Labels

I went to a party recently and was talking to somebody regarding labels. It was one of those conversations where it was hard to pin-point exactly where the person stood in regards to labels, the necessity of labels or the context of their symbolism. Typically party conversations tend to gravitate towards a middle ground; the result of our societies slide towards the politically correct response. The only thing that left an impression was that in the course of the conversation it suddenly occured to me that what we were discussing was directly reflective of the labels that exist overtly or in this case rippling below the surface of any given conversation.

Labels are important in some ways. There can be no arguement about that. When I go to the store, it would be frustrating if I was looking for a can of corn but was faced with an aisle of tin cans with no label. How do I find what I need? I can't buy a bunch of cans, hoping to snare the right one. The same goes for ice cream, deodorant, and a host of other items that would stay suspended in the realm of mystery unless they had a label to distinguish them and set them apart from other types of a similar product.

While in some instances labels are important, in other instances labels are destructive. When we think of someone being retarded, homeless, poor, even liberal and conservative, we create a set of values that we have determined by societal conditioning, media influence and our experiences; experiences I might add that too often come from outside ourselves. Rather than seeing a person as a whole, we see them as a label; a superficial covering that supports what we think we understand. Without taking into account the various facets that make up a human being, it's impossible to embrace them as such. What happens instead is that we create this One Dimensional Figure that we attach our beliefs too as they exist in our minds. It's like the banal batter we take part in every day when we see people at work, "Hey, How Are You Doing?" "Fine, Thanks. How About You?" We say this every day. They are words but convey nothing. It's as automatic as breathing and means about as much to us as the water that comes out of our tap.

Labels also have made us stupid. As a society we have entrusted a myraid of communication gadets to help us communicate, but we are in essence communicating less, and our conversations are about as stimulating and exciting as rolled oats. This in turn has affected our ability to critically think about a number of subjects, particulaly subjects that have wide reaching implications for the world at large; stem cell research, global warming, nano-engineering, and the global economy, to name a few. These are weighty subjects that should not be taken lightly, yet rather than truely thinking and analyzing what they mean, how we feel about them, and their relationship to the world we live in and ourselves, we have this tendency to group them based on the labels we have bestowed upon ourselves. It keeps us from having to properly examine the relationship, the inner-connecting threads of understanding that separate us from monkeys and apes.

Personally, I try my best to really investigate subjects of interest that have the potential to affect me and the world I live in. I never blindly accept what someone says. It's short sighted and dangerous. I read different books and magazines, talk to different people and filter what I am absorbing thru my own set of life experiences. In this way I can establish truth as I understand it. It's a form of self-analysis. I mean there are some things that I just don't understand. I think I'm bright, but I'm not going to profess to know the inner workings of the global economy. It's too complex to simplify. It would be like trying to unravel a five foot wide ball of yarn. Yet, I hope to at least to get my arms around most issues I feel strongly about and be comfortable knowing that my belief system is based on a comprehensive investigative analysis.

Too many people, in my opinion, never take the time to delve into what something is, what it means, how it works and most important how it affects their life. They prefer to just stick it under their label. For example typical Republicans tend to have typical Republican beliefs; less government (unless they want to know who you've been talking to or what books you have been checking out of the library)fiscal discipline, cutting taxes, creative a positive environment for big business, a strong military and a dismissive attitude towards labor. Typical Democrats have typical Democratic beliefs. Their core values include supporting the little guy against big business, opposing virulent militarism, saving and maintaining the environment and protecting civil liberties (except the party was not so wimpy about defending these values in the past as it is now. The Democratic Party used to stand for something, now it sits for everything) What's inherently wrong with both of these parties (labels) is that it makes it too easy for people to clothes pin issues under the label they are most comfortable. Rather than truely thinking about what something is, what it means, as it pertains to society and the people in it, people are more comfortable taking the past of least resistance, developing a belif system not on systematic, comparative analysis from a wide range of sources, but based on a favorite talk show host. Instead of developing an independent mind, they develop the ability to parrot their favorite A.M. radio mouth piece or CNN News Anchor. They make themselves stupid. The reason that there is so much political polarization nowadays can be easily summed up in four words, People Don't Think Anymore. They hang up issues under their label, content that Lou Dobbs, Rush Limbaugh and Al Franken have all the answers. Sorry, but a personal belief system is not regurgitated bile from a political celebrity.

I've always questioned everything and often it's gotten me into trouble. I questioned my paster, my mom and dad, my friends, my professors, my boss, and I continue to question all the bullshit out there posing as truth. We all need to do that. If everyone took the time to truely delve deeply into the issues that are cracking the foundation of the society we are part of, and give themselves the opportunity to think openly and imaginatively, there would be a revolt, a revolution, because people would finally see that labels don't tell the truth. They would see the world as it truly is.

Truth can only exist in the light of open inquiry.

Reply to a Student Journal Entry

Most of my students suffer from a myraid of mental problems and have significantly impaired coping skills. A good percentage of them are dual diagnosis, with one of the most prominant being Anti-social/Conduct disorder paired with Borderline personality disorder. Students like this have an extremely low tolerance for frustration, are very impulsive, have a penchant for over-dramatization, poor ability to maintain healthy relationships, poor boundaries, poor insight, and frequently act out, oftentimes towards themselves. As a teacher it can be very challenging working with these students. One of the students currently enrolled is school is very problematic and although she isn't my student from the standpoint that she's assigned to a different class, she still has to be dealt with. The following is a reply to her journal entry.

"You mentioned in your journal that there is no alternative for people so they act out, as if by doing so they are somehow getting back at them, whoever "them" may be. Do you see how this isn’t logical? When a person does something to themselves i.e. cut themselves, eat batteries, whatever, the only person they are hurting is themselves. People around them might feel bad, but ultimately the person who is going to suffer is the person doing the cutting. Cutting oneself as a way to retaliate against people and the system is like throwing oneself in front of a bus to protest world hunger. Being dead is not going to change the fact that people are starving in the world. That’s flawed logic.

Regarding the comment that people cut themselves because they have no family or friends, although there are people who have neither, there is always some type of support if the person takes the time to seek out help. The problem is that people don’t want to take the time to connect with someone or make the phone calls necessary to hook up with an agency or an individual who can help them. There are dozens if not hundreds of individuals and agencies who are equipped to help a person in need. However, they can’t read minds and people in need shouldn’t expect them to. If my car breaks down should I get mad and cut myself because the auto repair shop down the street didn’t fix the problem, even though I didn’t call them? Do you see what I’m getting at? If a person is hurting, they need to express their desire for help. Expressing themselves by hurting themselves is counter productive.

Ultimately J______, YOU are responsible for your life. You can’t blame your caregivers, the hospital, the staff, your teacher, whomever, for your problems. Ninty-nine percent of your problems are caused by how you react to things. You get upset and you go off or hurt yourself. Being that you are now an adult, you have to start taking responsibility for how you react to a given situation. Every time something happens or you are in a situation that is upsetting you have to think things through thoroughly. Whatever the outcome is, you are responsible for it. Take responsibility for your actions. You can’t cop out and blame others for your poor choices and your lack of control.

Remember this adage. The way you think affects the way you feel. The way you feel affects the way you act, your behavior. Everything works synergeticly. (together) You have to change your thinking about a few things as they concern your life. When you start thinking differently, you will start feeling differently. You’ll feel happy and more positive, more in control of yourself. At that point you won’t act out because you will understand - realize - that the way you have been handling things has not made you happy or your life better and more fulfilling. It’s a process and you have to practice every day. You are capable of changing your life, if you choose to.

I will leave you with this last thought. Nobody is responsible for your life, you are."

Mr. L

June 21, 2006

As a footnote this probably won't make a bit of difference, but giving up means I am no longer a teacher.

Not Everyone Wants Kids

I don't have problems with kids. They can be cute and make a great tax deduction. However, I've never wanted my own. Why? Lots of reasons. For starters, kids cost money and there isn't much to go around. I mean, honestly, what's more important high speed cable or an extra mouth to feed?

Secondly, I don't have the time or inclination to put forth the effort to be a dad. I have searched my soul on many occasions and can't pull anything resembling a need to have a child out of me. The feeling is just not there. I feel like having an avocado sandwich, seeing a movie, passing gas, but I don't feel the need to have kids.

What about your wife? Before I got married I made sure that my wife understood that under no circumstances would I have kids and not to make the mistake that millions of women make world wide. That is, if they got their boyfriend to marry them, then it's a given that they will get their husband to get them pregnant. I don't think so. I affirmed my position so many times that my wife practically put it to memory. Thankfully, unlike so many other women who don't understand what the word 'NO' means, my wife has never brought up babies or kids. I am very thankful for that.

What about your parents, don't they want to be grandparents? Honestly, if they did, I wouldn't care. I'm not on this earth to do things for the pleasure of others, unless I feel that I'm getting something out of the deal. Doing things out of guilt or cultural traditions isn't an honest act. It's coerced behavior. If my parents, or the parents of anybody else who wants grandchildren, they can get involved in the Boy or Girl Scouts or the YMCA camp program. There are kids all over the place who wouldn't mind some extra attention because their parents are at work most of the day. They'd be doing a public service taking these unloved, emotionally abandoned children under their wing. Lucky for me, again, I have parents who leave well enough alone and respect the fact that I don't want kids.

Aren't you being selfish? Why is it that when a person articulates their personal feelings, if someone disagrees they feel the need to correct a person's point of view? I work with the mentally ill, and most of my life has been spent working with the poor, marginalized outcasts of society. Athough I get paid for it, I'm sure not moving to Malibu any time soon. I'm not selfish in the least. With people I care about I'm generous to a fault. Speaking strickly about selfishness in the context of having kids, how is it selfish not having children, when the world is filled to the brim with children that are on the streets and don't have parents or are rotting in Any Country Orphanage. Do you actually think Brad and Angelina are going to adopt all of them? Personally, I think it's selfish to have kids, when there are so many that need homes or the very least someone that will love them. Thank about that while you pop out another baby.

This leads me to my last comment. Why do friends and aquaintences feel the need to ask me or my wife when we are having kids, especially after telling them on more than one occasion...two...three....four, that we aren't and then having to re-explain information that is public knowledge? I don't ask my friends when they are going to start going to church, mowing their lawn, or stop wearing clothes that make them look like an overstuff sausage, so why is it that they need to ask us about having kids and then following up with asinine questions that they already know the answer to?

I love my freedom. I love the fact that my wife and I can do anything we want, when we want, and not have to worry about getting a sitter.

I love the fact that I look younger then most people my own age who have kids because I don't have to deal with the day to day stress of raising kids.

I love the fact that I don't have to put up with any teenage angst bullshit.

I love the fact that I made a choice that I'm happy with. If you disagree with me, feel free to plop out another baby if it will make you feel better.

Eating Healthy and the Conspiracy that Keeps You Sick and Fat

I've always been interested in health and nutritian, but have been very inconsistent in regards to my life style. I was doing pretty good until I hit 30 and then got really sedentary. I picked it up again in my later 30's, playing raquetball and weight lifting and the last three years have gone into vegtable mode again. It's that damn computer. That's what it is. Anyway, I've been reading this awesome book by Kevin Trudeau called, "Natural Healing" and it has absolutley changed my life in regards to how I see my personal health. He covers some very important areas regarding nutrition and health and I realized that there is a big difference between being healthy and fit.

I'm neither at the moment, although I am improving, but have wholeheartedly embraced the pearls of wisdom the book offers. Of course, I'm too cynical to believe anything anybody says so I did some exhaustive investigating into some of the more hard to believe parts of the book and found a lot of collaborative research. This leads me to believe that there is something to what's being said. I've been eating whole foods, mainly organic for about six months. We bought an air purifier, ordered water filters, and I detoxed my colon a few weeks back. Don't gross out, o.k.? Everybody should do this. Most people are carrying around pounds of plaqued on crap (no pun intended) due to the amount of preservatives and chemicals in our food. Our body spends it's energy trying to neutralize the toxins, which gets in the way of the body assimilating the proper nutriants or at least what it can pull from the Big Mac's and Famous Stars we frequently love to munch on. That's why when we get older, we have a harder time losing fat. We are so filled with toxins, that our body's metabolism slows down. We are basically clogged up leaving us succeptible to sickness and disease. That's just part of it.

Big Pharma in cahoots with the FDA and FTC, want us to be on medication and they want us to be fat. The reason being is that the more sick you are the more medications they can sell you. It's a multi-billion dollar industry. Once you are on one medication you will wind up having to take another medication for the side effects the first medication gave you. It's a circle jerk with an unhappy ending. When people are fat, that eat "diet" food. "Light", "diet" "low fat" etc. These foods have even more chemicals than regular food. It's a huge scam. I've suspected something for a while, but couldn't put my finger on it. I looked around me for years and wondered how, in a country that supposedly is so health concious, so progressive, with so many diet books and diet foods, there are so many fucking fat people?

Now I know.

Now that I know I will never be a slave to how I once lived my life. Never again. I highly recommend the book. It's very direct. I know there will a right winger somewhere who will write me to tell me that I'm paranoid, and that the all federal agencies have the countries best intrests in mind. That the truth I think I have found is really all speculative; a conspiracy theory cooked up by PETA or some radical vegan group, designed to undermine our countries national security. Don't take my word for it. Take the time to explore, learn and grow - or don't. It's like in the Matrix when Morpheous meets with Neo and gives him the choice to see life the way he sees it, his perception, or see life the way it truely is.

Morpheus: "The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us, even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, or when you go to church, or when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes, to blind you from the truth."

Neo: "What truth?

Morpheus: "That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. (Produces a box containing two colored pills, one blue and one red). This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill, the story ends, you awake in your bed, and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. (Pause. Neo reaches for the red pill). Remember: all I'm offering is the truth, nothing more. (Neo swallows the red pill with a glass of water)."

Your choice.

My parting comment is that if you are fat, feeling sick, taking medication or just feel like you are getting older and falling apart at the seams rather than aging gracefully, I strongly suggest you move your lard ass off the sofa and start doing something to help yourself. I don't know about you, but I would like to spend my retirement years in a healthy state sipping margaritas, swimming, traveling and having a good ol' time with the wife and my friends. I don't want to be in the same situation that I see so many people in; dragging an oxygen tank around everywhere they go, putting around on one of those goofy carts because they are too fat to walk, going to the doctor every other day to renew a prescription that is killing them. I think there is more to life than that.

I hope so anyway.

The Importance of Voting

Today is Tuesday, the day to vote. We have slim pickings this year, actually we've been in a political drought since Kennedy and Johnson, but it is our civic duty as citizens to take an active part in the political process. Granted, the majority of us are more like step-children of political parties because we do not have the wealth and subsequent political pull that wealth and close relative, power creates; it's a strong vacume that tends to pull up those who graciously contribute. In familial terms; brothers, sisters and first cousins. Tell me that being able to attend a $10,000 a plate dinner for either primary party does not influence decision making and I'll show a chicken with lips.

I only vote for candidates that I have taken the time to know, although what I know is conveniently wrapped in a convenient, one size fits all double-speak political burrito. All we can do is do the best we can. It's better to be part of the solution, then part of the problem. If people don't vote, but they bitch about where the country is headed they are perpetuating the problem.

"Every country has the government it deserves."

[Fr., Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle merite.]
- Joseph Marie De Maistre, Lettres et Opuscules Inedits
vol. I, letter 53)


Voting only matters if you think it matters.

1000 Reasons Why The Bush Administration Sucks

1000 Reasons Why The Bush Administration Sucks

Actually, there are about 980 because some I'm actually in agreement with the policy/legislation. Fancy that!

Anger Management in Iraq

The "war" in Iraq has been going on now for about three years. Because a good majority of 18 to 25 year olds are too intellectually independent and cynical to get sucked into the parade of bullshit propaganda peddled by the armed forces, the net result is that the different branches of military service are having a harder and harder time meeting their recruitment goals. As a result, many of our soldiers have had to suffer through multiple deployments in an area of the world where there is no clear demarcation to separate the good guys from the bad guys. Some battalions are on their third tour and have spent more time with their combat units than they have watching their kids grow up. The troops are exhausted, on edge, constantly on the look out for danger; both real and perceived. An innocent looking little boy walking down the street in Anytown, Iraq is looked at by a Humvee full of war, weary soldiers as another potential combatant, another gibbering Towel Head whose sole intention is to plant another roadside bomb or detonate themselves at a check point in the name of Allah the Great.

In this environment of hyper-vigilism, where friend and foe co-exist hand in hand, it's no small wonder that a small group of soldiers cracked and summarily executed a group of Iraqi civilians, raging over the fact that one of their own was a victim of another road side bomb. Anger and rage develop because there isn't an outlet. The day in and day out grind of being at war, in such an incredibly difficult, unconventional environment, creates the situation where such lapses of judgment take place. Where soldiers who are trained to be disciplined, self-incinerate when subjected to another killing, another death.

Yet, the death of a fellow soldier, a good friend, is not justified even in this maelstrom of circular violence. The rules of war and engagement have to be followed. We are seen as occupiers at this stage in the game, not liberators. Anything we do is intensely scrutinized by the Iraqis. The fact that our soldiers killed innocent civilians, which included a man in a wheelchair and women and children is not going to help the cause. Attempting to initially cover it up made things even worse, if that's possible. This lapse of ethical judgment is going to fuel the intensity of hatred directed at us resulting in more death and more carnage. It is going to prompt more and more Muslims to rally against the Infidels. Even moderate Muslims are going to heed the call for Jihad. We are seen the world over as a bunch of imperialistic bullies. When the world hears and sees this level of moral ineptitude from a country who prides themselves on defending democratic principals and everything these principals entail, we reflect back our own hypocrisy. A hypocrisy that the world understands, but which we so often deny.

Iraq is a tough place to be right now, especially if your an American. It's harsh. People die every day. It's an environment that easily can turn disciplined soldiers into animals, as we have seen. Yet, because of who we are and what we stand for as a country, we have the responsibility to model for the world the kinds of ethical and moral standards that we expect from others. Every single Marine that is found to have taken part in this massacre should be put on trial for murder. What they did was wrong, heinously wrong. Maybe, if the world sees we follow our standards as much as we push them on others, they will see what it is we are really made of.