All alone in my white-boy pain.

I've Created the Flux Capacitor, I Just Need a Freakin De Lorean

2006-12-10T20:58:00.000-05:00

It all started with seven words. “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Haha, I joke because I’m trying to salvage what humor I have left. Make no mistake though, this is serious. In the summer of 2005 tragedy struck the south coast of the United States. Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast with what would be the biggest disaster America had seen since 9/11. The aftermath brought severe physical damage to the people, their homes, and their communities. However, the physical havoc was nothing compared to the morale damage that Katrina left in its path. Two summers later in 2007, the Gulf Coast and the United States saw the worst hurricane season to date. America was devastated. The racial conflict that began with Katrina had boiled over. The rebuilding process made it clear that the U.S. still had serious problems with racism. They talk about pioneers like Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., and how they brought whites and blacks together, and ended the struggle. That’s a nice story, but it’s not true. Racism still existed, and probably always will, and I’m not just talking about the friendly joking stuff, I’m talking serious hatred and feelings of superiority. Fortunately or unfortunately, however you want to look at it, disasters have a way of bringing such matters to the forefront. I guess you could say unfortunately, because eventually a colossal civil war broke out throughout every corner in the U.S., and we were never able to recover. All of this lead to the collapse of the greatest country the world had seen. But that’s not what this story is about.

The year is 2030. Who am I? I guess you could say I’m your tired, your poor, your huddled mass yearning to breathe free. Ironic isn’t it. I grew up in a strong family deeply rooted in Christianity. Ever since the aforementioned incidents, all I’ve known is heartache, struggle. Don’t feel bad for me. I’m one of the lucky ones. I’ve excelled in the U.S.’s pathetic excuse for schools, and now I’ve been given the chance of a lifetime. I’ve been living in Afghanistan for the past few months, and going to college here. Ever since the fall of the United States, the world realized the answer to the energy crisis lied in the Middle East. This burst of power and wealth, along with the ideas of democracy and capitalism they learned from the U.S., was the boost countries like Afghanistan had been waiting for. I’m only here in order to create some sort of life for myself.

It’s strange, throughout this whole story I’ve referred to my home as the United States of America, when in fact there’s nothing united about it. For years countries have picked us apart and passed us around like a common cold. Despite this we still refer to ourselves as united, we still have our pride. Don’t think for a second that the U.S. is useless. There are as many and even more hard diligent workers there than before. We’re self-sufficient, we don’t need help. We have the resources and the strength to function as well as any other country in the world. Problem is we’re exploited. We just don’t have the power. Countries like Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia prey on weak countries who are still trying to grow. With trade policies in place, it’s like we don’t even have a chance. They have actually convinced themselves to believe that if they send the U.S. a few dollars here and there that they are doing us a favor. In fact, they have organizations that donate money, food, clothes, to us in order to show that they’re trying to help. We don’t need their charity, we need equality. We need a chance. It’s like they are fine with giving us money so long as they are completely in charge of how we use it. Over here they talk about freedom and democracy, please… it’s easy to be free within your own country when you’ve enslaved the rest of the world.

As glamorous as it’s made out to be, living in this country is hell. If the end of time really is coming, it’s close. You would think that the Middle East, being the origin of several religions, would still stand strong in its faith. No way, corruption, greed, organized-crime, they all have a chokehold throughout these countries. But I can’t really blame them, because I know that the U.S. was once consumed in the same filth. It was only until our money and power were ripped away that we reverted to the moralistic land we are today. The only chance I have to get away from the struggle while I’m here is every Sunday the few Christians here are allowed to congregate with communion and prayer. However, lately we’ve encountered some inconveniences. Last week, someone actually spit in every cup of our sacred grape juice. "Haha... that's funny right? These Christians just don't have any sense of humor. They need to be able to laugh at themselves." Not this time. It’s not funny. No one is laughing. We no longer have that privilege. We were never suppose to live this way. Something needs to be done. Something will be done. God, help us.

Now let me make this clear. I wasn’t writing this in any way to support terrorism or even to say “hey, maybe you should walk a mile in their shoes.” I simply like dreaming of the future and I enjoy the reversal, the irony.

Get Ready For Some Serious Posting!

2006-06-12T01:35:00.000-04:00

I found this essay a few days ago as I was looking through some of my old, school papers that are saved on my computer. I wrote it over a year ago for an Anthropology class at Newark. After reading it and thinking back to that time in my life I was actually somewhat impressed. Sure, some of the jokes are a little old, but I still found it creative and maybe even a little funny. Anyways, we were supposed to pretend we were an archeology team in the future who had stumbled upon a past civilization, and some other crap, but that's basically it. I'm posting it because, for one, it shows how little I cared for that class and instead of focusing on what she wanted I just had fun with it my own way, and two, because it gave me an idea for another post that I will hopefully soon finish. Oh and also, I erased the boring parts that were required for the class.

The year is 3005; my team and I are on a dig near the center of what was once known as the state of Ohio. The state of Ohio is in what used to be the most powerful country in the whole world. The United States of America enjoyed several centuries at the top but just as all empires eventually crumble, so too, did this forgotten country. However, unlike many, the U.S.’s demise didn’t come as the result of greedy conquest that in the end stretched its military might too thin opening the window of opportunity for even the weakest of countries to swoop in and kill off its population little by little. No, the U.S. was just too smart for this mindless trend, in fact it was this superior intelligence that inevitably destroyed them.

See, a while before the U.S.’s fateful crumble, they were involved in a war that was later dubbed World War II, in which they battled Nazi Germany and the Japanese. The war came to an abrupt end when the U.S. dropped two nuclear warheads on the Japanese. It ended a war that would have lasted a long time, resulting in many more casualties, but the massive devastation and gruesome deaths it caused were burned into the world’s mind and nuclear weaponry was luckily never used again. However Japan was left with few options. They desperately wanted their revenge on the United States, but knew they had no chance defeating them face to face, so instead they made their peace and fooled the U.S. into thinking there was no more tension. Instead of continuing to fight the U.S. they used their cleverness and encouraged the furthering of technology at home and abroad, in the U.S. They sent there new technologies over along with intelligently superior and inventive undercover agents to the U.S. to build industries, where they built handy inventions that advanced “technology.” What the U.S. didn’t realize was that “technology” had hidden disadvantages that silently killed them off. Up front technology raised productivity for factories, resulting in more overall economic gain, but it replaced many manual labored jobs. Technology didn’t only replace manual labored jobs in factories but went as far as replacing mundane everyday tasks in the homes of Americans everywhere. It seemed every task imaginable was simplified to the push of a button. Even physical activities that Americans once did to have fun were replaced with button mashing video games. Americans became slaves to their own comfort and laziness, paving the way for hyper-obesity and heart disease to plague the masses.

During the U.S.’s peak of technology they attempted to influence the world by selling them their lazy-friendly products and machinery, but fortunately Europe was the only continent that had a population wealthy enough to purchase American products. It just never caught on in Europe. One would wonder why neighboring decently well-off countries like Canada didn’t catch the lazy fever, but Canadians were never really smart enough to figure out American products.

In conclusion, it appears that Japan got its revenge. Not only that, but also the rest of the world was taught an important lesson. I think technology is a overall good thing, but you can’t get obsessed with it and let it run your life like the Americans did. It makes life better and more efficient, but old fashioned hard work pays off too. Just as history is important to learn from mistakes, archaeology allows scientist to paint a more precise picture of what caused history to mess up.

I Don’t Have Friends in Low Places (at least not after this)

2006-05-28T01:47:00.000-04:00

In my quest to find topics to write about and form opinions, I find it hard to care passionately about something. Even if it is clearly something I am opposed to, most of the time I don’t care because it doesn’t affect me enough. Fortunately I’ve mulled over this long enough, and now I’ve reached somewhat of a conclusion.
Farmers: “The Backbone of Our Country” “The Apple of Our Eye”
To start I thought I’d tell a little about my personal experience with the topic. Aside form last year in Heath, I have lived in Centerburg my entire life. Centerburg is a tiny farming community, which is known for its three stoplights, ahahaha… sorry that is suppose to be a really funny joke around here. Anyways, this town worships it’s strong, strapping, farmer boy, football players, and I have nothing against them… I just never really fit that mold, literally. Some of my best friends have grown up on farms, so I have no person problem with it whatsoever. With that said…
This past fall I took an econ class with a fiery little professor who had some strong opinions that she sometimes liked to push on us. Normally, I wasn’t a big fan of her, but I have to admit I agreed with a lot of her opinions. Specifically, she went off on a rant one day about how much money the government gives to small farmers every year. Now, I’m no fan of huge corporations running every aspect of our life, I’d rather my money go to privately owned businesses than feed those evil corporate machines even if it means I have to shell out a little more. But, when it not only takes those few extra bucks but also government subsidies, I start to question if it’s worth it. My professor had an interesting solution to the “problem,” that although I’m not sure would work, would be a step in the right direction. She said that instead of each year handing out however many millions go into these programs, we should figure out how much money we’d give them in the next five or even ten years, give it to them all at once and tell them to use it to find some other way of making a living. Now that would be a whole lot of money, and right now I doubt it’d be feasible but at least in five or ten years the problem would look a lot better. Not only would we be handing out less tax dollars, but if food production was put in the hands of corporations, assuming the government did its job an enforced cartel laws, food production costs would go down as well hopefully making it cheaper to consumers. Believe me working at Long Branch, I know that it’s not our owners greed that has made prices soar, they have no other choice. Look, lately my opinion has changed about welfare and other such government programs. I know that basically they’re a joke and they definitely have their problems, but I’ve decided I’m okay with giving out a little bit of my paycheck every two weeks just in case somewhere down the road I draw the short straw in life. I know it is cliché, but I’d rather our government’s money be given back to the people than be spent for who knows what. The fact is however, there has to be a method to it, it has to accomplish something.
As I’ve previously stated, I’ve grown up in a modest farming community, and I have relatives from Virginia and other “hillbillyish” areas, so I’m well versed with the simple life. I’ve always respected it as a lifestyle, and wondered if I could stand to live in such a way. Especially when finals week comes to OSU I seriously contemplate giving it all up, finding a wife and setting up camp down south for the rest of my life. Eventually, I come to my senses and decide that I would never make it alive. But man… to just be sitting out on a porch every night staring into the clear country sky without a care in the world, no tests to study for, no bosses to make happy, no tough career choices to make, just working for yourself on your own time, what a life. I hate to downplay the importance of this countries farming population, but I think they have to realize that with a life like that, you can’t necessarily expect an expensive sports car, or a new computer every other year, yeah it sucks that society would leave you behind, but “that’s the tradeoff my darling.”

Move Along Move Along

2006-05-16T23:05:00.000-04:00

Alright, here's the deal. A month or so ago, I created a myspace account. The reason I did it was three-fold, (1) It let me become "friends" with some of my favorite bands (2) I could have a template to express my opinions or thoughts on life (3) Umm... I could leave posts on my “friend’s” sites so they would in turn leave a post on mine?? Yeah no, I never did that. My reasoning was only two-fold. Anyways, I spent a good hour or so writing the previous blog, but after posting it on myspace, I didn’t feel like it was given the presentation it deserved. I was never able to continue with my "My World View" series, because I wasn’t getting as much as I was giving. I guess I should have known that myspace is “a place for ‘friends’” not a place for blogging. So as recommended by several of my friends, I’m trying blogspot, and with this new-found ambition hopefully I will be able to pump out more than one blog before I move on, or better yet, move along… move along. My goal with this is primarily to write, whether I’m trying to be funny, serious, or offensive, I’m just trying to sharpen my writing skills.

My World View

2006-05-16T23:00:00.000-04:00

For starters, anyone reading this from my years of high school, is probably gearing themselves for an ultra-conservative, religion motivated, glorification of President Bush. The only thing I can say to you, is that to some degree I have changed. American History 152, at Ohio State has a way of doing that to people.
Partisan Politics: Recently, well six months ago, I built my facebook profile, because let’s face it, you aren’t really in college if you don’t have facebook. In doing so, I was given the option to choose with what party my political tendencies lie. There are several options; varying degrees of conservatism or liberalism, moderate, libertarian, or apathetic. My initial response was to put apathetic, but then I began thinking of the crap I would take for having such a uninspired attitude towards our country, and the men who died for my right to choose between an elephant and a donkey. That got me a little worked up, and I started thinking of my response to stifle such crap. It was then that I realized I’m probably not too apathetic. I decided to choose moderate, because to me libertarian just sounds smug.
So how does a moderate voter choose between two extremes? This is a question I have been pondering for a while with the 2008 elections only two years away. I see three different options; (1) Forcing myself to take a side, and spend the next four years questioning myself and basically feeling stupid. (2) Spend time trying to find a small insignificant candidate to get behind, and in the end waste my time. (3) Just say, screw it! I’m sure I’ll even have plenty of other better things to do, well… other things to do. But wait, if I don’t vote, “I’D BETTER NOT FREAKIN COMPLAIN ABOUT ANYTHING, EVER, BECAUSE I HAD MY CHANCE TO BE HEARD AND I BLEW IT!!! BLEW IT!!!!!” Please. If I had my way even the people who voted wouldn’t be able to complain and moan. More and more I’m thinking I just won’t waste my time with it all, sorry P-Diddly-Doo, I guess I am choosing death. That’s right, I would rather die than let you think you had anything to do with the choices I make. The problem I have with P-Diddy and the “Vote or Die” campaign, is I refuse to accept that there isn’t any motives or agendas behind it, besides getting people to vote. The first thing that comes to mind is that he’s targeting the youth so he’s probably assuming that young voters would vote more liberally, but he is a rich entrepreneur so he has to have somewhat of a conservative side, I don’t know maybe I’m wrong. Actually, it’s probably solely because he’s being paid to do it. Greed, that’s probably his motivation. That leaves me surprised and saddened. Ur… no, not saddened… what’s the word? Ahh yes, delighted! Way to go P-Diddy. On a more serious note, the biggest drawback to choosing not to vote, is that there aren’t a lot of countries who do get to vote, and just the basic principle of having a say is something that many people all around the world would kill for. In one of my many Spanish classes throughout the years I was told that in Spanish speaking countries in South and Central America that have elections, people will wait in lines, that weave in and out of town, the entire day just so they can vote, and it’s not like they have the financial capability to blow off a whole day of work for just anything. Apparently, everyone feels the need to feel significant. If that doesn’t bring a red, white, and blue tear to your eye I don’t know what will. So, where does that leave me? Well, if we are going to bring our fore-fathers into this, I think they regarded everyday choices higher than voting, and that means the choice to vote or not to vote. It’s what some would call freedom.
I’ve also lately come to the conclusion that the ability of the person running to be president is more important than the party they belong to. As long as we have a strong leader who can make hard decisions and stand behind them, then as a country I think we’ll be okay. With that in mind, I do have respect for a leader who can realize they made a stupid decision and work to make it right, a flip-flopper, rather than have too much pride to admit when they’re wrong. Besides, if we’ve learned anything from 24, the president doesn’t even make the hard decisions, Jack Bauer does.

Well shoot, ladies and gentlemen, I had planned on saying a lot more, because this is hardly representative of all that is “My World View,” but I should get studying and also I have to ration some of this stuff out. So I say this is to be continued…