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Both of these worlds exist today, which one you grow up in is decided entirely by luck (where you happen to be born), neither of these children “earned” their fate.  Are you okay with that?  If not, have you thought about what you can do about it?

Cute, ins’t he?

That’s a sewer, by the way…

Today I am starting up a project to try to make a difference (not necessarily for this child, or any other homeless child).  My intention is to start up an organization that facilitates technical support for non-profits.  ”Member” organizations or individuals might provide free web sites, online presence, or simply help an organization put a printer on a network.

I have no idea how successful (success being defined by how many people I am able to help) I (we) will be in this venture, but at least I will not feel as though I am idly existing while this disparity of opportunity continues.

If you think you might have some technical skills that would be of value, and you are willing to donate them (there will be no revenue from this effort… this is an exercise in giving) let me know.  I will follow up with you once things get rolling.

First of all, by way of full disclosure, let me get the dirty work out of the way (and probably lose half of my potential readers in the process).  I am against Arizona SB1070.  I believe it promotes racial profiling and in doing so perpetuates negative stereotypes. I believe that there is no room in our supposedly advanced and evolved society for such legislation.  That is my opinion, it is battle tested, and I assure you, you are not going to change it.  But that’s not what this post is about…

Now that I have reduced the people reading this to those who also oppose the law - my intended target audience anyway… I will proceed with pissing many of you off as well.

Why, because I don’t believe, for one minute, that the majority of citizens (or even legislators) in Arizona are filled, or even guided by hate, and I think those of you out there who oppose this bill and are touting hate as the root cause of it are barking up the wrong tree and causing more harm than good for yourselves and your cause.

While it is convenient, easy and emotionally stirring to point to someone and say they are motivated by hate, fear, or other “evil” forces.  The fact is that, rarely, is that the case.

In Arizona, I believe the motivating factor is intense - and justified - frustration.  However, as is often the case, a decision made from frustration is not the best (or even close to the best, again, IMO) one available.

US Representative Gabrielle Gifford appears to agree, recently issuing the following statement:

I am disappointed with the federal lawsuit against SB 1070 for the same reason I was disappointed when this bill became law: Neither will do anything to make Arizona’s border communities more secure.

Both the law and the lawsuit challenging the law are unnecessary distractions. Arizonans want our nation to control its borders and bring a halt to the violence, smugglers and drugs that threaten our way of life

I believe SB 1070 is a mistake, and it does bad things.  However, grouping the people of Arizona and their elected officials as hate mongers is not only also bad, it is, in fact, the exact same “bad thing” that many bill opponents are up in arms about in the first place.  It is a grand generalization, launched out of frustration, at a group of people composed largely of individuals to which the accusation does not apply.

If concerned citizens from outside the state of Arizona want to take the time and make the effort to get involved in Arizona politics, I would encourage them to do so in a constructive manner.  Don’t attack the people or the legislators, attack the law, and, if you are going to do that, be willing to stand WITH the citizens of Arizona in forging a good solution to a very real problem.

If not, put simply, you are part of the problem…

Last week, while perusing facebook I found the following “status” from the 14 year old daughter of a good friend of mine.  I probably would have been a bit more disturbed reading than I was, had I not known how important the fight against child abuse is to her (she has never experienced it herself, but cares very deeply about the issue and those who have become victims).

It is very good, in that Schindler’s List sort of way, which I am telling you because if you are looking for something upbeat and positive, you are not going to find it here.  Instead you are going to get a thought provoking, emotion tugging, awareness piece that is sadly probably not very far from the reality of some of our very own neighbors.

She has given me her permission to share it with you.  In fact as she has aspirations of doing some freelance work, preferably writing stories for “causes” such as this one; when I told her I wanted to re-publish it, she told me to pass along to any of my readers the offer to put something together for them… so, there you go.

Without further ado, I give you Ashes; a writer, an entrepreneur, a crusader for social justice, and, well, a 9th grader…

**********

The voice was young, juvenile; in a way, it was feminine. But the small lump of a t-shirt and jeans had a defined masculine shape, tousled hair gleaming black. The sunset’s light was weak, blotted out by the silhouette of an oak tree.

The boy standing there was approximately five years old, his clothes matching his hair. His inquisitive green eyes were level with the other child’s, if you could call it that. There were tears slowly drifting down his cheeks, dripping off his chin and hitting the soft soil beneath his bare feet.

His arms were covered in bruises, some larger and darker than others. On his left cheek, a two inch cut pulled away from the bottom of his eye and reached toward his ear, though it didn’t get far. With closer examination, it would be easy to see the scars tracing along his forehead, chin, nose, everything.

He held two flowers in his right hand; one of them was dead. It would be hard to tell that he had taken it away from the child without actually inspecting the area.

“This one’s for you, Benjamin.”

Instead of sticking the dead rose in the other child’s hand, he kept it and handed over the living one. It was thriving, freshly picked and full of bright pink coloring. His expression was almost wistful as he watched it go, but he didn’t complain. “Happy birthday, Benjamin,” he repeated.
His eyes moved from the gray child and down towards the brick that it stood on. With his lip trembling as he tried to fight back the coming tears, he closed his eyes and turned.

“Goodbye, Benjamin.”

He walked away slowly, leaving his younger brother’s tombstone behind. “It was nice seeing you, Benjamin.”

The poor boy didn’t understand that his brother was dead. He didn’t know what had happened, but he knew that his brother was gone and he was the statue standing on the stone with his hand outstretched to hold the flowers that he put there every day.

Benjamin’s brother walked back to his abusive home, the place where he got all the bruises and cuts. His father’s expression as he entered the house was one meant to terrify him, but it didn’t affect him anymore. He wasn’t scared anymore, even though he really should have been.

“It’s Benjamin’s birthday, Daddy,” he said softly.

“I don’t give a shit, Alistair,” hissed the voice of the cruel animal that Alistair was forced to call his father. “Come here. You’re not supposed to leave the house like this.”

Of course, the innocent child had hope. He’d never given up his faith in his dad, always having a soft glimmer that he wasn’t really the way he acted and that, if Alistair waited long enough, he would be blessed with a perfect father who loved him and took care of him.

Of course, he was too ignorant to realise that this would never happen. Obediently moving closer to the tall figure, he looked up almost hopefully.

He didn’t know what happened next. He never did. He knew he always ended up on the floor, like he was now. He knew that there was always pain somewhere on his body; right then, it was his face. And that wasn’t the first time that he saw blood, nor the first time that one of his eyes was blinded by it. Alistair stayed on the ground– although he was ignorant, that didn’t mean he was stupid. The last time he had gotten up, his father had gone after him and cut his cheek with a knife. That was also the only time he had gotten up; although it had been quite a while ago, his father never let the cut heal.

He felt his father’s hands wrap around his neck and he flew off the floor, rising in the air. Against every single one of his mental processes trying to stop them, his arms moved up and clawed at his father’s.

The tall man grinned, then threw Alistair at the wall.

When he hit the surface, he lingered for a second. Alistair could feel the wall absorbing the movement, managing to remain conscious even with the pain shooting through his veins. It took everything not to scream in terror, in pain, in shock.

He looked up, eyes surveying the room. His father was gone. Biting his lip to keep himself from crying again, Alistair stood and stumbled into the bathroom.

His father always left so that Alistair could fix everything, which was what he did now. He’d learned a long time ago how to clean himself up before his mum got home.

Alistair rinsed out his eye several times until it was clear, letting the tears finally come to help clean it out. His hands were gentle as he pressed a soft cloth against the blood, washing it off. Two bandaids eventually found themselves lying on his cheek, covering the cut. He never knew what to do with his bruises; that was what the excuse was for.

His father had bought this house for a reason– it had stairs. That was what Alistair always had to say. He hated lying to his mum, especially when the only reason he did was to protect the beast.

“I’m home!”

The voice was almost like music to his ears. Alistair ran out of the bathroom after he’d stuffed the cloth and bandaids in a drawer that he made sure his mum never needed to use.

“Hey, Beth! How was work?”

Alistair’s expression was one of pain at the sound of his father’s voice, but he fought past it because he didn’t want to get hurt again. He was almost glad when his mum completely ignored her husband and instead rushed towards him, thumb carefully brushing over the bandaids.

“What happened, Ali?”

He glanced over at his father, then back to his mother. “I tripped on the way back from Benjamin’s grave. It’s his birthday today.”

Beth looked down. “It is, isn’t it,” she whispered. “I’d almost forgotten.”

Alistair’s chin trembled and he let himself begin to cry. Beth picked him up and held him, kissing his forehead as she turned to face the monster. He didn’t let his father see his lips as they moved as quickly as he could make them, but he knew his mum would give it away with her expression.

She did.

Only three days later, Benjamin had two graves next to his.

There is a phrase/question, a little overused, but of value none the less, that goes something like this:

If you knew you were going to die tomorrow (in a week/in a month/whatever), what would you do; and, why aren’t you doing it?

The message is simple and clear, you only get one crack at it, why not make the most of it… starting now.  People are often surprised when they run out of time, they wonder where their lives went and why they never climbed that mountain, jumped out of that (perfectly sound!!!) airplane, or went on that grand adventure.

The bottom line, however, is this: if you wait long enough, everything will stop becoming an option.  Eventually, there will be no marathons to run, no scuba dives to make, no cross country road trips to take… no tomorrow.  We are each granted a finite number of “today’s” and an even smaller (by one) number of “tomorrow’s.”  With that comes the inevitable question: what are you doing with them?

I was enjoying a conversation with someone this morning about their “bucket list.”  It included things like “see the northern lights,” and “save someone’s life” (rather amazingly, given that she is a teen, the latter is already accomplished and crossed off of her list).

What really caught my attention though, were a few other items, exemplified perfectly by “Microwave a Pop Tart for 3 seconds.”  It is both less random and more pedestrian than it sounds, those are the exact microwave preparation instructions on the package.  But that is the simple curious beauty of this particular item.

So often it is the everyday things that we do not do that haunt us later in life.  It is living within 30 minutes from the coast, but only having been to the beach a handful of times (or, gasp!!! … not at all); living in Vegas, but never seeing a show; in San Francisco but never having walked the golden gate bridge or visited Alcartaz.

We get so engrossed in our lives we often have to leave town to relax and enjoy living them.

Several months ago (the end of September, 2009), inspired by my friend Claudia, I set out to accomplish 100 goals in 100 days.  Today (June 9th, 2010) I have accomplished (drum roll please!!!) 78 of them.  Obviously, in order to be realistic, many of these goals were set very low to the ground.  Others were more lofty and would require quite a bit of effort to accomplish.

What is interesting to me, however, is that the rate of success on the low hanging fruit is roughly the same as that of the complex tasks.  In fact, if I had managed to accomplish all of the relatively effortless items (i.e. “clean out my domain inventory” and “review and update my birthday calendar”), I would have accomplished 96 of my 100 goals instead of 78.

Again, simple attainable goals, even though - in this case - I had the advantage of identifying and setting out to accomplish them, left incomplete.  When I look back at my nearly 300 days since creating the list, there is no way to justify not having time to accomplish any of the items on my list (okay, maybe the movie was pushing it a bit), let alone the little ones.  Yet, undone 22 of them remain.

If yesterday, today was my last tomorrow… I’d certainly like to think I had lived my life to the fullest.  Maybe I didn’t get my domains sorted out, but that at least I had spent my time enjoying life, satisfying my curiosities, and doing the little things that make life worth living, no matter how simple they might be.

… like microwaving a Pop Tart for three seconds…

… or… more accurately: imperfect, in practically every way…

A few things about me…

1. I procrastinate - Not nearly as much as many think, for I craftily disguise item #2 below as procrastination quite often; however, it happens often enough for it to be a problem.  I am pretty good with delayed gratification… unfortunately, I am equally adept at delayed dissatisfaction.  If I’m enjoying myself, I have a difficult time moving on to more unpleasant tasks.
2. I am forgetful - This may well be my biggest downfall.  I make lists to combat it… and then forget to check the lists.
3. I can be irrationally presumptuous - I know, right? Talk about the person who calls the person who calls the pot calling the kettle black…  black!!!  What did I just say????  It is sad but true, despite all of my protestations, all of my preachings, and all of my efforts, I often find myself getting my exercise for the day by jumping to conclusions.
4. I am (probably) in denial - I don’t even know how many things I’m in denial about, because, of course, I refuse to accept them as existing.  Most likely I am in denial about my age… turns out, despite my behavior… I am in my 40’s (early 40’s, thank you!!!).
5. I like attention - Yes, that does conflict with my “what you think of me is none of my business” mantra, but, underneath the wires and circuits, nuts and bolts, cpu’s and hard disks*… there is a person in here, just dying to get out and be heard! *for those of you who are just meeting me, I have spent years being called either a robot or an alien because of my… how shall I say… even temperament (see denial above ).
6. Food is my primary vice - if I had a dollar for every dollar I spent on food, I’d be… uhm… hmmmm… never mind.  But seriously, far and away the largest detriment my budget, my discipline, my nutritional health et. al. is the time honored tradition of the lunch hour.
7. I am a materialist - wrapped in a minimalists soapbox.  Not being wasteful is critical to me, and yet I live a lifestyle that could be far more sustainable and far less abusive to my environment, and worse, I continue to make the same bad decisions in that regard.  As much as I loath entitlement, there are creature comforts I am not willing to give up…

Having said all of that, there are a few things on which I like to hang my hat…

1. I am improving - One of my personal goals is to be better tomorrow than I am today, and I approach each day as the proving/training ground for making that dream come true, over and over again… one day at a time.
2. I care - I try to undertake everything I do with an eye for compassion and understanding.  I want to try to leave everything as good or better than I found it - including myself (certainly, I am not perfect in this goal… but I always try to keep it topmost in my mind).
3. I am open to change - I am talking about personal change and growth here.  Being open to new ideas and different ways of viewing situations is a tool I try very hard to use with frequency and fervor.  The best way for me to achieve my number one goal of improving is to continue to grow and expand my bases of knowledge and understanding.  No one knows everything - the more I am able to prove this to myself, the better off I will be.
4. I try to be aware - This one is difficult.  it requires looking inward, often, and working on the imperfections I see.  In my personal experience, it is far easier to try to fix other peoples problems than to work on my own; However, the real work and benefit (to myself and others) is in self-discovery and awareness.

So there you go… a little bit (lot) more than you wanted to know, probably, but… hey… its my blog, and as documented (See #5) above… I’m a glory grabber right?

The opening scene of Idiocracy has always cracked me up.  It’s that scary kind of funny though, because, it (or something like it) could actually happen.  In fact, in a different way, I kind of think it is happening.

The land of the free is in trouble… that’s trouble spelled h-y-p-e-r-b-o-l-e.  We are being “dumbed down” one grandiose, yet remarkably obscure, reference at a time. So as not to be confused with or accused of doing the same, I will explain.

Democrats are “socialists;” Republicans are “fascists,” we all “know” (meaning, we all have heard) this.  However, when pressed on the point very few people are actually able to substantiate their sweepingly general claims.  I have recently begun asking people what they mean when they say such things, and the overwhelming response is something to the effect of “it’s obvious, how can you not see it” which, of course, actually says nothing.  Or worse, they offer absolute fiction in response.

And that’s the problem…

We, as a nation, are becoming less and less informed and more and more susceptible to “fluff” and “propaganda” every day.  The more we allow simple vague concepts to form our opinion on important issues, the more vulnerable we are to being led.

Completely false or intentionally misleading email propaganda pieces are being passed around as fact, and those “facts” are being inserted into daily dialog and becoming “facts.” These emails take about 5 minutes of research to debunk with credible sources, however people continue to blindly pass them along without any vetting at all.

As dangerous (in fact probably moreso) are what I call “factional messages” (fact wrapped in fiction).  This is where a ribbon of fact is woven through a web of misinformation or speculation to create a new and completely different set if circumstances.  Because the small sample of fact can be confirmed, or may actually be common knowledge, people believe the entire construct around it to be true as well.

Further, it is apparently bad form to let someone know they are passing around a false statement.  Three times in the past month I did what I thought to be a favor for a friend.  They were forwarding information that was incorrect, so I let them know (completely with citations) what the actual facts were… with a nice note explaining how I’d certainly like to know if I was saying something that was wrong, and figured they would like the same courtesy (cause… it’s better to hear it from a friend, right?).

Nope, I was read the riot act each time.

I surveyed my social network with the following question “unofficial poll - Can you name a freedom that is uniquely present in the United States, some freedom we alone enjoy?”  From Plurk (115 friends) I received a handful of responses (more on the few responses I did get momentarily); from Facebook (117) one response; Twitter (601) and Google Buzz (31)… crickets (to be fair, I got one Gchat response that was to the twitter query, so twitter was not technically completely shut out).

Lets talk about the results I did get from that “survey.”  I’ll take them one at a time (in the order I received them), because, well there are few enough of them to do so.

• Due Process - Due process was actually established in England.  The term was first used verbatim in a statutory version of the Magna Carta in 1354.  Due process is a right currently held in many countries.
• The right to carry arms - This is also an English carry over, from the English BIll of Rights of 1689, and is also enjoyed in many other nations today.
• *Freedom from adequite state-sponsored health care (this may or may not be the case, but is clearly not a serious answer)
• *Freedom from a well-run state-funded education (ibid)
• Freedom of religion - This has been a freedom globally, in various forms and fashions, for centuries.
• Freedom of expression without government interference - Once again, this freedom goes back at least to the English Bill of Rights in 1689 (like the right to bear arms and others above, it may go back further, this is just the information I happen to know off hand)
• *Asshattery (yes, that is a quote)
• *Entitlement
• Freedom to ask such a question - While vague, I’m pretty sure this one is meant to be freedom of speech/expression… see above, or, English Bill of Rights, 1689.
• *For all our blustering about how “free” we are, our populace is pretty well hobbled (unless you’re rich).

Clearly, half of these responses (the ones indicated by asterisks) were sarcastic.  This is telling, in and of itself, because not a single person who contributed a wise crack balanced it with a serious response.  Note, though, that not one of the responses (at least the serious ones) are actually a correct answer to the question…. not one.

Obviously, there is nothing scientific about this survey, or its results; it is what it is, and… isn’t.

The bottom line, though, is that people are willing to fight and sacrifice for the idea of freedom*, and it appears (from the “survey” above and numerous individual conversations) a measurable portion of these folks either don’t know what “freedom” actually is or have a distorted view of how it applies to their own country.

*This is where I would say, if I were going to contribute that that which I am pontificating against, “Patriot Act anyone???” … a completely unsubstantiated pot shot at Bush et. al. based on what I know has been planted in peoples minds regarding the Patriot Act.

I’m not blaming the people… garbage in equals garbage out.  Political campaigns, advertisements and media coverage has become a blur of stereotypes and hyperbolic sound bites.  The ever decreasing attention span of the typical U.S. citizen demands executive summaries; and executive summaries lend themselves to judgmental errors.

Yesterday I saw this from Roger Ebert (yes, that Roger Ebert) on Twitter: “Josh reminds me: If we went back to what the Founding Fathers wanted, as Sarah Palin desires, she wouldn’t be able to vote.”  Funny, and, taken literally it is true; however, clearly that is not what Sarah Palin wants*, and for my money, Roger knows it; he is, I believe, deliberately using paradoxical irony to make a point.

*Did I just defend Sarah Palin… somebody shoot me now!!! (yep, that was another “softer” example, guilt by association with Sarah Palin, and if I’m guilty for being associated with her, clearly… she must be bad).

It is a funny and effective way to make a point, however, increasingly, I don’t think it is “safe.”  More and more I hear people parroting things that are clearly wrong, misleading, or simply misunderstood.  But these things are being repeated as gospel and used as foundations for reasoned debates.

The bottom line is that people are becoming less and less able to discern fact from hyperbole and in a world where buzz words and catch phrases are being propagating at an alarming rate, that has got to be a cause for concern.

I included the two passages in bold above for a reason.  Those are things I would normally be completely inclined to say while composing this blog, or in conversation.  In other words I am directing this at myself as much as anyone else.

I believe it is time to get back to factual straight shooting.  We, as a nation and as individuals have to challange ambiguity when we see or hear it, and demand information.  When the facts are not provided, we need to treat it as a personal responsibility to seek accurate answers out for ourselves.  We need to fact check, debunk, and most importantly reject propaganda.

It will be boring, and droll, and seem like a waste of time, but, when you think about what is at stake… how can it not be your top priority*.

*Yep, one more for the road - a vague intimidating yet undefined consequence meant to call you to action out of fear.

For the big finish, I would normally put another clip (or at least a reference) from idiocracy here, but, instead I will simply say this…

I believe that the more informed you are, the better prepared you are.  It’s the reason firemen do drills putting out staged fires, football teams practice all week for one game, actor rehearse their lines over and over again, etc. etc. etc.  The better prepared you are, for anything, the better you will perform when the time comes (especially if it involves facing adversity). By the same token, any coach, general, or director will tell you that the more bad or “mis” information you have, the less effective you will be.

If you are reading this blog, you have the ability to fact check and inform yourself, my advice to you (and me) is… make use of it.

******

ps… none of this is to say that the people who responded don’t know what they are talking about.  I have surrounded myself with very sharp friends.  When I was talking of the disconnect, I was more refering to the lack of response per capita than the quality fo the responses I did get

The other night, in a little online debate, it was thrust (repeatedly) in my face that in the past few years the number of states that have outlawed same sex marriage has gone from zero to 30.  This was somehow supposed to make me think that the idea of same sex marriage is dying painful and protracted death, and soon will be a non-issue.  It was meant to make me think the people passing those laws were right, and support continues to grow in that direction.

Kinda like the Jim Crow laws, and the Dred Scott decision did, right?

The bottom line is that legislation is passed and court cases are won far more often on the last legs of an outdated tradition than in the dawning of a new era of strength and vitality for said laws.  People don’t pass laws protecting the sanctity of anything that is healthy and strong, they pass them to protect “institutions” that are weak and vulnerable.

There is argument to be made that traditional marriage is weak in our society.  Divorce rates continue to be alarmingly high compared to pre-80’s numbers (contrary to popular belief, they do not continue to climb, per capita, and are actually lower than they were a decade or two ago - the 80’s were brutal, but we have gradually - albeit very slowly - gotten better since then).  Second, third and even fourth marriages remain common.  I know people who have had more spouses than automobiles in their life time.

Roughly 1.8 million people get divorced each year.  Through the 1930’s the ratio of marriages to divorces was about 10:1, from the 40’s through the mid 70’s it was closer to 5:1, and since then it has idled around 2:1 (which is where the statistic of half of all marriages endign in divorce comes from). With a measurable percentage of its practitioners seemingly using an “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” approach, the status of marriage as an “institution” also seems somewhat in question.

People rush headlong into marriage these days with barely a moments thought.  Consider this couple who married 17 hours after meeting at a bar in Vegas.  I’m not going to say that their marriage will fail, because, luck does happen.  However, luck should never be confused with a reason or supporting argument for a bad decision.

I have never been so “in love” as I have been *over and over again* 17, 24, 48, 72 hours into a relationship.  It is exciting, invigorating, and, frankly, most often, a load of shit (pardon my French).  Love and relationships are built over time, as trust is built, as commonalities are established, as little personality clashes are acknowledged and worked through. The bottom line is, if you want to remove luck (or as much of it as possible) from the equation, relationships require a solid foundation, and that requires time and experience (with each other).

After that, it requires commitment.  Real text book commitment.  I remember listening to marriage ceremonies when I was young and dozing or scoffing at the “this will take work” part of the ceremony.  I mean how tough can it be to spend a bunch of time with someone you love… and… get someone else to make half the money and do half the chores (and don’t even get me started about a teenagers perspective on the sex)!!!

The reality, though, is that It can be tough… very very tough. Getting beyond those rough patches requires a focus on the end game, a long term view, and a capacity for delayed gratification (something not exactly endemic in our current immediate satisfaction culture).

This is not meant to bash marriage, I am, in fact, a fan.  However, I do believe, as an “institution,” it is in dire need of repair; far more so than it is in need of protection.  We seem to have a general population that is more interested in protecting it than in making it worth protecting, and nothing good can come of that.

The fact is, marriage itself (as opposed to same-sex marriage) could wind up dying a (slow and) painful death (at least in regard to significance) from within, and, if people don’t start focusing on that, the so-called external threat is not going to matter.

(note: full disclosure, my personal beliefs regarding the marriage issue, apart from the above, are that from a legislative standpoint, all rights, privildeges etc. afforded to a multi-sex couple should be extended too a same-sex couple.  I don’t care what it is called (i.e “protecting” or “reserving” the term “marriage” is fine with me), but legally the same rights should exist.  From a spiritual standpoint, I don’t believe it is anyone’s business but the couple involved and their creator if they have beliefs that support such third party involvement )

As I recently alluded to, I dumped tv a while back.  Yes, yes, I still cheat and watch Lost and Flash Forward online…. but other than that and the occasional NCAA game I’m done with tv.

One of my biggest problems with tv is that it has become more about the noise and less about the cause of the noise.

We hear all about people protesting this and that; we even hear their (more often than not) incoherent and unthought out reasons for protesting.  However, we seldom here good objective debate on the thing being protested itself.  Debate by professionals or experts in the field, exchanging ideas and solutions rather than barbs and rhetoric.

To be fair, while a growing segment of the entertainment on television has become a hedonistic glimpse in to the most base “cultural” values of our society, there is still quality entertainment tv available.  I just have a hard time justifying spending that much time in that medium.  I’d rather be doing something (but that’s a personal choice, I recognize that).

In the face of a dwindling amount of what I considered viable entertainment, and a near abyss of news and discussion, several years ago, I turned to the internet as my primary source of information.  However, more and more I am finding the Internet falling prey to the same trends.  Where once I found insightful in depth reporting, I now find an increasing number of video sound bites.  Between thirty seconds and two minutes of some “expert” telling me what they think about a situation; a glorified letter to the editor.

The reason for this, I suspect, is no different than what has happened to television.  It is becoming limited because of a mandate to entertain.  The audience and advertisers demand entertainment and refuse to be bored; the networks (including the Internet) have no alternative but to deliver.

For sports news, I used to follow ESPN on the web.  Now I almost never do, because of the percentage of their articles that are not actually stories but rather sound bites by someone famous (or who used to be marginally famous) and therefore presumably worth listening to.

During the NCAA tournament I read (listened to) all the predictions by all of the experts, and scanned their brackets in an attempt to gain some insight.  But, there really wasn’t much substance there.  Once again, just a series of opinions based on feelings and gut reactions.

Still these are *expert* gut reactions… right?

Well… a guinea pig won the college pick ‘em this year… so… how clever are these folks… really?  Not one of them beat the guinea pig.  I didn’t either, of course, but, I wasn’t giving advice, I was seeking it.

Perhaps my mistake, not unlike those who go to The Daily Show or Fox for news, was trying to find enlightenment from within a vehicle of entertainment.

I’m making up my mid-term election “bracket” as we speak, now all I need, is a hamster…

Thank goodness for the clear head of Arizona’s Governor! Now, the racial profiling that is soon to become rampant in Arizona will not be based upon race. Wait… what? Hmmm…

New legislation in Arizona makes it a state (as opposed to federal) crime to be in Arizona without proper immigration papers. Further, it requires police to determine whether people are in the country legally and allows for penalties should a resident successfully sue the police over lack of enforcement.

For a moment, I’m going to ignore the golden opportunity that I appear to have missed over the years; suing the police department for not making sure each and every citizen is not a rapist, burglar, murder or jay walker (or at least ensuring that every perpetrator of such crimes is brought to justice).

I’m also going to spare you my usual “Immigrants (pot) calling the immigrants (kettle) unwelcome (black)” shtick as well. Instead I’m going to jump into the heart of the matter…

This whole thing, to me, smacks of two of history’s less savory moments:

We are supposed to be better than this.

We are supposed to have learned from history.

Why did I have to be assaulted, at far to young an age (is there an appropriate age, really?), by the horrors of German concentration camps, stacks of rotting corpses, human lab animals etc., if we, as a society, were not going to learn the lessons contained within that material?

Why was I forced to digest and understand the concepts of mass panic and delusion that led to the Salem witch hunts, if it was not to prepare me and the rest of my countrymen against such maniacal behavior in the future?

We are supposed to be better than this.

I can hear the collective groans of some of my readers now. I’ve gone too far with these comparisons, I lose you when I get all fanatical, we have a real illegal alien problem, and if the federal government had taken care of it years ago the states (especially border states) would not be put in this desperate situation etc. etc. etc.

Well some of those claims may be right. They all have at least enough merit to have a conversation; however, none of them address my real concern. When you mandate police action, and measurable results for which the police departments are accountable, you introduce something other than simple public service into the mix.

Originally the statute stated that race could not be used “solely” as a factor leading to suspicion, however it could be a contributing factor. With one deft stroke of his mighty pen, the Governor changed all that; removing the word solely, and thus stating that race is not permitted to be a factor in becoming suspicious about a persons immigration status.

Exactly what, then, are they going to use to arouse suspicion at this point? They have to do something, because, well, it is mandatory… or they are going to get sued by citizens because police are not enforcing the law.

Language? If you are, say, speaking Spanish… perhaps then we need to see your papers?

Perhaps we will profile by appearance of poverty, or by what kind of work one does?

58.4% of Arizona’s population is reported to be white non-Hispanic, 30.1% Hispanic or Latino. Should we expect no more than 30% of inquiries to be of Latinos (or no less than 50% to be of whites)? Or, is it probably a touch more realistic to expect racial profiling… implicit in the legislation or not?

And therein lies the rub. From here, this law almost mandates selective and racially motivated screening. I’m not saying the intent is bad, or that the police departments involved are corrupt or bigoted. Rather I’m simply saying the legislation has tied their hands, creating an inevitable state of civil rights inequity.

I completely agree that there exists a problem with illegals, those who do not contribute to the system (pay for emergency services etc. via taxes), and who, nonetheless, consume the benefits of these services (it is a problem, by the way, similar to the homeless and indigent problems faced by our cities and counties). I just happen to think there must be solutions to this problem that do not involve compromising the integrity of our police departments and the implication of potential guilt on a measurable portion of our legal and productive citizenry.

How Not to Act Old by Pamela Redmond Satran

I should clarify something up front, this is not a book I have ever read cover to cover.  In fact, I’m quite sure I have not read the entire thing.  It is a “bathroom reader” at my house.  In a stack of books I rotate through my bathroom for… how to say… “idle moments.”

I have picked up this book more than a few times and flipped to a random page for short and mildly entertaining quips of advice from one middle aged person clinging to their youth (the author) to another (well… me).  However, before today, it had never really done more than its intended purpose, help pass a few otherwise lifeless moments of time.

Today though, as fortune would have it, I flipped to a page entitled “Don’t be the Ricky.”  The blurb goes a little something like this:

“The next thing you know you’re the Ricky.  You’re yelling and screaming and cursing and threatening.  You’re managing the money and blowing your top when the credit card is maxed out and the cell phone bill is through the roof.

Meanwhile your Lucy, your Homer, your Han, is wandering around in a daze, buying yellow shoes, and auditioning for Broadway shows and befriending wookies.  So tell me, who do you want to be: the screaming check-writer or the starry-eyed, golden-shoed, wookie-lover?”

When it comes to avoiding the AARP label, I think the point here is pretty obvious.  There is also, I think, a deeper lesson here, however.  More important than perhaps appearing to be a decade younger than you are… there are proven health benefits to living a life with reduced stress.  Study after study has shown that reducing stress helps reduce health risks (suck and risk of heart attack) and extends life expectancy.

So, take a page (literally) from this otherwise average tome, learn it and then live it.  You not only might wind up living longer, but enjoying that life more as well.

… and if you happen to get carded a few more times alone the way… even better!

Hugo Reyes, AKA Hurley, you are the season of my discontent!  A couple of years ago now I gave up tv.  Not just cable tv, all of it.  When the digital requirements came in, the last vestiges of tv in the Jacobsen house went out.

For years I had avoided the temptation that was Lost, all of my friends said I would love it, I said no!  I’m not doing tv anymore… period.  Then along came netflix and one somewhat bored evening.

I thought it would be quick and easy.  Watch an episode, maybe two, realize the fuss was about nothing more than the usual mindless tv drivel and I’d be happily back in no tv land.

Oops.

You see… there was Hurley.  I have no idea why his character captured me so much, but, while everyone else was pining over Jack, Kate, Sawyer, etc. I couldn’t get enough of Hurley… and so I was stuck.

Actually, I do have some idea… Hurley is the visualization of the dream I had as a child.  Become rich, and do it in such a way that even if you tell people about it they don’t believe you.  It’s not just the clothes, down to earth casual guy next door attire is a good start, but, it’s the personality.

He cares about the same things you and I do, for apparently the same reasons. He’s an absolutely normal guy… with $150 million (give or take a few… who’s counting at that point).  He is exceptional, not because of his wealth, but more so in spite of it.  He shines because of his compassion and his ability to relate to the human condition.

So, over the past two or three months I have managed to catch up, watching every single episode of this infernal show to the point where I now have to wait a week like everyone else to see what happens next.  And the sad thing is, its not even great tv.  It’s okay, but its not fantastic.  It’s not changing my life, or even improving it.

Nope, the simple truth is that I’ve bonded with Hugo, and I need to know what happens to him.  I’ve bonded to the point that I am already a bit bitter about the yet to be seen ending of the final season… what then.  I am a 43 year old man who has never before cared enough about a tv show to not want it to end.

And now, I’m feeling it, and it’s pissing me off!!!

I’ve developed my own theory (I’m certain I’m the only one who’s done that, right?) As to what is going on with the island.  Gradually as all of the inhabitants are eliminated, they find that they have jumped in time and space yet again… to another CBS prime time tv show!  I am certain that in the last episode Charlie will return to the island only long enough to announce that “on October 6th, the planet blacked out for two minutes and 17 seconds, the whole world saw the future.”

Do you see what has become of my addled brain… and it’s all Hugo’s fault… all of it!

Friday night, at the local watering hole, I found myself in a conversation with three women of varying feminist proclivities, regarding the role of a historically anglo-patriarchal society in shaping todays culture and equality environment (come on, it’s the same stuff you talk about when you get a drink after work on a Friday night, admit it! ).

Part of the discussion involved white men admitting that they had been “jerks” for several hundred years. There was general disagreement, in fact bewilderment might be the better word, on the part of some of the women in the conversation as to why “we” couldn’t just say “yeah, that happened, it sucked, now lets move on.” My response was along the lines of this:

Because (white) men are scared (not individually, but as a group). If we admit we oppressed women (or blacks, or native americans, or anyone else for that matter) we are on the hook for it. We are responsible, and that doesn’t work for two reasons. 1) it puts at risk our position at the top of the “food chain,” our entire society is set up to favor white men, if we have to make up for centuries of favoritism (longer, in the case of women) in the form of reparations, that is going to change. 2) even if (as was suggested by my drinking companions) the women (or other groups) were willing to say “bygones, thanks for owning your mistake,” no one wants a tarnished history. Everyone wants to be the good guy in the story… tough shoes to fill with 400 years (or more, depending on which group you are focused upon) of oppression on our back.

Well, little did I know that we were in such good company. For, also on Friday, no less August a source than the New York Times ran an oped about the slave trade, culpability, and reparations. The article is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/opinion/23gates.html?scp=1&sq=slavery%20blame&st=cse

I didn’t see the actual article (until today), however while reading the Times on my way to work (on the bus, don’t worry, I don’t read and drive!), I stumbled across three letters to the editor about it (here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/opinion/l26slavery.html). The article, and all of the letters are written by respected college professors and none are the type of whiny drivel you might find in some letters to the editor section, they are all well worth the read.

Clearly, reparations are still an issue, and, I believe, a big part of the reason that those who might be otherwise inclined to give a communal “my bad” are keeping their heads buried. No one wants to be punished for something they didn’t do, and it is fairly safe to say (except for a couple of yahoo’s here and there) that the folks that would have to admit to wrong doing today, are not guilty of the wrong doing in question (don’t get me started about any wrong doing that is takig place today… this piece is long enough already).

Over the course of my life the demographic breakdown of my friends clearly indicates that I am neither bigoted nor sexist. In this very blog I have championed equal rights in both popular and … lets say… less popular ways. Clearly (at least I like to think) I am not the bad guy here.

However… while I did not commit the crimes, that does not mean I am not enjoying the fruits of that unsavory labor. I am a healthy, tall, white male… as far as “advantages”, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Using only the history of this particular parcel of land (the United States) dating back to early colonial times, “I” have been a respected, participating, and in every measurable way a real part of society since day one (lets call that 1492), or, roughly 520 years.

Women got the right to vote (which should not be confused with full equality) in 1920 (or, roughly 90 years ago). *If* voting right translated to equal rights (they don’t) that would mean that men had a 430 year head start in shaping the country the way they wanted it. (Lest you think that the US is too back woods and behind the rest of the world, Finland was the first country to give full suffrage to women, in 1906).

Discrimination by race is only moderately better (15^th amendment - 1870), or moderately worse (MLK was assissinated only 40 short years ago) than that of gender, depending on your perspective

Obviously, the dates on which groups received the vote do not equate to equal footing in creating our national culture. However, even if we (generously) grant those dates as being the watershed moments for those groups, That would mean that men of a race other than white have been involved for what would amount to 26% (the 4^th quarter of a basketball game), and women (regardless of race) 17% (entering a metaphorical baseball game in the bottom of the eighth inning).

As talented as Mr. Jordan (Mr. Bird, or Wilt the Stilt) was, I don’t think he would make a very big impression on the game playing only the fourth quarter. Similarly, as talented as Mr. Ruth (or Mr Cobb, or A-Rod) was, playing less than the last two innings, the game would likely be decided well before his involvement. Clearly there is an advantage to the guys who play the whole game.

Perhaps this is what we need to recognize. Perhaps people like me need to stand up and rather than saying I’m sorry I caused the hardships your forefathers experienced (which I didn’t); we need to say, I recognize that I am enjoying benefits from a history that was greatly tilted in my favor (which I am), I feel compassion for your position (which I do), and where I can, I’m here to help.

Recently I said, to a very dear friend, “I’m not dealing in fault… it is a fleeting and temporary placebo for action and accountability.” I believe that applies here as much as it might anywhere else. I’m not sure about reparations. I don’t know that they are feasible/practical, nor do I know if I think they are that right course of action if they are. But I do know about action and accountability. I am perfectly capable of acknowledging my advantages, and taking whatever actions I can to level the playing field.

This feels like a good start…

So, here’s the deal.  What started out as a seed for a simple blog entry has turned into more of a project.  Some time ago I solicited my socnet for input and help in creating a playlist that a person might play to their daughters; hoping that they would get the right messages from the songs and the play list could help shape them while it entertained them.

The Youtube playlist below is the result of that solicitation.

Today as I was mastering (which, soon, you will see I didn’t finish doing) the play list I realized a few of things.  First of all, I cannot possibly put all of the songs of value into one reasonably sized play list. Secondly, I also cannot properly express the value (to me, anyway) of each of these songs by putting them in a playlist.  Finally, I realized that neither me, nor my dedicated (but rather small) socnet are going to be able to capture everything I want to say with what is available to us in our musical lexicon.

With all of that in mind I am expanding this little blog post into a not so little project.  A project designed to capture as much musical knowledge from my friends as possible, harness the knowledge and lessons therein, and share it in a meaningful way.

More details on that over the weekend (once I have fully wrapped my head around it).  But, since you all have been so patient waiting for me to put this list together… without further ado… the opening salvo in this little musical journey…

An hour (plus) that just might leave you better than it found you

Ps… I think my love affair with Christina Aguilera and India Arie shines through pretty clearly here, ironically, though, I did not contribute to this list, it is 100% provided by friends.  It appears my friendship “apple” doesn’t stay far from its “tree” either

PPS please please please suggest more songs in comments… I am beyond eager to have more great songs to listen to and share!!!

An old (and former, to be honest) friend of mine used to say something along the lines of “you don’t see a person for who really are until you see them at their worst” (meaning seeing them in the worst circumstances - i.e. facing adversity).

I have never agreed with that statement, however.  I believe that how a person acts and reacts to positive situations is as important and telling as how they react when the chips are down.  And every shade of grey inbetween is also just as valid a reflection of hat person.

Some people respond well to stress and become “more than they usually are,” others, who excel on a day to day basis, shrink some from adversity.  Neither of these extremes is a blueprint for a better or worse individual, in my mind.

Having said all of that, I am still impressed when someone, facing a difficult situation of their own is able to look beyond themselves and think of others.

One of my online friends, known on the internet as Topsurf has recently stood out to me in this area.  Without going too far into her personal life, her father is suffering from a bout with cancer and has been receiving treatments.

In addition to love and support for her father, what has come from her time in the hospital is this

http://layersoflove.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/hello-world/

In short, she has started up a blanket drive to stock the shelves with fleeces (the preferred blanket of patients in treatment rooms, I have learned).  I’ll let you read the rest in her words.

Another old friend of mine, from high school actually, used to always say “a friend is someone who thinks of you, while others are thinking of themselves.”

Thanks Toppy… for being a friend to those nameless and faceless people you will never even know; but who will find warmth and comfort because of your efforts.

The public and political debate on Health Care and the current related legislation, to me, really boils down to one single question. Is health care, in these United States, a luxury item or a basic universal service? The answer to this question, I believe, should dictate the role of government in the process.

The government typically handles (or at least regulates) basic services (social security, Medicaid, roads and other infrastructure, education, auto insurance, defense, etc.). By contrast the private sector typically handles “luxuries” (automobiles themselves, houses, life insurance, extended retirement planning ala 401k programs, etc.).

So the question is, which is it to be on health care? Is it akin to the roads on which we drive or the cars we drive upon them?

People say the United States has the best health care system in the world. However, that appears to be far truer if you are in the financial position to afford to operate within that system. If you are sitting anywhere below the middle of middle class, your ability to take advantage of this health care system becomes more and more compromised.

Statistics show that as incomes rise, uninsured status falls, and this has been the case for a long time

> $25,000 annual income 24.5% (23.9% in 1995) uninsured
25k – 49k annual income 21.1% (16.2%) uninsured
50k – 74k annual income 14.5% (9.3%) uninsured
75k or more annual income 7.8% (6.7%) uninsured

Reports also show that as incomes rise the number of people who could have insurance but opt out of it goes up proportionately. Therefore, those numbers are probably even more askew than they appear, given the number of people in the higher income categories that are uninsured by choice.

In my state of Idaho, as the Legislature positioned itself for a legal battle against the national government, members stated “we will take care of health care within state lines, we don’t need the federal government doing it for us.”

Why then, if this is a commonly recognized problem, haven’t they done it already?

Idaho is about in the middle of the pack on percentage of uninsured at 14.9 % (compared to roughly 15.3% nationally). We are far better than, say, Texas (24%) but also measurably worse than Minnesota (8.5%). However, in 1995 the number for Idaho was 14.0%, so while we haven’t gotten much worse in the past decade and a half, we also haven’t gotten any better. The top (Texas 24.2%) and bottom (Minnesota 8.0%) of the list haven’t changed much either over those 15 years.

In other words, there is nothing new going on here, and yet, nothing is changing. Nothing was being “taken care of within state lines” here in Idaho, or anywhere else.

If we accept that health care, and, specifically the number of uninsured people in our population is a legitimate issue. And if we can also see that it trends toward being a bigger problem as income decreases, and nothing was being done to correct that; it would appear to be a safe conclusion that the default position is (or at least has been) that health care (insurance) is a “luxury” item.

This is, I believe, where the rubber meets the road.

If that works for you – if you think of affordable health care as “the car” rather than “the road”; then opposing the current health care reforms (insurance regulation) makes sense. If it doesn’t work for you – if you think of insurance as being more “the road”, and not so much “the car”; then support seems to be the order of the day.

I’m a road guy myself… even if, as some recent public opinion polls would indicate, it currently appears to be the one less traveled by…

A friend of mine came up to me the other day and lobbied me to lend my voice to the fight against nuclear energy.  She argued well that despite my beliefs that nuclear is the “bridge technology” required to get “us” from petroleum based energy consumers to renewable based energy consumers, nuclear energy may well not be the best solution.  Well enough for me to take a closer look, anyway.

First a little background.

My basic thinking going into the conversation goes a little something like this:

1.  Oil, as an energy source is simultaneously running out and necessary (for certain vital purposes). Not only should the use of oil be curtailed - for the sake of the environment etc. - but conservation of the resource should be a priority.  Therefore, some substitute must be put in place, and this alternate energy source needs to be implemented (or at least begin getting implemented) very soon.

2. Nuclear power, and related infrastructure, currently exists to a degree that can support the transition between petroleum and renewable energy sources.  Further (and possibly more importantly), the existing - non-depreciated - investment in nuclear energy, and the corresponding stakeholders interest in seeing their investment through to maturity, create a formidable barrier to entry for new technology.

3. I believe that ultimately, nuclear energy is not a safe solution for the planet.  Nuclear waste is unstable and dangerous for roughly 10,000 years (scientists tell us, obviously, this is an untested number).  On a planet with swiftly dwindling open spaces due to rapid population growth, there is no reasonable way to expect we will be able to co-exist with the volume of nuclear waste for the next few hundred years, let alone the 10,000 it will take before the first batch is considered a non-biohazard.  Further, based on the afore mentioned rapid population growth, non-renewable (i.e nuke) solutions are rapidly ceasing to be an alternative in long range planning.

As such, I have been left with my existing mindset that nuclear power is the logical bridge (but only a bridge (read: a transitory connector) to renewable energy).

The problem with my thought process and conclusion (in my mind), and the barrier to me really entering the conversation, is two fold.  First of all - and I can admit this - I am generally ignorant on the topic.  For the most part I am dealing with a very small sub-set of the data available on this topic.  Secondly… in a word… money.

I find it hard to believe the money necessary to implement a nuclear bridge will be invested in something that is a known temporary solution, making the entire idea of nukes as a bridge technology a non-starter.  If we start down the path of increasing the footprint of nuclear power on the national energy supply, I do not see that tack changing until forced by some critical, probably life threatening, situation.  This course, to me, is untenable based on point #3 above.

My uncle, one of the most intelligent people I know, once told me (and I have since heard the same thing said many times) that people will not make substantive change until there is an actual need to do so. Until a critical mass of people believe a problem has reached the point where it is a threat to them, that problem will not be a barrier to the status quo. (Note: that is my paraphrase of the concept, not a direct quote… sorry if I butchered your message Pat )

In just the past few years, we have seen this with the internet bubble and with sub-prime mortgages. Many argue we are seeing this very phenomenon at work as the world wrestles with global warming. While Just In Time (JIT) practices work well in some business situations I think it is pretty obvious that when the stakes are high enough, brinkmanship should not be the order of the day.

If Al Gore is right about Global Warming (and I’m not here to say he is or isn’t… that is a topic for another day), hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people may be put in harms way before we have time to react to the mess we are creating.

Nuclear waste gives me the same reason for pause.  Can we afford to be wrong about this?  Can we afford to wait however long it takes for a critical mass of people to be threatened by it? 

Being wrong about company valuations and mortgages cost people money; being wrong about the potential dangers of nuclear waste (or global warming) could cost people their lives.

I teach my kids the concept of the “one time mistake.”  The fact that there are certain mistakes that are so large, you only make them once… and then all (relating to that mistake) is lost.  When you face a choice that includes an option that, if you are wrong, is a one time mistake; you had better be damn sure you are right before following that path.

I fear that nuclear energy (specifically nuclear waste), en mass, might be such a mistake. I am not absolutely certain that we won’t contaminate our planet beyond habitability before enough of us even realize we are doing it to make a necessary course correction.

There is no one capable of deeming humanity “to big to fail” should we make a fatal mistake; there cannot and will not be any “bail outs.”  If we mess this up we live (read: die) with the consequences.  With that in mind, and knowing there are safe, sustainable, renewable options… does it really make sense to roll those dice?

I love to gamble, as an of my friends (especially the ones who have been to Vegas with me) can attest. However, as Kenny Rogers would say, “you gotta know when to fold ‘em” and when it comes to nuclear energy, I think its time to run…

Do not look unless you are prepared to live the rest of your life disappointed

(Yes, for all those concerned I am joking, but… it is damn funny!!! )

This morning, as I drove down the road going ~30 in a 30, I was passed like I was standing still by a motorist going what must have been 45.  This is not new, but there were a few interesting things about this occurrence that jumped out at me… and started me on a mental rant that I am going to continue here…

First of all, in addition to zooming past me at a half again the legal speed limit… this motorist gave me a “what’s wrong with you” look. As if I, (the guy going the speed limit, for those of you keeping score at home) was the bad guy for impeding their progress.

Because of said look, I was able to easily recognize my antagonist as one of my states publicly elected officials.

Which started me to thinking… when it comes to character, what makes one law more important than another?  Not getting caught, or getting caught and paying your fine, only to repeat the offense (most likely over and over again) is a poor proxy for doing the right thing.

And yet, I have heard this particular person pontificate on ethical and social issues, appearing to allege some sort of high moral ground.  How, really, is this person anything more than a common criminal.  And, again, most likely based on the entitled and frustrated look they gave me for going the speed limit, a probably repeat offender.

I see people consistently getting upset about or teasing others going too slow; when those others are going the speed limit.  I hear people justify speeding for well thought out reasons like “there is no way this road should be a 35.”  And I hear others agree with them, encouraging lawlessness.

I do it too, in jest anyway.  I speak of stop signs with a white border as being optional.  I try my best to actually stop every time, but, in joking about it, I recognize I am enabling and encouraging those who do not.  I am part of the problem.

So, how big is this problem?  Lets look at a few statistics (taken from a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report:

• The economic cost to society of speeding related accidents is estimated by the NHTSA to be $40.4 Billion (thats ~$77,000 a minute or nearly $1300 per second).
• Speeding is a contributing factor in 30% of annual fatal car crashes (and lest you think I am comparing apples to oranges - roughly 30% of all fatal accidents occur in speed limits of 35mph or less - more like 45% of non-interstate fatalities)

So you tell me, am I being overly dramatic in calling this “lawlessness” or in identifying these people as common criminals?  Or… are you perhaps comfortable with people laughing about or even, at times taking pride in committing a crime that is responsible for nearly 2,000 fatal car crashes and costs society $40.4 billion a year?

By the way, they were also drinking coffee and subsequently driving one handed… but that’s a different story for a different day…

Here is what I think… I think the American Dream has changed right under our noses, and most of us don’t even realize it.  We once lived in a land of universal opportunity, where anyone who was willing to do the work could make there way to prosperity…  The Great American Dream..

People can still be wildly successful, to be sure.  However, the idea that everyone who is willing to put in the work can be successful is simply a bygone reality, a theoretical remnant of the halcyon days of a nation still in its formative stages.

The dream is still there, but the focus has changed.  Instead of “everyone has a chance to make it” it is now “anyone has a chance to make it,” a subtle change in word, but much more substantive in nature. While it is still true that anyone who is in the right situation, has the right opportunities cross their path, or has the right particular skill set (in the right place and at the right time) can be remarkably successful; the same cannot be said of “everyone.” Other people, possessing the same skill set, the same (or an even stronger) work ethic etc. are not guaranteed (or even likely to enjoy) the same success in this modern America.

Although… perhaps… maybe we do know it, at least at a subconscious level.  For example, generally speaking - as a society -  when we define opportunity, we no longer tend to focus on the number of success stories, but rather the magnitude of our success stories.

“You can be rich/famous/powerful beyond your wildest dreams” would be accepted, by many, as a paraphrase for The American Dream.  I personally, however, just do not see that as being the same as “a land of opportunity for everyone.”  And that - the latter - to me, is what The American Dream really is.

*note: not literally everyone… I mean all those who are willing to put in the necessary work… I am not advocating equal prosperity for those who do not put out equal effort in any way*

Much of this, of course, is due to the changing landscape (literally) of the country.  A hundred and fifty years or so ago, a poor Irish kid (20’s) that immigrated away from famine to New York could head out west, homestead, and farm or ranch his/her way to success.  Generally speaking, opportunity like that no longer exists.

We are populated and settled to the point where a poor Irish kid in New York these days really doesn’t have anywhere to go to plant roots and establish him/herself.  You can still create success, but most opportunity is now intellectual or service oriented, and the ability to enter that space is limited by ones ability to get an education etc.  Not such an easy task for our young Irish protagonist.

However, regardless of why, I think the reality is that, currently, The American Dream… as it once was (in practice or, perhaps, just in my mind) is exactly that… a dream.  The American Reality, as it currently exists, is that class struggle and differentiation are continually increasing; and a big part of that is because we are defining ourselves by the magnitude of our successes rather than on the number of actual successes.

For a society, I do not believe that a smaller number of larger successes are better than a larger number of more modest successes.  And I fear, that if we do not wake up from our current “dream,” it will in fact become The Great American Nightmare…