My musings on different political topics relevant to America today.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The Family Friend

He was and is a great guy.  When I was a kid we would go on bike rides around the park.  Back then that park was a big super exciting place, full of wonder and excitement.  We would find "secret" hideouts and chase down ice cream trucks.  We would have all sorts of grand adventures.  My mom and him also had a deep spiritual relationship.  They would pray together about all sorts of things.  He worked hard to practice his faith.  He always followed his principles, no matter how hard it was.

However despite how great of a guy he was, he lived and still lives in poverty.  I suppose by census standards he doesn't, but the amount he earns is barely enough to cover his necessities.  Indeed, he often keeps his air conditioner completely off on in brutal Texas for days.  In between payments on his used car and his rent, sometimes he manages to find some money for food.   He often would come over talking about how he had nothing to eat all day, due to the fact he literally had no food.  I am not sure how well he managed his finances, but with how little he made its easy to see how that could happen.  

There was a time he lost his job and went on social security.  He lived in government housing and was not allowed to make more than $16 otherwise he would be kicked out.  The management would have his room searched to make sure he was not earning "too much."  If he dared to succeed even a little bit he would be kicked back into the real world to struggle paying his bills.  

The system was entirely set up against him.  Indeed it would have almost been better for him to stay unemployed and live off of the government than to get a job.  Yet he wanted to work, and work he did.  He got a job and went back to earning a pittance that barely covered his needs.  

There is one more element to this story.  He was and is slightly mentally handicapped.  The fact he was economically "expendable" was of no fault of his own.  Yet the ruthless laws of economics determined that he could not earn a wage that would allow him some financial security.  In such cases, the community must step in to help.  

One form of "community" help was the government supported living situation I just described.  Ironically this program setup to help people in poverty does nothing to get them out.  Indeed, it seemed to work hard to keep them in, rather than help them get out.  I don't know how not allowing someone to  earn any money to earn government benefits helps them get on their feet at all.  All it does is trap poor people like my family friend in poverty.  After all, the rational choice honestly in several cases is to stay on welfare and forego the job market.  Yet in the long run, staying out of the job market prevents the welfare recipients from developing marketable skills, further ensnaring them in the system.

The other form of community help is the voluntary aspect.  Generosity that arises within the hearts of families, friends, and organizations for their fellow man.  The family friend was a man of faith and was a part of a church.  While he sporadically switched churches often, he did have a community of friends he met within such institutions that helped him get by.  My family would help him occasionally, and some other friends of his let him stay with them for a while.  Others would give him food occasionally. My family would let him feast whenever he came over.  His brother paid for him to go on vacation with him.  Such generosity came from the heart and was directed towards him because of his need, not because of his employment status.

I just wrote this to remind everyone that there are many people out there that are scraping by from day to day, and often have little resources of their own to get out of their situation.  Since often we isolate ourselves physically and socially from those "beneath" us financially, its easy to turn a blind eye to the problems of many.  Instead we comfort ourselves that charities and the government are taking care of the problem.  However the problem with these institutions is that the anonymous nature of their giving and policies guarantees that they will not specifically target the needs of their recipients to maximum effect.  Giving food to someone that has plenty of food for example, does little to alleviate their need for a working car, for example.  Thats why I think we must all be mindful of the role we play in the lives of those around us.  We are just as much each other's "safety net" as any government program or charity.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

The Man code part 2

I just wanted to clarify why I wrote up the satirical "man code" post.  I wrote it to reveal how ridiculous   some male behavior is in the pursuit of proving their manliness.  Not ALL "manly" behavior is ridiculous.  I would like to clarify that.  I don't think that getting pumped up about working out or sports is wrong or ridiculous.  I enjoy working out and sports as much as the next person.  Their is nothing wrong in the stereotypically "manly" activities in and of themselves.  While I would take issue with anyone that believes such activities define manhood, I do not condemn those activities in and of themselves.  Bonding with your fellow men over sports is perfectly acceptable.

The only thing I take issue with on this note is when certain activities are deemed as manly and others as anti-manly.  A guy does not HAVE to watch sports to be a man.  A guy does not have to have big muscles to be a man.  A guy does not have to drive a truck or a muscle car or motorcycle to be a man.  Likewise, a guy can dance, sing, cry, be a nerd, etc. etc. and still be a man.  None of the activities I have mentioned should make you more or less of a man.

Yet its clear this is the way our society judges men.  Just look at the movie Napoleon Dynamite.  Its clear that what makes the movie funny, is that the protagonist and his accomplices are not "manly", as our society defines it (Though to its credit, it makes fun of the jock living in the past as well).  They are unathletic, and socially deficient.  Napoleon had other talents in the movie, but even then those talents are seen as hilarious because they are not "manly" talents.  Its clear that our society rips men apart when they do not measure up to the "man code."

Growing up in Texas I personally struggled with this through most of my life.  I never felt like I measured up to the "man code."  My interests and passions did not align with what defined manliness.  As a result I grew up very unconfident and insecure about who I was.  I would not open up to most people because I was afraid that if they knew the real me, they would see me as "unmanly."

Luckily I have learned since then that manliness is not defined by how loud I grunt, or how far I can throw a football, or by how into sports I am.  Likewise I have learned that I can be a person of faith and still be a man.  I have learned that my principles are not a weakness, but a strength.

So in addition to the categorizing of activities is the behavioral aspect.  This is the worst part of the man code and is the part I rip on the most in my satire.  The belief that real men don't cry is just one part of it.  The rest closely aligns with the ridiculous notion that what makes you man is your sexual prowess.  The more innocent victims you can conquer, the more of a man you are.  The less caring for others you are, the more of a man you are.  Being sensitive to others needs is a sign of weakness that must be eliminated.

In this I would say that its far harder to do the right thing.  It takes someone with a lot of moral fortitude and confidence to stand up for what is right.  It takes nothing to go along with the crowd.  It takes nothing to give into pressure from your fellow "manly" peers.  It takes nothing to be undisciplined and unruly.

Yet somehow the easy way out is apparently the manly thing to do.  I guess that makes it easy then.  Cause then any guy can be a "Man" without really doing anything.  Then with the man code, anyone can be forced back into step that dares challenge the comfortable definition of manliness that our culture preaches.  Guys can feel superior for doing the easy weak cowardly thing...what a strange culture we live in.

So I wrote the satire to challenge both notions of manliness.  One, that some activities are somehow inherently more manly than others.  Second, that real men act like monkeys with no restraint, while only sensitive sissies would bother doing something for anyone else besides themselves.  I know that many men don't buy fully into the man code.  Yet many by into one or the other parts of it.  Both parts are damaging to guys and to society as a whole.  The first unnecessarily destroys the confidence of many guys simply because of their personal preference and skill set.  The second unnecessarily bolsters the confidence of many guys for doing the easy weak thing, thinking only about themselves and their needs.  I challenge all the guys out there to think critically about what actually matters in life, and to redefine manliness in respect to that.

Friday, August 23, 2013

The Man Code

The man code.

Its an elusive thing.  Its not written down.  Yet it has such a grip over so many men.  Its a code of rules that guys think they must abide by to earn their right to have a penis.  If a guy doesn't abide by it, then any number of unutterable things may happen to him.  He may lose respect from his fellow guys, he may lose his edge among the ladies, worst of all, he may lose his manhood.

Its easy to breakdown the man code.  Here are the basics you must follow:

1) Only care about yourself, to care for others is to show weakness.  (One exception, you may care for a girl, as long as she is hot, and as long as you are doing it with the longterm expectation of sexual compensation)

2) Never, ever, use your brain.  To think critically about anything is to be feminine.  Make sure to state your opinions loudly and obnoxiously.  (If anyone says anything smart, don't try to understand it, just zone out then grunt as loud as you can to draw attention back to numero uno)

3) Don't reveal any emotion that may make you appear weak and/or sensitive.  In other words don't ever cry.  Anger is only allowed if its over a girl, or your favorite sports team.  Only be happy in a controlled fashion, you wouldn't want to accidentally slip into feminine behavior after all...that would be the end of the world.

4) Following up number 3, make sure to act like you don't care.  This is the general rule for behavior.  You must appear unconcerned about anything that does not immediately affect you.  This is necessary to keep up the egocentric/dumb persona that you are striving to achieve. (If necessary, let your mouth hang slightly open and keep your eyes fixed in a blank stare to indicate how bored you are by everything except your penis.)

5) Whenever you are around guys only talk about sports/sex.  Interest in any other topic will instantly kill any man points you had from the other 4.  In fact, it will probably undo all your progress.  Make sure to talk about women as if they are objects, and never indicate too much attachment to any particular woman, to do so would be to admit that you are loyal and won't cheat, which is heretical to the man code.

6) Be a douche bag.  This is probably the most important rule, and as long as you obey this one, I guarantee you will get the other 5 without even trying.

If you cannot live up to this list, then I am sorry, you will be forever banished from all things manly.  You will be forced to get good grades in school.  You will be forced to not impregnate and ditch women with your children.  You will be forced to focus on other goals besides getting laid.  You will be forced to be a successful and responsible human being.

Therefore get to work right now on being an irresponsible, reckless, egocentric douche bag before its too late to turn things around!



Tuesday, August 20, 2013

We all Need Some Fat, Including Business

I was reading the Economist (As my avid fans would recall I mentioned them in my last article) and this one article intrigued me.  It was called "In Praise of Laziness."  The main point of it was that many businesspeople are overworked, stifling creativity.  According to the article, "Teresa Amabile of Harvard Business School, who has been conducting a huge study of work and creativity, reports that workers are generally more creative on low-pressure days than on high-pressure days when they are confronted with a flurry of unpredictable demands."  This is funny, because the behavior of corporate America would make you think the opposite is true.  The goal seems to be to fill everyone's plate to the brim, and then some more until it overflows.  

Maximizing productivity while minimizing labor costs may squeeze some extra productivity out of your workforce, but ultimately in the long run this will cost in innovation.  It has been highly reported that American companies are leaner and meaner than ever before.  This is true but soon there won't be any fat left to cut off.  They have stripped down to the muscle, and if they cut anymore it will be self-destructive.  In addition to continue with this human anatomy analogy, while excessive fat (spare time), is bad for the body, some fat is necessary for its proper functioning.  In this case, companies need to remember that creating an innovative corporate environment will require allowing a little fat (spare time) for its workforce, to best allow unique ideas to develop.

The gains in productivity by corporations over the last 6 years were in my opinion an illusion.  An illusion created by the massive layoffs across corporate America during the recession.  The layoffs left behind only the most productive workers, plus those left were forced to work more if they wished to keep their jobs.  This is a one off gain.  It better be recognized as such.  Ultimately innovation drives growth, not busyness.  

In case anyone is skeptical of my claim that innovation drives growth, I will give 2 examples.  I will compare Dell with Apple.  While Dell did well for a long time, and was selling more computers than Apple, it lacked one thing, innovation.  It beat Apple a million times over when it came to cost and pricing, however Apple slowly generated innovative products that changed the fundamentals of the tech market, giving Apple the edge.  While Dell probably still sells more computers than Apple, I doubt anyone would argue Dell is the better run company.  

Therefore since innovation is the catalyst of growth (fyi I am ripping off the economist Schumpeter with the innovation centered growth model, check out his stuff if you would like to learn more), I think it would make sense if companies started to evaluate more on the basis of innovation and less on the basis of "productivity."  Too often, productivity is measured in how much work you did, whether or not it was done in the most effective way.  Mouse clicks and emails sent ultimately mean nothing.  Its the intangibles behind the numbers that matter.  However its hard to measure intangibles, so too often companies will place too much emphasis on measurable things such as emails and mouse clicks.  I believe that the companies that give their employees ample time and incentive to innovate will do the best.  How companies are to do that is out of the scope of this article.  But I hope you corporate workers or future corporate workers out there will consider this.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

The News

Its funny, back in my college days I was oblivious of what was going on in the world from the day to day.  I mean it was bad.  Sometimes days would go by before I heard that a disaster happened, such as if a hurricane hit or whatever other bad things happen.  Just take your pick of international crises between 2008 and 2012 and I was probably far behind the curve in learning about it.  While I was learning a lot of stuff about the history of the world we live in today, and major issues our world was and is facing, often I didn't pick up on the specific happenings around me.  I thought, "Man, I better start watching the news or something."

Alas, while my heart might have been in the right place, being in the "real world," I have quickly learned that watching the news has left me more devoid for knowing the state of the world we live in.  At my work now, I get to watch the news all the time.  I mean, ALL the time.  Literally 8 hours out of every day the news is plastered in front of me.  Granted, none of us at work can hear it, so all we see are the headlines.  Yet it is clear just by the choice of topics I have seen that the news is not so concerned with informing its viewers as it is keeping their eyes glued to the TV.

What I mean by that last statement is that the news has become one dimensional.  While it still works on attracting viewers, which is something the news has always had to do, this is all news networks focus on now.  The news totally neglects its other responsibility, and that is to help its audience understand what is happening, and possible even why its happening.  This is the current format of the news:


Story A: Dude eats face, Zombie Apocalypse!

Story B: NSA spying on us, Secret Police?!?!

Aaaaaand that will be it.  It will create a lot of hype and hysteria over both incidents, then the media will totally drop both, move on to something else, and never even bother to explain the bigger picture behind both stories.  Instead the audience is left bombarded with horror story after horror story, and a feeling of helplessness over what can be done.  The news just keep showing how terrible everything is, without bothering to offer us food for thought over why such things are happening.  And if it does offer explanations, they are usually conveniently one dimensional to blame Obama or Bush, Democrat or Republican.  Therefore helping to create a culture where we demonize each other, where whoever does not agree with you is the sworn enemy that must be stopped at all cost.

This is the format that I soooo desperately wish the news would follow:

Story A: Instead of highlighting the fact that a guy ate someones face, use that fact to draw people in but then highlight the larger problems of drug use and homelessness. Investigate the bigger issues that lead to anecdotal extremes such as this story.  

Story B: Talk about the spying of course, but look at it within the larger context of national security, individual rights, and investigate the expansion of powers of the nsa since its creation.  

I know a lot of my disgust may come from being a history major.  As a history major I always want to know the story behind the story before I come to a conclusion.  Outrage is useless if it cannot be properly channeled at what actually caused the violation, which is usually not a quick fix, but more often than not stems from a long term development that does have an easy fix.  

However I think a lot of my disgust comes mostly from living in a free society, that seems to be paradoxically more and more ignorant of the world around us while having more and more access to info about the world than ever before.  The media, and in particular television news networks have not done anything to help.  

Yet I don't really know if its all their fault.  They may very well simply not have the luxury to spend time investigating these issues anymore. Afterall, Americans have more options for entertainment than they did 30 years ago, and now if we are even slightly bored we can change the channel to 1000 different options, or surf the web, which the options there are near limitless.  News networks may have to use a sensationalist format simply to maintain the viewers they have.

Whether or not its the fault of the news networks or of a desensitized society with no attention span, its clear to me that one can watch the news and have no better grasp of world than if you didn't watch it.  I have started turning to other sources to inform myself, and I would encourage you to do so as well.  The news networks may be a good place to go to as a starting point, however in my experience further investigation is usually needed to truly understand what you see on it.  However don't be discouraged by the ineptitude of the networks.  There are plenty of good sources if you want the news on a deeper level.  The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and the magazine, "The Economist," are great sources.   

Well there is my rant on the news.  Now go and read some real news.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Moments to Remember

I driving to workout this afternoon...then all of a sudden I noticed something...the sky was absolutely beautiful!  It was radiating this orange hue that fell spectacularly against the dark tree line.  I approached the stop sign after being momentarily distracted, then I thought to myself, "Maybe I won't go to the gym today, maybe instead I will enjoy this beautiful day."  I hesitated a moment, drove a little closer to the stop sign, then swung around a full 180 and headed straight to the park by my house.

I thought, "Hey, I can still workout, I will run outside and enjoy the breathtaking landscape."  So I got out of my car and started running.  I put on some music from my Ipod and started grooving.  I just ran, trying desperately to run closer to the heavenly glow over the horizon.  I was determined to get there, somehow, someway.

I soon broke from the rigid path that society had laid out for me to follow. I departed into the unknown, plunging deeper into the ether.  I felt my feet melting away into the grass.  My eyes clinged to the aura. My heart pulsated from exhaustion yet I kept running.  I don't know what was driving me on but I couldn't stop.

It was a very strange, seemingly spiritual experience.  I was suppose to be at small group, but I just couldn't go.  The last thing I wanted was to be chained down, locked inside a room yet again.  I wanted  to escape to somewhere timeless and infinite that my heart could roam.  I found just the place.  A place that has always been there, but seemingly never there at the same time.  It was just the park by my  house.  The same park I had been too a thousand times.  Yet something about that run was different.  Something about that park was different.  It was one of those things that you just had to be there.

What is it about such moments that make them so fleeting?  You cannot get them back.  They only come once.  There is no replicating them.  You know what I mean.  Those moments you never forget, for seemingly no reason.  Those moments that you look back fondly on but you can't quite put your finger on why.  Sure you give reasons, but the reasons are never good enough.  They never answer why that moment mattered.

Its funny, when I first started writing this, I was originally going to write about how we should all pause every now and then to admire the world around us.  I was going to rant how we, or at least I, don't spend enough time marveling at the world's beauty.  I was going to talk about how naturally it comes for children, but how so many adults let the worries of the world drag them down, and prevent them from simply pausing to take it all in.

Yet really my experience was not about that I realize.  It was about that connection we sometimes feel, to a world greater than ours.  Sometimes things in this world spark a longing for the beyond yet at the same time fill us with a peace about our own lives.  Nature is usually what sparks such moments of tranquil reflection for me, yet it doesn't have to be that.  It can be the beauty of your friends, or even the power of the human word.  Whatever it is, don't push such moments aside.  Let yourself run away in them while they last.  After all, there is no formula for it.  I don't really know why I wrote this.  Nevertheless I hope it touches someone out there.


Friday, August 9, 2013

Escapism

Welp...I have not posted anything on here in quite some time.  In fact, its been half a year!  Shame on me! 

Anyway, I have been thinking about this alot lately.  I felt like many of you might be able to relate to my thoughts on this, so I figured I would share, if you have any feedback, feel free to respond to this.

I feel like no other word better epitomizes my existence lately than "Escapism."  What is escapism? Well to state the obvious escapism is (per Webster himself)

"habitual diversion of the mind to purely imaginative activity or entertainment as an escape from reality or routine."

Ahhhhh escapism, thank the Lord hallelujah you exist!  You sure make mundane day to day living alot easier.  Though life is now mostly work, work, and more work, with a side of car payments, student loans, and long commutes, we can sedate the dreariness of dredging on with music, movies, tv shows, the internet, and much more!  Though our real lives are not much fun, we can live vicariously through other people on screens who are paid to have fun.  We can falsely stimulate our emotions with music to make life seem more exciting.  We can wage wars and go on epic quests all from the comfort of our couch in between shifts.  

Its funny that its not reality we live for, but the escape.  We dredge through our lives so we can watch someone else pretend to live the life we wish we had.  Whats worse is that the lives we see on tv often seem attainable, yet we decide to be content with our dreams just being dreams.  We are a nation of dreamers, not doers.  

The harsh truth of the matter is that most people pick the path of least resistance.  The path that seems to promise the greatest return at minimum risk.  However I am afraid in our culture too often we measure greatest return in dollar signs.  When we should be measuring greatest return in the happiness we bring to ourselves and others.  We have been trained to measure our own success in terms of money, when often in the pursuit of money we destroy who we were meant to be.  We become little more than robots molding our lives around the pursuit of money and the display of wealth.  We save to buy the biggest house, the fanciest car, and invest in ourselves to get the highest paying job.  Never mind that in the end we sacrifice all our time in the pursuit of all these things, and therefore have no time left to actually enjoy what we obtained.  After all, the point is not to enjoy what you have but to obtain as much as possible in a futile effort to prove our value.  This is reality for America.  

Since the reality does not deliver on its promise, we spend our spare time living in dreams.  We spend our spare time deceiving ourselves into believing we are living the lives we were meant to live, rather than the lives we believe we are forced to live.  Yet somehow we never challenge "reality."  We never challenge the conventional wisdom that tells us that money and power is everything.  We go one living splintered lives, forever restless, in tension with our very being.  

I would just challenge everyone, including myself, to begin thinking of ways you can pursue your dreams.  Just think, what is it about these shows that you like?  Why are these distractions more appealing than reality?  If its the friendships you see, then pursue that, if its the adventures they live, then pursue that.  Be bold, don't be content to let your dreams be dreams.  Make your dreams your reality.