"You think you are safe? It is an illusion."

Just watched a video that presented the two-party political system in the United States in the same light as an NFL game. Two teams bent on dominating, not even just winning, but creating a dynasty...with the real motivation and power being the money involved in the product being sold - the conflict. Most spectators are at best only tangentially aware of the background machinations involved in sports.

The video presented the situation as analogous to the Democratic and Republican parties. The spectators (voters) remain unaware of the background motives, while the "teams" play out a bitter war for dominance, and the owners of the teams do nothing but profit on the often complacent viewership while essentially having coffee together in the "real" world.

In the NFL, the illusion is created at some expense. But it's entertainment.
In politics, there's collateral. Real human beings suffering and dying while our attention is diverted to...what, exactly? Garbage attacks about the citizenship of a presidential candidate?

I find the analogy presented both immensely depressing and mind-numbingly accurate. If nothing else, it sums up the word that came to mind about the State of the Union address. Misdirection.

Brings me back to an earlier thought about the nature of services. If you aren't paying for them, you are probably the product being sold. Apply that line to politicians and tell me it doesn't smack of accuracy, if buried beneath a little bit of cognitive dissonance.

- C

9/10ths

In another dangerous moment, I had some more thoughts.

Fire Away

I had a thought, earlier, which is always dangerous.
But it's a thing I'd like to discuss.

Trigger (Un)Happy

Oklahoma is looking to pass an Open Carry law, and it appears to have no significant opposition.

First thing - I have no qualms with guns. I fully support the right to bear arms (and to arm bears, if you're curious) and see no reason citizens shouldn't be able to defend themselves (read: stand your ground laws) when they feel their lives are in danger.

Conserva---what?

I remember a time when the political label "Conservative" meant that you wanted a smaller government.

Smaller government, fewer regulations, less interference in private affairs, and by proxy less taxes. Not simply less taxes for its own sake, mind you, but as a result of having fewer things the "Fed" was going to be responsible for doing.

I remember that time. It really doesn't seem like so long ago, does it?

But let's look at the Conservative stance now, briefly:

• Wants Big Brother checking up on doctors, so they don't provide care to "sluts."
• Wants an officer outside the church, keeping the gays away.
• Wants cheaper gas, which means more subsidization by Big Brother, which means more taxes.
• Wants the same services from Big Brother, but for less money. Apparently government services now -should- exist but only if they don't cost taxpayers anything. Our government clearly is just a business that can magically support itself.
• Wants to defend the rights and privileges...of big business. Hell with the little guys, they might be homos.
• Wants to "trim the fat" from the budget by destroying the only government services they ever claimed to believe were necessary, while keeping the one they fought tooth-and-nail to reduce in scope for the last several decades.
• Wants to stop the "war on Christianity" - by forcing the government to make laws regarding religions and their practice in public areas. Bigger government -and- violation of First Amendment rights in one fell swoop.
• Wants to lower taxes, but only if they can blame the coinciding decrease in the economy on those dirty Liberals.

Now take a moment and compare each of these points to "smaller government."
See the similarity? Me neither.

Is it just me, or did somebody miss the memo? Don't get me wrong, I don't think any more highly of "Liberals" either, but at least they appear to recall what it is they stood for in the first place.

- C


(Aside: If you choose to argue these points, feel free. If, however, you lack the ability to remain respectful and adult in your discourse, don't expect me to treat you with any degree of dignity.)

Putting the "No" in Innovation

(Note: I am drawing from a few different sources here. One is a quote regarding Bruce Lee, perhaps from a biography. Another (several, probably) are video games including but not limited to Mass Effect 2. Also, a youtube video of an interview. Last, the budget chart I posted awhile ago.)

First thing's first - I don't watch Fox News. I also don't watch CNN. I tend to find the closest thing to the original news source as I possibly can, because it avoids biasing the information before I even hear it for myself.

That said, I stumbled across this little gem today.

Astrophysicist Interview

It made me think quite a bit. About culture, technology, even why I wanted to become an engineer in the first place. Along the way I found myself disappointed in America. Not because of our politics, not our wars, not our prejudices.

Our stagnation. Buried beneath the web-work of our routine and sedentary lifestyles is an unpleasant truth: our culture has become stagnant.

There's more to the thought process than that, so I'll make an effort to illuminate it.

Technology -is- advancement to overcome limitations. There really isn't a better way to put it.

From ME2: "Can't hunt food, so invent spear. Can't carry load, so invent wheel. ... No limitations, no advancement. No advancement, culture stagnates."

No limitations as in no perception of limitations. We feel very pleased with ourselves: we've conquered the environment (air conditioning, insulation, etc), we've got mobility (trains, planes, automobiles), we have steady sources of food. We have the internet.

But...is that seriously it?
Of course not.

But we're no longer beating our heads against the wall to try and get past these limits that still exist - that will -always- exist.

That lack of a struggle has led to, well...this.

As said in the interview, when other countries can produce our technology, our jobs go to them. They can do it more cheaply. When our jobs go to other countries, our average income drops. When average income drops, spending decreases. When spending decreases, stocks fall. When stocks fall, depression occurs. When depression occurs, jobs disappear.

We keep trying to solve this by altering elements of it, but it is a -cycle.- The only solution that will ever work is getting rid of that first step. There was a time when America was the only nation capable of producing automobiles of a certain quality. Think about it. Have you ever seen a 1940 Honda? A 1955 Nissan, or Mitsubishi?

No. They do not exist. But our advancement has fallen. We're no longer the most technologically advanced nation.

Hell, if you want to be frank about it we're no longer even competitive for that title.

As a result, our culture stagnates. Instead of focusing on getting to the moon, we focus on Jersey Shore and American Idol. Our politicians become complacent and unimaginative because we allow it. We elect the ones who are the most appealing on paper - not the most intelligent, not the most representative, only the ones who can afford to make themselves appear to be better than they are.

A bailout won't help. Can't help. Cutting down the budget won't help, even if reducing waste is a good thing. The problem is underneath all of this, staring us in the face while we look everywhere else for it.

I didn't think much of it, when NASA's budget got cut. I should have, even if I don't care a tiny bit about NASA - they push against limitations, constantly. It is what they are for. The fact that we care less about them than our defense budget shows where our priorities are beginning to lie: Comfort, the illusion of Security, and forcing our Morality on those around us.

It's pathetic. We can be better than this.
We -are- better than this.

Here's the pie chart for the budget. Imagine taking a single percent of it from DoD and putting it towards NASA - do the math. DoD doesn't even lose a tenth of their budget. Consider that this pie chart is from 2010. Recall the graph in the interview. 

Of course, there's more to it than just NASA. Our education system isn't anywhere near par.
Used to be the best in the world, you know.

Used to be.

So I suppose the question remains: are you comfortable with a stagnant culture? Will you allow this to continue to be acceptable, or do something about it?

I hope you aren't comfortable with it, because a stagnant culture falls. It's inevitable - look at history. Every culture, every empire that reaches its apex and just stops is shortly thereafter torn apart by those around them with more motivation.

Think about that, and think about this:

This blog post, you can share wherever you like. Print it, post it, copy paste parts of it. I don't care.
Yes, it is mine. Yes, I drew from other sources.

Yes, I believe this is a message people need to hear.

- C

Ugh.

I hate people. It's really such a simple concept: I don't agree with what you are saying, but will fight to the death for your right to say it. I don't agree with your choices, but will fight to the death for your right to make them.

--- Unless they aren't the same as my choices, or it isn't something I agree with implicitly.

Who thought that adding that caveat would go unnoticed? I wish they were wrong.

http://current.com/community/93665605_republicans-pass-bill-forcing-vaginal-probes.htm?xid=RSSfeed

Sometimes, They Listen

What follows behind the cut is the reply I received after sending an email to one of the state's Senators. The reply, albeit in some spots a bit generic, addresses every concern I raised.

I dunno, it's just nice to see communication, and I figured it was worth sharing for some of the interested parties. Let it be a reminder that it isn't useless to speak out. Once in awhile, people are listening.

Wilde Thing

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." - Oscar Wilde

Interesting how poets tend to capture things so succinctly...at least if you don't realize that half of poetry is cutting away the words that mean nothing to find something more.

One of the only things I have to say about politics. (LJ)

Can we not conduct our political discourse with any dignity and self-respect anymore?