The Art of Living: It Requires Compotence

           Lately I have been horribly stuck. So many thoughts, too many things to write about. I tried to write a post after the election, but could not because as angry as I was about politics, I could not put my finger on what exactly was upsetting me. However, after listening to an NPR interview yesterday with Bernie Sanders it finally came to me, clear as the cold crisp morning I find myself writing this on. One point he made during the interview, in relation to our last election cycle, had to do with how the candidates ran against each other. He aptly pointed out they were not running on ideas or calls to action, but who could shoot better, who knows how to castrate pigs, and a host of other ridiculous notions that have nothing to do with anything going on in our nations capital. This gets to the core of my anger, at our politicians local to federal and at my fellow citizens. I am tired of feeling like I am better than the people who are essentially running my life. And so should you.

         This phenomenon is happening at every level of government. In my city, there are stories highlighting the juvenile antics perpetrated by our alderman, without embarrassment or remorse I should add, almost every day. Just today, the same newspaper quoted our state's assembly Speaker Robin Vos dissing the new owner of the Milwaukee Bucks simply for greeting the President of the United States of America. Then you have said President of the United States of America posturing with the legislative side of our government, like a bitter disrespected uncle, with the our congress posturing back like a 5 year old child being asked to wear something they irrationally disapprove of and threatening their said disrespected uncle with a giant tantrum. However, the giant tantrum effects not only the uncle but the whole entire world. But whatever. We are fine with our politicians behaving like silver-back gorillas and screeching harpies. As long as they hit the center of the target in their crappy campaign commercials, know how to castrate pigs, threaten others or make a poor effort at disguising how rich they actually are when they pander to the middle class and poor. (Yeah that last one was aimed at the Democrats) They do not get off on telling us their plan, giving us their call to action, or making a compelling logical and reasoned argument for their moral standards or ideology. Somewhere along the way, we stopped demanding competence and started being entertained by their plan to destroy their opponent, and relish in  their hatred of said opponent.

          My anger resides in the fact that we are ignoring the problem, or problems, that are very much plaguing our society. The problems that realistically have the potential to create utter catastrophe. These problems cross party lines, lurking in every corner of the world. And, may I ask where are we? What is our government doing to protect us? That is a big fat nothing. They are participating in their own soap opera of playground fights, cliques, and childish antics. The scary part, is that sometime a long long time ago in a far away land, the first sparks of civilization were lit. Hunter-gatherer Tom realized that himself and familial unit had a better chance of survival and perpetuation of species if he got together with hunter-gatherer Dick and his group. After a while hunter-gatherer Harry, was like, "Whoa, I gotta get in on this. My favorite breeding partner was just killed by a saber-tooth tiger, and Tom and Dick seem relatively safe in their larger number, so I better join them." Thus, the very simplistic and short version of how civilization began. So, what they realized is that they would have to compromise and cooperate a certain amount to live a much safer life, with the happy possibility of a more consistent food supply, relative to what they had. What I am hearing from our politicians, locally and at the federal level is that on the cusp of 2015 we not longer can, nor understand how to do this and that the masses are really cheering this on. Furthermore, they cannot even act with a modicum of decency towards each other in the process. Which is why it can no longer happen in the great United States of America, the original "government by the people, for the people and of the people." Or, did Lincoln have that wrong 150 years ago after we slaughtered our brothers, cousins, and neighbors for what? Oh yeah, rigid, uncompromising, horse manure ideology.

         For my whole adult voting life, I keep hearing things like, "Well, I am going to vote for so-and-so because he/she seems cool. Like I could really sit down and have a beer with them." That statement makes me want to vomit. There is fine line between relate-able politician and crazy drunk guy who has no composure. Who sounds like the dufus he/she is. Listen, I love getting beers with my friends, but that drunk guy hitting on us better not be my local politician. Unfortunately it seems to be getting a little too real. (Ahem Palin Family brawl, politicians with colloquial speech and mannerisms that just scream "Hello world, I am Hillbilly Dan from BFE, I care not about anything but my own grandiose ideas and nature) I want my politicians to be better than that. No more Huey P. Longs, no more Senator Joseph McCarthy's. NO MORE HICK DEMAGOGUES. What has your politician done for your community or yourself lately. How did they go about it and who did they alienate? I am happy that the crazy mom on the corner identifies with Sally Anderson, the candidate for the local election, but Sally Anderson is crazy, has identified herself clearly as crazy. Surely that is off-putting to crazy mom on the corner? Bachelor business owner Bob totally understands where misogynistic candidate Greg is coming from, he hates the rest of his platform, but Bob can totally get behind Greg's belief in where the woman's place lies. Despite the fact the Greg is an utter idiot, he will still get bachelor Bob's vote.

           My wish list, for politicians consists of intellectual curiosity and honesty. Articulate, well spoken, and genuine. What I am tired of, are the chest thumping ignoramuses and the screechy cave women who are the antithesis of statesmen and women. They have been hired by the American people to perform a job, I could care less if I want to sit down and have a beer with them. That is the least of my worries. I want them to be better than me. I want them to be better than you. They have an important job. I am tired of going to work everyday, then coming home and realizing that I have navigated the terrain of daily life better than the people who are running the country, our states, and cities. That I have treated people more just and civil. That I not only had to compromise at work but also at home, for the sole purpose of making both entities run the best possible way. Realizing that because, even though I had to give up on something, in the long run it will ascertain better results for what is most important. And if you are reading this, think of all the things you have done today, yesterday, the week before, to get your business, the company you work for, or your family to run successfully or to keep your life running smoothly. Because, being a statesman is not about blindly falling on your sword to rest on your laurels, or protect a rigid ideology when said ideology was not meant to be rigid in the first place. It is not about relating to a candidate on a personal level, it is about picking someone who is going to do the best job possible. It is about reconciling everyone's needs, wants, and desires to create the most beneficial outcome for all. If Tom, Dick, and Harry, in their finite hunter-gatherer minds can realize this, I am at a loss as to why modern day American politicians find the concept so difficult. Be better than that-

The Soul Destroying Mission

            Sometimes I fear that our driving skills and the comment sections of online articles are an indicator of the acceleration of the decline of the human race. People no longer pay attention to what they are doing on the roads hurtling forward in thousand pound death machines without a care in the world. If you read a comment section you'll see a variety of issues, from abhorrently poor reading comprehension skills to outright wickedness. Trolling aside, we are assholes in general. Though  in most of my immediate and personal interaction with others, I am often reassured that maybe things are not so bad. Then, I try to sell concert tickets on Craigslist.

              Here I am, you know me if you are reading this, sitting on 4, not 1 or 2 or 3, but FOUR tickets to a sold out show in Chicago that I no longer plan on attending, mostly because if I do, I will only be using 1 of the said tickets. (Sadly I listen to music that definitely does not interest my husband, or most friends for that matter.) So, in my naive mind I set out on this venture believing the following: This is going to be easy, it is a sold out show, electronic tickets. Meaning I just have to forward a simple email to the potential buyer who can send me the money electronically. We never have to meet, therefore, I do not have to fear being kidnapped, raped, and dismembered by some weirdo perusing Craigslist expressly for that reason, I do fully believe all of that is avoidable though. How horribly and soul destroying this logic proved.

              It was not a simple transaction and people were actually mean. Not only were they mean, the mere mention of the fact that they were electronic tickets and not "hard copies" sent them on indignant tirades aimed squarely at my character and apparent stupidity at the notion that I must be a fool to think that I could trick them into my scam and web of lies. Because, apparently I am selling these tickets to multiple parties, sitting on a pile money laughing while victim upon victim is denied access from said concert. To them, my next step would be to put the money in some sort of offshore account, while I set up my new digs on a remote Caribbean island, where I will spend the rest of my life living in the lap of luxury subsidized by all my ill gained concert ticket money.

               I am not sure why this is bothering me as much as it is. Do I really want to go to the concert, kind of, but I will be seeing the band a month later with my fantastic sister-in-law and her husband, probably the only 2 people on the planet who like similar music and going to shows with me. The fact that I bought the tickets, thinking I could entice a few friends to a free concert does not bother me, since it is at least the third time this has happened. It was the attack on my character by strangers who just assumed I was the kind of person who would screw them over. That is what bothers me. I consider myself an honest and relatively straight forward person. If you know me, I have the unfortunately talent of wearing every emotion that I am feeling at every moment directly on my face. I also hate being judged and I have always wanted people to like me, desperately. This whole Craigslist debacle has thrown in my direction all of my social fears in one fell swoop. Aside from all of that, it has sadly been a confirming experience in relation to my feelings of my fellow human beings. That we are more skeptical, un-trusting, willfully mean, and prone to disliking and judging others we come into contact with more than ever before.

                Now every person on AIRBNB, or Craigslist, or our Uber driver is out to kill us, rape us, and dismember us. I am not saying that we should not remain vigilant or suspicious, but there is a line between hostile mistrust and healthy skepticism that we seem to have a hard time distinguishing. We hear the horror stories on a daily basis of the naively trusting being taken for a ride down the advantage highway. Grandpa is sending all of his money to a Nigerian prince, and our cousin's friend spent their paycheck on tickets from a "girl" in Kenosha who sold a bunch of e-tickets as a scam and they were not allowed into the concert. That woman on welfare is just abusing the system buying crab legs on food stamps and that man on disability and medicaid is just selling his Oxycontin making a giant profit. This just turns us into at the very least aggressively misguided in our interactions to establish our "positions", at worst, just plain bullies.

             So, if we believe that everyone is equally awful until proven otherwise, where does that leave us? We do live in a hostile world, that is a fact, but what are our real threats? I have had some amazing experiences with my fellow human beings throughout the world. Strangers in small pubs in Norther Ireland, locals in Paris buying you dinner because they are stoked you came into their neighborhood restaurant, homeless people in San Diego smiling at you and wishing you good day even though you did not have a dollar to give them, and a Guatemalan taxi driver who takes you to his favorite restaurant and lets you use his cell phone to call back to the states because you gave him a chance to show you his country through his eyes. Not to mention the AIRBNB guests who have stayed at our place, or us staying at their place, giving us a glimpse into what makes them tick. I really could go on. But, if I treated everyone online with aggressive affirmation that, by God, they will not screw me over, or in person for that matter, there are so many things that I would have missed out on in life because that attitude is off-putting and who would want to open themselves up to a person like that? One of the biggest problems we face is the fact that we no longer have to fight for our survival, that is another blog post I will get into later, but it is also one of our biggest blessings. We do not really have to worry if the wine we buy is filled with a weird combination of things other than wine, or if an outlaw will appear out of the woods to slit our throats and steal our horses. There are big things now that we have to worry about though, that in the past we could have never imagined. Things that we can only overcome with the help of each other. We are a connected world, for the good and the bad, we need people to trust other people. We need other countries to trust other countries, and the like. We need to identify the real enemies, but we need to remain friendly and open. Sure there are dark entities amongst us, but if we allow them to take over our world view, then we are in danger of falling divided and alone.   
  

My Generation

      Another day, another handful of negative missives bitterly complaining about the Millennial Generation. We are rude, arrogant, know-it-alls. We wear awful cloths, have too much education, too little education. We are too over-zealous and driven at work, while inexplicably lazy and entitled at the same time. If there is anything wrong in the great wide world, or just in our own communities, apparently it is totally and utterly the fault of a generation who ironically lacks any sort of power, position, or wealth. If the devil and anti-Christ were summoned, the first to be blamed will be the generation of 80 million, 18-33 years, if we are not already the devil and anti-Christ combined. These negative screeds are not only churlish and childish, sometimes they are so off base I am confused by the disgust our parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and older cousins possess towards us.

    I not only take these personally because I am a millennial, but because I fall into the older bracket of the generation who experienced the brunt of the economic downturn. If you are shaking your head at my "entitlement complex" shake away. You are right, no I did not lose a house, or my retirement fund. And no, I did not have to declare bankruptcy or get my boat repossessed. And you know why, because I probably will never have the opportunity to acquire all that, especially on credit. What I lost was my job, the ability to be at a place in my career I deserve, any sort of respect from my Millennial hating mentors, and most devastatingly the idea of safety and security within our great American economic sphere. So here I sit, in one of my multiple jobs, looking at a younger generation and hoping it works out better for them. They they will not get cast under the tires of the run away bus like I did at 26. That my generation or anyone older will not disparage them at every turn, mocking their dreams and desires as that of a the lesser. Constantly degrading anything and everything associated with the time period they were born, while grouping everyone together as bad apples.

    I work with a lot of and am clearly friends with many 18-33 somethings. What I have seen from them is the importance with which they value their family and friends.Valuing experiences over their next BMW, and lets face it, they are not the ones making the decision to lay-off workers over unsustainable profits for shareholders. I see young lawyers who, yes are driven by doing what they love. Passionate teachers and coaches who leave their all with those they influence. I know millenials who proudly create new tools and technology. I see marketing analysts and human resources managers who get up every day like their older co-workers, loyally providing for the company they work for, regardless of how loyal the company is to them. Furthermore, I see young mothers and fathers who are ridiculously attentive to their children, their health, and the betterment of this world.

    What I do not see are poorly dressed slobs, who demand something for nothing. I do not see soulless drones who text and tweet their way through the day. The only entitlement I see is the demand for respect and that is not something so strange. I mean for God's sake, I am 32, married, own a home, a car, have multiple jobs, pay back my student loans every month, is there nothing good about this? Is it so offensive to want a little bit of respect? Or my friends who have children, and live a generally good and loving life. Is that not respectable? We go to church, we don't go to church, we have homes, we rent, we go on vacation and visit our families and vice versa. You get what I am saying, it is not so different from Generation X or the "'tweeners" or Baby Boomers. What I see less of are articles written by millenials complaining about how the Booomers left us with massive loads of debt. How the tweeners ran amok in our economy like bulls in the proverbial china shot. No, we are a forward facing generation and I am sorry, but not sorry that we want to move forward and do better. Not just for ourselves but for our children and others that come after us, because we are not so shortsighted to see that an indictment against them will be an indictment against us. So, the next time you older generations take to you computer to tackle the "problem generation" remember who was at the helm of everything in our most formative years.  

Thinking Critically

    The past few weeks, I have attempted to keep up with the growing controversy related to the new AP US History curriculum put into effect this year. One reason is because, well, I love history and am a total dork about it. But, the second and more poignant reason is the fact that 500 kids walked out of their high schools in Colorado to protest their school boards attempts to "monitor" the course curriculum and materials, as well as censor the general gist of what they felt needs to be emphasized. Additionally, having been blessed with a TA-ship in grad school, in the Ethnic Studies department no less, the consequences of such controversy has a tremendous amount of importance to the future generations of our country, and their ability to learn, thrive, and more importantly critically think in more ways than one.


     If you are unfamiliar with the issue, to put it simply, most conservatives hate the new curriculum believing it is too "America Hating" and the liberals are offended by this notion and I believe rightly so. During my brief stint in the Ethnic Studies department, I encountered a bitter hatred for hearing the stories that make up our America as we know it today. For every over-achiever or apathetic soul (they were mandatory credits) who I encountered there was one hostile individual who refused to even remotely acknowledged parts of history, completely on to the fact that I was a subversive individual hell bent on destroying America's reputation by spreading lies about how we treated Native Americans and later on immigrants. (I was being facetious with that last part.) As someone who loves to learn and believes intellectual curiosity to be the utmost virtue, I was completely and utterly insulted by these haunting souls. Even more so, I was saddened by the fact that they would not debate/discuss their own idea in discussion with me, that they took facts and evidence as flippant suggestions, and that they were totally never going to achieve what I feel is the most important goal of college. Critical thinking and confronting uncomfortable situations with the poise, grace and intellectual capability of Edmund Burke. (Ok that last one is a pipe dream, even for me) Critical thinking competency serves us well in our everyday lives, it is essential to our success and survival in our present world. What better way to develop this skill than in the humanities?


   In my personal life I have made many horrible mistakes, now I might not have given a native population highly susceptible to the outside world's diseases blankets that were riddled with small pox germs, but there are plenty of situations I am still disappointed in myself with if not out right embarrassed by. But, I learn from them, still. Acknowledging these past mistakes means that in the present, as well as future, I can recall and learn for them. They remain in the recesses of my mind, ready to be pulled to the forefront when confronted by an uncomfortable situation to remind me of how better to conduct myself with understanding and humility. If we do not acknowledge faults within ourselves, we are forever doomed to behave the same, not matter our outcomes. No matter where we want to go or what we want to do. Our great nation is no different. We are a young country compared to many and like most there have been bumps along the way. But there have also been amazing times of greatness.


   So the College Board describes their new curriculum as a, "framework for conveying the content and skills typically required for college credit and placement." People of America, I taught your college student as a TA, they were no where near this goal as 19 and 20 year old sophomores. I think it is a great goal for kids who want to take the extra steps of taking AP classes. However, many conservative groups across the country see it differently. To say they are threatened by this is so comically short sighted in the realm of anti-intellectualism, I would laugh if it did not shatter my heart to its true and utter core. I have always found this line of thinking distasteful because it follows a well rehearsed path of criticism that is totally paradoxical to critical thinking in and of itself. A good example the proposal, thankfully tabled, by a school board in Colorado after the student protest. It included a review of the text and course plans to ensure that they, "promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free-market system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights." Ironically it would seem they are seeking to replace what they believe to be one ideological doctrine with another. I can just picture Barry Goldwater nodding with approval from his grave.


    That is the crux of my whole argument. You can no more "teach" or indoctrinate a student on citizenship, patriotism, or blind obedience to authority than you can make fish live on land and a deer under water. These are concepts borne from our everyday experiences in life reconciled with the knowledge we obtain, be it at home, in the neighborhood, at school, in history class or math class. They ebb and flow through our minds to varying degrees year after year, month after month. I consider myself extremely lucky to be born in America, despite its history. I know it is a great country and that is why I am patriotic. I love my neighborhood and the people I deal with, which is why I in turn strive to be a good steward of citizenship. I also value our government, which is why I will never adhere to blind obedience to authority. It is a grave mistake to dispossess the youth of our nation the ability to develop their own thoughts and ideas based on their private experiences and grasp of the knowledge they receive. We cannot fear knowledge or intellectual curiosity obtained through our own devices. It will be the downfall of our great experiment.  

Word

    With the recent suspension of Bill Simmons from ESPN, which I think is a total load of bullsh*#, (#freebillsimmons) I started thinking more about words and the potential and real power they hold over their audience. If you are unawares of the story, he was suspended for 3 weeks for calling Roger Goddell a liar, essentially calling a spade a spade. But, I digress. ESPN is paid a massive sum by the NFL, it is a private company and they have a right to deal with the situation that clearly could have an effect on their business. Ironically, very much like the whole Phil Robertson being suspended by A&E for his cold declaration of thoughts on homosexuality. Both men said their peace, suffered the consequences of remarks in a private manner and the situation will  be forgotten no matter how many people think either man was unjustly treated for stating opinions. For some reason, we tend to forget that the first amendment does not protect us from the consequences of our free speech in the private world, it only makes clear we have a right to say what we feel in the public sphere without fear of prosecution from the government.

     But, what happens when those who use their speech for utterly irresponsible purposes, under the guise of beliefs, ideology, campaigning, general demagoguery and the likes without any sense of consequences? How can we as an educated society not hold them responsible for their irresponsible use of oratory or written practices? Because lately we are just letting people spout off large piles of virile male cow dung without proper responses and that is dangerous. I am guilty of letting is slide for sure. Why start an issue when facts, truth, compassion or empathy no longer matter in forming our ideas of the world at large? It is like we have reduced ourselves to the middle ages, where we let people tell us what we should believe. Here is where the issue is really starting to bother me, it is getting to the point where we are letting people outright LIE to us and those around us with not much more than a shrug of the shoulders. If it is not an outright lie, it is the most ignorant unintelligible idea ever being uttered with no challenge in sight. This is DANGEROUS. This is how angry mobs start, it is how fighting, wars, and persecution begin. I am not being an alarmist, go pick up a history book. Read about the Salem witch trials, listen to an Adolf Hitler speech in 1933. Why do you think places like China and Russia restrict certain forms of speech? The ultimate paradox of words, the have the great potential to create knowledge, but they also have to great potential to cause great harm to the human race.

     I am bringing this up simply to remind us that words have tremendous power. We need to wield them wisely and justly. Fresh from reading an article about present day negative Muslim sentiments in American society, (because apparently we no longer can distinguish bad guys from good guys. Also there are A LOT of despicable people in the world who call themselves a Christian or a Jew, does not make all of them bad. However, apparently some of us does not posses the logic to go that far.) I thought this post was even more apropos than ever. From the completely ignorant Oklahoma State Senator calling the religion a "Cancer that needs to be cut from the world." To the Kenosha lady I had to great pleasure to disagree with a few years back who refused to believe what she thought the religion practiced to be wrong, and it was very very very very very wrong. (By the way I was fresh off a course about the Crusades and a family member conversion to the religion, she was out of her league in this argument.) What pained me the most in this conversation, aside from the fact that she had no facts, was that she using what her "pastor" told her as a defense. Clearly her "pastor" was either ridiculously ignorant of the facts himself or was out right lying, which I am more prone to believe. Like the Oklahoma Senator, or any other politician for that matter, it has been practice du jour for them as of recent to incite dark emotion to elicit votes or followers. From Michele Bachmann to Debbie Wasserman Shultz (I might lean liberal, but took great offense at her light reference in comparing the state of WI to an abused woman.) the dark shit oozing from their upper orifices in wholly irresponsible.

    Words equal power. Words call people to action. Lately, we the people, have not be very discriminatory on who, what, and why we are listening. We take celebrities, with negligible education, who feign knowledge on a subject at face value. We argue with our doctors, dentists, lawyer, and what not because we've "heard" differently from somewhere else. We spread vitriolic articles, blog posts, and manifestos without stopping and taking the time to think of what they are actually saying. We ignore real facts because they do not jibe with what we want to believe and we do not question those who play our emotions like a fiddle during a square dancing session. Words can be dangerous. Read them critically, write them contentiously, speak them justly, and share them warily. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.      

Deep Thoughts from Wino Wednesday's

     Wednesday night happens to be the night of one of my most cherished long standing traditions, which I do not have many of these days. In fact, it currently happens to be my only long standing tradition, which is probably what I look forward to it so much. It is Wednesday night with the girls. A night were we usually workout, eat, drink wine, and totally lay everything on the table in mostly reassuring discussions. Last nights topics happens to be one of my favorites, mostly because I obsess about the topic. It is a topic borne out of frustration and I was given the opportunity to hear others opinions on a problem people rarely admit to. I will title the conversation hence forth as, "How does one shit rainbows?" Come on people, you all know what I am talking about.

      Last night there were 3 different ladies, with three totally different life experiences. Different things effect us and that is why the conversation was just frustratingly therapeutic in a rich way. We all just simply wanted to know why it seems that some people just shit rainbows, all the time, all day, every day. From the opposite sex who casually walks about their life with just explosive diarrhea of rainbows (although I am pretty sure when my husband married the woman who walked under a thousand ladders, broke a million mirrors, was a horrible person, probably Hitler, in a past like, his luck, karma and ability to "shit rainbow" was quashed. Sorry!), to the acquaintance of FB with posts equating their life to something like skipping through a field of daisies while squirting out a rainbow with every step. (Though we all know these people to be frauds, it is still frustrating how obstinate they are about admitting adversity.) To the coworker or friend who love their job/life/kids/world so much they are marking everything up with their stupid rainbows. They never get laid-off, never fight with their kid of significant other, everything is always coming up roses.

   What it seems to boil down to was that everyone wants success in their own way. Wanting your own success does not in anyway diminish happiness for other peoples success. It just gets frustrating watching it "happen" for everyone but yourself. For us, it was more about wondering when it was our turn? When would it be our time to shit rainbows for once? Everybody's success is different, some is fleeting and some sticks around for life. Sometimes it seems like days, weeks, months and years that we are floating around in life's not so pleasant excrement just waiting, working, searching for a glimmer of hope and color. Sometimes hard work is rewarded, sometimes nepotism, some time lies and manipulation, and sometime it is just frustrating when everyone around you seems to be winning but you. I think acknowledging as much actually sets you a little more free to search than you were before. It allows you to proceed with change. Success is not always tangible or materialistic. My 2 friends are raising 3 kids with the ridiculously bests personalities. Those kids reflect the love, warmth, and openness that resides in their homes and that is a giant success.

   I think in retrospect, a big difference is that three of us are very authentic souls. We have a hard time grinning and bearing it through gritted teeth. When people hurt us they know, when we are hurting we are not ashamed, and when we fail it is for most to see. We have known each other for a decade, and we not only wear our hearts on our sleeves for ourselves, but for everyone else. Not everyone does that, and that is also certainly OK. But sometimes it is comforting to know others struggle along side of us, especially if it can be a shared experience. We can learn and help each other. We can share love, pain, and happiness. (We can also share wine and the inexplicable experience of watching Sharknado) We might still be searching for something but at least we are searching together and that itself is a rainbow. Our lives might not be perfect, we might not know where we are going, or how to get out of Bayview for that matter, but at least we still have hope that things are out there for us. For everyone out there, even if we think we are failing at times for a day, weeks, months, or years most of our failure is borne out of our own perception. Who knows, we might even be shitting rainbows to other people.

Plight of the Refugee

 
    If you have not heard about the plight of the Yazidi people in Iraq by now you need to. If you do not know the general state of the refugee world, that should be a crime. Many American's have this uncanny knack to just avoid all bad in general, including the news. I say, why? When John F. Kennedy was elected to the presidency in 1960, many can recall one simple sentance from his innagural address, "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." But to really know what he is trying to convey, you have to read his whole address. He was essentially asking for a new world, with law and order, with cooperation and prosperity. Most of all, he wanted his fellow Americans to not only participate in this new world, he wanted them to have a hand in creating it. What a better way to create that dream than by helping our fellow man in need, no matter how near or far. Our difference do not make us immune to the most common of human emotions, fear, suffering, sadness, joy, and happiness. Kennedy was predicting, in the dawn of the this globalized era, that Americans would have to play their part in order for the world to prosper. Do we have problems in our country? Most decidedly yes, can we overcome them and help others, definitely. But will we be able to sustain our success in a globalized world with increasing isolation of knowledge and understanding of the worlds problems? No.

     We have so many rights and privileges it is hard for us to even comprehend just fighting for the simple right to survive. Beyond the right to survive, it is to survive in the way we fought for over 200 years ago. To be the makers of our own destiny, whether that be continue practiced religions, remain the master of our households without fear of what is outside, or simply, to go to school and get an education to help our family or country. The right to survive is not something that is granted around the world. It is so easy for us to say it is not our problem, to dismiss their plight because they are so far away. If we (and I include the EU, Australia, and our other Eastern Hemisphere allies, Japan, South Korea, etc) refuse to stand up to tyranny now, if we leave it unchecked, then what will we do when it comes knocking on our door, as it did on September 11, 2001, or with the recent downing of flight MH17.      

     When you look at something or someone in need and no longer see it as humanities' duty, but a "political problem" you have lost the heart and soul of a human being. When we can reduce a group of peoples suffering down to "not our problem" you have lost the right to reach out when your time of  need comes. I have always been flabbergasted and disgusted with our nations history to be so angry, bitter, and content with allowing others around the world to remain at the mercy and struggle of their unstable regions. It is like saying, "#Blessed" because you were born in the U.S. You were not "#Blessed." It is high time we realize we are freaking LUCKY. We are not so special that when we were some little seedling we got to chose, so lets stop pretending we are better simply for being American. The worlds problems are our problems, and in modern times have always been our problem. What sets humanity apart from the animal kingdom is our empathy, sympathy, and higher thought. Lets restore what makes us the superior being and have some compassion when looking at the plight of others, especially refugees. Americans should WANT to deal with this, we should WANT to help. No one is forcing us to, but how can we turn a blind eye to this suffering. Many believe we are "Christian Nation" if that is true than we need to make our sacrifice to help these people in need. If we don't, if we cannot muster the courage to reach out, then we need to stop pretending to be something we are not.

     
    Kennedy's dream for this long forgotten address, "So let us begin anew--remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." Let us prove ourselves worthy of the title of the Greatest Nation. Let us become a beacon of hope, instead of hording it for ourselves. Only when we become brave enough to stand up to evil will we begin to feel the true meaning of freedom and liberty. Kennedy's vision inspires me, it is what being an American means to me. To see the fear in the eyes of the Palestinian child or the tears of relief and profound sadness in the eyes of the Yazidi who escaped, the distended bellies to the Somalian's feeling starvation and Al-Shaabab, the continued slaughter in South Sudan, and the children risking life and limb from Central America hoping for a life away from drugs, gangs, violence and enduring poverty makes it difficult to really sit in my comfy house every night safe and snug.

 But that is what unites us human beings. When we are united in suffering and triumph, only then are we free. It is Kennedy's true call to arms that I will leave you with, because it is more important now than ever, "Now the trumpet summons us again-not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need--not as a call to battle, though embattled we are--but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"--a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself. Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?" If we can't do it now, then when can we? We  owe more to each other as fellow human being than we will ever realize.


(On a side note, I can't even search for pictures of children from the Gaza strip because it is to graphic and horrifying to look at)