I have a great friend that I admire and adore that feels that the downfall of humanity is upon us. Now, this is no religious belief. She fervently believes that we are doomed because we refuse to take the time to truly listen to each other. We refuse to acknowledge any path other than that we have selected to follow.
She and I were talking today about the Michigan Assistant Attorney General that has launched a campaign of what can only be termed harassment against the student body president of the University of Michigan. She became quite agitated during the discussion and said that it is precisely this kind of disembodied attack upon others that defines our lack of engagement. We are all too ready to believe what we read on the internet, whether it is true or not. We are too ready to be spoon fed an opinion. The lack of critical thinking in the public discourse is the decline of civility. It is the reason we are continually dissatisfied with our leaders.
I have to say that I am inclined to agree with her assessment. When I take the time to stop and think about the absolute inanity that is a public official going after a college student, whether it is on his "own time", as has been stated by the harasser, or not, I shudder at where we are in the world.
Of course, my friend would say that I am perpetuating the problem by publishing this post too.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Musings on a Sunday Morning
During half-time in the Birmingham City v. Liverpool game, I began going through my minimalist blog list to read recent entries. I am completely new to blogging, both reading and writing, but I am continually surprised by the level of discourse among the bloggers and their readers. It's pretty great to read honest and engaging conversation on topics ranging from organizing bins to simple cooking.
Today I read a few posts by a 23 year old recent college graduate named Reggie at www.peoplenotstuff.wordpress.com. He's got some really interesting insights on getting out of school and realizing you're already upside down in your life because of student loan debt and no job prospects in this economic hard time. He is taking a minimalist approach to his life out of school. I applaud his decision. I also think that adopting such a lifestyle at such an early stage in his life will be enormously beneficial to him.
Recently, I went through my closet, cleaned it up and binned all of the items I don't use, and donated all of the clothing and shoes I don't wear. It felt good...especially on the heels of doing the same in my bedroom. It seems more comforting to be in a room that has little or no clutter. I have noticed that I have a tendency to want to slip back into putting things any old place, but I am training myself slowly to have one spot for one item. That's it. I am doing the same thing in my office at work. It's working well at the office, but I fear people think I'm not doing much because I haven't got the stack of endless papers as I did before. I've got two monitors, which virtually eliminates the need for paper to computer input. I can put the document on one screen and do the input I need to do on the other. It's awesome! I still have an inbox that's overflowing, but that's only because I've been using it as a place to put things I don't know what to do with...for now.
Something else I've been thinking about is the tendency of Americans to tie their patriotism to events. Don't get me wrong, I believe the events of nine years ago to be a tragedy. I believe the people who engineered the destruction should be punished, but I have a real problem with the incessant replay of the two airliners hitting the two towers. Media is a dangerous thing. The never ending reel of that footage doesn't serve to remind us of the loss of the people, it serves to incense and encourage acts of absolute stupidity such as this Koran burning business in Florida. In my opinion, that man is as misguided as the people who hi-jacked the airliners. Forced reflection is not reflection at all. I support the men and women who fight in the name of freedom. I do not, however, support this war or the reasons the public was told we entered into it.
Perhaps our "leaders" should take a lesson from history...it repeats endlessly if one doesn't analyze why the events occur and what can be done to alter their outcome or stop them altogether.
Happy Sunday.
Today I read a few posts by a 23 year old recent college graduate named Reggie at www.peoplenotstuff.wordpress.com. He's got some really interesting insights on getting out of school and realizing you're already upside down in your life because of student loan debt and no job prospects in this economic hard time. He is taking a minimalist approach to his life out of school. I applaud his decision. I also think that adopting such a lifestyle at such an early stage in his life will be enormously beneficial to him.
Recently, I went through my closet, cleaned it up and binned all of the items I don't use, and donated all of the clothing and shoes I don't wear. It felt good...especially on the heels of doing the same in my bedroom. It seems more comforting to be in a room that has little or no clutter. I have noticed that I have a tendency to want to slip back into putting things any old place, but I am training myself slowly to have one spot for one item. That's it. I am doing the same thing in my office at work. It's working well at the office, but I fear people think I'm not doing much because I haven't got the stack of endless papers as I did before. I've got two monitors, which virtually eliminates the need for paper to computer input. I can put the document on one screen and do the input I need to do on the other. It's awesome! I still have an inbox that's overflowing, but that's only because I've been using it as a place to put things I don't know what to do with...for now.
Something else I've been thinking about is the tendency of Americans to tie their patriotism to events. Don't get me wrong, I believe the events of nine years ago to be a tragedy. I believe the people who engineered the destruction should be punished, but I have a real problem with the incessant replay of the two airliners hitting the two towers. Media is a dangerous thing. The never ending reel of that footage doesn't serve to remind us of the loss of the people, it serves to incense and encourage acts of absolute stupidity such as this Koran burning business in Florida. In my opinion, that man is as misguided as the people who hi-jacked the airliners. Forced reflection is not reflection at all. I support the men and women who fight in the name of freedom. I do not, however, support this war or the reasons the public was told we entered into it.
Perhaps our "leaders" should take a lesson from history...it repeats endlessly if one doesn't analyze why the events occur and what can be done to alter their outcome or stop them altogether.
Happy Sunday.
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