Underneath is a dying taproot that goes very deep into earth.
6/2/11
Arizona Landscape
Scores of tree rings sawed off...
Underneath is a dying taproot that goes very deep into earth.
Underneath is a dying taproot that goes very deep into earth.
6/1/11
Don't Mock It
On Self Help, Mutual Help and Positive Thinking...
Seek your own road to not only survive but thrive in a difficult era.
Today I read an article in the UK Telegraph titled "Why self-help still flies off the shelf" essentially mocking self-help books and referring to them as "shelf-help." The article was laden with that condescending view of many so-called intellects who write in the mainstream media. "I'm smarter than you and if only you would emulate my thinking than you and the world would be so much better off." Her derision was directed mainly at the "Chicken Soup" series of books as she swept all of self help into the dustbin as rubbish, with a few exceptions at the end of the article for "balance."
It was interesting since in this economic period it seems to me that, as the saying goes, "whatever gets you through the day" is worthwhile. Far better pop psychology books than sinking into despair with alcohol and drugs or other problematic behavior. People deal with things on different levels, some deeper than others. If "Chicken Soul" books or Deepak Chopra work for some people, I'm all for it. What is pabulum to some is salvation for others just as what is too cerebral for some is the solution for others. The key is finding what works for the unique individual that is you.
The self help movement started in the mid-1800s, but in its current incarnation started in the depth of the Great Depression of the 1930s, when Roosevelt's social interventions were not helping a lot of people. As the "Depression within a Depression" of 1937-38 (today referred to as a "Double Dip") was starting, people were in need of something to look to for help that was not being satisfied by government programs. Their human need was to rise above their current situation on their own accord. It was then that Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" became a top bestseller. It focused on self confidence and improving attitude, which in turn would lead to better relationships with other people, resulting in less stress and a positive attitude. A few years prior to that "Bill W" (William Wilson) discovered a way out of alcoholism through the premise of mutual help, today's 12 Step Program for addiction recovery. Later in another bad economic era, the 1970s, the phenomenon of pop psychology took off with the book "I'm OK, You're OK" by Dr. Thomas A. Harris using Transactional Analysis.
We are in another economic downturn that doesn't seem to be getting better and no end is in sight in many people's thinking. My belief is that now, more than ever, people need to prepare themselves psychologically for not only surviving but thriving in a difficult era. Our ability to cope with adversity is what will separate us from those who succeed, whatever that may be for an individual, from those who fall into permanent despair and never recover.
Your oppression is in your own mind.
It is irrelevant to me what other people might think of the tools I personally use, developed from having lived through other difficult times, ranging from self talk, mutual help and self help along with large doses of optimism and positive thinking. They work and generally keep me out of the trap of negative thinking. Everyone must figure out what works for them and they might find some solutions in self help books. There are many other ways to do this and I'm not a guru or the best person to ask since what works for me may not work for you. I can only offer suggestions. The most important one is do not let others discourage you from seeking peace of mind, whether they are media writers or people in your life, persevere and seek your own road to what keeps you in balance. Work at it as if your life depends on it...because it does.
Seek your own road to not only survive but thrive in a difficult era.
Today I read an article in the UK Telegraph titled "Why self-help still flies off the shelf" essentially mocking self-help books and referring to them as "shelf-help." The article was laden with that condescending view of many so-called intellects who write in the mainstream media. "I'm smarter than you and if only you would emulate my thinking than you and the world would be so much better off." Her derision was directed mainly at the "Chicken Soup" series of books as she swept all of self help into the dustbin as rubbish, with a few exceptions at the end of the article for "balance."
It was interesting since in this economic period it seems to me that, as the saying goes, "whatever gets you through the day" is worthwhile. Far better pop psychology books than sinking into despair with alcohol and drugs or other problematic behavior. People deal with things on different levels, some deeper than others. If "Chicken Soul" books or Deepak Chopra work for some people, I'm all for it. What is pabulum to some is salvation for others just as what is too cerebral for some is the solution for others. The key is finding what works for the unique individual that is you.The self help movement started in the mid-1800s, but in its current incarnation started in the depth of the Great Depression of the 1930s, when Roosevelt's social interventions were not helping a lot of people. As the "Depression within a Depression" of 1937-38 (today referred to as a "Double Dip") was starting, people were in need of something to look to for help that was not being satisfied by government programs. Their human need was to rise above their current situation on their own accord. It was then that Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" became a top bestseller. It focused on self confidence and improving attitude, which in turn would lead to better relationships with other people, resulting in less stress and a positive attitude. A few years prior to that "Bill W" (William Wilson) discovered a way out of alcoholism through the premise of mutual help, today's 12 Step Program for addiction recovery. Later in another bad economic era, the 1970s, the phenomenon of pop psychology took off with the book "I'm OK, You're OK" by Dr. Thomas A. Harris using Transactional Analysis.
Your oppression is in your own mind.
It is irrelevant to me what other people might think of the tools I personally use, developed from having lived through other difficult times, ranging from self talk, mutual help and self help along with large doses of optimism and positive thinking. They work and generally keep me out of the trap of negative thinking. Everyone must figure out what works for them and they might find some solutions in self help books. There are many other ways to do this and I'm not a guru or the best person to ask since what works for me may not work for you. I can only offer suggestions. The most important one is do not let others discourage you from seeking peace of mind, whether they are media writers or people in your life, persevere and seek your own road to what keeps you in balance. Work at it as if your life depends on it...because it does.
5/31/11
5/30/11
SB1070 Revisited: One Year Later
The challenge goes on...
Memorial Day weekend last year was marked by the anti-SB1070 law protest against the law passed by the Arizona State Legislature and signed by Governor Jan Brewer that took a strong stance against illegal immigration from Mexico. What has happened since then?
According to a study by BBVA Bancomer Research published in November 2010 there are 300,000 less Hispanics in Arizona since the law went into effect. Also the amount of money transferred from Arizona to Mexico is substantially reduced. Since then it is very likely many more have left and the flow of money out has also depreciated. Anecdotally in the central Phoenix area where I live there are far fewer people of Mexican descent evident than a year ago and relationships are changed. It is difficult to quantify how communication is different but interactions between Whites, Blacks (who are allied on this issue) and Hispanics are modified now, not necessarily hostile or suspicious but definitely cautious. This is in everyday interactions ranging from personal to work to public places.
From a legal perspective US District Court Judge Susan Bolton issued an injunction the day before the law was to go into effect stopping major parts of the law. An appeal to the notoriously liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was refused stating that the federal government is likely to be able to establish the law is unconstitutional. In the interim between the two decisions, Obama's US Justice Department sued Arizona to block the law, stomping over the state's rights. This was predictable considering the Statist condition of the United States which is totally against the principles and ideals of America. [See: "This Is Not America | It is now merely the United States..."] Governor Jan Brewer is challenging the 9th Circuit Appeals Court ruling directly to the US Supreme Court, a considerably more conservative body.
Everything has changed but nothing has changed.
On a more practical and realistic level the fact remains that Arizona still has the most porous border of all of the Border States. Although the law caused illegal immigrants from Mexico to become less evident they are still ever present. In actuality the money is now flowing northward in the form of people and drug smuggling and the southern counties have more of a problem than ever. While the counties of Pima and Yuma conveniently choose to ignore the problem, the county directly north of them, Pinal, does not since the situation is now even worse for them.
A recent non-scientific poll by the Arizona Capitol Times asking the question "Should Gov. Jan Brewer use her new authority to call up a volunteer state militia [granted by the State Legislature] to bolster the efforts to stop illegal border crossings" had three choices of answers. The majority response was "Yes. The sooner the better." This is indicative of the overwhelming sense among most White and Black Arizonans that the federal government has done nothing, as promised, to help solve our border problem.
While what I have written may seem that I support SB1070 in totality, let me clarify my position at this juncture. My thought is there is at least one part of the law I specifically do not like and it is the "show me your papers" provision, which smacks right up against the American tradition of our ability to move about freely, which is a constitutional right. There are other provisions I find questionable also. The spirit and intent of the law, to force the federal governments hand out of the states right to defend itself from intrusion, does appeal to my sense of rejecting the unconstitutional encroachment of the federal government. If you question that, study the history of the US since 1913 and the Sixteenth Amendment to discover what is meant by that statement.
Federal Government now is Unconstitutional Centralized Government.
I am satisfied that the entire set of "Birther" laws was quashed by the sensibilities of the new State Legislature, rightly slapping the hand of State Senate President Russell Pierce (author of SB1070) and State Senator Ron Gould. The message of the voters and other legislators to them and their ilk was clear. "It's the economy stupid!" The state had achieved what it needed to do and that was challenge the federal government, particularly this administration, on their overreaching into a centralized government which has been entrenching itself in this country for decades. It is now working it's way through the system via our rule of law. This continues in another form, the Medical Marijuana Act passed by Arizona voters. Now the Obama Administration and Justice Department are threatening to sue state employees who engage in issuing licenses and pursue individuals for lawfully conducting business in what citizens clearly stated they wanted through a legal election process.
What this all really boils down to is that Arizona is an active microcosm of sentiment that is present all across this country. We represent the macrocosm attitudes and views that are growing across this nation that the government and major political parties are out of control. While SB1070 has not yet accomplished solving our illegal border crossing issue, it has set the stage for a showdown against the US Federal Government and the embedded Political Class that reinforces it. The challenge is far from over.
http://youtu.be/kPjR_eQ63gc
Memorial Day weekend last year was marked by the anti-SB1070 law protest against the law passed by the Arizona State Legislature and signed by Governor Jan Brewer that took a strong stance against illegal immigration from Mexico. What has happened since then?
According to a study by BBVA Bancomer Research published in November 2010 there are 300,000 less Hispanics in Arizona since the law went into effect. Also the amount of money transferred from Arizona to Mexico is substantially reduced. Since then it is very likely many more have left and the flow of money out has also depreciated. Anecdotally in the central Phoenix area where I live there are far fewer people of Mexican descent evident than a year ago and relationships are changed. It is difficult to quantify how communication is different but interactions between Whites, Blacks (who are allied on this issue) and Hispanics are modified now, not necessarily hostile or suspicious but definitely cautious. This is in everyday interactions ranging from personal to work to public places.
Everything has changed but nothing has changed.
On a more practical and realistic level the fact remains that Arizona still has the most porous border of all of the Border States. Although the law caused illegal immigrants from Mexico to become less evident they are still ever present. In actuality the money is now flowing northward in the form of people and drug smuggling and the southern counties have more of a problem than ever. While the counties of Pima and Yuma conveniently choose to ignore the problem, the county directly north of them, Pinal, does not since the situation is now even worse for them.
A recent non-scientific poll by the Arizona Capitol Times asking the question "Should Gov. Jan Brewer use her new authority to call up a volunteer state militia [granted by the State Legislature] to bolster the efforts to stop illegal border crossings" had three choices of answers. The majority response was "Yes. The sooner the better." This is indicative of the overwhelming sense among most White and Black Arizonans that the federal government has done nothing, as promised, to help solve our border problem.While what I have written may seem that I support SB1070 in totality, let me clarify my position at this juncture. My thought is there is at least one part of the law I specifically do not like and it is the "show me your papers" provision, which smacks right up against the American tradition of our ability to move about freely, which is a constitutional right. There are other provisions I find questionable also. The spirit and intent of the law, to force the federal governments hand out of the states right to defend itself from intrusion, does appeal to my sense of rejecting the unconstitutional encroachment of the federal government. If you question that, study the history of the US since 1913 and the Sixteenth Amendment to discover what is meant by that statement.
Federal Government now is Unconstitutional Centralized Government.
I am satisfied that the entire set of "Birther" laws was quashed by the sensibilities of the new State Legislature, rightly slapping the hand of State Senate President Russell Pierce (author of SB1070) and State Senator Ron Gould. The message of the voters and other legislators to them and their ilk was clear. "It's the economy stupid!" The state had achieved what it needed to do and that was challenge the federal government, particularly this administration, on their overreaching into a centralized government which has been entrenching itself in this country for decades. It is now working it's way through the system via our rule of law. This continues in another form, the Medical Marijuana Act passed by Arizona voters. Now the Obama Administration and Justice Department are threatening to sue state employees who engage in issuing licenses and pursue individuals for lawfully conducting business in what citizens clearly stated they wanted through a legal election process.What this all really boils down to is that Arizona is an active microcosm of sentiment that is present all across this country. We represent the macrocosm attitudes and views that are growing across this nation that the government and major political parties are out of control. While SB1070 has not yet accomplished solving our illegal border crossing issue, it has set the stage for a showdown against the US Federal Government and the embedded Political Class that reinforces it. The challenge is far from over.
http://youtu.be/kPjR_eQ63gc
5/29/11
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
The first change takes place in your mind...
Gil Scott-Heron died yesterday and his spoken word poetry pioneered political rap and influenced hip-hop music although he was somewhat critical of hip hop artists. He was quoted in the nineties:
"They need to study music. I played in several bands before I began my career as a poet. There's a big difference between putting words over some music and blending those same words into music. There's not a lot of humor. They use a lot of slang and colloquialisms and you don't really see inside the person. Instead, you just get a lot of posturing." [italics mine]
One of my favorite GSH lines is the famous one from "Let Me See Your I.D."
"The first time I heard there was trouble in the Middle East, I thought they were talking about Pittsburgh."
It appeals to me since it reminds me of how self-centered many Americans are regarding the rest of the world in the sense the world begins, ends and revolves around the United States.
In his earlier years he was aware of and foreshadowed the inevitable crash of our consumer culture. One of the most important concepts is his statement in an interview in the nineties with Scott Blumberg "The first change that takes place is in your mind, you have to change your mind before you change the way you live and the way you move."
Like all great artists, his work stands the test of time and is both prescient and relevant today. In that same interview he referred to how Black Americans have been "the only real die-hard Americans here because we're the only ones who carried the process through the process, that everyone else has skipped stages, we're the only ones who marched, carried the Bible, carried the flag, were the ones who tried to go through the courts and being born American didn't seem to matter because we were born American but we had to fight for what we were looking for..."
In his latest work in 2010 "I'm New Here" he refers to coming full circle and is classic in it's beautiful lyricism and simplicity of a solo guitarist as accompanist.
http://youtu.be/eV_astp3BjM
Gil Scott-Heron died yesterday and his spoken word poetry pioneered political rap and influenced hip-hop music although he was somewhat critical of hip hop artists. He was quoted in the nineties:
"They need to study music. I played in several bands before I began my career as a poet. There's a big difference between putting words over some music and blending those same words into music. There's not a lot of humor. They use a lot of slang and colloquialisms and you don't really see inside the person. Instead, you just get a lot of posturing." [italics mine]
One of my favorite GSH lines is the famous one from "Let Me See Your I.D."
"The first time I heard there was trouble in the Middle East, I thought they were talking about Pittsburgh."
It appeals to me since it reminds me of how self-centered many Americans are regarding the rest of the world in the sense the world begins, ends and revolves around the United States.
In his earlier years he was aware of and foreshadowed the inevitable crash of our consumer culture. One of the most important concepts is his statement in an interview in the nineties with Scott Blumberg "The first change that takes place is in your mind, you have to change your mind before you change the way you live and the way you move."
Like all great artists, his work stands the test of time and is both prescient and relevant today. In that same interview he referred to how Black Americans have been "the only real die-hard Americans here because we're the only ones who carried the process through the process, that everyone else has skipped stages, we're the only ones who marched, carried the Bible, carried the flag, were the ones who tried to go through the courts and being born American didn't seem to matter because we were born American but we had to fight for what we were looking for..."
In his latest work in 2010 "I'm New Here" he refers to coming full circle and is classic in it's beautiful lyricism and simplicity of a solo guitarist as accompanist.
http://youtu.be/eV_astp3BjM
5/28/11
5/27/11
We Have Lost Nothing
We are gaining something new...
Our society has lost something that is making many people feel displaced. It is causing a lot of individuals to go through the stages of grief, Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and for the healthiest of us...Acceptance. Everyone at different times and each in his or her own way. Those who have arrived at acceptance understand that we haven't lost anything of value at all. What we recognize is that we have been forever dispossessed of social norms that no longer have validity and outlived their purpose. There is no turning back to return to the old ways no matter how many attempts are made to resuscitate what once was.
What seems to appear to underlie this divestment is the economic crisis and the awareness of the ineffectiveness of the political class. It is the trigger but not the bullet. The cartridge that was fired held shotgun ammo that blasted into little pieces disrupting the entire order of life as we knew it. The economics and politics of our social disorder are the symptoms of the wound and not origination of it. Technology and science are. The paradox is these two fields of endeavor that have advanced so far in recent history are also agents of change bringing us back to a more natural way of living. The most notable of this is the internet allowing people to be freed from cubicle land and constraints of traditional employment to create a new way of living.
Not everyone has arrived at this point of thinking yet, just as the Age of Enlightenment occurred over a number of years, so will this magnificent cultural shift. Some people may languish in the old sphere and possibly never arrive in the new one. This is the source of the impression of no longer being in the corral but instead on the wide open range, the polar opposite of the way we have been trained to become one of the posse. The drift of being untethered is bewildering in a world when the exact opposite has been highly valued and what was stressed we should strive for. This is the seemingly odd juxtaposition of technology and science versus natural thinking and living. A Global Positioning System device cannot guide us to a mental state of mind, only human intelligence and intuition can do that. Hence the sense of dislocation.
What will separate us in society is how we grasp this concept, brave the barely marked trail and forge ahead in contemporary covered wagons. Those that cling to the old will find their grip slipping, making themselves frustrated and angry. Each person has to arrive at their destination in their own caravan. We can help others that instinctively seek it but there is little to do for those that don't.
Our society has lost something that is making many people feel displaced. It is causing a lot of individuals to go through the stages of grief, Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and for the healthiest of us...Acceptance. Everyone at different times and each in his or her own way. Those who have arrived at acceptance understand that we haven't lost anything of value at all. What we recognize is that we have been forever dispossessed of social norms that no longer have validity and outlived their purpose. There is no turning back to return to the old ways no matter how many attempts are made to resuscitate what once was.
Not everyone has arrived at this point of thinking yet, just as the Age of Enlightenment occurred over a number of years, so will this magnificent cultural shift. Some people may languish in the old sphere and possibly never arrive in the new one. This is the source of the impression of no longer being in the corral but instead on the wide open range, the polar opposite of the way we have been trained to become one of the posse. The drift of being untethered is bewildering in a world when the exact opposite has been highly valued and what was stressed we should strive for. This is the seemingly odd juxtaposition of technology and science versus natural thinking and living. A Global Positioning System device cannot guide us to a mental state of mind, only human intelligence and intuition can do that. Hence the sense of dislocation.What will separate us in society is how we grasp this concept, brave the barely marked trail and forge ahead in contemporary covered wagons. Those that cling to the old will find their grip slipping, making themselves frustrated and angry. Each person has to arrive at their destination in their own caravan. We can help others that instinctively seek it but there is little to do for those that don't.
5/25/11
Self Portrait
Opaque and Oblique...
Photo shot with Droid X using negative effect and minimal cropping.
Photo shot with Droid X using negative effect and minimal cropping.
5/23/11
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)