Balanced History

There is currently a movement going on to ban recognition of anyone from history who by today’s standards would be seen as a bad person, regardless of the great things they may have also done. One example is that some people want to remove George Washington’s name from schools and other sites because he was a slave owner. This is a dangerous thing. To judge the past by the perceived justice of today is not something anyone should do. Is it bad that Washington owned slaves? By today’s standards, Absolutely. By the standards of his day… No.

We as a people and as a society evolve. Our standards of good and evil evolve. That is a great thing! However, we need to let the past be the past. We cannot improve the present, let alone the future, if we are so busy attacking ghosts. We need to learn from the past, of that there is no doubt, but we also need to let go of our own guilt, hate, and victimhood of how things are now due to the past in order to be able to create effective change. If we are so focused on changing what happened in the past, we cannot focus on what needs to change now. If you don’t like how you are treated, find a way to make people treat you how you want to be treated. Yes, I know easier said than done and not everyone will see beyond face value. However, if you don’t affect change yourself, why should anyone else change?

We have to admit that we are all flawed. I know some of you are thinking “Well duh! I know that!” and some of you are thinking “I’m not as flawed as you are!” Guess what… Those are flaws. That is entirely your ego talking. If you truly want to admit you are flawed, you should have thought about what flaws you know about way back in your mind that you try to hide from everyone, even from yourself.

Without being able to shut off your ego and admit that you too aren’t perfect, you will never affect change in yourself nor in the world around you. Will you be thought of in two hundred years by your ancestors the same way we are now being told we should think of George Washington? Odds are you will be. In two hundred years the world will be an entirely different place with entirely different morals and societal standards. All you can do is try to do great things and improve the world so that your “bad deeds” as seen from the future, are outweighed by the good things you have accomplished. Kind of like George Washington who was integral in our separation from England, winning the Revolutionary War, setting up the foundation for The United States of America, and laying the path for all the amazing things we have done since. So, yes, George Washington was a slave holder. But he himself laid out the path for a nation that fairly soon after, abolished slavery.

Dreamt of Philosophy

It’s interesting how life and science fiction can help you learn more about humanity, its flaws, and its greatness.

I’ve been spending time with a new friend who has been having a rough… life. Through my friend’s eyes, I am seeing more and more of the subtle messages that have long been in both my real life and in the Science Fiction that I enjoy, in new or more in depth ways. This is, to me, why community is so very important. If we only see the world through our own filter, or through the filters of the same sources, without change we can become so complacent with our world view that we can no longer see anything outside of what we expect to see. To quote The Bard “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Those words are always on my mind, now so even more. Shakespeare knew so very long ago, that one singular point of view will always prevent one from seeing the entire picture!

How have you challenged your point of view lately?  What lessons have you learned to expand your dreamt philosophy?

So, you want to blame guns?

So you want to blame guns?

Let me ask you this, my dear students. How many of you have bullied someone this year? How many people have you spread rumors about? How many times have you posted on social media that someone should “just die”? “Kill themselves”? Or said anything else along those lines?

How often have you seen someone else bullied and joined in?

How many times have you seen someone bullied and ignored it?

How many times have you gone over to the person who was being a bully and told them “That’s not okay”.

How many times have you gone up to the person who was bullied and told them that other person is a jerk and just to ignore them?

How many times have you given a hug to that bullied person even if you weren’t friends with them and said “You matter!”

How many times have you ditched your “cool” friends because they were constantly attacking people either verbally or physically?

How many times have you stood up for others?

Guns are not to blame for school shootings. However, you probably are. It’s okay though, just pretend like an inanimate object is at fault so you won’t have to feel bad and start changing your own behavior. Just keep on pretending like everything will be okay once guns are gone. It’s not like people are also killed homemade bombs… by being run over by cars… by being stabbed… by being poisoned… beaten, strangled, kidnaped and murdered in secret, or a million other ways. Because hey, guns are to blame for everything right?

No, you are to blame!

If you want gun violence to stop, stop treating people in a manner that makes them want to kill you. Even if it’s that weird kid who has no friends, or that jock who is always making inappropriate comments, or the teacher of the subject you don’t like. If you want to be a voice for change, you have to change yourself first. Stop blaming other things, other people, or whatever else makes you feel like it’s not your fault.

Take action. Get your head out of your ass and realize gun violence can be stopped by you! No new laws have to be passed. You just have to be a better person and help make other people realize they can be better too!

It really is that simple. Just be nice.

Climate Change

The United States of America has a very interesting debate on climate change going on. Some say it’s real. Some say climate change is false.

The biggest contributor to climate change is according to those who believe in it, is pollution. So what has our country done to combat it? We passed a lot of laws on industry about how they are allowed to make things. How their plants can operate. How much pollution they can create while making all those products we as consumers love to buy.

This made manufacturing very difficult for corporations. They had some choice though. Do they follow the new regulations to make the same products with less profit? Do they follow the new regulations and make the same products at a higher cost that the consumer will have to live with? Or do they just move their manufacturing to another country with fewer regulations?

I’d say it’s obvious what the majority of corporations chose to do. They all moved their manufacturing! The good news is that this has drastically cut pollution in the United States. The bad news is that pollution in China, where much of the manufacturing has moved to, has reached toxic levels.

You see, we didn’t actually cut pollution. We just moved it to another place where it was less obvious.

If we as a nation are really going to cut down on pollution, we’re going to have to pay more money for cleaner manufacturing practices. We’re going to have to stop over consuming. Sorry, no new car, phone, computer, or sound system every year or two. We’ll have to actually use things until long after they’ve broken and annoy us.

The truth is: most citizens of The United States of America are too greedy to admit this truth. We all want to have our cake and eat it too, as the old saying goes. Sadly, we are not as honest with ourselves as we should be if we are those who believe in climate change and are determined to do something about it.

Look at Hollywood. How many actors claim to fight climate change while having several million dollar homes across the world… with multiple cars, heated pools, perfect looking chemically fed lawns and gardens? How many celebrities have multiple children? Pets? Or other resource taxing things?

If we want to make changes, we’re all going to have to compromise. Unfortunately, the majority of people would rather have their stuff.

So, the next time anyone goes on a climate change rant, ask them how old their phone, car, laptop, is. Because until that answer is more than a few years, that person is just pretending to care. 

Not My President...

Emotions don’t change facts.

To all the #NotMyPresident people. If you are a citizen of The United States of America, then Trump will be your President, unless you move and renounce your citizenship really soon.

For the Record: I hate Obama. I think he’s a liar, a racist, and all sorts of other horrible things. He’s still my president though. As was George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George Bush Sr., Ronald Regan, and Jimmy Carter. Every President that I have lived under has been My President. Not because I agree with them. Not because I like them. They are/were My President because they were the leader of my country. A country that is more amazing than every other country on the planet (in my opinion). My emotions towards a person do no change the facts of reality. Honestly, every single President of the United States of America since George Washington is My President. They have all kept this country going. The job sucks. The power is very limited. And someone will always hate you enough to wish you dead. That’s pretty insane when you think about it. And yet, every President from George Washington to President elect Donald Trump has chosen to live that life because they believe in the United States of America, its people, its ideals, and its dreams.

That’s monumentally impressive in my eyes.

So before you make that next post or comment about #NotMyPresident… remember, just because you dislike someone, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have good intentions or believe in this country as much, or more, than you do. It just means that in the U.S.A. we have a massive amount of diversity and that makes it very difficult for everyone to feel 100% content all the time.

Take a breath. Focus on your goals, and take appropriate action to make them a reality without destroying someone else’s attempt to reach their own goals. That’s what the “American Dream” is all about. 

November 19th 1863

Have you ever read this famous speech from November 19th 1863?

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

Now that you've read it, do you comprehend the weight and force of history that it was born from?

I hope everyone does. This country is amazing, we fight to reach our dreams and defend our rights! That is an amazing thing. An amazing freedom! Look at other countries, where else does this happen? Where else are you free to state publicly that you disagree with the government?

Yes, some freedoms can be taken too far, but they also serve a purpose to prevent other freedoms from being taken away by the same government we live under. Government tries hard, but sometimes it fails. When that happens, We The People must stand up and remind the government what this country is supposed to be!

The Electoral College

The Electoral College is there for a reason. Please at least know that reason before you attack it.

Without the Electoral College, massive city states like New York and California with their population could decide every presidency and leave the rest of the nation without a voice.

That I can promise you would start a true second civil war!

Do the research yourself. I know people don't like the "popular candidate" to lose. But just because they are liked in the heavily populated areas, does not mean they are liked in the more rural areas of the country. 25 states voted for trump by the majority. He was more popular. It's just that those states have fewer people. The states like New York and California have more people and they voted for Clinton. Just those two states alone can nearly equal the population of the rest of the damn country!

Do you really want only those two states deciding what is right for your state?!

I live in Colorado. At an Elevation those two states largely can't even fathom. Do you really think they'd be able to know fairly what we need here? How rough the winters can get? How we need hospital equipment that can function in a thinner atmosphere? How we can't farm year round without a lot of special planning and equipment?

Seriously! Every state needs to have it's own voice. Yes, someone always ends up screwed one way or another, but the Electoral College is there to try to minimize that!

In this election, you may not like that, but what about the next election? What if you repeal the Electoral College and in 4 years it allows Trump to be reelected just based on the popular vote, and then you learn he'd have lost the Electoral vote?

No system of government is perfect. There will always be situations where you feel like it fucked up! But! You have the power to change it the next time! In two short years there will be more elections for the House and Senate. If you vote, you could start the process to block the Republican control. In four years you can vote for someone else entirely on either side!

In the meantime, you can work with groups and foundations to help those you fear for (including yourself). This is The United States of America! Not everything is controlled by who the president is!

For Pete's sake, Marijuana is Federally Illegal in this country, but Colorado and other states have legalized it! Why do you think that just because Trump is president your state looses? Hell, Trump has even said himself that on many controversial topics he wants to send control Back To The State Level!

Start making a plan if you fear Trump. Plan on how to make your state what you need! Start working with other groups who share your needs/concerns. Take proper action. You have more than enough control if you choose to use it. Become a speaker for the concerns you have. Start a youtube channel on it. Start a Podcast. Start a Charity if you want to!!

This is the United States of America! You can do more than march up and down a street holding a cardboard sign while yelling that you hate Trump!

Stop acting like you lost and the world ended! This is your new starting point. Are you going to get up and walk? Or are you just going to lay on the ground until you die?

The choice is yours!