Caveat Emptor

I was going through the News Sophisticate blog and I ran across this post with some very funny Pat Robertson quotes. That of course led me to a video about Pat Robertson calling an assassination attempt. What I wonder is whether or not people still really believe that communism is a threat? I mean, if the 700 Club is on the air somebody is supporting it right?

Has Mr. Robertson even read Marx? Apparently not.. But even Jesus philosophy likens communism. Here's an idea for all of you though. Everyone wake up tomorrow.. and forget about the money. Forget about it. Do what you do otherwise. If you work go to work. If it's your day off, relax. If you're unemployed, go find somebody to help. If you need groceries go get them. If you want a plasma TV, why not? They're overproduced anyway. We complain about war, poverty, racism, consumerism, religious freedom, crime, etc.. but nobody fights for that because they're too busy fighting for a buck. We focus on all the issues that money creates!

I don't want to label it communism.. but humanism. Take care of your fellow man!

The primary motivation of our lives is money. It's what makes a man work overtime instead of being at his kids ball game. It's why our cars get robbed at night. It's why we're addicted to drive thru's and department stores. It's why we have homeless.. class systems.. and struggle in general. If you've made it you believe everyone can. And if you struggle you're blind.. the All American Dream.. to struggle and make it.. or at least waste a life trying.

Those that have a lot of money spend it on stuff and things. They own car collections and large houses. They command armies of employees. They live in the suburbs and drive hummers for miles to the office in the city.

The poor pay rent in the city and ride the public bus system to the suburbs to feed middle class soccer moms and their children fast food.

Labels: idealism, struggle

We all share a big world, yet we struggle endlessly for wealth and power.. the make it on your own kinda attitude. We wage war with nations over ideologies and beliefs. The captains of industry prevent innovation and creativity because they might lose money (think big oil and the auto industry). We slave away day in and day out fighting to sell our time for less and less in a world where maximizing profits comes before humanity.

I'm just trying to reach out to somebody else, anybody else I guess that could understand. It's a monopoly game though, and by the time I was born the property was already divvied up. I feel like I'm struggling for a mythical financial freedom. That 40 years of working is a wasted life because there's so many more important things.

But what is a persons time really worth? We've got big dreams for a short life.. but the days never end. The cycle never changes, accept for that paid vacation (if you have a GOOD job) and maybe a couple national holidays off.

The middle class is quickly being eliminated due to cheaper labor costs in foreign countries. We lose our jobs to outsourcing.. what's worse is the people in the third world being exploited though.

If I'm 60 and I own a car collection and a $400,000 house with acres and a pond.. gave my 2.8 children the best of the best.. traveled the world with gold and purple style.. is it a life wasted? How many people are going to suffer because of my materialistic life? What good is a car collection compared to community action? Maybe 15% at church every Sunday is enough to make a better world?

Who really knows? All I know is that I believe in a better way. That there's a higher conscious and it's up to us to be aware of how we're living and affecting the world around us.

The upper echelon of society controls our government.. our government takes out massive loans to fund foreign wars.. and the proletarian pays the debt back with his hard earned dollars. I wonder sometimes why the members of the Fed get to live in better houses than we do [from the daily show].. but it's apparent.. the government they operate borrows money and the investors in those programs make all kinds of money in interest off of the American people.. It's a big mob of selfish people dictating how much freedom (money = time.. time = freedom) that proletarians are allowed to have.

The American Dream has been corrupted by figures and estimates and maximizing profits so that we can consume more and more stuff and attract better looking women.. but the world was a beautiful place before money and class systems.. and it will outlive any of us and our accumulated wealth or debt.

I believe in a better way.

Labels: idealism, struggle

We live in a democratic society, a society in which the people make the decisions regarding social and economic issues. It's crazy too, because people generally have their own agendas and ideas about what success is and how to be successful. As a nation we're torn by political agendas, and we're constantly bombarded by political advertisements and discrepancies between conservative and liberal medias. We're supposed to make educated decisions and vote for people that we believe will accomplish change, but no single person in this culture can initiate change. It takes a collective effort to pass legislation in our favor. Because of our legislative process it's necessary for the government to grow rather than shrink. Logically speaking, over time one would think that a system is going to become more and more efficient, but because we require the bipartisan leadership to compromise, we're left with a bloated government that wastes money and fails to accomplish anything at all.

We've created a system destined for failure. Unless we make serious changes in our legislative process, the system will always be in gridlock, stuck on the same social and economic issues. We're not moving forward as an ego-less nation. We're simply buying into mediocrity and living on the success of the past. It's time to take this ego head on. What we need here in America is tolerance. Understand that we must work together for our own interests and for the rest of the world.

We've wasted over 350 billion dollars to fund a war on terror. I suggest that everyone actually interested in what a waste this war actually is check out costofwar.com.

I'm not making any change proposals, because clearly I'm a part of the ego-less collective, and my views are probably too radical for anyone to accept. But if we don't do something radical things are just going to get worse.

I'm positive there's plenty to be excited about in the great state of Indiana. I live and work in Indianapolis doing odd jobs, trying to make sure the rent is paid while living the sordid life of a bohemian/hippy/beatnik, or whatever the hipsters of this generation are called. I'm a computer wizard of sorts, and I'm a personable guy, but I find it increasingly difficult to hold down a job.

Before I bore with my demise as a hard working adult, let me remind you that in Indiana work ethic and ability aren't necessarily factors when considering job security. In fact, if the boss can't decide whether or not to look at the lazy eye or the straight one, it could be the end of one's tenure as a respectable employee.

I've been doing IT work all of my adult life. It's a ridiculous industry to get into because the job market is over-saturated. Joe Schmuck just graduated high school, and though he has no real world experience, he's willing to work for pennies less on the hour; so the working man gets replaced with the lowest bidder.

The IT position in itself must be the worst job in America. Most of us spend the better part of the day in a cubicle farm solving the problems of people who are too lazy to spend ten minutes of their precious lives learning something new. Instead, when said machine doesn't turn on properly we're required to investigate. Generally the user fails to turn the monitor on, or doesn't understand which mouse button does what, etc..

I'm generally an understanding man, and I don't expect the people to know the ins and outs of the computer world, but jeez. This isn't really a rant about incompetent computer users either. I'm slowly digressing to that though..

Anyway, it seems that I failed to leave the door to the office open earlier this year, and my boss sent me home to "think about it". It doesn't seem like a serious offense really, to forget opening the office door. Since then I've felt that termination is imminent.

I frequently get emails about having my friends in the office too. I work in a community college and my brother attends his classes here. He's been having problems with the wireless connection for three weeks now, and as his brother the IT guy, I feel obliged to fix the problem. It really has nothing to do with him though..

My job is on the line. The fact is, I do my job and I do it well. I don't understand why the rest of the beaureaucratic red tape is apart of my job. I'm paid a lowly wage to do a job requiring certain skills. I don't really want to be a puppet, but something's got to give.

The US treasury department is working around the clock to combat the rise in energy costs by printing more money than ever before. "We've  come up with a brilliant plan to take care of our national debt and balance the budget", President George "dubya" Bush reports while fidgeting with what appears to be an "Easy" button.

so I broke down this morning. Could I actually consider getting married? I mean, really consider it? And the more I think about this the more I wonder if it will work. I'm confident though, that I can do anything I want to do and that my potential mate would encourage me to do those things. I really love the things she does too. Research and studying, hard work and discipline, those are the things that get her what she wants. I'm proud of her. I think what she's doing is great. Perhaps it can work?

ah, the blend of choice. I crave the cancer causing carcinogens, the lack of fresh air, the bland, ash-like taste that permeates every kiss I give. The very thing that wastes nearly $20 every week not only makes me stink, but it's killing me slowly, it makes me ridiculously thirsty, encourages disease, or whatever. But I enjoy the flavorful smoke. The vanity is somewhat lost, as it's now an addiction. I'm ready to give it up.