungry, tired, and ill,
Their fortitude was weak,
He woke each day with hope and still,
The coming spring looked bleak.
Riding slowly through the slush,
The chill breeze burned his face,
A clearing shone beyond the brush,
It seemed a peaceful place.
He stopped his horse in virgin snow,
Removed his hat and sword
Knees on the ground, his head bent low,
He addressed his saving Lord.
“Bring me will, but spare me pride,
Make my spirit strong.”
“Give Your peace to those who died,
So we could fight this long.”
“Show Your path, so I may lead,
The souls who trust Your hand,
To stay the flows when they bleed,
And guide them when they stand.”
“Grant us Your mercy, ease our fear,
Warm us with the sun,
Bring our ultimate victory near,
With every battle won.”
Hear the cries of Your servants bold,
See us to the dawn of day.
Through sleepless nights, dark and cold.
In your name, I pray.”
On his feet, he scanned the sky,
His eyes on the Valley camp.
As gentle snowflakes began to fly,
A watchman lit a lamp.
At first, in the fog, the light was lame,
but as others blazed, it grew.
From a tiny spark to a roaring flame,
The light of the faithful true.
The army served him in battle’s ring
To revolution’s drum,
And he trusted hope to a heavenly king,
For a freedom yet to come.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Healthcare Puppies
Americans are children. There, I said it. We want everything, we want it yesterday, and we never pay any mind to what may happen if we get it.
The whole situation puts me in mind of a whiny child wanting a puppy. Everyone else has one! In that case, sure, you can have a puppy. But that puppy comes with consequences. You have to feed it, bathe it, walk it, and pick up its crap. But what little kid really wants to do those things? That’s no fun. No matter how much the kid is told about these ‘consequences’ beforehand they just don’t seem to truly understand them until the little fuzz monster shows up and shreds their favorite teddy bear. Reality bites, literally. You want government health care? You think it’s going to be free! So here you go, your very own federal health plan… with consequences. In a few months, you get sick, really sick. You’re miserable and stuck in a line for hours to see a poorly funded and poorly qualified physician. On top of that, the treatment you need just isn’t available to you. It was needed for someone sicker a few towns over and surprise, Big Brother government doesn't have enough of other people's money to supply everything for every medical facility. Too bad. How’s that puppy looking now?
As for health care being free; that’s a load of daschund doo. You may be able to ride your free health care for a while, but when all the companies and ‘rich people’ taxpayers are tapped out, they’re coming for you. Depending on your circumstances, the good old government is going to start docking your welfare check or maybe even stop giving you one all together. Maybe they’ll place a heavier tax on that minimum wage check you get from Burger King. You may still be able to stand in a socialized medicine line for free, but you won’t have any money for bus fare to get there.
And still they wail, the malcontent children who are unwilling to learn you can't always get what you want. What about all the sick people who can’t get insurance from the mean old capitalists? I’ll tell you, but you may not like it. The reason so many people can’t afford health care or are turned down: no industry competition and soaring costs of medical lawsuits. Competition is healthy. Competition is the reason our country was good in the first place. Businesses were able to compete with one another for the consumer’s dollar. Innovations were made thanks to competition. As it stands, insurance companies don’t have that competition to help drive prices down. They aren’t allowed to sell across state lines; something that, if changed, would boost competition. The resulting price wars would be nothing but good for the consumer. Personally, I prefer lots of choices to only a few, but hey, that’s just me.
What happens when you spend tons of your capital paying off frivolous lawsuits? Think about it like this: You don’t deal with stress very well. You come home from work in a sour mood. Your husband/wife, children, pet does something that irritates your already sore disposition. What do you do? You pass your frustration off on them. This ‘blowing off of steam’ is your way of surviving. It’s not good for you and it’s not good for the final recipient of your anger, but it may keep you from having a heart attack or stroke. When insurers are forced to pay out large sums in medical lawsuits, they have no other way of surviving than to pass that cost onto the customers. It’s not evil or a symptom of the capitalist plague, it’s just the way businesses stay alive. If there was a way to deal with your workday stress directly, you could save yourself and your loved ones a lot of heartache. See how that works? TORT reform could take a lot of financial stress off the insurance companies and consequently, off the customers. Did I mention that health care costs themselves could go down too? If doctors weren’t forced by their paranoid insurers to do unnecessary tests, the costs would be much lower. TORT reform is a win-win for everyone… except, of course, the ambulance-chasing lawyers. But they’re really evil, so they don’t get a say.
There you have it, the explanation of why health care is not something you can get just by crying. Children aren’t allowed to get puppies just because they’re children, and though America may be a prosperous nation (at least it was) that fact alone does not guarantee its citizens everything they could ever want… for free. Everything has a cost, even freedom. And that ‘pursuit of happiness’ thing, well that doesn’t mean you sit on the sidelines while someone else runs the pursuit for you. So stop whining and curb your dog already.
Welcome all!
Some things you should know: I’m a conservative, an evil, evil conservative. I believe in capitalism and hard work. I believe in allowing people to make their own path in life without being babied by the government.
I’m a happily married Christian woman. My faith is important to me, but I’m not a Bible-thumper. When things get the best of me, I can have a sailor’s mouth, but that doesn’t begin to paint an accurate picture of who I am. Judge not lest ye be judged, nuff said.
By profession, I am a graphic designer, but I do all kinds of artsy things. I like to cook, bake specifically. I sew, play the violin, piano, and trombone (not all at once), and I love cars. Above all, I’m full of opinions. My opinions are harsh from time to time, but at least for the moment, I have the right to express them. Keep that in mind as we embark on this blog adventure.
The name for this blog comes partially from my love for X-Files. Proverbs 25:2 states: “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.” That passage factored heavily into the plot of X-Files: I Want to Believe. I too want to believe. I want to believe the truths in life can set us all free of our oppressions. I’m prepared to search for the truth. Are you?
I’m a happily married Christian woman. My faith is important to me, but I’m not a Bible-thumper. When things get the best of me, I can have a sailor’s mouth, but that doesn’t begin to paint an accurate picture of who I am. Judge not lest ye be judged, nuff said.
By profession, I am a graphic designer, but I do all kinds of artsy things. I like to cook, bake specifically. I sew, play the violin, piano, and trombone (not all at once), and I love cars. Above all, I’m full of opinions. My opinions are harsh from time to time, but at least for the moment, I have the right to express them. Keep that in mind as we embark on this blog adventure.
The name for this blog comes partially from my love for X-Files. Proverbs 25:2 states: “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.” That passage factored heavily into the plot of X-Files: I Want to Believe. I too want to believe. I want to believe the truths in life can set us all free of our oppressions. I’m prepared to search for the truth. Are you?
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