Topic: A post from Chicago…on liberty, President George W Bush, progressive/Democratic politics, and looking ahead to a better outcome in the ’08 elections

I left the following comment on ganryu’s site regarding the issue of the US gov’t spying on its own people, and using unwarranted wire-taps.  It was also about the issue of the direction of American politics and society… 

just to play devil’s advocate a bit regarding the issue of gov’t spying on its own people…I don’t quite see why people are so opposed to the limited cases in which the gov’t is listening in to our conversations.  For example, we’re free to discuss whatever we want here on this blog.  Maybe the gov’t is watching.  So what?  They’re watching, but we’re still free to discuss.  As long as we’re not planning anything violent, we have nothing to worry about.  I say, “spy away,” I have nothing to fear, and I’m not bothered.  In the case of the student who was investigated for taking out Mao’s Red Book, I agree that it’s certainly absurd.  But…I think taking an absurd and rare example (sure…there’s many similar stories out there, but the % of people who get investigated for taking out books is likely a small number), and using that example to rail against the governments efforts to investigate legitimate threats, is a problem. 

Regardless of what “justifications” terrorists like al Qaeda might have, and regardless of what evils the US has committed, we do live in a relatively free and prosperous country.  This is not to downplay our flaws, but in Communist China, for example, I’d be banned from even discussing anything anti-government.  The threat of radical Muslims attacking America is certainly a threat.  It’s a threat around the globe. 

When Bush & company say they’re using wiretaps to protect us from Muslim terrorists, what is it you believe he’s “really trying to do?”  What is the right’s evil agenda to the American people?  I know the Republicans are not always the most moral of people.  I know there is much corporate influence in their agenda setting, both economically and foriegn policy wise.  But, I’m not sure I still buy into the “Bush is Hitler,” type of language that comes out of the left.  I think he’s perhaps naiive, ignorant, and short-sited, and those characteristics may lead to policies and a tone that create “evil,” or “injustice,” but I think the left does a disservice to itself by creating an image of the right and its leaders as people full of hate.  Sure, there’s Bill O’Reily’s and Pat Buchanans out there who are openly insensitive and racist, but it’s not as if the Republican platform is preaching “our goal is to make life miserable for the poor, and we want people to live in fear of the government and to watch what they say.”  It’s in Communist and Muslim countries that we see governments telling their people, “live this way, or go to jail.”  Although, it is also in socialist countries such as those in Latin America that we hear politicians openly saying, “We oppose war,” and “Our first priority is helping the workers and lower-classes to obtain a good education, health care, water, etc.”  But then again, socialist policies do not necessarily lead to those goals. 

I’m still developing my politics, and while I clearly support socialist speak, I also see the value in capitalism.  Ultimately, I believe what is necessary is an appropriate blend of the two.  But, more importantly, what I think is important in order for any kind of societyal progress to occur, is for people to come to understand one another, and use a language of understanding, even towards those we view as “oppressors.”  After all, if we hope to change the ways of those we disagree with, aren’t we best served by truly understanding their rationality?  Aren’t we best served by working with, rather than against?  Or better put, to beat them at their own game?  There’s no reason to believe that democratic capitalism can’t produce the type of system that socialist/communisits support, a system where all are equal, and all have access to the necessities in life, and where leisure is valued above work.  In fact, there’s no guarantee that a socialist/communist system, or any system, will produce that.  The system isn’t as important as the people that make up the system.  And…it’s easier to change people than it is a system.

Rather than focus on “revolution,” what if we focussed on creating mindful and compassionate human beings, consumers, voters, laborers, employees?  What if we worked to transform the psyche of society so that policies were hardly relevant.  The private sector does amazing things to take care of the poor.  It’s Bill Gates, not any gov’t, who’s giving billions to help the sick around the world, and to create small schools.  Benevolance comes through people, not through political systems. 

Through the right type of organizing, we could fill the white house with philosophers, doctors, teachers, and social workers.  There’s nothing preventing this, although money makes it easier to line DC with businessmen and lawyers.  But…money does not control everything.  Money didn’t stop protesters from halting the WTO discussions in Seattle, organization did that. 

And while both Dems and Republicans aren’t as radical as socialists, communists, greens, etc., democrats as a party are more sympathetic towards the needs of the poor, the needs of the public, the needs of the workers.  And, they are the only party with a legitimate chance at power, because all the other parties are simply to radical in their views, or too intellectual in their philosophies, to get their message out to the majority of the American people.  And, maybe to some extent, they’re too stubborn to compromise a bit on their party-line to join hands with the Democrats.  While the Dems often support Republican policies, they don’t always, and there would certianly be different agendas on the table if the Dems were in power.  In order to make a difference and change the national agenda from privatization of social security and public schooling, from disregard for the environment and tax-cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the rich and do next-to-nothing for the poor, we need to get Democrats into power, and then we need to hold their balls to the flame by altering the public consciousness on the issues. 

your thoughts?

-dan

Topic: It’s the media (medium?) stupid…and make sure to read the article I have posted at the end of this post…brilliant!

Just a quick post, as i’m leaving the office shortly to make my trip to Chicago, where I have a good 4 days, and 5 nights, to relive college.  Familiar faces, drinking, late nights, watching tv, cooking crazy-ass food at crazy-ass hours…as one of my best friends from school would say, “This weekend is going to be….delicious!”

I want to write briefly about media…not specifically the news media, but the idea of media in general.  The way in which ideas as communciated.  Books, movies, music, blogs, advertising, all the forms of media that exist.  The news media is just a small piece of all the media that’s out there.

Watching “You can’t be neutral…” a movie about the life and work of historian and social activist Howard Zinn, re-kindled some sparks inside of me.  Sometimes, it takes a certain medium, in this case a DVD, to affect you.  There’s also a great line in the book I’m reading about books…”They change people.”  Simple words and images…they do change people.

And so, this film changed me, at least for the evening.  I was reminded that when human beings organize, they are a force more powerful than any government.  While most of the energy of the ’60′s is gone, the ’60′s is proof that human energy can change society.  There’s no question that the same energy is present, the problem has more to do with organization and the mediums in which the progressive message is conveyed.  Too many people talking amongst their friends about change, and not enough collaboration amongst like-minded strangers.  Identifying this problem, I believe, will quickly lead to identifying solutions.

Op-Ed Contributor

Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

Charlottesville, Va.

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Jon Krause

IT’S navel gazing time again, that stretch of the year when many of us turn our attention inward and think about how we can improve the way we live our lives. But as we embark on this annual ritual of introspection, we would do well to ask ourselves a simple question: Does it really do any good?

The poet Theodore Roethke had some insight into the matter: “Self-contemplation is a curse / That makes an old confusion worse.” As a psychologist who conducts research on self-knowledge and happiness, I think Roethke had a point, one that’s supported by a growing body of controlled psychological studies.

Not sure how you feel about a special person in your life? Analyzing the pluses and minuses of the relationship might not be the answer.

In a study I conducted with Dolores Kraft, a clinical psychologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and Dana Dunn, a social psychologist at Moravian College in Pennsylvania, people in one group were asked to list the reasons their relationship with a romantic partner was going the way it was, and then rate how satisfied they were with the relationship. People in another group were asked to rate their satisfaction without any analysis; they just gave their gut reactions.

It might seem that the people who thought about the specifics would be best at figuring out how they really felt, and that their satisfaction ratings would thus do the best job of predicting the outcome of their relationships.

In fact, we found the reverse. It was the people in the “gut feeling” group whose ratings predicted whether they were still dating their partner several months later. As for the navel gazers, their satisfaction ratings did not predict the outcome of their relationships at all. Our conclusion? Too much analysis can confuse people about how they really feel. There are severe limits to what we can discover through self-reflection, and trying to explain the unexplainable does not lead to a sudden parting of the seas with our hidden thoughts and feelings revealed like flopping fish.

Self-reflection is especially problematic when we are feeling down. Research by Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, a clinical psychologist at Yale University, shows that when people are depressed, ruminating on their problems makes things worse.

In one study, mildly depressed college students were asked to spend eight minutes thinking about themselves or to spend the same amount of time thinking about mundane topics like “clouds forming in the sky.”

People in the first group focused on the negative things in their lives and sunk into a worse mood. People in the other group actually felt better afterward, possibly because their negative self-focus was “turned off” by the distraction task.

What about people like police officers and firefighters who witness terrible events? Is it helpful for them to reflect on their experiences?

For years it was believed that emergency workers should undergo a debriefing process to focus on and relive their experiences; the idea was that this would make them feel better and prevent mental health problems down the road. After 9/11, for example, well-meaning counselors flocked to New York to help police officers, firefighters and rescue workers deal with the trauma of what they had seen.

But did it do any good? In an extensive review of the research, a team led by Richard McNally, a clinical psychologist at Harvard, concluded that debriefing procedures have little benefit and might even hurt by interrupting the normal healing process. People often distract themselves from thinking about painful events right after they occur, and this may be better than mentally reliving the events.

What can we do to improve ourselves and feel happier? Numerous social psychological studies have confirmed Aristotle’s observation that “We become just by the practice of just actions, self-controlled by exercising self-control, and courageous by performing acts of courage.” If we are dissatisfied with some aspect of our lives, one of the best approaches is to act more like the person we want to be, rather than sitting around analyzing ourselves.

Social psychologist Daniel Batson and colleagues at the University of Kansas found that participants who were given an opportunity to do a favor for another person ended up viewing themselves as kind, considerate people – unless, that is, they were asked to reflect on why they had done the favor. People in that group tended in the end to not view themselves as being especially kind.

The trick is to go out of our way to be kind to others without thinking too much about why we’re doing it. As a bonus, our kindnesses will make us happier.

A study by University of California, Riverside, social psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky and colleagues found that college students instructed to do a few acts of kindness one day a week ended up being happier than a control group of students who received no special instructions.

As the new year begins, then, reach out and help others. If that sounds suspiciously like an old Motown song or like simplistic advice from one of those do-gooder college professors, well, it is. But the fact is that being good to others will ultimately make us kinder, happier people – just so long as we don’t think too much about it.

Timothy D. Wilson, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, is the author of “Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious.”

Topic: Anarchist anthropologists and why you shouldn’t take thing personally, how advertising targets people’s needs/desires vs making people into targets, strangers in falafel shops

Working backwards through the topics, I went to my favorite falafel shop last night, Mahmoud’s, on Macdougal st. in the West Village.  I had a couple of hours to kill before meeting up briefly w/ one of my best college buddies who was in town.  The food is quick and delicious, for only $2.75.  There’s only two booths, so I asked this Asian guy if he minded if I squeezed in across from him.  He commented on how amazing it was to find something so quick and delicious, for only $2.75.  I commented on how I was just thinking the same thing.  We chatted briefly, he’s a 3L at New York Law School, and now that his time in NYC is winding down, he’s trying to make the most of it. 

Funny how it takes a sense of “ending” to drive us to “begin” doing things.  The end of college, the end of a trip, the end of the summer, the end of our lives….

I ducked into a coffee shop next door for some cocoa and to read a bit of this book, “The buddha of Surburbia,” that a friend lent to me.  Just like going to the gym, I’m trying to do just a couple of hours of reading each day, or every other day.  This book is sort-of-a Catcher in the Rye taking place in Eng.  It’s about a 17-yr. old boy who feels a bit trapped in a South London suburb.  His dad, who is from India, becomes enchanted with Buddhism, and as his reputation and eccentric behavior grows, it causes strainings on the son.  The story also touches on racism against Indians, as well as the conflict of free-spiritied children against their parents’ old-world ways, such as when the main characters cousin is set-up in an arranged marriage, and her father goes on a hunger strike when she attempts to rebel.

Buddhism, like other life philosophies and religions, I believe has its benfits and risks.  The benefits I see include mindfulness and calm, while the risks include escapism.  To me, it is just as important to understand the material world as it is to “make peace with oneself in a world taken over by materialism.”  To me, understanding people, science, history, culture, sociology, psychology, and having a sense of balance between seriousness and playfulness are the tools that can lead to a “good life,” a life of joy, a life not overcome with suffering.  While retreating into mediation and thought, or living in the woods, certainly has its benefits, I believe that in order to truly “survive” the modern world, one should not try to escape it.  And I’m sure there’s somethning in Buddhism, or Taoism, or probably Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, that says something along those lines, of being like water and fitting into the cracks and molding to your surroundings, of keeping values while adjusting to the times.

There was an article in today’s Times about an anthropology professor, Dr. David Graeber, at Yale who was recently released from his position as an associate professor.  No specific reasons were given, but Graeber believes it is because of his open political views, specifically those in favor of anarchism.  His story is interesting, as well as his political views that support anarchism (which does not stand for chaos, but rather a belief that people govern best when they govern themselves w/out a central gov’t). 

But one of my favorite comments in the article was by another professor, who said that Dr. Graeber was being to focussed on himself and his being let-go from his position, rather than being the anthropologist that he is, and seeing how he has not been isolated for being a lone-radical, but rather how the system itself at Yale is designed to make associate professors expendible.

I think that’s a great idea to take away…that we shouldn’t always take things personally.  We shouldn’t look at isolated things in life and think that whole world has conspired against us.  We shouldn’t look at a person’s single actions and make a blanket judgement on that person.  Rather, we should try to understand the situation in a more rational/objective, though no less human way, than we normally would.  Why did I get fired?  Why did I not get this job?  Why did I do poorly on this test?  Why do I feel so depressed?  Why doesn’t this relationship work?  Without abandoning the uniqueness of our lives, we can still begin to analyze them in broader terms.  We can see how people bring certain assumptions and values everywhere they go.  What you may consider shallow, is just someone who sees money and wealth as an indicator of high class.  What you may consider laziness might be the product of a lifetime of abuse or neglect that has eroded or failed to build confidence and drive in an individual.  What one person sees as fair, another will see as unjust.

There’s a big problem in our society with understanding issues from various angles.  It certainly is no easy task, but the task of communicating openly with others is made more difficult in our culture of attack, in which we try not to understand how or why people hold certain opinions, but we try to discredit them through names and labels.

Lastly, I’d like to talk about advertising.  You might have noticed more healthy foods hitting the marketplace.  Orange juice with calcium.  Whole wheat bread.  Soon there will be Dannon yogurts with a special bacteria to aid in digestion hitting the market.  Are corporations suddenly interested in people’s health, or are people suddenly interested in their own health?  I think this change shows how corporations and people’s needs can come together.  Corporations are built to profit.  People have desires.  In many instances, these two things have bad consequences (negative externalities is the term economists use).  People love fatty foods, so McDonald’s sells cheap food that over time can kill you.  Same thing with cigarettes.  People love easy to follow and mind-numbing entertainment, so tv producers come up w/ an endless barrage of reality tv.  People love to shop and consume, so corporations pump out advertising in every corner to address that love.

As people’s desires change, corporations will be forced to change as well.  If people start to become more mindful of their health, as they are, food companies will advertise healthier food.  If people become more mindful of their entertainment, tv shows will be less about celebrities figure skating, and more about major issue facing society.  As people begin to turn off their televisions and read, tv networks will be forced to make their shows more intelligent. 

A corporations is made up of people and is responsible to people.  Its responsibility is to its owners and shareholders to make profits, and to do so, its responsibility is to its consumers to give them what they want.  Positive, healthy, capitalism is not an oxymoron.  It’s merely 100 years away….

Tonight’s movie…”You Can’t be Neutral on a Moving Train,” by Howard Zinn!!!

Topic: 10cent wings, 99.5FM, learning, creative writing

There’s a bar in my hometown called Croxley’s (there’s one in NYC too), that has 10cent wings on Mon. night and about 50 beers on tap.  My new beer of choice, Old Speckled Hen, a smooth English brew.

I’ve discovered a great radio station, 99.5FM.  On the way home from wings last night, they had 15min. of uninterrupted Martin Luther King speeches about the Vietnam War.  This morning, they had my favorite news program on, DemocracyNow at 9am, I’d only seen it previously on the internet, so I grew slightly excited by that discovery.  Plus they play cool funky music.

Starting to read essays from orgs. like the Brookings Institute (liberal) and Cato (libertarian), since these organizations tend to influence politicians a great deal, and they’re not written in the traditional CNN, Fox News style, so you can actually read and learn some things instead of being bombarded by crap.

As I was dozing off a bit on the train ride home, I began to imagine a conversation between an educational scholar and Pres. Bush.  This conversation would be televised around the world.  The topic would be schools, and what we can do to improve them for all, for the poor, for minorities, and for the middle-class and above.  The education expert would begin talking about how the national mandate for standardized testing is actually harmful to students because it reduces their motivation to learn.  He’d go on to talk about how gov’t can hold schools accountable by having students use portfolios and exhibitions to actually demonstrate learning in a way considerably beyond what a test or essay can show.  Pres. Bush would probably respond, “your studies haven’t proved anything,” or “we need to stay the course,” or “grades are improving, so things are working,” or “you’re being too soft on education.”  The education expert would respond, “there are no studies that show that testing in any way reveals learning, and the best studies available along w/ our own common sense tell us and show us that kids are not learning any better because of grades,” and “the course we’re on is not leading us to where we need to go.  The course we’re on is causing schools to cut back on discussions, and the arts, and writing, to make more time for a curriculum that is almost 100% test prep,” and “the fact that grades are improving proves nothing.  In fact, we know that while some states have shown improved grades, the results of national tests have shown the opposite.  So we either conclude that the tests don’t tell us much, or we conclude that grades are not in fact increasing,” and “being soft on education would be keeping our eyes closed to what’s actually occuring in schools.”  President Bush (or any number of education policy creators) would then probably make a face, smirk, and laugh off all the comments.  He’d then go on to discuss things unrelated to education, “There’s a war going on, don’t you think I know what I’m doing?  I’m bringing freedom to the world, and I’m trying to bring freedom to students.” and he’d continue, “I appreciate your criticism.  Criticism is American, and I appreciate it.  People are entitled to their own opinions, even if their opinions are wrong,” and he’d conclude, “That was a fun conversation…you wanna go hunting?”

Maybe the education expert would push further…”I believe in freedom too.  Which is why we need to give students more freedom in school.  We need to free them from a one-size-fits all curriculum,” and continue “I appreciate that you support criticism, but with that you need to actually listen to and respond to the criticisms.  You’re not doing that.  In fact, the ability to have a truly open dialogue without shutting off someone because of their criticism is a skill that is not taught in schools, and that’s why we struggle so much to communciate with and understand one another,” and would conlude by saying, “sure…let’s go hunting,” figuring, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

I literally dream for this type of nationally televised conversation.  An unedited, unscripted, discussion between some of our most influential policy-makers, and your avg. citizen with eyes towards improving our society.  There’s obviously people that are addressing this right now somewhere, and while it’s frustrating to know that I may not see major developments in my lifetime, I am reassured to know that in a subjective way, things do improve over time.  Yes…despite the ugly history of the world, despite the scars and continued beatings of man-against-man today, we are moving forward.  In 150 years blacks went from slaves, to oppressed and discriminated, to equal beings in the eyes of the law, to today, where they hold seats in Washington D.C., they host tv shows on Comedy Central, and run the sidelines of the premier sports teams in the country.  The very fact that global issues such as addressing African poverty, are discussed by over 150 nations, is testament to the fact that we’ve progressed.  Imagine if all the monkeys in the world were trying to make headway to ensure that monkeys everywhere had access to bananas and the right to toss their shit whenver they felt (i’d imagine that would be the equivalent monkey utopia).  As a species, human beings have evolved from not knowing what on earth is going on, to working towards building the conditions whereby every human being might be able to live life into their 50s, 60s, 70s, and above, because they have adquate resources to do so.  Sure, there’s some bad apples in government, and sure, there’s some bad apples running businesses and roaming the streets, and sure, the threat of some of these bad apples to blow up part of the world, or simply to make life harsh for others, is as present now as it’s ever been, but we should not forget the work of those who have come before us such that we may be able to concern ourselves with such things, and those who continue to work on improving the conditions of this game of life that we’re all players in.

currently eating: PB&J on rye

Topic: Progress Report

A few minor developments in a few minor areas:

1) Howard, a friend I met at the NYC travler’s meet-up group, and myself, have been discussing growing the group a bit.  We’re trying to come up w/ a way to create more opportunities for people in NYC to, well….meet-up.  We’re considering organizing a pub-crawl, with a couple of different themes including a history NYC pub crawl or a cultural/ethnic pub crawl.  Another idea is to organize a meet-up about the concept of the meet-up and the idea of building community and bringing together a wide cross-section of people.

2) Now that I’m approaching 6mos. with my job (a ridiclous achievement in itself, for me anyways), I decided to send out a “state of the union” type e-mail for a couple of people.  So far, the responses have been quite positive.  I had a list of criticisms and suggestions, and at the organizations last conference, apparently a lot of people agreed, and they’re moving it to their national conference which will be going on over New Year’s.  There’s need for changes all over the planet, so I’m content to hopefully be able to make some kind of a positive change where I am now, while at the same time knowing that nothing might happen beyond talk and that at the end of the day, I get paid to manage the office.

3) Channukah was festive.  Ate well last night, bagels, tuna, lox, potato lattkes and apple sauce, baked ziti and lasagna.  My uncle had a chocolate fondu fountain for dipping fruit in for dessert.  Plus the exchanging of gifts, better known in my family as “trickle down economics,” my grandfather gives checks to his children, and the uncles/aunts give checks to the grandkids. 

4) I love my job, and I’m not afraid to say it.  Some people love their jobs because they love what they’re doing.  Some people love their jobs because they feel they’re making a difference in the lives of others.  Some people love their jobs because they feel challenged, and some because they get paid a lot.  I might be unlike many people in that I love my job because I have little to do and little responsibility in doing it.  Although I learned last Fri. when I was out of the office that I’m the only person who knows how to ship things w/ DHL, or how to call Staples to order office supplies, by-and-large, I get away with having to do very little substantial work…and I’ve learned to embrace that.  It allows me to read online all day as I know many other people do, and it allows me to write which I love, and it allows me to think about what kind of work I’ll do next, what is it that I would trade this relatively stress job for?  The current picture looks like fall/winter ’06 -spring ’07 abroad, with the potential for fall ’07 to be a mentor (not a teacher) at a Big Picture Company school.  The school’s founder and the way it’s run is the closest thing to what I’ve dreamed a school should be like, and in the next couple of months I’m hoping to visit and write about how the practice meets the theory.

3 days till Chicago for New Year’s……

-can

Topic: Quick holiday post, and of course a quick thought on education

I want to quickly share a though on education, brough about from a comment a friend of mine asked.  “Why wait 5-10yrs. to try to change things?”

I’ve come to accept that change is a long-term thing that requires people on your side, not just good ideas in your head.  I believe that in order to get the ideas in my head to translate into something practical, I need both numbers and close and influential people on my side.  If I continue on the path I’m on, which may or may not happen depending on how life decides to unfold, I might hope to have such a network of allies in 5-10yrs. time.  In other words, I need to build my credibility.

Also, I have come to adjust my life priorities.  As far as long-term goals goes, having an influence on education is up there.  For the short-term, the upcoming days, weeks, and months, there are other pressing things.  I’m continuing to get in order my social life, family life, professional life, personal life, etc.  So…I don’t have the time to do what I did a year ago and dedicate myself 100% to preaching the message, nor do I believe that preaching the message is productive. 

Which is another reason I’ve given myself 5-10 yrs. for this, to sharpen my message.  I recently picked up 6 books on education (which I look forward to posting about on this site in the upcoming months, and includes one book about the mental health crisis in higher education, another by Alfie Kohn about testing, one by Paolo Fiere about the relationship between education and poverty in developing countries, another by Jonathan Kozol about inequities in public schooling, a history of higher ed., and lastly Dennis Littky’s book about his new brand of schools, the Big Picture Company.), and am trying to focus on educating myself on every issue under-the-sun.  If I want to preach a message, I need to be an expert on that message…and again, I need to figure out exactly what that message is, and what exactly i want to accomplish???  I need to read all the issues, talk to a wide-range of people, and know the various perspectives and experts already out there.  No need to spend my life trying to build a wheel again.

In actuality…this goal isn’t a 5-10yr. goal, but a lifetime goal.  This is something I will be dedicating probably my whole life to, to some extent.  For me personally, it’s really less about affecting the world, than it is affecting my own world.  By this I mean, I enjoy learning and discussing this issue, and will pursue it as long as it interests me.  When I feel myself banging my head against the wall, I’ll do the only thing I know to do in that situation, which is to stop banging.  I will not lose my sanity over education, because, part of my message is to be mentally healthy, to enjoy life, to have fun…so if I am going to be an activist for those things, I need to take it easy as well.  I was reading an article that mentioned how Plato believed leisure to be the key to a better democracy and a better society.  So, I feel as though I need to be leisurely aggressive about making people aware of educational and lifestyle issues that I believe plague too many people.

And…as far as getting the word out there, I do intend to rely heavily on the internet.  Just yesturday CT, who comments often on my site, purchased a copy of my book College Daze, and another blogger, lionne, linked me to several other people who might be interested in exchanging thoughts.  So…certainly the internet will play a large role.  Instead of trying to sell a million copies of a book, I am thinking along the lines of writing something that might be read and forwarded to a million people around the world.  And just as the shortage of relevant books in Barnes & Nobles inspired me to write what I wrote, the crappy chain-letters I get e-mailed, even the few well-intentioned ones, are further proof that if thought out properly, something large can be achieved.

On a closing note…just got back home from my first Christmas-eve dinner, which happened to be an Italian style dinner.  Massive amounts of fish, wine, pasta, and desserts.  I believe that as people allow themselves to see religion for what it really is or what it is really intended to be, an excuse to eat, to celebrate, and to build community, we allow ourselves to experience so much more.  Saying Merry Christmas no longer means anything different than saying Happy Birthday, Happy Channukah, Happy New Year, or Happy Let’s Just Get Together and Have a Good Time Day!!!  Am I planning on keeping my traditions and passing them down to my children?  I would like to.  But I am also equally interested in partaking in the traditions of others, and my experience tonight was a highly enjoyable one!

And here’s a thought that’s really not worth losing sleep over, but what if it was Christmas 365-days a year?  What if every night you had dinner w/ 20 people, and the meal was a feast, and everyone was merry and friendly to each other?  What if we paid attention to the poor, and sang songs, and felt warm-and-fuzzy more often than this 1-week?  Well..just because our national leaders aren’t addressing these questions, doesn’t mean that we all can’t in our own lives.

Food coma…time for bed.

-dan

p.s. is it strange that after a few drinks on Fri. afternoon, and going to Barnes & Nobles to relieve myself, I binge-spent money on education books?

p.p.s. What’s up w/ the Giants?  They had a chance to clinch the NFC East today, and now if they lose on the raod in Oakland on New Year’s eve, they could miss out on the playoffs all together.  Get it together Big Blue!!!

Topic: Bloody Hands

I went for a morning run, doing about 4-5 miles.  My mind was set to do the whole run, so I didn’t have to do battle w/ the usual “I’m tired, let’s walk,” I was set on just moving the whole time.  So…my mind began to wander, and it thought about how I might leave a mark on the world, as other idealists have.

I feel as though my efforts last year to promote my book College Daze, and to promote my ideas for revolutionizing higher education, were pre-mature.  I was like a high school basebally player put up to bat against the likes of Roger Clemens.  I surprised myself by making contact a few times, but in the end, I went down swinging.

At the time, I was both proud and disappointed.  I had found a community of people hungry for change…students, professors, deans, alumni, community members, and others.  I was a bit blinded by the goal of a complete academic shut-down, a campus wide strike of sorts, followed by negotiations that would lead to a new learning environment, to the point that after I moved on following the 2-3 months I spent on the St. Louis campus, I failed to appreciate the base of supporters I had built.

Turn now, a year later, in NYC.  I have come to recognize my blind passion of last year, and how that passion nearly drove me mad, and certainly failed to reach my desired goals.  However, I still have some of those general goals in site, to be a major league influence, not simply a fan on the sidelines screaming “You guys stink!”  I do intend to get out there and show people that there is a way we can all play this game better.

So…I was running on started thinking about an idea Dara told me when she was helping me to edit College Daze.  She told me to write more of a “manifesto,” something short, that could be quickly and easily digested, and quickly and easily distributed amongst people.  I also spoke w/ someone who works w/ John Taylor Gotto (one of the most outspoken school critics alive today), who suggested I simply print up copies of my writings and distribute them.  Don’t try to get a book published or anything else that might be costly…do it on the cheap, and that way you can be creative, make a scene, and get your word out in a bigger way than trying to have people pay for books.

Well, my mind was playing things through, and I was still running along my quiet suburban Long Island town.  Next thing I know, my shoulder is planted in the concret.  My right foot had snagged a piece of raised tar and I had stumbled.  Luckily, my biologically wired instincts kicked in and my hands hit the ground first (had it been 10 degrees instead of 30, I’d have been wearing gloves, oh well).  I came up w/ 2 nice bloody palms, or at least, the base part of the hand. 

I stood for a while, more in shock then pain.  The run had been going well, and I wanted to continue, so I decided to run to the nearby deli, where I got some napkins, and the woman at the counter got me some water and ice.  I cleaned up, and finished my run.  Back at home, I tried my best to doctor myself, to look objectively at my wounds, to lightly wash them and bandage them.  To try to understand the nature of the pain, rather than turn around and flinch.

So…now I have 2 wounded hands as a reminder of this morning’s run, but also, a newly inspired idea.  In 5-10 yrs. time, I hope to put together a revolutionary pamphlet to give out to 1000s of high school students, the content of which will be suitable to teens and their parents.  I want this thing to spread like wildfire, like so many other random things manage to spread.  I want this to gain attention from all sorts of media, and all sorts of professionals.  And, the goal won’t necessarily be a passionate revolution, but, just as Bono has done w/ global poverty, to raise awareness in a way that requires the type of push that I want to bring…..hands hurt, will more write later.

-dan

Topic: The strike, and the meetup.com, and serenity now!

I ended up not taking the Long Island Rail Road home last night, but will be on it today after work.  I’ve just seen some of the pictures and read the reports, and it looks like it was a friggin’ madhouse.  Penn Station was overflowing with people, and their were massive waits for trains.  I’m hoping to get out a bit early and maybe beat some of that rush…definately looking forward to reading more about how this is going to turn out.

Let me turn quickly to “serenity now,” the famous Seinfeld quote of Frank Costanza, his way of calming himself down.

I need calm in my life…just a little bit of calm everyday.  Time alone.  Time to recognize that I have time, time to think, time to simply be along, time to not worry about work, my future, or anything or anyone.  Time to get a better hold of time.  Time to slow down time, which tends to go quickly in a day. 

I’m working on creating a daily routine that could be applied throughout my lifetime, regardless of where and when I am.  A routine with built in flexibility.  Along with healthy eating and exercise, I’m hoping to build in time for calm.  Might have to shave a few minutes from sleeping, or simply be more efficient with my time throughout the day, but having calm time I think is something I need these days.

I went to my 2nd meet-up event last night, for the NYC travelers group.  It’s possibly the most ideal way to meet people, and have a good night of socializing.  The topic of travel certainly came up, but that’s essentially the ice breaker that allowed 10-or-so strangers to just start having free-flowing conversations.  They have meet-ups for all sorts of things, and I’m hoping to start making that part of my monthly routine.

I feel like being a bit creative now…so bear w/ me here, as I end this post with some stream of conscious-type writing:

Life is good
and not good
Life is
It is envigorating
and dull
it is
Life is intense
and overwhelming
and calm
this life
This life is lonely
and boring
and life is
life is not these things
Life is full of entertainment
and people
and community
life is
It is technology
and nautre
Sleep and awake
What is life?
It is not life
It is
It is now
and yesturday
and odds are tomorrow it will be as well
It hurts
and stings
this life
and terrorizes my heart
and our hearts
Life is what we try to escape
and life what we try to embrace
Because life is
life is
life is
Life is beauty
and creativity
and spontaneous
This life
It is nothing
Nothing we can control
Nothing that matters
It is life
It is what is written
and not
spoken
heard
and muted
seen
and covered
blind from our eyes
Life
Life is
Life are these words
and dark
beyond our comprehension

To life, to life
L’Chaim
L’Chaim, L’Chaim
To life

Topic: Strike, work, Bolivia, sociology…

• from discussions w/ a few people, it seems the NYC transit strike is going to have some interesting effects.  For me personally, I take the Long Island Rail Road to work, so I’m really in no way effected.  For poor people who generally rely on public transportation, they are bound to suffer, as they will be forced to chalk up money for cabs or private buses.  For the transit union, those in charge are likely to be jailed for violating the Taylor Laws which make a strike such as this one illegal, and for the general workers, they are looking at fines as well as losing 2-days pay for every day they strike.  For the union in general, they will possibly be losing the benfit of having the MTA collect union dues through workers pay checks, therefore requiring individual workers to write checks to the union which will make it difficultfor the union to collect their dues.  How long will the strike last, what sort of deal will be reached, those things we’ll have to wait and see.
  


• Bolivia has a new President, the socialist leader Evo Morales.  He is the first indiginous Indian President of Bolivia, and has a background as a miner and a coca-leaf farmer.  There a a few issues surrounding his victory.  First, is the issue of the coca-leaf industry.  In Bolivia, the leaf is traditionally used for teas and to be chewed on, and Morales has no intention of eliminating the industry.  The US is concerned because the leaf is used for making cocaine, to which some Bolivians respond, “we are not responsible for the US cocaine problem.  The US is more interested w/ having a military presence here than eliminating cocaine.”   Besides coca leaves, the big issue for Morales is his intention to nationalize natural gas, which is currently held by many foreign corporations.  By nationalizing gas, Morales hopes to use the profits to help poor Bolivians, rather than watching the profits go towards CEOs and shareholders abroad.  Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is in the midst of telling ExxonMobil to either become a partial-partner w/ Venezuela’s nationalized gas and oil, or to get out, because he has the interest of his people ahead of just making profits.
  


• Headlines are talking about George Bush’s approval ratings, and to be honest, our society abuses these polls for no good.  First of all, whatever sample of people are being polled is never going to be a true-cross section, and more importantly, poll numbers mean nothing compared to what real people have to say.  And…poll numbers simply spike and drop according to the weather of the day, and fail to capture the general mood of a country.  I’ll be honest though, I’m more upset with having an incoherant, arrogant, ignorant, close-minded, naiive president, than I am with most of his policies.  I honestly don’t follow every policy closely.  For example, the headlines now are about “illegal” wire-tapping.  Like every issue, people immediately jump into their ideological camps…but, without having read deep into the article, I can’t see on the surface why this is such a huge problem, or why the problem can’t be ameliorated through simple discussion.  I see how the problem is when innocent people get sent into prisons, locked up, tortured, etc. but I think the issue of “I don’t want the gov’t invading my privacy,” is a bit extreme.  First of all, I have nothing to hide, I’ve done nothing wrong, so the law bothers me not one bit.  And while I think it’s silly when the FBI is snooping around in people’s book clubs, what they’re looking for are people who might be physical threats to other people.  You can have all the radical views you want, but I support the gov’t tapping people’s phone calls if it means finding out about a possible subway bombing in the future.
  


• I just spoke to a co-worker who works down in Austin, Tx.  She just bought a 1br house, a one-story w/ a basement.  Price….about $70,000!!!!  Now that I’m getting comfortable in the NY area, I’m starting to accept the fact that when I do buy something, a condo, a house, whatever, it’ll likely be $300,000+ for whatever it is I buy.  And this won’t be happening for several years.  But it’s really something to think about, a decision up there with choosing a college.  Where do I want to live, what kind of home, what price range, what neighborhood, what city???  How long do I live at home, how long do I rent, at what point to I buy, should I wait till I’m married???  Although stressful, I have to say I enjoy the responsibility and freedom to make this decision, and although I’m a bit lost in the way I was lost choosing a college, I at least know that I’m lost, and can start to do the research…out of curiosity, has anyone been around Princeton, NJ.  Would be interesting to be near a college campus for sure…
  
  
  
  
  

Topic: A-ha…the meaning of life!!!

I remember having a deep conversation about life w/ a couple of co-worked when I worked for Outward Bound in S. Africa.  When I went to bed, my mind was still racing, and after a big I woke up, sat-up, and paused…my heart racing.  I thought I had figured out the answer to our hour long conversation. 

My roommates heared me sit up and I actually said, “I got it!!!!”  The asked, “What’d you get?” and I said, “I figured out the meaning of life…but I can’t remember what it is…”

Since then, I’ve come to some new conclusions, which will continue to change over time.  I rented a Ben Harper DVD this weekend, and despite his music often bordering on political, he said, “I have no desire to change the world…the world will always be changing until the day the world ends.”  Sure, we should try to better the world, but to realize there is no objective end, except if the time comes when human beings end up like dinosaurs (I think i need to watch Planet of the Apes again…)

Anyways…so I’ve figured out life is short and meaningless (not to say that there isn’t meaning to be drawn out of life).  I believe the mind and human spirit transcend science, but I also believe that we are no different from any other animal, in that all we can do is best fill our days.

And, that’s where the meaning of life lies.  How do we best fill our days?

I’ve begun to answer that question, and I feel compelled to further fill my days by sharing what it is I have observed regarding this question.

1) We are best served by viewing life as entertainment.  Most of us do this already.  We watch movies, read books, play games, travel…basically everything that we do for fun, we do in order to be entertained.  The trick, that I believe I’ve discovered and I’m still mulling over and working on putting into practice, is how to make “non-fun things” to be entertaining?  How to make academic things entertaining?  How to make a subway ride entertaining?  How to make the experience of being an office-drone entertaining?  How to look at conflict and sadness, and see the entertainment in it.

2) We are best served by filling our days in ways that lead to physical and mental health.  When we are healthy physically, we tend to be healthier mentally, and there are many other side-effects, including increased life expectancy.  Physical health comes simply from eating well, getting adequate exercise, and avoiding things that are known to be harmful to the human body, or, to do those things in moderation.  If risking your physical health through drinking, smoking, or high-risk sports means increasing your mental health, than you need to do a personal cost-benefit type analysis to see if it’s worth the physical risks.

Mental health is tricker, and not always in a person’s control.  I’ve discussed this topic before, and don’t want to focus too much on it now.

So…those are my initial thoughts on the meaning of life.

In other news (in the news), it seems some small amount of tone-shifting has occurred in the world.  The World Trade Organization meetings in Hong Kong have just about come to a concensus on how to make the global economic system work to help developing countries.  This includes developed nations such as those in Europe and the US, ending gov’t subsidies that they give to their own farmers by the year 2013 (I believe was the year).  While I have not read about this extensively, this appears to be a sign of governments moving in the general direction of what poor countries need to improve their financial situations, as well as the general direction of what angry protestors have been calling for.  Unless I’m missing something major, it appears that those w/ money and power do in fact possess benevolent bones in their body.

And…while I haven’t read the whole speech, Pres. Bush admitted mistakes last night.  He made his first tv speach about the war since it began, and apparently made some effort to acknowledge critics.  That’s a huge step for this president, who has not been willing or able to make a connection w/ the majority of the world and basically w/ an extremely high number of Americans. 

 I mean…how hard should it be for one of the most influential people in the world to get on tv and explain things, and to be real about how people feel about his words and decisions???  All we’re asking for is for the man to be a human being, and not just a puppet reciting the same words and phrases every day…at least for starters.

And, at the end of the day, while the Pres. is an important person, he is not the only person in the world…far from it.  I do think that too many people look to the gov’t to address social issues, and as history has shown, social issues rarely get decided by the gov’t.  The reason we have an 8hr. work day, the reason we have min. wage laws, the reason troops got pulled out of Vietnam, the reason women gained the right to vote, the reason that the environment is even on the national agenda, is the results of everyday people speaking out and doing something.

Is there a problems of poverty in America?  Is there a problem w/ welfare, w/ subsidized housing, with attitudes and treatment of the poor?  We can discuss all those things…but I’ve recently befriended a man, named Bob, who spends his days on the streets asking for money.  And…despite his financial troubles, I no longer see this person as a begger, I see him simply as Bob, a man from N. Carolina, who has a wife Sylvia who sits on a nearby corner, and a dog named Abby.  A man who is friendly, who has intelligent thoughts about politics and society, who has worked but lost his job due to health reasons, and who doesn’t look for much from the world.  I was impressed to see people had left packages w/ chicken, pasta, all sorts of things.  Bob actually lives in Section 8 subsidized housing in the Bronx, but hasn’t been able to collect any kind of social security or welfare, and spends his days on 34th st. trying to scrounge up money to pay his $200 rent.  He’s too sick to work, and I’m not quite sure how his numerous doctor bills get paid.  I guess the point of this is to realize that beneath the politics and economics of poverty, are regular people, and if we want to help them, we can begin by accepting them as so.  (There was a woman on the train who freaked out at a guy asking for money, screaming at him to get off drugs, get a job, and threatening to call the cops because it’s apparently illegal to panhandle on the subways…the problems we face have as much to do w/ our sociology as our politics, but regarding this woman, who knows…maybe she was mugged by a homeless person.)

-dan