Christmas is quickly coming upon us — at least those of us who celebrate the holiday. True believers, and by that I do not necessarily mean believers in Truth, will have us know that this is the time when we celebrate the birth of their favorite martyr, Jesus Christ. They will tell you that the focus of this holiday is meant to be upon the deeds and messages of the Christ, and they will occasionally complain about the commercialized nature of the holiday. On that last point, I agree with them wholeheartedly. Too many people seem to believe that Christmas is about celebrating excess consumerism, branded marketing and petty indulgences. Yet the real meaning of the holiday isn’t exactly either of those extremes.
Continue reading The True Meaning of Christmas, or Don’t Let Religion Ruin the Holidays
Category Archives: Politics
When Being Unfortunate is Good Fortune
People talk about luck all the time. Good luck that this happened, bad luck that that happened. It is spoken of as if “luck” is an actual thing, with a consciousness or purpose. Yet, rationally, we should all understand that luck does not exist. There is “chance.” There are “odds.” But there is no such thing as luck outside of an emotional response to fortune (or lack of it). That is to say, one might feel fortunate if, for instance, one were to be diagnosed with a chronic disease early enough to do something to stem the tide, or live in a country where the survival rates are generally above 50 percent and increasing rather than decreasing.
Of course, there are those who would be in a wealthy country with cutting edge healthcare and an early diagnosis who would still only see their personal misfortune with such a diagnosis. But this isn’t about those pathetically myopic individuals, this is about the reason we should be glad we don’t live in India. And if you happen to be reading this from within the borders of India, my apologies, but hopefully you are a politically motivated activist with the means to make your voice heard.
Continue reading When Being Unfortunate is Good Fortune
Cheap Wisdom: Not Worth Anything.
I love Yogi tea, and that can be an actual endorsement. It is good tea. But their little tags with “wise” little quotes can be ludicrous. Take the one I encountered this morning: “True understanding can only be found through compassion.” Really? So you can only encounter something by first engaging with itself? Or what? When you
realize that compassion MEANS the attempt to understand, not only does it become clear that the quote lacks any substance whatsoever, but that it is also backwards. And this is indicative of cheap wisdom, the intent of which is never to actually encourage thought, but rather to encourage passive acceptance. It becomes insidious when applied toward broader social aims, and is a tactic routinely used in politics as well as commercial advertising. Continue reading Cheap Wisdom: Not Worth Anything.
Delays Are Bad For Everybody
By now everyone who is not a complete media hermit knows about the tragic events of yesterday at Sandy Hook. When it takes the murder of 20 elementary school children for politicians to declare that now is the time to work on serious gun control laws, it is a sad statement indeed. The truth is, the time to start would have been any time before this. Now is already too little, too late.
Postponing the opportunity to do the right thing is an unfortunate part of business as usual in Washington DC. Delays of important changes are the norm in all aspects of politics, because money is inevitably involved. And sometimes the delays are just plain due to basic human evils of greed or power. But it does not take much to see that inaction is not merely wrong, but is itself a willful action of its own to maintain an outmoded status quo.
The issues of the Sandy Hook massacre do not end with gun control. This is a mental health issue as well, one which should equally invigorate the push for greater universal access and improved social services, which have for decades been fought against and delayed, delayed, delayed.
This is not a mere issue of procrastination, which is bad enough. But extrapolating the wisdom of “not putting off until tomorrow what you can do today” brings this down to the personal level and hopefully will make everyone realize that there is no escaping our collective culpability. We all had a hand in the death of those children by our very lack of action. Look in the mirror and realize this: if you have not made your voice heard and taken action to prevent this sort of thing, then your lack of action is part of the reason those children are dead. Putting off calling your congressman is a deliberate force in making these things likely to happen again. Not voting against politicians who fail to actively fight to bar automatic weapons or expand social programs is an actionable offense that you are culpable for.
These are black and white issues. We all have levels of guilt here. Do not delay on making things right until tomorrow.
Email is ruinous
The United States Postal Service is a national treasure. A beacon of efficiency, the USPS has historically been the best and least expensive way to send correspondence or small packages. Now, however, it is being threatened with huge cuts. Some in the government have questioned its relevance in the 21st Century. But our postal system may actually be more relevant now than ever before.
The Art of Communication has faltered in the age of email and Twitter. People have gotten lazier and lazier in the name of character efficiency to the point where a limited number of characters has drained the character right out of typical tweets. Continue reading Email is ruinous
Panic: Very Unhealthy
Fear mongering, as you should know by now, is one of the top ways that people or corporations get you to buy. This is true politically as well as economically, so it is always worth reminding ourselves that panic is a reaction that circumvents intellect. Sometimes it is certainly warranted, but (hopefully) not often. So, when being approached with an idea or a product that is presented from a fear-based perspective, always think twice and look closely.
Here is an interesting example that I came across online: Survival Joe’s Newsletter. It even comes with one of those handy newfangled barcode links for those of you who have a free smartphone in your hand as you read this.
Apathy is Supremely Bad. For Everyone.
Invisible Children | Kony2012.
If you are not aware of who Joseph Kony is, you should be. He is the embodiment of evil in a part of the world that is too often ignored by the rest of us and the fact that he has been allowed to carry on his reign of terror for well over 20 years is a testament to the power of apathy. Continue reading Apathy is Supremely Bad. For Everyone.
Science-Light, or Sciency Sounding Sound Bytes – Not Only Bad, But Stupid
This article brought up some thoughts about people choosing to either be dumb or promote ignorance in the name of greed:
In Heartland Institute Leak, a Plan to Discredit Climate Teaching – NYTimes.com.
The part that made me angry, actually, isn’t that there are people out there actually foolish enough to believe the message this group is spreading. Nor is it the fact that certain interests might finance their mission, which is at this point something I have sadly accepted as inevitable. What makes me angry is the willful attempt to disrupt the education of our children and fill their heads with what is at best confusing claptrap, at worst outright lies. Taking hundreds of thousands of private dollars and targeting that money toward a misinformation curriculum when our nation’s schools are already struggling so much because of political maneuvering and posturing and kowtowing is an unforgivable transgression against our society and the coming generations.
Grammar: Really, really bad.
When I was a senior in high school, I caused a minor uproar with an essay I turned in to one of my writing classes decrying the use of proper grammar. It was intended as something of a personal joke between the teacher and myself, and the essay itself contained impeccable grammar. The truth is, the rules of grammar are very important for proper communication. I truly believe that. However, there are times that grammar gets in the way of creative expression. The rules cannot, however, be properly or effectively broken without having first been mastered. Which was kind of my point. Artistically speaking.
The teacher I wrote this for (Mr. R.) then took it to the teachers’ lounge and shared it with my journalism teacher (Ms P.) who took it quite seriously and literally and waved it like a flag of triumph in a battle for the hearts and minds of a rebellious generation. I’m still a little surprised that no one ended up bruised or bloody from the fallout Continue reading Grammar: Really, really bad.
Fear Mongering: It’s Just Bad For You
As an inaugural post, although I think it is pretty obvious, it never hurts to point out that buying into Fear Mongering (as once popularized by the Bush-Cheney Years, but readily in use, well, forever and counting) is bad for you. It’s unhealthy to believe every scary headline on Fox News, and just as bad for you to believe every frightening claim made by homeopathic “medical practitioners” to scare you away from unnecessary medication or surgery… The fact is, people use hyperbole to sell you whatever they want, and lately it has become more aggressive than ever across all media. This is partly because of the blogosphere — truthfully, the level of misinformation out there is growing exponentially every day — AND WILL SOON CAUSE ALL KNOWN INFORMATION SYSTEMS TO COLLAPSE UNDER THE VIRTUAL WEIGHT OF IT ALL. Well, maybe not the part in bold, but there certainly is something there to be concerned with, and probably a little afraid of, until we can all take a breath and reason things out.