It's finally over. It is a relief that the election is done and we can move forward without all the ads for at least a little while. That said, it is somewhat alarming just how split this election was. We are truly a divided nation. How can the government do any kind of reform with this wide of a gap? How can anything be accomplished with such a polarized populace?
I congratulate Obama on the win but he is not the guy to unite the country in order to make true and lasting change. Neither was Romney and neither was Gary Johnson or Ron Paul (lots of my friends are Paulies). I actually think all four of those folks had at least something worthwhile to say but they don't have whatever it is that will bring patriots on opposite sides of the aisle together. How do we get that person? Do we need that person or do we, as the people, need to do it in spite of the politicians?
Ponder this question as we go through the next four years and witness stalling, blocking and shenanigans out of both the president and the congress. When will we demand that our leaders focus on the real problems and make real changes that will actually help our country become strong again? How far in debt and decay will the country have to get before it finds "rock bottom" and is motivated to start recovering from its selfish addictions? How long will it take YOU to put aside partisan loyalties, inform yourself and actually participate meaningfully?
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Life
It's a little surreal seeing pictures of the boardwalk in Atlantic City. I was literally JUST on it not even 2 weeks ago and now it is basically gone. Too bad too, it was pretty cool. Storms never cease to amaze me and terrify me. So much power.
My friends Chris and Manika Logue are going through a rough time right now. Their son Ryan is in the hospital. Ryan is such a cool guy. He has muscular dystrophy but is absolutely not held back by it. He is in a wheelchair and is visibly affected by this disease but his spirit, his mind and his resolve are so strong, so incredibly strong that it is hard to even consider him handicapped. He is a model for the rest of us to follow and I am truly blessed to be even a small part of his life. For the last several days, he has been fighting for his life. He is at Vandy Kid's Hospital (unfortunately he has spent a lot of time there in his short life) and is with some of the best docs in existence. Just yesterday he started showing some really strong signs of improvement. All we can say is praise God and Lord keep helping him improve. Meanwhile, his baby sister also got sick and had to spend time at Vandy. When it rains, it pours, eh Chris and Manika! You know, for a lot of folks, kids like Ryan remind them how blessed they are to be healthy. I look at Ryan in a different way, I am blessed to know people like Ryan. He reminds me just how tough human beings can be. He gives me hope that when I am faced with something terrible, I can dig in and find the strength to fight it. We love you guys so much and admire your strength and courage. I only wish there was a way we could help.
Tonight is Trunk or Treat at church. We are dressing as the Smores family again only this time we are also cooking smores. So we are cannibal smores--ooooohhhhhh scary.
I've hit a small lull in business over the past week or so. I had 13 contracts pending at one point. I am down to 6 right now with another on the way (hopefully).
Weichert Realtors, The Andrews Group will be hosting a trivia night fundraiser for St. Jude's in the next few months. I am emceeing the event and will also be creating the questions. It will be a BLAST and we would love to have you. More details soon.
I will leave you with this discussion: In 6 days we elect the man (in this case) that will be president for the next 4 years. Regardless of who wins, what can you do, personally, to make this country better?
My friends Chris and Manika Logue are going through a rough time right now. Their son Ryan is in the hospital. Ryan is such a cool guy. He has muscular dystrophy but is absolutely not held back by it. He is in a wheelchair and is visibly affected by this disease but his spirit, his mind and his resolve are so strong, so incredibly strong that it is hard to even consider him handicapped. He is a model for the rest of us to follow and I am truly blessed to be even a small part of his life. For the last several days, he has been fighting for his life. He is at Vandy Kid's Hospital (unfortunately he has spent a lot of time there in his short life) and is with some of the best docs in existence. Just yesterday he started showing some really strong signs of improvement. All we can say is praise God and Lord keep helping him improve. Meanwhile, his baby sister also got sick and had to spend time at Vandy. When it rains, it pours, eh Chris and Manika! You know, for a lot of folks, kids like Ryan remind them how blessed they are to be healthy. I look at Ryan in a different way, I am blessed to know people like Ryan. He reminds me just how tough human beings can be. He gives me hope that when I am faced with something terrible, I can dig in and find the strength to fight it. We love you guys so much and admire your strength and courage. I only wish there was a way we could help.
Tonight is Trunk or Treat at church. We are dressing as the Smores family again only this time we are also cooking smores. So we are cannibal smores--ooooohhhhhh scary.
I've hit a small lull in business over the past week or so. I had 13 contracts pending at one point. I am down to 6 right now with another on the way (hopefully).
Weichert Realtors, The Andrews Group will be hosting a trivia night fundraiser for St. Jude's in the next few months. I am emceeing the event and will also be creating the questions. It will be a BLAST and we would love to have you. More details soon.
I will leave you with this discussion: In 6 days we elect the man (in this case) that will be president for the next 4 years. Regardless of who wins, what can you do, personally, to make this country better?
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Doom and Gloom and Dr. Who
I am a Doctor Who fan. I have been watching the most recent run of episodes on Netflix. If you are not familiar with the phenomenon, The Doctor is a character that originated on TV way back in 1963. It ran from 1963 until 1989 and then was resurrected in 2005 (the ones I have been watching). It is a very exciting, British sci-fi serial. I don't know that I have necessarily "gotten anything out of it" but I have been entertained and there is one theme that keeps popping up. Humans are a remarkable race and are incredible survivors.
You see, The Doctor travels throughout space and time and even dimensions and no matter where he goes, he is reminded of how resilient Humankind is. I think this is an important message. We keep hearing nothing but doom and gloom--if Obama is re-elected the country will turn into a communist state, if Romney is elected the Christians will revolt, if Paul is elected the country as we know it will cease to exist, Republicans hate poor people, Democrats hate rich people, they all hate Hispanics and Muslims but yet want to cater to their vote. It never ends. We are a quarrelsome, yet resilient species.
The bottom line is this, ALL of them, every single politician is in it for themselves at least to some extent. In the meantime, they can help others but at the end of the day, they are in it for them--period. The other piece of that, we will survive no matter what. Our country will move on. Other countries around the world will move on. It is all cyclical. Other countries may even move "ahead" of us, but we will keep going. Housing prices will rebound, unemployment rates will drop. We will experience a Renaissance of sorts. Then, we will decline again. That's just how it works.
I guess I am challenging you to block out as much of the hysteria as possible and believe in our people, believe in humans and trust that it will all come back around. I believe that there is a greater source of power than us and He is in control and knows whats best. He controls the cycles. You may not believe like me but you cannot deny the cycles. Take a deep breath, do your part to help the system. Work, innovate, think, question and make the world a little better before you die.
You see, The Doctor travels throughout space and time and even dimensions and no matter where he goes, he is reminded of how resilient Humankind is. I think this is an important message. We keep hearing nothing but doom and gloom--if Obama is re-elected the country will turn into a communist state, if Romney is elected the Christians will revolt, if Paul is elected the country as we know it will cease to exist, Republicans hate poor people, Democrats hate rich people, they all hate Hispanics and Muslims but yet want to cater to their vote. It never ends. We are a quarrelsome, yet resilient species.
The bottom line is this, ALL of them, every single politician is in it for themselves at least to some extent. In the meantime, they can help others but at the end of the day, they are in it for them--period. The other piece of that, we will survive no matter what. Our country will move on. Other countries around the world will move on. It is all cyclical. Other countries may even move "ahead" of us, but we will keep going. Housing prices will rebound, unemployment rates will drop. We will experience a Renaissance of sorts. Then, we will decline again. That's just how it works.
I guess I am challenging you to block out as much of the hysteria as possible and believe in our people, believe in humans and trust that it will all come back around. I believe that there is a greater source of power than us and He is in control and knows whats best. He controls the cycles. You may not believe like me but you cannot deny the cycles. Take a deep breath, do your part to help the system. Work, innovate, think, question and make the world a little better before you die.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Great American Lies--Labels
So, I have decided to start a blog series. I realize that there are about 3270598709387509 different blogs out there and that mine will just be one of them. I also realize that most of the topics I am writing on in this series are not "new" or "groundbreaking". I am writing this blog for a few reasons:
1) I like to write. I am not the best writer, but I am not terrible either. Writing about debatable topics helps me to really home in on what I think. It also provides some level of therapy.
2) I love to debate. I think debate is one thing we don't have enough of. We have plenty of argument but not enough debate. I am writing on some topics that will inevitably inspire discussion and debate. I really look forward to that. I just ask that you keep it civil and intelligent.
3) I think more people should voice their opinions on these topics. I think that putting your opinions in words will make you think about the topic and will help you when friends or politicians start in on these topics.
The subject of this series is "Great American Lies." As you can probably glean from the title, I am going to address some things that I feel are lies in our country. Some are societal, "common sense" or "collective wisdom" that are just plain wrong. Some are lies that politicians want you to believe. Some are lies that we tell ourselves in order to block out some painful or uncomfortable situation. Still others are what I would call "lies of convenience". These lies exist to make our lives easier. They streamline our thoughts and allow us to ignore debate and ignore things that may take a little time to work through. All posts in this series will be titled by the lie. I plan on trying to post every Wednesday morning. I would love feedback on the blog or on Facebook where I post them. I really, really want you to keep it civil and free from mean spirited name calling and profanity.
The first lie I am going to address is one of these "Lies of convenience". It has to do with labels. To sum the lie up in one sentence would be something like this: When you have this opinion/stance on an issue/background, you are a Republican/Democrat/Libertarian/etc. Because you are a Republican/Democrat/Libertarian/etc., it is safe to assume you also believe this ______.
This is a lie of convenience because once we label someone, we feel like we know what they are going to say before they say it. It helps us tune out their arguments and allows us to prepare our counters while they are talking. For example, if you were in a discussion with someone that stated "abortion is murder", what would you assume they think about the size and role of government? Most would assume this person is a Republican of some kind and would therefore think that small government, strict constitutionalism, states rights were coming in the discussion. This is an incredibly lazy and dangerous way to approach thoughtful debate. It is actually counter to the whole point of debate. Why even discuss things if you are not going to listen and reply? How can we move forward with new thought and new ideas if we automatically pigeon-hole someone because of one of their opinions?
Unfortunately, these labels don't just attach themselves to stated opinion. If you met someone wearing a UAW t-shirt, what party would you assume they belong to? Why is it shocking to people how conservative Herman Cain is? Why do people automatically assume a Tea Party member is white? If I oppose abortion, why do people automatically assume it is on religious grounds? The labels are EVERYWHERE. They are completely ingrained in our society because it is comfortable to us. If you share some opinion with me and it makes me uncomfortable, it is much easier to say, "Oh, he is just a ____________ and they always think that way." It allows me to ignore your argument and assume that because you are a whatever, I just won't agree with you. And it KILLS intelligent conversation/debate.
And the labels don't stop in discussing political or social topics--look at schools. Schools, especially public schools, are probably the most heinous perpetrators of labelling. If a kid acts up in class repeatedly, he is "assessed". Most of the time, the psychologist is going to attach some kind of label to the kid. It could be ADD, ADHD, ED, LD, or any number of other labels. That kid will have that label for the rest of his school years. Every teacher will get his IEP before they meet the kid. If a teacher sees "ED (emotional disturbance)" on the IEP, they will start having thoughts about that kid before ever meeting him. The teacher will think he or she understands the kid before ever so much as shaking his hand. I think it is ok for a kid with a real problem to have this information precede them. It is fair to the teacher to see the history of that kid and it is only natural that the teacher will have preconceived notions about the kid. My point is that kid will have ALWAYS be fighting this label (if they chose to overcome their issue) or, even worse, the kid will succumb to the label. Sometimes the kid will say things like, "yeah I punched the kid but it wasn't my fault. I have emotional disturbance." Sounds far-fetched but I have seen it happen more than once. Now, extrapolate that argument into society. "Yeah I (insert crime here) but it wasn't my fault, I am a (insert socio-economic or racial or other label here).
My point is simple, we need to lower the influence of the labels. There is absolutely no government program that will help with this. There is no "group" or "club" to help with this. There is no non-profit. It is something that I ask each of you, individually, to work on. Fight the urge to jump to a label conclusion within the first 30 seconds of a discussion. Fight the instinct to hear the label and assume you know all there is to know about a person or group. LISTEN to what they say on each topic and debate intelligently. We do not have enough intelligent debate nowadays because of labels. This can only change with each individual.
What labels are you guilty of using? What labels have you succumb to (you may not even realize it)? Do you think this is even a problem?
1) I like to write. I am not the best writer, but I am not terrible either. Writing about debatable topics helps me to really home in on what I think. It also provides some level of therapy.
2) I love to debate. I think debate is one thing we don't have enough of. We have plenty of argument but not enough debate. I am writing on some topics that will inevitably inspire discussion and debate. I really look forward to that. I just ask that you keep it civil and intelligent.
3) I think more people should voice their opinions on these topics. I think that putting your opinions in words will make you think about the topic and will help you when friends or politicians start in on these topics.
The subject of this series is "Great American Lies." As you can probably glean from the title, I am going to address some things that I feel are lies in our country. Some are societal, "common sense" or "collective wisdom" that are just plain wrong. Some are lies that politicians want you to believe. Some are lies that we tell ourselves in order to block out some painful or uncomfortable situation. Still others are what I would call "lies of convenience". These lies exist to make our lives easier. They streamline our thoughts and allow us to ignore debate and ignore things that may take a little time to work through. All posts in this series will be titled by the lie. I plan on trying to post every Wednesday morning. I would love feedback on the blog or on Facebook where I post them. I really, really want you to keep it civil and free from mean spirited name calling and profanity.
The first lie I am going to address is one of these "Lies of convenience". It has to do with labels. To sum the lie up in one sentence would be something like this: When you have this opinion/stance on an issue/background, you are a Republican/Democrat/Libertarian/etc. Because you are a Republican/Democrat/Libertarian/etc., it is safe to assume you also believe this ______.
This is a lie of convenience because once we label someone, we feel like we know what they are going to say before they say it. It helps us tune out their arguments and allows us to prepare our counters while they are talking. For example, if you were in a discussion with someone that stated "abortion is murder", what would you assume they think about the size and role of government? Most would assume this person is a Republican of some kind and would therefore think that small government, strict constitutionalism, states rights were coming in the discussion. This is an incredibly lazy and dangerous way to approach thoughtful debate. It is actually counter to the whole point of debate. Why even discuss things if you are not going to listen and reply? How can we move forward with new thought and new ideas if we automatically pigeon-hole someone because of one of their opinions?
Unfortunately, these labels don't just attach themselves to stated opinion. If you met someone wearing a UAW t-shirt, what party would you assume they belong to? Why is it shocking to people how conservative Herman Cain is? Why do people automatically assume a Tea Party member is white? If I oppose abortion, why do people automatically assume it is on religious grounds? The labels are EVERYWHERE. They are completely ingrained in our society because it is comfortable to us. If you share some opinion with me and it makes me uncomfortable, it is much easier to say, "Oh, he is just a ____________ and they always think that way." It allows me to ignore your argument and assume that because you are a whatever, I just won't agree with you. And it KILLS intelligent conversation/debate.
And the labels don't stop in discussing political or social topics--look at schools. Schools, especially public schools, are probably the most heinous perpetrators of labelling. If a kid acts up in class repeatedly, he is "assessed". Most of the time, the psychologist is going to attach some kind of label to the kid. It could be ADD, ADHD, ED, LD, or any number of other labels. That kid will have that label for the rest of his school years. Every teacher will get his IEP before they meet the kid. If a teacher sees "ED (emotional disturbance)" on the IEP, they will start having thoughts about that kid before ever meeting him. The teacher will think he or she understands the kid before ever so much as shaking his hand. I think it is ok for a kid with a real problem to have this information precede them. It is fair to the teacher to see the history of that kid and it is only natural that the teacher will have preconceived notions about the kid. My point is that kid will have ALWAYS be fighting this label (if they chose to overcome their issue) or, even worse, the kid will succumb to the label. Sometimes the kid will say things like, "yeah I punched the kid but it wasn't my fault. I have emotional disturbance." Sounds far-fetched but I have seen it happen more than once. Now, extrapolate that argument into society. "Yeah I (insert crime here) but it wasn't my fault, I am a (insert socio-economic or racial or other label here).
My point is simple, we need to lower the influence of the labels. There is absolutely no government program that will help with this. There is no "group" or "club" to help with this. There is no non-profit. It is something that I ask each of you, individually, to work on. Fight the urge to jump to a label conclusion within the first 30 seconds of a discussion. Fight the instinct to hear the label and assume you know all there is to know about a person or group. LISTEN to what they say on each topic and debate intelligently. We do not have enough intelligent debate nowadays because of labels. This can only change with each individual.
What labels are you guilty of using? What labels have you succumb to (you may not even realize it)? Do you think this is even a problem?
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