"We Are In This Together"

     This week has been interesting.  Between delving into Sandel's JUSTICE, and considering the merits of of consent in terms of the social contract, I once again relized that anarchy was the only solution. 
     The Diane Reemes show was a travesty of unworthy politicians again today.  The only thing I hate more than her shrill, ponderous voice is when one of those brats makes a comment like, "We are in this together."  And then tries to give us the reason why we should either pay more taxes, or reduce government spending.  The concepts of this aside, one thing I just don't understand (its not that I don't understand it as much as I don't understand how they think someone like me doesn't notice) is how politicians can use the same cliched terminology, or mixed metaphorical phrases over and over and think that anyone is actually comprehending the true issue.  The real problem isn't that no one is listening, the real problem is that they are listening.  What they are listening to—is usless rhetoric and political propoganda. 
     I actually think it is rather funny when NPR has politicians on, because then they almost start to sound like FOX or CNN or any republican commentator of your choosing, but usually with a left leaning tilt.  Interestingly NPR cited a study done by intependent group after their CEOs debacle with a couple fake reps from ACORN, that said in the previous year NPR had far more republican politicians on their programs then democrats.  First, I thought it rather silly that NPR would spend as much time as they did trying to clear their reputation, it made them sound needy.  For almost two weeks there wasn't a day that didn't have a story about wether NPR is biased or not.  Second, this particular statistic doesn't really have any effect on whether or not individuals within NPR are biased.  When you listen to republicans on NPR they are usually being berated with the "tough questions" from whatever host and listeners, while democrats are generally being embraced or asked by Reemes, "Do you think Obama's speech went far enough?"  As if that doesn't show where her sympathy lies.
     God, look, I don't even know why I got into this today, but that had just been weighing on me so I thought I'd put it out.  That last paragraph is an example of why American's are stupid.  Anyone who believes that the Government or any politician, right or left will somehow come to the rescue of the average American is dilusional as fuck. 
     You want to hear my solution to the coming debt and budget crisis.  Simple.  We do what a lot of other nations have done when their government spent too much and gave kick backs to the rich.  We have a revolution.  You may remember Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, and the rest of the royals obese spending habits prior to the French Revolution.  Perhaps you will notice the similarities between the France's intervention in the American revolution just years prior and the massive debt it left with to the United States' intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Libya. 
     The only way to get out of this mess is to say to the world, "Hey we are the people that live here, the politicians, the government has failed us.  They don't represent us, and guess what we are responsible for their debt."  Then we take Obama, Bush, and every current and former member of the house and senate  and send them to the International Court and have them all tried for war crimes, theft, and fraud. 
    Open shut case.  The only one who would be aquitted:  Ron Paul.

Bananarchy: Why Eductation, Sex, Drugs, and Happiness Are All Connected (Part 1)

     Society is a mess these days, and its probably not for the reasons you think.  As youths in America we know first hand the inequities that are served cold on our plates.  For the first say, twelve years of our lives we are taught that the only path for a sustainable future is to give in to the authority of our institutions.   Early on we are graciously bestowed with the knowledge that has been prescribed to keep us functioning in a system designed by others.  A system that today some believe is failing us.  A system that may have been designed to fail us.  One thing that it is hard to deny when you reach higher education is that by the time you are there you are already trapped.  There are few options left, but to accept that you either enter the system as a producer, as a spring in the mechanism, or get out and have no hope of ever living a fulfilled life.  But look at the lives that are promised.  Look at what we get if we accept this program.  We are told that if we study long enough, work hard enough, kiss enough ass, grovel at the feet of our masters long enough, that one day we can have it all.  One day you'll get that four bedroom house with the lawn and the wife, and maybe even the kids, and the dog too.  Today we see the truth.  We see that the system that promised freedom and prosperity was simply a propaganda tool to keep us quiet.  A blind over our eyes so we wouldn't question the process.  As a young person today what do we have to hope for?  What is there left that the elders of this nation haven't already swindled.  How do we take back what is rightfully ours?  Not what is owed to us by them, but what is owed to us by God.

     Most of us probably remember a time early in our eduction when one of the most important things for us to learn was how to stand correctly in line, and how to follow directions.  Sometimes the completion of a task was not even as important as if it was done using the correct process.  One thing I have considered a lot lately is how the imagination of children is so different from that of adults.   I saw a study that tested the genius of a person based on their ability to imagine innovative ways to solve problems.  The study consisted of a test in which the participants were asked how many ways a paperclip can be used.  Groups were separated by age.  Interestingly, the youngest groups always produced the highest number of "geniuses" based on the parameters of the test because children were able to imagine a paperclip in non-conventional ways.  For instance a paperclip that was 30 feet tall would certainly have a variety of uses.  However, older groups could only think about a paperclip in the way that it was designed to be used or the way they understood it to function based on what they knew or had learned.  My theory is that eduction, especially eduction in theoretical fields causes one to learn about something in a preconceived way.  This immediately introduces preconceived notions about how problems can be solved, and the process in which they must be solved in.  This brings up another problem in the eduction system.  Especially in mathematics students are generally taught only one way of solving a problem, and penalized when this process is deviated from even if the correct answer is reached.  This goes back to the problem of obeying authority.  It seems that more focus is put on following directions, obeying authority, and coming to conclusions in the prescribed manor rather than making the right conclusion itself.
     This system works for some.  It no doubt has yielded many very smart children.  But how do we measure how "smart" someone is?  In the United States we do this by a practice of standardized tests.  A process that again rewards those who are best a following instructions and are good at taking tests of this nature.  But what happens to the rest?  Are we to say that if a person can't pass a test he or she is not worthy of a higher education.  Who designed the test?  Can we conclude that everyone who fails a test is an invalid.  My belief is that we cannot.  I believe that some of the most creative, and imaginative thinkers in this country have been left behind.  People that could have brought innovative solutions to pressing problems were never given the right medium to show their true potential.  And why has this happened?  It is because the entire system of eduction in this country is flawed, at every level.  From kindergarten to college the system was created to develop a group of people who think the way they have been programed to think.

      Eduction is a government mandated and government run operation in the United States.  Everyone is forced to pay for it and everyone is forced to go.  From the very beginning we are given no options, no choice.  If you don't go your parents get fined or go to jail, if you don't pay they take your house away.  The real problem is inherit.  If you look at who is in charge then you will see the obvious complication.  You may be thinking, what benefit would the government have in influencing the way that I think.  The answer is every possible benefit.  If you think the way they want you to think then you will never disobey orders, you will never question the system, you will always pay your taxes, go to church, vote down party lines, and you will always play the game.  It isn't a conspiracy, but it is happening.

    My goal isn't to change your mind, and it isn't even to change the way things work.  I simply hope that one day people will see systems of government and society in a different light.  Not as protectors, and stabilizers, but as perpetrators of a silent tyranny.  A tyranny in which we live a life a achievable goals only to realize that the happiness that was promised by the fulfillment of those goals was an illusion.  The question you have to ask yourself is, what would truly make me happy?