Odd Ramblings
The following is an article about the draft. I beg of you all: Spread this thing around as much as you can. Email it to your friends, co-workers, and so on. It is important and represents one of the stinking things that is wrong with this country. Personally I want to clean this place up. I would rather do that than move out of it but I have no qualms about doing so if it means that my children won't be forced into military service.
http://www.vancouver.indymedia.org/news/2004/01/105146.php
I have observed a lot of people lately. I have heard opinions and witnessed individuals spouting ad nauseum. One thing I have noticed is that a lot of people seem to base their opinions directly on their own personalities and their own images of themselves.
To some it is unacceptable to think that a person could be being anything but lying and making excuses because that's the way they are. Some people can be easily cheated because they cannot imagine another person being dishonest because they are honest and have integrity, if not a lot of wisdom.
And some cannot see that other people might act in any way but to be manipulative and coercive because they wouldn't act any other way under the same circumstances. It is beyond all reason that someone could act out of being hurt and confused. It has GOT to be because they are trying to get something out of the situation. It's quite impossible that motives can be anything but selfish and greedy, isn't it? Nothing that person does or has done can be anything but self-serving and misguided, right?
Pfft!
And this kind of thing usually only happens when people of this sort come into contest with others. If no one crosses them them those people are the salt of the earth! Nothing wrong at all with them!
There is another disturbing trend. It is that, no matter what the venue or conversation, the topic of racism is always on-topic and pertinent. There are other topics that get this royal treatment but this one seems more prevalent. And if you speak up about it and try to bring things back on track you are automatically insensitive and a bigot. I have seen this happen far too often and it's really annoying. It's much like calling someone a racist because they can't stand rap.
And now for something completely different..
It has been abundantly clear to me lately that a large portion of life is about taking risks. You can't take a step without risking the fall. You have to put up an ante if you're going to win the pot. And you'll never get something for nothing. Mankind has learned about leverage through its process of cultural evolution. To move the rock you have to exert at least a little effort, even if it might be upon the lever formed through ideas brought about by superior intellect.
Growth involves some sort of sacrifice. Evolving means change and in change some things are destroyed, be it opportunities, ideas, or actual physical objects. Ultimately this does not have to be a bad thing but sometimes it can mean giving up something you hold dear to achieve something greater.
In the same light you can't just sit around and do nothing. If you do you will never get anywhere. It just makes sense. Stagnation is thought to be the lack of change but it is actually just change caused to things that sit still long enough. It is rot. Stagnation is change. It is change that happens when other change isn't made. It is change that is done to you if you don't make changes yourself.
All these apply in so many ways to so many things: Your life, your brain, your body...almost every aspect of life requires change, if for no other reason than to avoid stagnation and atrophy. But I am sure there are far more reasons than that, aren't there?
http://www.vancouver.indymedia.org/news/2004/01/105146.php
I have observed a lot of people lately. I have heard opinions and witnessed individuals spouting ad nauseum. One thing I have noticed is that a lot of people seem to base their opinions directly on their own personalities and their own images of themselves.
To some it is unacceptable to think that a person could be being anything but lying and making excuses because that's the way they are. Some people can be easily cheated because they cannot imagine another person being dishonest because they are honest and have integrity, if not a lot of wisdom.
And some cannot see that other people might act in any way but to be manipulative and coercive because they wouldn't act any other way under the same circumstances. It is beyond all reason that someone could act out of being hurt and confused. It has GOT to be because they are trying to get something out of the situation. It's quite impossible that motives can be anything but selfish and greedy, isn't it? Nothing that person does or has done can be anything but self-serving and misguided, right?
Pfft!
And this kind of thing usually only happens when people of this sort come into contest with others. If no one crosses them them those people are the salt of the earth! Nothing wrong at all with them!
There is another disturbing trend. It is that, no matter what the venue or conversation, the topic of racism is always on-topic and pertinent. There are other topics that get this royal treatment but this one seems more prevalent. And if you speak up about it and try to bring things back on track you are automatically insensitive and a bigot. I have seen this happen far too often and it's really annoying. It's much like calling someone a racist because they can't stand rap.
And now for something completely different..
It has been abundantly clear to me lately that a large portion of life is about taking risks. You can't take a step without risking the fall. You have to put up an ante if you're going to win the pot. And you'll never get something for nothing. Mankind has learned about leverage through its process of cultural evolution. To move the rock you have to exert at least a little effort, even if it might be upon the lever formed through ideas brought about by superior intellect.
Growth involves some sort of sacrifice. Evolving means change and in change some things are destroyed, be it opportunities, ideas, or actual physical objects. Ultimately this does not have to be a bad thing but sometimes it can mean giving up something you hold dear to achieve something greater.
In the same light you can't just sit around and do nothing. If you do you will never get anywhere. It just makes sense. Stagnation is thought to be the lack of change but it is actually just change caused to things that sit still long enough. It is rot. Stagnation is change. It is change that happens when other change isn't made. It is change that is done to you if you don't make changes yourself.
All these apply in so many ways to so many things: Your life, your brain, your body...almost every aspect of life requires change, if for no other reason than to avoid stagnation and atrophy. But I am sure there are far more reasons than that, aren't there?