Showing posts with label pursuit of happiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pursuit of happiness. Show all posts
10/11/14
5/4/11
Government Intervention
Saved the banks and big business from Depression...
Causing a Depression among the average person.
We are now into the fourth year since the real estate bubble crashed in 2007 causing the Federal government to intervene and "save" the financial institutions that were "too big to fail." The result has been that the major banks and financial institutions and Wall Street are not feeling the effects of the damage they originally caused but the average person is. Unemployment is still too high, the inflation caused by the printing of money and government debt are causing hardship in the general population but not among those in the financial world. The end result is not that the taxpayer is going to be overly burdened but that our government is technically insolvent and could quite possibly go bankrupt.
The scandal of this is that so far they have gotten away with it. It is my belief that the bad news is this will lead to the decline of our currency and an inevitable market crash. The good news is it will cause us as a people to do something to rid ourselves of the political and business class that colluded to put us in this position. We have been hijacked by the very people we entrusted with our government by electing people not acting in our best interests. This specifically applies to the Federal government, meaning the Congress and the President of the United States. It is useless to argue whether it "was Bush's fault" or "Obama is killing our country." The fact is that this started decades ago, exacerbated by the second Clinton term, during both of Bush's terms and continued by Obama. One could argue to go back further but our current condition is the result of efforts since the '92-'93 recession in Clinton's term.
We are here now and we must restore ourselves.
Regardless of how we got here, we are here now and it is up to us, the American people as engaged citizens and voters, to resolve the situation. This will not be easy as people entrenched in power neither give up easily and have the resources to fight back in ways too evil to consider in this discussion. The real truth is we are more likely to suffer an economic collapse before we can reasonably and responsibly resolve the situation by political means. How this will play out cannot be said for certain but the people responsible for getting us here are not going to stop until there is economic fallout of epic proportions that will end in the repudiation of debt.
The bottom line is that most Americans are in stressful economic conditions while the perpetrators are not feeling the effects of what they've done since they solved their immediate problem by colluding to keep printing money until it is worthless. It will take one economic domino for the rest of it to fall and when it does they will feel the effects. That is when we need to be concerned with their reaction and intentions.
We still have a chance to restore our country to "we the people."
In the mean time the best that the average forgotten man can do is maintain the best they can and remain as optimistic as possible and above all be prepared to fight back. What fighting back means is an open question but I do not believe with our history, form of government and the US Constitution, that means the government will be allowed or even be able to turn on it's own people. What it does mean is that, "we the people," must take back our government and control over our elected officials. That may sound implausible, corny or absurd to some people but to many of us it does not. One thing Americans have inherent in their character is once a movement starts going in a direction it cannot be stopped.
I still believe that it is not beyond the abilities of the citizenry to restore our country to reasonable values and the core beliefs of what America is about and return to what was intended by the Founding Fathers in the US Constitution. One thing is certain, divisiveness among the people will grow before resolution, but at a certain point the reasonable natural American character will rise above and return our country back to its core values. I don't believe this is false assumption, just as the country was in turmoil after the Civil War and during the turbulence of the nineteen-sixties, in the long term decent American people prevail and the challenge of differences and come together to overcome indecent leadership that has failed us.
Causing a Depression among the average person.
We are now into the fourth year since the real estate bubble crashed in 2007 causing the Federal government to intervene and "save" the financial institutions that were "too big to fail." The result has been that the major banks and financial institutions and Wall Street are not feeling the effects of the damage they originally caused but the average person is. Unemployment is still too high, the inflation caused by the printing of money and government debt are causing hardship in the general population but not among those in the financial world. The end result is not that the taxpayer is going to be overly burdened but that our government is technically insolvent and could quite possibly go bankrupt.
The scandal of this is that so far they have gotten away with it. It is my belief that the bad news is this will lead to the decline of our currency and an inevitable market crash. The good news is it will cause us as a people to do something to rid ourselves of the political and business class that colluded to put us in this position. We have been hijacked by the very people we entrusted with our government by electing people not acting in our best interests. This specifically applies to the Federal government, meaning the Congress and the President of the United States. It is useless to argue whether it "was Bush's fault" or "Obama is killing our country." The fact is that this started decades ago, exacerbated by the second Clinton term, during both of Bush's terms and continued by Obama. One could argue to go back further but our current condition is the result of efforts since the '92-'93 recession in Clinton's term.
We are here now and we must restore ourselves.
Regardless of how we got here, we are here now and it is up to us, the American people as engaged citizens and voters, to resolve the situation. This will not be easy as people entrenched in power neither give up easily and have the resources to fight back in ways too evil to consider in this discussion. The real truth is we are more likely to suffer an economic collapse before we can reasonably and responsibly resolve the situation by political means. How this will play out cannot be said for certain but the people responsible for getting us here are not going to stop until there is economic fallout of epic proportions that will end in the repudiation of debt.The bottom line is that most Americans are in stressful economic conditions while the perpetrators are not feeling the effects of what they've done since they solved their immediate problem by colluding to keep printing money until it is worthless. It will take one economic domino for the rest of it to fall and when it does they will feel the effects. That is when we need to be concerned with their reaction and intentions.
We still have a chance to restore our country to "we the people."
In the mean time the best that the average forgotten man can do is maintain the best they can and remain as optimistic as possible and above all be prepared to fight back. What fighting back means is an open question but I do not believe with our history, form of government and the US Constitution, that means the government will be allowed or even be able to turn on it's own people. What it does mean is that, "we the people," must take back our government and control over our elected officials. That may sound implausible, corny or absurd to some people but to many of us it does not. One thing Americans have inherent in their character is once a movement starts going in a direction it cannot be stopped.5/2/11
Anything Can Happen
And always does when you least expect it...
Osam bin Laden is dead.
Just as many Americans were pausing to wonder what has been going on in our country and how we were going to dig ourselves out of the economic hole we've created, something happens that changes the course of history. Ten long years after the events of September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden is dead, killed by us and we are certain since we have his body. It is the symbolic end of an era when the American psyche, consciously or otherwise, doubted itself and ability to capture a criminal who was the mastermind of a tragic event. His death cannot be underestimated. Carried along with our doubt was a lot of other baggage about the American Spirit and ability to rise above and be...well, American. The impact of this event should cause us to reassure ourselves that we are capable of anything we set our minds to.
His death will do little for the economic predicament we find ourselves in but should reinforce our sense of being able to resolve it. The real estate/mortgage problem, currency crisis, unemployment and low GDP and productivity among other issues aren't going away. What this should do is restore Americans faith in themselves to rise above and in the long term eventually overcome any obstacle. Over the next few days and weeks much discussion will go on and it is certain the political class will have a field day regarding Bush and Obama and who was able to capture and kill Osama bin Laden. The people who thrive on the fear of terrorism for a living will continue to hyper warn us, in a sense they're reminiscent of anti-communists when the Cold War was over. Terrorism is still a threat and we need to remain vigilant, but what we need to learn from this is that fear mongering is not the best weapon, that believing in our own power to defeat evil is. When all the noise dies down is when the truth will come out and the result will be that everyday Americans will have renewed faith in our ability to restore ourselves to the country we should be.
The oddity of the situation is that the attacks of 9-11 were intended to destroy the financial capital of the world and America's preeminence in the global economy. In some measure it did so indirectly, although it didn't collapse our markets immediately, in the long view in many ways it did. We should have taken more notice at the time of the message that was being sent, a message not necessarily from Islamic terrorists but a note to ourselves. We ignored it after the sentimental pop and country songs and tributes ran their course and we went headlong into consuming everything in sight. We pumped up our economy to feel good and did very little reflection on what had happened and how it could. The time for blame and recriminations about who did and who didn't do what is over, now is the time to revive the American Spirit and undertake the long hard road back to economic health.
Osam bin Laden is dead.
Just as many Americans were pausing to wonder what has been going on in our country and how we were going to dig ourselves out of the economic hole we've created, something happens that changes the course of history. Ten long years after the events of September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden is dead, killed by us and we are certain since we have his body. It is the symbolic end of an era when the American psyche, consciously or otherwise, doubted itself and ability to capture a criminal who was the mastermind of a tragic event. His death cannot be underestimated. Carried along with our doubt was a lot of other baggage about the American Spirit and ability to rise above and be...well, American. The impact of this event should cause us to reassure ourselves that we are capable of anything we set our minds to.
The oddity of the situation is that the attacks of 9-11 were intended to destroy the financial capital of the world and America's preeminence in the global economy. In some measure it did so indirectly, although it didn't collapse our markets immediately, in the long view in many ways it did. We should have taken more notice at the time of the message that was being sent, a message not necessarily from Islamic terrorists but a note to ourselves. We ignored it after the sentimental pop and country songs and tributes ran their course and we went headlong into consuming everything in sight. We pumped up our economy to feel good and did very little reflection on what had happened and how it could. The time for blame and recriminations about who did and who didn't do what is over, now is the time to revive the American Spirit and undertake the long hard road back to economic health.
4/26/11
If You're Looking for a Road Map
In the New Economy you won't find one...
Use your inner compass; be your cartographer.
There has never been a better period in my lifetime for an individual to be able to have a chance to cut a swath for their own path. There was a moment in time in my young life, the late sixties and early seventies, when opportunity to become my own person, create my own road, direct my life in any direction any way I wanted to. Most of that had to do with my youth and part of it was the times. Fortunately I was free to make decisions that were appropriate for me but some previous options available to me vaporized a decade later due to the juncture of history we were in. The eighties were a period that recalled an earlier era, since the turbulence of the two previous decades had unsettled so much without satisfactory resolution, that most people wanted a return to "stability." Stability meant going back to values that were not bad and were likely necessary at that interval. Technology had not reached a point where it could change or improve our lives or the world.
The nineties became a transitional era when technology, especially communications, the internet, medical and other sciences became highly developed and rapidly advanced as well as methods of doing business began to change. It was a time of duality of good and bad to be followed by a decade when much of what had occurred was assimilated, digested and culminated in an economic disruption that was inevitable. We were moving unaware from the Old Economy to a New Economy which inescapably impacted the social and geopolitical elements of daily living. Consumerism and the accompanying debt load that came with it, the old conservative structure cracked and the hankering for a new form of politics that we have discovered does not lie in the opposing progressive liberalism. In the US we voted for a President who had the image of change but not the substance of it. Far from it, what looked like what we were hoping for did not actually hold the values we desired. It was a valuable lesson for not only the United States but for the world.
For those of us forced out of our former careers and way of life, we need to go beyond what we used to be and get on with what we are becoming and going to be.
Now, more than ever is the time to have that second chance, another shot at a "do over" at life. Where there is adversity, difficult times and a seeming downfall from former success there is opportunity. We are never likely to see such a significant change in the economy, political world and society as there is now as long as we are not blind to it. Especially for those of us in our mid-forties and fifties, we are old enough to know a lot more than we did and not too old to recover and recoup what we may have lost. More importantly we have the chance to recreate our lives more like the image we envisioned when we were younger, before life took us in directions that we didn't think about and opportunities we didn't have. The former trails are still there, well worn and found just as easily as a long driven US Highway long ago replaced by an Interstate, themselves showing the wear and tear of age and also not travelling at the high speed of broadband internet. The time is now for us to rethink what we want to be for the remainder of our lives, choosing wisely and creatively the New Economy road we want to build to reinvent ourselves and lead us in new and more satisfying directions, since the existing highways and byways belong to Old Economy of yesteryear.
Use your inner compass; be your cartographer.
There has never been a better period in my lifetime for an individual to be able to have a chance to cut a swath for their own path. There was a moment in time in my young life, the late sixties and early seventies, when opportunity to become my own person, create my own road, direct my life in any direction any way I wanted to. Most of that had to do with my youth and part of it was the times. Fortunately I was free to make decisions that were appropriate for me but some previous options available to me vaporized a decade later due to the juncture of history we were in. The eighties were a period that recalled an earlier era, since the turbulence of the two previous decades had unsettled so much without satisfactory resolution, that most people wanted a return to "stability." Stability meant going back to values that were not bad and were likely necessary at that interval. Technology had not reached a point where it could change or improve our lives or the world.
The nineties became a transitional era when technology, especially communications, the internet, medical and other sciences became highly developed and rapidly advanced as well as methods of doing business began to change. It was a time of duality of good and bad to be followed by a decade when much of what had occurred was assimilated, digested and culminated in an economic disruption that was inevitable. We were moving unaware from the Old Economy to a New Economy which inescapably impacted the social and geopolitical elements of daily living. Consumerism and the accompanying debt load that came with it, the old conservative structure cracked and the hankering for a new form of politics that we have discovered does not lie in the opposing progressive liberalism. In the US we voted for a President who had the image of change but not the substance of it. Far from it, what looked like what we were hoping for did not actually hold the values we desired. It was a valuable lesson for not only the United States but for the world.
For those of us forced out of our former careers and way of life, we need to go beyond what we used to be and get on with what we are becoming and going to be.
Now, more than ever is the time to have that second chance, another shot at a "do over" at life. Where there is adversity, difficult times and a seeming downfall from former success there is opportunity. We are never likely to see such a significant change in the economy, political world and society as there is now as long as we are not blind to it. Especially for those of us in our mid-forties and fifties, we are old enough to know a lot more than we did and not too old to recover and recoup what we may have lost. More importantly we have the chance to recreate our lives more like the image we envisioned when we were younger, before life took us in directions that we didn't think about and opportunities we didn't have. The former trails are still there, well worn and found just as easily as a long driven US Highway long ago replaced by an Interstate, themselves showing the wear and tear of age and also not travelling at the high speed of broadband internet. The time is now for us to rethink what we want to be for the remainder of our lives, choosing wisely and creatively the New Economy road we want to build to reinvent ourselves and lead us in new and more satisfying directions, since the existing highways and byways belong to Old Economy of yesteryear.
4/22/11
Living In America
Toxic People, Toxic Situations...
Avoid them.
We're in poisonous times right now as we head into almost four years of when the world became aware in the summer of 2007 of the great economic disruption. It is a toxic time for many people who aren't prepared to guard themselves from noxious fumes. As someone who is interested in the social sciences I've had to be careful at times of absorbing and emitting too much toxicity. An ironic situation itself, since in 2007 when I was personally struck by this global financial fiasco, I was determined to remain positive and above it all. Generally I have been upbeat and made the most of the situation but at times have paid too much attention to the economic, political and social events of our time. That is not to say that I think anyone should remain uninvolved and obliviously unaware, only cautious about how to absorb it and manage personal thought toward current events.
It was a conscious decision on my part to not participate in the psychological downside of this recession, that seems to have developed into a depression. One thing I have learned, through periods of unemployment, temporary and underemployment, involuntary and voluntary, is being "laid off" from a "real job" in 2007 was the best thing that could have happened to me. Since I was 16 years old I've worked long periods for a major corporation, a huge bank and state government. According to the standards of the Old Economy, these were "real jobs" that were considered "careers." I struggled with identity when I was booted out of the first one, an epically long 30 plus years off and on journey. I also felt I had to replace that so-called career with another one, which I managed to do not once but twice.
The New Economy has been liberating for me. In many ways I was fortunate since I had several small sources of income and a support system that allowed me to get by financially. Not always having funds to do everything I wanted to do when I wanted to do it wasn't as bad as I would have once thought. It is through a process of time I began to realize I had been relieved of the toxic situation of trying to fit the proverbial square peg in a round hole. I was never cut out for a career in the world of major corporations and banks and I managed to survive among toxic people but it was at a cost to me. It was too draining. That was when the economy was supposedly good, although on reflection most of us know it was a consumer economy based on a false happiness I couldn't buy into. That kind of life was a more poisonous time for me than the one we live in now.
What I have learned about this entire situation is to avoid toxic people and toxic situations. For me that means not being employed in a job that is poisonous to me due to negative people and oppressing organizations. It has now become irrelevant to me that the part-time job I have, that I generally enjoy, is considered by many as my being underemployed. What those people don't realize is that part-time underemployment provides me with medical benefits, some additional income and most importantly, free no-stress time. During that time I am able to be creative and supplement my income from freelance work that is creative and enjoyable to me. Most importantly I don't feel I have to fit into a work situation I don't feel comfortable in, a toxic situation for me and for the most part allows me to avoid toxic people. That is as valuable to me as the skyrocketing price of gold.
Avoid them.
We're in poisonous times right now as we head into almost four years of when the world became aware in the summer of 2007 of the great economic disruption. It is a toxic time for many people who aren't prepared to guard themselves from noxious fumes. As someone who is interested in the social sciences I've had to be careful at times of absorbing and emitting too much toxicity. An ironic situation itself, since in 2007 when I was personally struck by this global financial fiasco, I was determined to remain positive and above it all. Generally I have been upbeat and made the most of the situation but at times have paid too much attention to the economic, political and social events of our time. That is not to say that I think anyone should remain uninvolved and obliviously unaware, only cautious about how to absorb it and manage personal thought toward current events.
It was a conscious decision on my part to not participate in the psychological downside of this recession, that seems to have developed into a depression. One thing I have learned, through periods of unemployment, temporary and underemployment, involuntary and voluntary, is being "laid off" from a "real job" in 2007 was the best thing that could have happened to me. Since I was 16 years old I've worked long periods for a major corporation, a huge bank and state government. According to the standards of the Old Economy, these were "real jobs" that were considered "careers." I struggled with identity when I was booted out of the first one, an epically long 30 plus years off and on journey. I also felt I had to replace that so-called career with another one, which I managed to do not once but twice.The New Economy has been liberating for me. In many ways I was fortunate since I had several small sources of income and a support system that allowed me to get by financially. Not always having funds to do everything I wanted to do when I wanted to do it wasn't as bad as I would have once thought. It is through a process of time I began to realize I had been relieved of the toxic situation of trying to fit the proverbial square peg in a round hole. I was never cut out for a career in the world of major corporations and banks and I managed to survive among toxic people but it was at a cost to me. It was too draining. That was when the economy was supposedly good, although on reflection most of us know it was a consumer economy based on a false happiness I couldn't buy into. That kind of life was a more poisonous time for me than the one we live in now.
What I have learned about this entire situation is to avoid toxic people and toxic situations. For me that means not being employed in a job that is poisonous to me due to negative people and oppressing organizations. It has now become irrelevant to me that the part-time job I have, that I generally enjoy, is considered by many as my being underemployed. What those people don't realize is that part-time underemployment provides me with medical benefits, some additional income and most importantly, free no-stress time. During that time I am able to be creative and supplement my income from freelance work that is creative and enjoyable to me. Most importantly I don't feel I have to fit into a work situation I don't feel comfortable in, a toxic situation for me and for the most part allows me to avoid toxic people. That is as valuable to me as the skyrocketing price of gold.3/8/11
Only In America
I still believe...
In America
...the ideal, not the United States of Statism that I railed about almost a year ago on 04/21/10 in my blog post This Is Not America: It is now merely the United States. I was angrier then about how the American Dream had been derailed by Social Democrats and the lack of any real opposition party. I wasn't much younger then, but I am older than that now (apologies to Dylan), although I'm still not beyond discussing the issues.
Sometimes I think immigrants understand what "America" means much more than many natural born Americans do. Although I emigrated from a former British colonial island 700 miles off the coast of North Carolina, a short distance for a seagull, this country might have been half a world away. It was a different culture, although my father was an American, I lived in a British culture with some American influences and spoke British English (American English is my second language). In that society one was always reminded of "their place" and mobility was limited by a variety of factors. My very British mother was raised in that system in her native England and escaped it after the Second World War. I was surrounded by members of both her and my fathers family and grew up biculturally speaking one language. I learned early on that although the language seemed the same, it was different, as the cultures also were.
It would be fair to say that growing up running barefoot on a rather idyllic beach island was a wonderful childhood. As I approached the age when I started thinking about high school and college I began to recognize my (and my cousins of the same age) opportunities were limited there. We all wanted the chance to go to better schools and universities than we could where we were. I didn't want to go to the UK or Canada, two of my three options, I always wanted to go to the United States of America. I explain this to make clear I was not an immigrant escaping from some poor, third world, strife ridden nation.
The dream was still the same regardless and it hasn't changed.
Every work day I come across immigrants who are taking one of the steps they need to be gain access to permanent residency or a long term visa into this country. Some are like I was, from English speaking nations, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and many former British colonies, with an American parent or spouse or are unconnected in any way except they want to come to America. There are also those that are ambitious, achievement oriented people who want to get out of, for any number of good reasons, from the nation they are from. The other day I was struck by the earnestness of an Egyptian who was extremely grateful for the help I gave him. After he discovered I once was a new immigrant, when thanking me, said a heartfelt "I know you truly understand." I do. Hours later I was overwhelmed by sentiment and recognition of how lucky I really am to be here. I know he'll make it, I'm sure he did well on his professional board certifications and all his other papers were in order, but most importantly he had the right attitude.
Even in an economic crisis, the rest of the world sees what some natural born Americans do not, there is still opportunity here. It is what you make of it, even if it isn't a mansion on the hill, it is still far better than a large part of the rest of the globe.
Lately I've been coming to see a sea change that a lot more natural born Americans are now re-acquainting themselves with and appreciating the achievement oriented, dream as big as you want to, entrepreneurial, "can do" spirit that this country represents to the rest of the world. The Land of Opportunity. I recognize many things have gone awry and we have a long road ahead of us to get back to where we were before we derailed ourselves. There are many people who are trapped and have obstacles that will be exceptionally difficult to overcome. Self-reliance and mutual help are not opposing American values. I still believe that for the vast majority of people in this country, the chance of rising above is still here.
It isn't always fair and somehow we lost our way several decades ago trying to make opportunity for people who had traditionally been discriminated against. With the best of intentions we created unintended consequences. As I wrote almost a year ago: "It also morphed into equal rights for everyone [that] has come to mean that everyone is equal in everything." What I am observing now is that the move away from that concept has become more than continental drift, but a tectonic plate shift with the potential for a good shaker to come along to wake everyone up to what we don't want to lose.
At stake is what our forefathers intended in rebelling against a regimented social structure divided by wealth, poverty, class, with rights that allow us to be free to become what we want to be, if we have the will and ability.
Being Bicultural: One Language
One of my first YouTube video blogs from the vault, done almost four years ago before I learned to edit. It is about my experience growing up in a bicultural environment learning British and American English.
http://www.youtube.com/user/jrsnyderjr#p/u/38/sHjUyRLEQxs
http://www.youtube.com/user/jrsnyderjr
In America
...the ideal, not the United States of Statism that I railed about almost a year ago on 04/21/10 in my blog post This Is Not America: It is now merely the United States. I was angrier then about how the American Dream had been derailed by Social Democrats and the lack of any real opposition party. I wasn't much younger then, but I am older than that now (apologies to Dylan), although I'm still not beyond discussing the issues.
Sometimes I think immigrants understand what "America" means much more than many natural born Americans do. Although I emigrated from a former British colonial island 700 miles off the coast of North Carolina, a short distance for a seagull, this country might have been half a world away. It was a different culture, although my father was an American, I lived in a British culture with some American influences and spoke British English (American English is my second language). In that society one was always reminded of "their place" and mobility was limited by a variety of factors. My very British mother was raised in that system in her native England and escaped it after the Second World War. I was surrounded by members of both her and my fathers family and grew up biculturally speaking one language. I learned early on that although the language seemed the same, it was different, as the cultures also were.
It would be fair to say that growing up running barefoot on a rather idyllic beach island was a wonderful childhood. As I approached the age when I started thinking about high school and college I began to recognize my (and my cousins of the same age) opportunities were limited there. We all wanted the chance to go to better schools and universities than we could where we were. I didn't want to go to the UK or Canada, two of my three options, I always wanted to go to the United States of America. I explain this to make clear I was not an immigrant escaping from some poor, third world, strife ridden nation.
The dream was still the same regardless and it hasn't changed.
Every work day I come across immigrants who are taking one of the steps they need to be gain access to permanent residency or a long term visa into this country. Some are like I was, from English speaking nations, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and many former British colonies, with an American parent or spouse or are unconnected in any way except they want to come to America. There are also those that are ambitious, achievement oriented people who want to get out of, for any number of good reasons, from the nation they are from. The other day I was struck by the earnestness of an Egyptian who was extremely grateful for the help I gave him. After he discovered I once was a new immigrant, when thanking me, said a heartfelt "I know you truly understand." I do. Hours later I was overwhelmed by sentiment and recognition of how lucky I really am to be here. I know he'll make it, I'm sure he did well on his professional board certifications and all his other papers were in order, but most importantly he had the right attitude.
Even in an economic crisis, the rest of the world sees what some natural born Americans do not, there is still opportunity here. It is what you make of it, even if it isn't a mansion on the hill, it is still far better than a large part of the rest of the globe.
Lately I've been coming to see a sea change that a lot more natural born Americans are now re-acquainting themselves with and appreciating the achievement oriented, dream as big as you want to, entrepreneurial, "can do" spirit that this country represents to the rest of the world. The Land of Opportunity. I recognize many things have gone awry and we have a long road ahead of us to get back to where we were before we derailed ourselves. There are many people who are trapped and have obstacles that will be exceptionally difficult to overcome. Self-reliance and mutual help are not opposing American values. I still believe that for the vast majority of people in this country, the chance of rising above is still here.
It isn't always fair and somehow we lost our way several decades ago trying to make opportunity for people who had traditionally been discriminated against. With the best of intentions we created unintended consequences. As I wrote almost a year ago: "It also morphed into equal rights for everyone [that] has come to mean that everyone is equal in everything." What I am observing now is that the move away from that concept has become more than continental drift, but a tectonic plate shift with the potential for a good shaker to come along to wake everyone up to what we don't want to lose.
At stake is what our forefathers intended in rebelling against a regimented social structure divided by wealth, poverty, class, with rights that allow us to be free to become what we want to be, if we have the will and ability.
Being Bicultural: One Language
One of my first YouTube video blogs from the vault, done almost four years ago before I learned to edit. It is about my experience growing up in a bicultural environment learning British and American English.
http://www.youtube.com/user/jrsnyderjr#p/u/38/sHjUyRLEQxs
http://www.youtube.com/user/jrsnyderjr
12/29/10
Geography of the Mind
Your Choice: In the mirror darkly or with clarity...
Paul's New Testament Biblical scripture 1 Corinthians 13:12 refers to the present and the future:
"For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know fully as even I am fully known."
It alludes to the veil that is placed over us as we see ourselves and this world as opposed to the lifting of that veil to see ourselves and the world in full light in the afterlife. How you interpret that or make use of it depends on your religious beliefs. My thought is that it worth it's original face value as intended but also, interpreted slightly differently, in another more practical daily perspective.
We all view ourselves as in a mirror and the way in which we view ourselves in light of the present world, religious decisions aside, is also how we react to the world and in return how it reacts to us. Lifting the veil to view ourselves practically and pragmatically helps us understand ourselves better for self-improvement. It is not a new concept and accepted in contemporary society as psychologically sound. Should we see ourselves darkly, we will view and be viewed in our interactions with the world accordingly. The same is true if we see ourselves with as much clarity as possible and view ourselves more assuredly, in turn our interactions will reflect that.
What I see in this difficult era is how people view themselves very much determines the course they will take during a turbulent, uncertain period of their lives and the ongoing outcome. You can view yourself as a casualty and injured party in this economic downturn, which may be true if you've lost a job, income, home, family...most especially if it's been uneven and unfair. The difficulty is getting beyond the point of feeling like an underdog and getting to a place in your mind that rises above that thought in order to move on. Otherwise your reflection of yourself will only mire you even more into a downward spiral.
This requires taking possession of the dominion of yourself and claiming control over your emotions and thoughts, never an easy task but required to get a better impression of yourself to project to others. It requires the tough actions of claiming and occupying your own decisions, taking charge of your attitudes and actions by creating original thoughts or borrowing some and adapting them to your situation, regardless of external circumstances. If you are prepared for challenge, change and adversity, the more often it occurs and you cope with them, then it becomes more natural to you and subsequently less difficult.
It's building character, which is never easy but always rewarding in the long term.
Paul's New Testament Biblical scripture 1 Corinthians 13:12 refers to the present and the future:
"For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know fully as even I am fully known."
It alludes to the veil that is placed over us as we see ourselves and this world as opposed to the lifting of that veil to see ourselves and the world in full light in the afterlife. How you interpret that or make use of it depends on your religious beliefs. My thought is that it worth it's original face value as intended but also, interpreted slightly differently, in another more practical daily perspective.
We all view ourselves as in a mirror and the way in which we view ourselves in light of the present world, religious decisions aside, is also how we react to the world and in return how it reacts to us. Lifting the veil to view ourselves practically and pragmatically helps us understand ourselves better for self-improvement. It is not a new concept and accepted in contemporary society as psychologically sound. Should we see ourselves darkly, we will view and be viewed in our interactions with the world accordingly. The same is true if we see ourselves with as much clarity as possible and view ourselves more assuredly, in turn our interactions will reflect that.
What I see in this difficult era is how people view themselves very much determines the course they will take during a turbulent, uncertain period of their lives and the ongoing outcome. You can view yourself as a casualty and injured party in this economic downturn, which may be true if you've lost a job, income, home, family...most especially if it's been uneven and unfair. The difficulty is getting beyond the point of feeling like an underdog and getting to a place in your mind that rises above that thought in order to move on. Otherwise your reflection of yourself will only mire you even more into a downward spiral.
This requires taking possession of the dominion of yourself and claiming control over your emotions and thoughts, never an easy task but required to get a better impression of yourself to project to others. It requires the tough actions of claiming and occupying your own decisions, taking charge of your attitudes and actions by creating original thoughts or borrowing some and adapting them to your situation, regardless of external circumstances. If you are prepared for challenge, change and adversity, the more often it occurs and you cope with them, then it becomes more natural to you and subsequently less difficult.
It's building character, which is never easy but always rewarding in the long term.
9/20/10
FWIW: A Different Drum
Marching to Zion...
If my life ended tomorrow, which I certainly hope it doesn't, I can sure say it hasn't been boring because I made sure it wasn't.
If my life ended tomorrow, which I certainly hope it doesn't, I can sure say it hasn't been boring because I made sure it wasn't.
9/7/10
American Visionary Art Museum
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness...
Art is a powerful tool for those trying to express "the need for liberty."
The word liberty is used a lot but it's not often that individuals think deeply about what the word means, says Rebecca Hoffberger, the founder of Baltimore's American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM).
Hoffberger's goal with AVAM was to create a "grassroots salon that would tackle all the great themes that have ever bedieviled and inspired humankind." The most recent exhibition, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness featured a wide range of self-taught artists including Saddam Hussein's personal doctor, Ala Bashir, and a schizophrenic hoarder named Dick Lubinsky. The exhibition provides an unforgettable commentary on an American truism. Hoffberger explains that art is strongest when it portray's life's experiences that are "too big for words" and that art is a powerful tool for those trying to express "the need for liberty."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4to1SMLyA8o
Produced and edited by Dan Hayes. Camera by Jim Epstein and Joshua Swain. Music by Dan Thieman. Go to www.reason.tv for downloadable versions of the video and subscribe to ReasonTV on YouTube
Art is a powerful tool for those trying to express "the need for liberty."
The word liberty is used a lot but it's not often that individuals think deeply about what the word means, says Rebecca Hoffberger, the founder of Baltimore's American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM).
Hoffberger's goal with AVAM was to create a "grassroots salon that would tackle all the great themes that have ever bedieviled and inspired humankind." The most recent exhibition, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness featured a wide range of self-taught artists including Saddam Hussein's personal doctor, Ala Bashir, and a schizophrenic hoarder named Dick Lubinsky. The exhibition provides an unforgettable commentary on an American truism. Hoffberger explains that art is strongest when it portray's life's experiences that are "too big for words" and that art is a powerful tool for those trying to express "the need for liberty."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4to1SMLyA8o
Produced and edited by Dan Hayes. Camera by Jim Epstein and Joshua Swain. Music by Dan Thieman. Go to www.reason.tv for downloadable versions of the video and subscribe to ReasonTV on YouTube
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