“The land of the free”… That used to be a mouthful back when this country was established. We fought for our freedoms, but maybe we should take a step back and look at how “free” we really are. Compared to many countries in Europe, we are a very sheltered and oppressed people.
There have been multiple times in America’s history where our government has tried to place laws banning certain items or practices which, in turn has taken its share of finances. For example, Prohibition in the 1920’s banned the distribution and selling of alcohol. Did this stop the American people? Absolutely not. Instead, the people found it to be a fun game to disobey the government by smuggling alcohol and opening speakeasy’s which illegally sold alcohol. During the 20’s people were so preoccupied by partying and disobeying the law that they forgot that their actions came at an expense. We are only human. And as I recall from being a child, when you tell a kid they can’t do something, it only makes them want to do it more. If the government had been trying to take care of more pressing issues, in theory the Great Depression might not have hit the country as hard.
In my opinion, this country sets itself up for failure by placing laws and bans on certain things that simply will not go away. Another marvelous example would be prostitution. (and before you judge me and take a stab at my morals, allow me to explain). Prostitution has been around since, oh I don’t know, prehistoric times. Simply put, it will not go away and the American government needs to focus on harsher things than a moral dilemma. This country was based on the right to pursue happiness and if that is the way people want to live their lives, so be it. It does not harm the community as a whole and if you would legalize it, sooner or later, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal anymore. People sometimes just do things to rebel. Places where prostitution IS legal, they make the women take a physical once a month to show that she is healthy. If people are going to do it regardless, at least make it safe. I do not technically agree with prostitution, and I think it’s morally wrong and disgusting, however it is the right of the American people to make their own decisions, and it is something that people are still going to find a way around no matter what restrictions are put on it.
Our country is more oppressive than we would like to think. Sure, some restrictions are necessary. I’m not saying you should falsely yell fire in a crowded theater; otherwise this country would be pretty out of control. All I am trying to do is let you recognize that this country was founded by Puritans and, believe it or not, will always still have that Puritan way of thinking. There are more accidents involving alcohol in our country than in countries where the legal drinking age is 16. In Europe, they can walk around naked and there are more sex crimes in America where we look at public nudity as vulgar. (Once again I’m not encouraging people to run around naked. That’s just the way things are here) I’m merely saying that obviously, we’re doing something wrong here. This country is too busy coming up with ways to keep the people under control than coming up with ways to help benefit our lives financially, medically, and securely. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that the government is one big conspiracy and I think everyone should revolt. I just want people to try to see the big picture here.
Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Washed Out Turtle Mobsters
Life has a startling tendency of passing us by. Change alters all things and sometimes it’s almost unbelievable that we’ve overcome so much. Recently, I’ve realized how much I’ve changed over the years, I’ve realized how much I’ve accomplished and how I’ve made it out of some of the bleakest moments in my life. It’s just always stricken me as comical when somebody says something like “You know what? You’ve changed.”
Obviously, to make a choice tends to lead to change. Maybe that’s a choice to eat better food or to hang out with a friend from grade school. To some, a decision that you make may make you feel uneasy at first or even make other people question your choices, but really all that matters is that you know a little more about yourself as a person, and if you don’t like what you’ve become, by all means change again. Without change where would we be, really? I’d hate to think that I’d still be playing in a sandbox with a Barbie at 18 years of age (or power ranger action figures or whatever it is you icky boys used to do as kids). But the BIG idea here is that though we may not enjoy change, or not be able to adjust well to change, itself, it’s something that we all must go through and accept. Change is an opportunity to shape who you are. When something changes will you rise to make the most out of the change, or will you run and hide from it?
Along with change comes loss, whether that be loss of the old you, a friend, or innocence. To make a change is to risk. Choices affect every aspect of our lives. I could choose to stay home and do my homework, to go work as a volunteer at a soup kitchen, or go out and party with my friends. Each choice takes me into a different path that my life could go down. This is sometimes very overwhelming to the person. Within the last week, I met a girl who is probably one of the most indecisive people I have ever met (which I know is the pot calling the kettle black but still). It is good to analyze a decision before you go ahead and make it, however sometimes you can get too caught up in what might hypothetically happen that you never take a chance. My main thing here is a change is a chance. As scary as it may be sometimes you need to do something spontaneous, do something crazy, and do something that will possibly put a smile on your face. Don’t be afraid to fall, to dance, to scream, to open yourself to something that might alter your path but might make you into a stronger person. Even if you hit the ground at full force, that risk made you that much stronger if you are able to stand up, brush yourself off and continue making decisions that will help you get the most out of life.
"Look, I don't want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you're alive you've got to flap your arms and legs, you've got to jump around a lot, for life is the very opposite of death, and therefore you must at very least think noisy and colorfully, or you're not alive." --Mel Brooks
Obviously, to make a choice tends to lead to change. Maybe that’s a choice to eat better food or to hang out with a friend from grade school. To some, a decision that you make may make you feel uneasy at first or even make other people question your choices, but really all that matters is that you know a little more about yourself as a person, and if you don’t like what you’ve become, by all means change again. Without change where would we be, really? I’d hate to think that I’d still be playing in a sandbox with a Barbie at 18 years of age (or power ranger action figures or whatever it is you icky boys used to do as kids). But the BIG idea here is that though we may not enjoy change, or not be able to adjust well to change, itself, it’s something that we all must go through and accept. Change is an opportunity to shape who you are. When something changes will you rise to make the most out of the change, or will you run and hide from it?
Along with change comes loss, whether that be loss of the old you, a friend, or innocence. To make a change is to risk. Choices affect every aspect of our lives. I could choose to stay home and do my homework, to go work as a volunteer at a soup kitchen, or go out and party with my friends. Each choice takes me into a different path that my life could go down. This is sometimes very overwhelming to the person. Within the last week, I met a girl who is probably one of the most indecisive people I have ever met (which I know is the pot calling the kettle black but still). It is good to analyze a decision before you go ahead and make it, however sometimes you can get too caught up in what might hypothetically happen that you never take a chance. My main thing here is a change is a chance. As scary as it may be sometimes you need to do something spontaneous, do something crazy, and do something that will possibly put a smile on your face. Don’t be afraid to fall, to dance, to scream, to open yourself to something that might alter your path but might make you into a stronger person. Even if you hit the ground at full force, that risk made you that much stronger if you are able to stand up, brush yourself off and continue making decisions that will help you get the most out of life.
"Look, I don't want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you're alive you've got to flap your arms and legs, you've got to jump around a lot, for life is the very opposite of death, and therefore you must at very least think noisy and colorfully, or you're not alive." --Mel Brooks
Friday, September 18, 2009
Batarangs and Pink Nail Polish
Alright, so as an 18 year old female living in one of the most economically jacked up states in America (pardon my vulgarity), you can only imagine that I have my share of oppinions. I was recently asked to start writing a blog for my English class. We were told to chose a topic and just write. Well, although this may be easy for some, for me it posed a great task. I mean, how am I supposed to pick ONE theme and write about it once a week for 13 weeks? Well, naturally I managed to bend the rules here a little bit. I have WAY too many issues to address than to provide me any specific limitations. So my "theme", so to speak, is going to be very informal. This way, I can talk about the oh so many different topics that I am concerned with. Mind you, before I begin to state my thoughts, I'd like to state beforehand that my oppinions mean no distress to anyone reading and my central goal with this is to motivate people to actually put themselves in other people's shoes and keep an opened mind while listening to other people's output on life. I will try my best to refrain from insulting any person or persons in my writing, (though of course with some people it is difficult to avoid pointing out the obviously dim-witted). My intentions are to try to give people a better understanding of the things they feel so passionately about. Often times, when someone feels passionately enough about a topic, they tend to completely omit others' feelings or perhaps worse, cold hard facts. I merely feel that if you are to feel fervently about something, you better have your information correct. Debating a topic does not require getting hot-headed and telling somebody the views they have are incorrect. The point of my blog is to turn the reader into a critical thinker. In order to do this, you must be able to ask questions about the issue in which you are stating. I'm sure that some of these topics will engage some harsh words but I'd like to humbly ask that we try and keep it PG13 and respect others opinions even if you do not agree with them. We must analyze a topic from all viewpoints before we blindly declare where we stand. Hopefully, I can get you all to listen instead of just hear, and if I can successfully pull this off, I can help the you to examine your own views before you put down someone elses'. Another thing, we are human. We make mistakes. It is better to admit that mistake, rather continue feebly through an argument that you do no longer agree with.
As I go through my everyday life, I notice more and more that people argue about fairly simple things. I am one to discuss an issue before raising my voice or throwing a tantrum. Not everbody thinks the same way I do, but I find that with my way, you don't waste time trying to convince someone that is too angry to even consider your oppinion. A dicussion can easily turn into a yelling match, and that is something I like to avoid. As I go through my week, usually something will spark my interest and I'll discuss it in my blog. Whether this will be my sister complaining about my mother being too controlling, or a friend's parents saying that they disapprove of gay marriage because of their religion. I could go for hours on these topics, people. I simply want to address problems and issues that come up casually in my every day life that I feel the need to talk about.
I'm going to try to keep this as informal as possible because I'm crazy indecisive and I get bored easily and I want to keep this as interesting for you as possible so excuse my lack of an exceedingly extended vocabulary. Another thing I tend to do, is give advice. It may seem like just some random rambling but I usually have a person in mind that needs to hear what I'm saying and sometimes, things just look better when written out.
(Another thing I'd like to do is provide you all with some sort of inspirational quote that pertains to the topic discussed in the blog I choose to write.)
"The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge." -Elbert Hubbard
As I go through my everyday life, I notice more and more that people argue about fairly simple things. I am one to discuss an issue before raising my voice or throwing a tantrum. Not everbody thinks the same way I do, but I find that with my way, you don't waste time trying to convince someone that is too angry to even consider your oppinion. A dicussion can easily turn into a yelling match, and that is something I like to avoid. As I go through my week, usually something will spark my interest and I'll discuss it in my blog. Whether this will be my sister complaining about my mother being too controlling, or a friend's parents saying that they disapprove of gay marriage because of their religion. I could go for hours on these topics, people. I simply want to address problems and issues that come up casually in my every day life that I feel the need to talk about.
I'm going to try to keep this as informal as possible because I'm crazy indecisive and I get bored easily and I want to keep this as interesting for you as possible so excuse my lack of an exceedingly extended vocabulary. Another thing I tend to do, is give advice. It may seem like just some random rambling but I usually have a person in mind that needs to hear what I'm saying and sometimes, things just look better when written out.
(Another thing I'd like to do is provide you all with some sort of inspirational quote that pertains to the topic discussed in the blog I choose to write.)
"The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge." -Elbert Hubbard