(this post written while extremely tired and bored…apologize for whatever shit i’ve grumbled out here)

Topic: Help me solve this riddle…

and…

Until I find a job where I can just talk to people all day who will listen and tell me what they think…I’m just going to keep on posting, comments or no comments, I’m gonna keep on firing them away, and will hopefully accrue some material that might be useful for something or other in the future.

This is from kregg…

“Most Americans’ financial woes stem from materialism, not capitalism.  If you are capable of sound financial planning and self-denial concerning consumer goods you can retire a millionaire working ANY job (assuming you start before age thirty).  Most people just aren’t willing to make the needed sacrifices (20% of every paycheck).  Instead they feel they need cell phones and computers and Playstations and Internet connections and decent cars and leather couches and vacations and fine dining and HDTVs and DVD collections…(Again I could triple this list).  Investing in depreciating assets instead of banking or investing loose capital is always a losing venture.  Then again, a life spent denying oneself material goods could be pretty boring.  Somewhere in between, there is a balance.  You will find it.”

I would tend to agree 100% w/ this statement.  I just want to tweak it, because I think it should be a message espoused by our political and educational leaders.  This statement can be true, but it requires certain things to take place to make it so.  First, is people need to have adequate health coverage, as a hospital visit for the uninsured is an instant recipe for financial destruction.  Second, is that people need to understand what sound financial planning means.  Since saving for the future now requires investing in the stock market, people need to come to grips with the fact that of all the things you can do with your money, (leave it under your mattress, in a bank account, poker, Super Bowl), the stock market has traditionally been the surest way to save and grow your money.  Now…good luck picking your funds.

So…we have the health issue, we have the saving and investing of money issue.  Next is the income and consumption issue.  There was an episode of “30 days,” the show w/ the guy who made the documentary “Supersize Me,” where he worked a couple of min. wage jobs.  You get a taste of how hard his life was.  Which begs the question, is a hard life a bad life? 

I don’t think many of the problems in the world, the crises, are real.  What do I mean by this?  Well…since the beginning of man, approximately 10 billion humans have lived and died.  In about 120 years (to be conservative), every living person on the planet will be dead (man…do i know how to be a buzz kill or what!) 

I think we typically pay lip service to our own mortality.  We get so caught up on civilization, and the buzz of our everyday lives.  Here’s a thought…what do we think of when we read the news, or pay attention to those who are trying to address the world’s problems.  We see anger, frustration, endless criticism. 

There is meaning to life and that meaning is joy…(for me, beer, writing, travel, etc.)  Ugh…sometimes I hate where my logic leads me, what is it I’m trying to say, or prove?  Aaargh…

Let me try this…on several occassions, including just now, i’ve attempted to come up w/ a “recipe for the world,” and i think i’ve caught myself this time because it’s not a good approach to life, or to the world.  I think people like myself forget that there’s been 10 billion people before us, there’s 3 billion or so people now, and there will be many billions of people to come. 

Even if we think we’re addressing the world, because we’re addressing the headlines and the big issues of the day, in the grand scheme we’re largely drops in the bucket.  What I’m donig a piss poor job of grappling w/ here, is trying to find a reason not to run off into the land of relativism, where nothing in our lives matters. 

Certainly, people living today will matter in the world they leave to the future, just as we have those who have come before us to thank / not thank for the world we now livei n.  I think part of the reason to grapple with questions such as the relationship between money and quality of life, is to see where there is unnecessary struggle that our human ingenuity could solve.

Perhaps that’s it…it’s in our nature to look for problems worth solving.  Challenges to overcome.  It doesn’t drive everyone, but certainly it’s what drives those who are interested in civilization and society.  It’s in part a giant exercise in mental masturbation to tackle these problems, as well as an altruism towards other human beings, as well as a selfishness in knowing that helping others helps ourselves.

I just added in the heading “let me solve this riddle,” i think so much of life is just a riddle, an ever changing question with ever changing answers.  all seems a bit abstract for me, but when i pass by hundreds of people each day at Penn Station, I realize we’re all working out our own riddles.  Pick an obscure part of the map, and there’s people solving their own riddles.

ok…time to fuck around

-not becoming an alcoholic…but can’t wait to get a wine buzz tonight
-gonna crawl into bed tonight w/ Charlie Parker
-winter camping this Sat. night…get to love the comfort of leaving behind comfort
-parents coming back from vacation…which means the house is gonna start smelling like smoke again.  although i’m saving money living at home, and have been enjoying the experience overall, dealing w/ my dad smoking has been one huge friggin’ downside
-i wonder if my dad eventually dies of lung cancer, if i’ll grow angry at the tobacco industry. 
-Maslow’s hierarchy of needs says something like a person can only help others when they feel self-actualized…and i guess once you are, then you’re simply trying to help others reach that point. i think self-actuzlization is a timelss human condition, that is both caused by and distinct from culture.

if i’m not feeling self-actualized, my primary concern is taking care of myself.  if i’m feeling hungry, thirsty, lonely, etc. my only drive is to take care of those things.  sometimes i slip off the peak of that triangle, some sort of fatigue sets in from caring about “social ills,” in which case, i quickly become a “social ill.”

i can’t deny occassionally feeling lonely and isolated…not so much my ideas, but living.  i found in college i was never lonely.  this weekend, i crashed at my friend’s place, and it was just 4 guys watching the olympics all day and bullshitting.  life was good that day. 

i’m strong enough now to recognize my moods, and to know that i allow myself to get down sometimes in order to explore those moods, knowing full well that once i’ve concluded, i will allow myself to be up. 

my biggest dream now is to wander.  to wander around in a foreign country.  to wake up each day when my body feels like it, to be surrounded by other wanderers.  to explore new places, new people.  to live meagerly off of my savings.  to think not of the future.  to follow my bliss.  to spend my days reading and writing…taking photos, and shooting videos. interviewing strangers.  food and music.  beaches, mountains.  women and friends.  exhiliration.  wonder, and joy.  oh…just give me these few minutes to dream, and shortly i’ll regain consciousness, and realize that i’m still chained to a desk, listening to a computer hum, and phones ring.

Dept: Really hard questions
Course: The hardest question known to man

I want to start off this class by asking everyone here a difficult question.  I want to test your ability to dig information from your brain…are you ready.  OK…here it goes, the most difficult question I could possibly ask.  A question that could stump a Harvard lawyer, or an MIT engineer, or even your average Joe who thinks they’re smart.  Ready…

“What did you have for lunch last Tuesday?”

Go ahead…just try to answer.  I couldn’t, even after spending about 30min. this past Sunday pondering.

Wouldn’t that make a great book title though.  I mean, how could such a simple question be so hard?  Why can’t we access such simple memories from our brains, like doing a “google” search?

Anyways…that was for fun, but, as with most of my posts, I’m gonna piggy-back off that train off thought and onto another.

Job myths.  I’m quite ignorant and naiive about the working world…but I’m learning fast.  I’m learning that I can make $30,000/yr. doing work that a 16yr. old high schooler could do, and I’m learning that despite the statistics that imply a college degree brings high income, the reality is that you get paid based on what job you take, and not every job, even high paying jobs, require a college degree.

In fact…skimming through the want ads, it turns out I could be making up to $80,000 doing the same job I’m doing now.  Right now my job description is one of several things.  I’m an “office manager,” an “administrative assistant,” a receptionist, a secretary, and an “executive assistant.”  All titles mean very similar job duties, but the difference is in how you spin them, and the work environment. 

For example, the job listings for executive assistants can be boiled down to just a few things.  First, you have your basic computer skills including typing (Microsoft Word), e-mail (Microsoft Outlook), date entry (Excel).  Then, you have other intangible skills such as being organized, ability to hold a conversation, time management, etc.  This skills are applied to such job duties as booking flights for other employees, as well as booking hotels and rental cars. 

I’m tempted to give it a go and in the future try out the life of an executive officer in an $80,000 job.  The biggest drawback I fear would be long hours, and perhaps a stressful work environment.  But…like all jobs, there would be a multitude of learning opportunities.  I could end up being the right-hand-man for an MBA entrepreneur, or a CEO of a large company.  Talk about an opportunity for a great education and networking opportunities. 

Then, there’s the thought of being a garbage-man, which I was recently told involves working about 3hours a day, and the pay is quite high.  That would be another great experience, short hours, good pay, and an interesting blue-collar type of work environment.  In addition, I would get my workout in and would save money on a gym membership.

I’m beginning to think less-and-less about the ability of the gov’t to provide the best solutions for the needs of people and communities, although I’m not about to come out against programs right now, as I think knee-jerk, “Gov’t is bad, cut spending,” can have a whiplash effect on many people, and is not the approach I would like to take.

My major concern, is how social services, ranging from public schooling to child welfare, are so heavily dependent on public financing to run efficiently.  Budget cut-backs do make it more difficult for these agencies to accomplish their goals.  However, I have been beginning to think that their goals can never be met, without changes in the way individuals act. 

For example, the US gov’t spends about $1billion/yr. trying to stop cocaine from coming into America.  The problem, as one Bolivian coca farmer said in a recent NY Times article, is “the gringos are the ones using the cocaine, not us.”  So…until drug user behavior changes, we can expect all gov’t funding to stop cocaine use to be money washed down the drain.

My thoughts are still evolving here, so I’m just going to think out loud for a minute longer.  As I started writing, with only basic skills it is possible to be financially successful in America.  It does take a bit of creativity and clever thinking to figure out how to not to make minimum wage your whole life…but the skills to do so can easily be taught and acquired. 

The tragedy today is that in 12 years of schooling, our leaders, for various reasons, have been unable to come out and say that most of what we are teaching and measuring in schools is complete bullshit in terms of what we know adults need and use to survive.

They preach critical thinking, but cannot demonstrate it themselves.  They preach math and science, when most students will be getting by on basic skills and skills learned on the job. 

One of my biggest problems with “education,” is that any public discussion about education is limited to schooling.  As most people would agree, the majority of what is learned in life, is not learned in school.  And this point is not purely a critique of schools, rather, it’s a more general observation that people spend a lot of time out of school, and after age 17, or 21, people spend virtually all the rest of their lives learning in non-school settings.  And so when our political leaders go on about the problems of education and how education is the key to the future, the problem is they’re talking not about education, but about schooling.

I haven’t yet figured out what sort of professional role I may be able to fill one day, but for now, that of writer, critic, and semi-activis will have to do.  In that light, I’ll continue to rant as though what I say meant something.

The solution to the education problem, the schooling problem, the jobs problem, is easy.  It’s easy because it’s not about government or policy.  If it were, it would be difficult, partisan, bureaucratic, and uncertain.  Rather, the solution is mindfulness.  Awareness.  Information based.

Words are the most powerful tool in creating change.  That’s how we grow overtime…we accumulate more words (and phrases, sentences, paragraphs, articles, blog entries, books, tv shows) through our lives.  But…depending on the words we take in, alters the people we become, and the potential we have to do certain things.

With access to the “right” words, anyone can find a job, and know how to live a comfortable life.  I’m still trying to access those words, and I know there’s people who are on all different points on the “word spectrum.”  For example…the difference between someone who has saved for retirement or not might come down to the different words someone read or was taught about saving.  The difference between someone making $8/hr as a receptionist and $40/hr as an “executive assistant,” could be someone reading this blog and saying, “hey…I’m gonna apply for one of those high paying office jobs.”  Maybe someone reading these words will decide to take a year off after high school to travel the world and read 20 books during the year, while another will get sucked into a more shallow college experience.  The difference between the two being the words they were exposed to.

I think part of life is having had the luck to have been exposed to the right words at the right time.  Sometimes…we create the words ourselves after having had a particular experience.  Oddly enough, I credit my ability to write with hours of loneliness as a child, time spent alone with nothing but the words in my own head.  I’ll tell you, that can be both a liberating and a dangerous experience…your own words have the power to torment you and scare you, and to make you realize what a powerful tool you have in creating the life you want, as an artist might a painting.

-our Vice President shot his 78yr. old friend, HAHAHAHA
-new book everyone including myself should read, “Left Hand of God,” by Rabbi Michael Lerner
-going winter camping this weekend…sweet!!!
-still can’t remember what I had for dinner last Tues.
-snow boarding at the olympics…some fun shit to watch
-building a networking game plan to brainstorm book ideas and professional paths
-got drunk enough on Sat. night to write my name in the snow!
-NY pizza…god i love it
-need to go kayaking again to get my mind off serious things

curently eating: left over chinese…rice cakes w/ peanut butter and jelly, blackberries
currently amusing myself: What do crabs and al Qaeda have in commone?  They both hate bush

ok…settle down now, time for class…

MAJOR: Communication, Education, Sociology, Yadda yadda iology….
COURSE: How little ideas become big ideas
GUEST LECTURE: question the experts

I feel a sense of relief that I will be working on a new writing project alongside this blog.  Over the weekend I should have some time to craft my thoughts and have them e-mailed to those of you who have e-mailed me…this essay will likely be sent out to 8 or so bloggers, and in total I’m expecting to send it out to around 50 people.  So I’m quite excited about this.

I forget the exact quote I recently read, but it was in someone’s obituary.  I’ve begun reading the obituary section in the newspaper for a few reasons.  Most importantly, it keeps me grounded, reminded me of my own mortality.  Second, it helps me focus on living my life as I want others to remember me.  Third, it’s interesting to read about how various people contributed to life, whether it be the family they’ve left behind, or something else.

The quote I read basically said that all the great ideas that we need, have been spoken alraedy.  The problem is, nobody has listened to them.  Therefore, our challenge is to figure out how to say things better than they’ve been said in the past.

I am constantly reading things that I am blown away by.  There have been some amazing books written on the failure of our society to educate people in the way that most people would like people to be educated.  But, those voices are not in the mainstream, which tells me that they haven’t done a good enough job reaching their audience. 

In fact, that very issue, ‘how a small idea becomes mainstream,’ is one that I’ve spent a few years thinking about now.  And…it’s very much a reality based discussion.  It comes down to who you know, what power you have, how influential you are.  It’s not something to talk about abstractly.  Why does reality TV dominate prime time TV?  Why aren’t there prmie time shows with people talking about all these good ideas that people have written about that could help create a better society?  The answer to that question is essential to figuring out how to get different ideas into the mainstream conversations people have in life.

Next class…why you should alwasy be skeptical of “experts”

In an effort to better manage my time, to better manage my life…I am acknowledging that I have not been able to achieve what I had hoped with this blog.  The number of readers (my measure by which how far my ideas are reaching) and the number of comments (my measure by which how many people reading this have actually been effected, and by which I’m able to also get something out of this) have stangated.  There has been no meaningful growrth!!!

So…what to do?

This page isn’t an experiment in blogging.  I’m not doing it purely for the fun.  I now realize that I have an incredible potential to have my wideranging views about education and life spread on an incredibly wide scale.  And while I don’t hold my beliefs to all be the best, I ultimately believe that my voice belongs in the national consciousness. 

An op-ed in the NY Times today wrote about the coverage of the near invisibility of the media to cover genocide in Darfur.

FUCKIN’ GENOCIDE!!!

We’re talking about the world being ignorant, and as a result, not doing anything in response to innocent people being brutally killed because of their ethnic background.  I’m not an expert on the genocide in Darfur, but the point of the article was that the major news programs gave all of 15-30minutes of coverage to this….in 1 year!!!! 

THE MEDIA CARES MORE ABOUT MICHAEL FUCKIN’ JACKSON THAN GENOCIDE!!!

This is what drives me now.  People are not receiving the ideas they should be.  I have 0 doubts in my mind that Dan Lilienthal (that’s me) has ideas that deserve the attention of many more people than has been limited to this blog so far.  Just so you don’t get the sense that I’m a lone-ranger, crazy cowboy, I’m just one of hundreds of thousands of people that hope to shift people’s attentions to things that could make their own lives better, and can make life better for us all.  I don’t want to spend my life helping people with depression, or having dull conversation, or feeling lonely and isolated…it doesn’t take a PhD to know that people want to live peaceful, fun, meaningful, friendly lives…and this won’t happen unless people like me, and then people like you, begin to connect.

That’s why…I’m looking to begin writing a weekly essay.  I’m not sure how I want to approach it, but I want to write an essay to e-mail to interested readers.  My hope is that people will take an e-mail essay more seriously than a blog post, and will be more likely to write a response to an e-mail, than to comment on a blog.  For me personally, this will allow me to build real and deep relationships than can be build on this community. 

My hope is to grow an audience through this weekly e-mail, which will happen by interested readers forwarding my essays.  Aaron Karo, who was a student at U Penn, began to e-mail his “ruminations” on college life.  Now he’s a stand-up comedian in New York, has written a couple of books, and has an enormous world-wide audience.  He could fart, write about it, and the world would know.

That’s what I hope to achieve.  I want people to know when I fart, and I want people to know when I have something to say about the state of education, and other assorted musings that I have about how to improve the potential of what humans can do with their quickly passing lives.

If you are interested in receiving this e-mail essay from me, please e-mail me at
Dan_Lilienthal@yahoo.com

Please include your xanga name and real name if you’d like, so I have some idea who you are.  In the next week or two I hope to send out my first mass-mailing.

I will continue to blog here, and will figure out what format and content will best fit my needs.  Thanks everyone!

-dan

MAJORS: Philosophy, Business, Sociology, Psychology
COURSE: Money & Society

ASSIGNMENT: People often criticize companies and individuals for being greedy, and for pursuing profits and personal wealth, while those who with less money suffer. What are the benfits and drawbacks of individuals pursuing profits?  How are the fortunes of some individuals and companies related to the wealth or poverty of others?  Feel free to address any of these questions, or come up with questions of your own to answer. 

(to hear me “lecture,” and to participate in this discussion, please view and leave comments)

MAJOR: Communications 101
COURSE: Communicating ideas about society through blogs

ASSIGNMENT: Most people have short attention spans, and little patience.  If they’re not entertained, they go elsewhere.  In that spirit, create blog content that attracts readers, and makes them want to listen to what you have to say. 

I recently received feedback that my blogs are too long, complicated, “preachy.”  So…in order to keep those readers who feel that way, and to continue to provoke thought in those who read every word I write…I offer the following new format.

-Attended an event at the New School last night.  There were 3 major speakers, including Paul Krugman, who is famous for writing op-eds in the New York Times.  The topic was the widening income gap in America.  What was most interesting to me, was the idea that it’s the super-rich, the top 1%, those people who make mega-millions, more than 99% of the country (you and I), who us 99% of America (you and I) need to be concerned with.  It got me thinking, if the Democrats could propose one issue clearly that could potentially improve America greatly, it would be to put a sizable tax on those making multi-millions, which would affect only 1% of Americans, and use that tax money to fund Social Security, grants for higher education, universal health insurance, rebuilding New Orleans, increase teacher pay…
WHAT DO YOU THINK?

-I’ve always been the type of person to take a step back and analyze things from a broader perspective.  This book I’m reading, “American Higher Education: A History,” has brought me back into contact w/ material I haven’t been exposed to since high school or before…I’m talking about Ancient Greek and Roman civilization.  While human knowledge has developed immensely in the last 2500 years in science, technology, the humanities, business, etc., it seems that in many ways the general public has become less interested in critical thought and understanding society, as people in the day of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were concerned with.  In his State of the Union, Pres. Bush made a call to bring more people into teaching science and math.  To me, the fact that our national education initiatives focus on math and science, but ignore a call for building a nation that is literate, conversant, and able to critically examine politics and social issues, reveals that we have failed to build on the human discoveries before us…
WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Jeromse Bettis, the running back for the Pittsburgh Stealers, is a native of Detroit, where the Super Bowl is being held.  He was recently given the “key to the city,” by the mayor, to show their appreciation for the local hero.  I’ve been thinking recently about the relative importance of things…for example, concerning ourselves with poverty is “more important” than concerning ourselves with the Super Bowl, however, the Super Bowl is still “important.”  As my friend put it, “one person’s success does not necessarily equal another person’s failure.”  In that light, the fact that thinking about and working to address societal ills is “important,” does not mean that all other things are un-important.  What I’ve also been thinking about, is how if we addressed all societal ills (no more hunger, poverty, war, disease, etc), the only things that would be important would be those things that seem un-important, such as watching the Super Bowl (or travel, leisure, food, friends, etc).  As a society, I think we need to embrace all the important things in life…the deeper important things of making life better for us now and those that will come after us, as well as enjoying those shallow things we also find important.  In order to address the deeper things in life, those societal ills, people need to equate and blend those things (politics, protest, voting, social action, volunteerism) with those shallow things we enjoy (good conversation, time with friends and family, lifelong love of learning, helping people, travel).  A pool with both deep and shallow ends… 
WHAT DO YOU THINK?

-dan

Learning about perseverance by rowing “PERSEVERANCE” down in S. Africa

Inequality Matters: The Growing Economic Divide in America and its Poisonous Consequences

Tues., Jan. 31, 7:00 p.m. $8. The New School…66 W. 12th St.

Please join us for a public forum on the growing concentration of wealth, income and power in America. Why is it happening? How is it affecting us? What can we do about it? Moderated by Laura Flanders, author of The W Effect and host of Air America’s Laura Flanders Show and featuring Paul Krugman, New York Times columnist and Princeton economist, on the causes and far-reaching consequences of the quarter-century-long trend of growing economic inequality in America. Joined by Meizhu Lui of United for a Fair Economy; James Lardner, senior fellow at DEMOS and co-author of the groundbreaking new book Inequality Matters; and other panelists to be announced. Co-sponsored by The New School, The New Press and DEMOS.

World Can’t Wait to Rally in Times Square Tonight

1/31 | According to the World Can’t Wait Press Office, “as Bush steps to the podium to deliver his State of the Union address, “political drown-out” rallies will take place in 65 cities across the country.

Where do my ideas come from???

It’s all in the hands…all in the hands.

read my latest article published on NYC  (if the link works)

MAJOR: SOCIOLOGY
COURSE: Sociology of Dan’s Weekend

This weekend, Dan will be “winging it.”  This may involve
spending time w/ his homey’s, cnosuming alcohol, ingesting greasy food
or attempting to cook something.  It will likely involve being
entertained and creating entertainment for others, possibly while under
the influence of alcohol.  It may involve reading things, or
watching things, or doing things.  Above all, it will involve rest
and relaxation. 

peace.

-dan

MAJORS: Media Studies 101, Sociology 101, Political Science 101
COURSE: Values in politics, society, and film

Today, I want to talk about an inspiring op-ed piece in the Times by David Brooks.  The article focussed on one reason for the Democrats inability to gain power in Washington DC.  One reason, he said, is that the big hearts of most liberals have been combined with a false view of how bad things are in American society.  The division between the lower-class majority and the upper-class minority that wields its financial power, which is the basis of many Democratic causes, is possibly exaggerated (yes…I’m fairly sure this guy is the lone conservative on the Times op-ed pages, but, hear him through!).  Moving on, Brooks notes that Democrats have made economics their core issue.  By addressing issues like taxes and budgets, welfare and income gaps, Dems hoped to become the party for the poor, and this would lead to their rise to power.  Since this hasn’t happened, we know something in that equation is off.

Brooks argues that another problem with the Democratic party is that they believe that Republicans, knowing their economics hurt the poor and favor the rich, have turned to cultural values to make up for this gap in economic values.  Brooks notes, however, that many voters don’t view the two value systems as separate.  Or maybe, many people view cultural values as something that is even more important than economic values.  Do people spend their days worrying about their jobs getting outsourced and their wages staying stagnant (economic values), or do they worry that their communities are not safe places to live, that divorce has become the norm, that violence is glorified (cultural values). 

Basically…the question is, have the Democrats come to worship money (economic values), while ignoring the reality of people’s lives (cultural values)?  As Brooks puts it, the Dems have become cultural libertarians, leaving culture and values completely out of government.  He continues that in their absence, conservatives have filled the void, much to the detriment of Democrats.

Since the re-election of Bush in 2004, Dems have caught on to the fact that many voters consider cultural values to be important.  In response, they have worked to transform economic values into cultural values.  Democrats have begun to argue that protecting the poor, protecting wages, protecting and strengthening unions, spending more money on important social issues, protecting Social Security, protecting people’s health, are cultural values.  Democrats (and I’m generalizing here), have said, “if you think abortion and gay rights are cultural values, espeically if that’s coming from your religious backgrounds, than you should be equally convinced that our economic values are cultural as well.”

I believe we are moving down the right path by talking about values, but need to also talk about our culture and lifestyles.  What does it mean to be American?  What is the new American dream?  What lifestyles, and communities, do we want for America?  What kind of schools?  Clearly…many of these are local issues.  I work and spend most of my time in New York City, so my concern with George W. Bush isn’t that he reaches out to NYC, so much as he doesn’t interfere w/ how we do business here.  We have Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki to concern ourselves with.

But…I do believe that political leaders on all levels do have the potential to shape culture.  The combination of partisan politics and entertainment driven media that picks up only extreme political soundbites, has had a detrimental effect on the culture of this country.  If you were to equate America to an enourmous family of about 300million, or however many people live here, it would be similar to a family of 4, where the brother and sister haven’t spoken to each other in years, and the mother and father get drunk every night and throw plates at each other.  What this family needs is a good ol’ fashion sit-down, come to grips with our abusive past, our problems with communication, our different needs, and resolve to enjoy each others’ company.

I watched an amazing movie last night from 1980, called Ordinary People.  I’m not a huge movie buff, but back in its time this movie brought home many awards, and featured Mary Tyler Moore (who i’m mostly familiar with from a Weezer song).  The story is a hard-hitting tale of a family that lost one of its sons in a boating accident.  The son who survived battles with severe depression and suicidal tendencies, and the story follows his life, as well as those of his parents who also are struggling with the loss of their son, the depression of their living son, and their own battles to keep their marriage alive.

The title of this movie, I felt, draws out a lot.  This family, like so many, is comprised of “ordinary people.”  People with hopes, and flaws, people with struggles psychologically, and socially.  We ride this wave of struggle with these characters, and begin to realize that the “world” is just this family, times several billion people on Earth.  We are all, everyone of us, ordinary people.

It is rare, to see ordinary people in politics, talking about ordinary people things.  To me, the role of government should, amongst other things, be to address the mental well-being of its ordinary people.  Conservatives have been trying to do this with their “cultural values,” and now Democrats have been trying to do this with their “economic/cultural values.” 

What David Brooks’ article, and this movie Ordinary People, made me realize, is that inevitably, politics and society must shift to address the concerns of ordinary people.  In order to do so, the ordinary people who work in politics need to recognize that they are ordinary people too!  Beyond their policy decisions, they must lead by example.  There are currently 0, if there ever were any, role models in modern society.  I’m not talking about kids idolozing Teen Idols or MTV Real World casts.  I’m talking about people who have figured out the universal cultural values of family, friends, and community.  That’s what politics is lacking…leaders who can build community, or play a role in building community. 

Ultiamtely, and most importantly, we must never forget that community doesn’t come from Washington, it comes from us…ordinary people.  Community is not, as Brooks would agree, comprised of economic factors.  There are thriving communities in 3rd world countries.  They may lack the health resrouces, the shelter resources, and the economic and technological resources that American’s have, but they have community.  And with community, comes peace of mind. 

I am in the midst of brainstorming a massive project about community.  It’s likely to be a lifelong project, but with tangible markers along the way.  I have been working on this project sporadically and with mixed results since college, but I believe I have finally started to make some ground.  What I am referring to is building a community of discussion.  When you look around today, you see these communities growing, and I hope to contribute.  I’m referring to blogs, and book clubs, and community groups.  America has always had strong communities, but, I believe the idea of community has been lost a bit.  And…I know I now need to go back to reading Robert Putnam, whose books “Bowling Alone,” and “Better Together: Restoring the American Community,” I was assigned to read last year as part of an internship, but at the time I got bored at page 2.  I think those books might clarify what kind of project i hope to undertake.

your thoughts…