Nice editorial from I'm guessing the school paper of the University of Western Ontario on whether our generation just can't enough of our own greatness or if it's something else.
I've never really known what to think of this degree. It's difficult to compare generations because each generation constructs its identity in relation to what is going on. We didn't have a depression (well, not yet at least) and did have to defeat Fascism. But, we have been the beneficiary of great wealth and growth, even if it isn't completely adjusted for inflation.
Thoughts?
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
In speech and debate, we call this "kicking ass and taking names."
No matter your political preferences, Obama is a master at giving speeches. This might be his best yet.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The Messy Commons
Last night, Rev. Billy spoke and people listened.
A theater troupe out of New York City, Reverent Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir tour the world and perform "interventions" on various consumer stops. He was the grand marshal at Pasadena's Dooh-Dah parade and he made another stop at All Saints. He is the subject of "What would Jesus Buy?" both a book and a documentary.
Not a real pastor but speaking the truth like an old-school prophet, he talked about what does peace look like. Really. Is peace just the absence of war and violence? If and when we withdrawl our troops from Iraq and everywhere else, does that mean we have peace? No, peace is not the absence but rather the presence. It is the fulfillment or the awareness of the pieces of living. Similar to the amazing presentation given by the Desmond Tutu Peace foundation, peace is the awareness one has that every tool needed to live well is available and at their disposal.
For Rev. Billy, the marketplace has been replaced by the supermall. The marketplace wasn't just the market, simply to buy some fruit and go home. It was the centerplace of community. People talk, engage, argue, rebut, refrain, kiss, make up and become better humans. It was in the commons that language created culture. He used the metaphor of the stable and the manager to capture the re-invention of peace. The kings went to the baby, the bastard child of two young adults that weren't in the conventional model. It was more than a photo-op for Hallmark, it was a moment enshrined in eternity.
Yet, we are consumers and we find meaning in products. Corporations, the transnational ones, are our new empires. We copy and manipulate the human experience to brand.
Yes, yes, this is all true and all abstract. Of course, we don't like overspending. Of course, our allegiance to deficits to create false profits is ruining us. Of course, America has created an economic model that will destroy the world when the rest of the world tries to emulate it because Radio of America told them this is the best model of meaning. Of course, of course.
Rev. Billy gave an answer. Simple, yet radical. He said that in our private lives, we all know and most have peace. We communicate in loving homes, we make love to our beloved, we teach our children well. Privately, peace abounds. The question is how do we make public the private? Public peace. Commons peace.
We need the commons again.
I need the commons again.
Rev. Billy also said that everyone should recite the First Amendment every day, so here it is:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Messy. But real is messy.
A theater troupe out of New York City, Reverent Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir tour the world and perform "interventions" on various consumer stops. He was the grand marshal at Pasadena's Dooh-Dah parade and he made another stop at All Saints. He is the subject of "What would Jesus Buy?" both a book and a documentary.
Not a real pastor but speaking the truth like an old-school prophet, he talked about what does peace look like. Really. Is peace just the absence of war and violence? If and when we withdrawl our troops from Iraq and everywhere else, does that mean we have peace? No, peace is not the absence but rather the presence. It is the fulfillment or the awareness of the pieces of living. Similar to the amazing presentation given by the Desmond Tutu Peace foundation, peace is the awareness one has that every tool needed to live well is available and at their disposal.
For Rev. Billy, the marketplace has been replaced by the supermall. The marketplace wasn't just the market, simply to buy some fruit and go home. It was the centerplace of community. People talk, engage, argue, rebut, refrain, kiss, make up and become better humans. It was in the commons that language created culture. He used the metaphor of the stable and the manager to capture the re-invention of peace. The kings went to the baby, the bastard child of two young adults that weren't in the conventional model. It was more than a photo-op for Hallmark, it was a moment enshrined in eternity.
Yet, we are consumers and we find meaning in products. Corporations, the transnational ones, are our new empires. We copy and manipulate the human experience to brand.
Yes, yes, this is all true and all abstract. Of course, we don't like overspending. Of course, our allegiance to deficits to create false profits is ruining us. Of course, America has created an economic model that will destroy the world when the rest of the world tries to emulate it because Radio of America told them this is the best model of meaning. Of course, of course.
Rev. Billy gave an answer. Simple, yet radical. He said that in our private lives, we all know and most have peace. We communicate in loving homes, we make love to our beloved, we teach our children well. Privately, peace abounds. The question is how do we make public the private? Public peace. Commons peace.
We need the commons again.
I need the commons again.
Rev. Billy also said that everyone should recite the First Amendment every day, so here it is:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Messy. But real is messy.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Hate being sick and unemployed...
What is the point of a cover letter?
Seriously, it is becoming the bane of my existence at the moment. In three paragraphs, I'm supposed to introduce myself, tout my experiences and give the future employer enough warm fuzzies to give me a ring so I can bomb the interview?
Eh.
(Being sick sucks also. Being sick and trying to write cover letters is an exercise in blunted madness.)
Seriously, it is becoming the bane of my existence at the moment. In three paragraphs, I'm supposed to introduce myself, tout my experiences and give the future employer enough warm fuzzies to give me a ring so I can bomb the interview?
Eh.
(Being sick sucks also. Being sick and trying to write cover letters is an exercise in blunted madness.)
Monday, January 14, 2008
Measuring unemployment...
There's a great article in the New Yorker about the model for measuring jobs. I've always wondered how in the world they got the numbers they got. I figured it was always reports from unemployment, but that really is only a small part of the whole puzzle.
Anyways, take a read.
Anyways, take a read.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Isn't youthquake a disco tribute band?
Oh wait, that's bootyquake. Never mind.
In any case, this BusinessWeek talks about us and how we hate debt.
Youthquake is alive and well, friends.
In any case, this BusinessWeek talks about us and how we hate debt.
Youthquake is alive and well, friends.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Only the things that make or break us...
I don't know about you, but these are exciting times. A new year, a big election, lots of changes in the horizon. Exciting, indeed.
This is hopefully the starting point of a conversation, at least, that's the goal. This isn't a debate about which political candidate is better because this isn't a partisan blog. This is a place for political thought, because the policies and positions in this country affects all M.A.Y.A.'s. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a registered Independent, but was Republican when I first voted at age 18. Now, I'm looking for the best candidate that can bring about the change (there's that word again!) in this country.
I want to know what people think are the issues that greatly affected M.A.Y.A.s. Remember, M.A.Y.A. is Middle Aged Young Adults, so college-age and up. Here are some ideas, let's see if we can add to it.
1. The Economy. In the past debate, John Edwards mentioned a study that suggested that 20 to 30 million jobs will be lost. In mentioning that study, Edwards stated that those who stand to lose the most will be college graduates. I didn't see that particular study online (does anyone know what it is? Send me the link and I'll hook it up), but if that's true, that is huge. It directly conflicts with the perpetual narrative that college and post-graduate education is the remedy for lost jobs, in the manufacturing sector and otherwise. If specialty work is thinning, it does force professional works to take up jobs where they do exist in large amounts. In the case of today's economy, that's service and retail. But, many jobs don't provide a living wage and benefits, so it's either multiple jobs or other supplemental work.
It seems like society is in transition and the economic component is rapidly changing. Questions of the role of digital in the changing economy, the morphing of manufacture and the rejection of corporate America. Most of the rhetoric aims toward restore industrial jobs, because of the previous generations. However, with our generation, what does the job field look like? What is the role of government in encouraging change? And what about this abolishing of the income tax?
2. Health care. It's my opinion that health care is the leading domestic issue in America. It's agreed that something is very, very wrong when costs are $2 trillion, yet, almost 200 million Americans were not insured at some point in the past two years. The two political parties are offering two very different philosophies on the role of government in health care. Fundamentally, is health care a basic right that the government must provide Americans under the Preamble where the government is to promote the "common welfare and secure ourselves and our Posterity?" Is health care a commodity that is accessible only to those to access the market? Someone in between?
3. The War. Iraq is the result of a way of thinking. What is the role of America in the world? If the world is our neighbor, how do we treat our neighbors? More so, is it the role of government to attack and declare war on religious groups, knowing that religious extremism is only defeated by moderates of the same religion?
4. Social justice. At the root of most of society's ills is a lack of commitment to justice. What does justice look like today? How do we address systemic poverty? Discrimination? Hate? Is social justice the duty of government or the individual? Both? Neither?
5. The Environment. Put simply, the Earth doesn't need humans, but humans need the Earth. I feel that climate change is the symptom of the greater problem, which is waste. Waste in the sense that we use what we do not need, as we have taken excess as a barometer of success, not illness. With overpopulation and nations taking on their own industrial revolution in the same wasteful manner that the U.S. developed, we got more problems coming. What do we do?
Those are four that stick out for me. What else is important? Are none of these things important? As we move to our own adulthood, what is the road toward responsibility and growth? What's the road toward something else entirely?
Let's talk.
This is hopefully the starting point of a conversation, at least, that's the goal. This isn't a debate about which political candidate is better because this isn't a partisan blog. This is a place for political thought, because the policies and positions in this country affects all M.A.Y.A.'s. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a registered Independent, but was Republican when I first voted at age 18. Now, I'm looking for the best candidate that can bring about the change (there's that word again!) in this country.
I want to know what people think are the issues that greatly affected M.A.Y.A.s. Remember, M.A.Y.A. is Middle Aged Young Adults, so college-age and up. Here are some ideas, let's see if we can add to it.
1. The Economy. In the past debate, John Edwards mentioned a study that suggested that 20 to 30 million jobs will be lost. In mentioning that study, Edwards stated that those who stand to lose the most will be college graduates. I didn't see that particular study online (does anyone know what it is? Send me the link and I'll hook it up), but if that's true, that is huge. It directly conflicts with the perpetual narrative that college and post-graduate education is the remedy for lost jobs, in the manufacturing sector and otherwise. If specialty work is thinning, it does force professional works to take up jobs where they do exist in large amounts. In the case of today's economy, that's service and retail. But, many jobs don't provide a living wage and benefits, so it's either multiple jobs or other supplemental work.
It seems like society is in transition and the economic component is rapidly changing. Questions of the role of digital in the changing economy, the morphing of manufacture and the rejection of corporate America. Most of the rhetoric aims toward restore industrial jobs, because of the previous generations. However, with our generation, what does the job field look like? What is the role of government in encouraging change? And what about this abolishing of the income tax?
2. Health care. It's my opinion that health care is the leading domestic issue in America. It's agreed that something is very, very wrong when costs are $2 trillion, yet, almost 200 million Americans were not insured at some point in the past two years. The two political parties are offering two very different philosophies on the role of government in health care. Fundamentally, is health care a basic right that the government must provide Americans under the Preamble where the government is to promote the "common welfare and secure ourselves and our Posterity?" Is health care a commodity that is accessible only to those to access the market? Someone in between?
3. The War. Iraq is the result of a way of thinking. What is the role of America in the world? If the world is our neighbor, how do we treat our neighbors? More so, is it the role of government to attack and declare war on religious groups, knowing that religious extremism is only defeated by moderates of the same religion?
4. Social justice. At the root of most of society's ills is a lack of commitment to justice. What does justice look like today? How do we address systemic poverty? Discrimination? Hate? Is social justice the duty of government or the individual? Both? Neither?
5. The Environment. Put simply, the Earth doesn't need humans, but humans need the Earth. I feel that climate change is the symptom of the greater problem, which is waste. Waste in the sense that we use what we do not need, as we have taken excess as a barometer of success, not illness. With overpopulation and nations taking on their own industrial revolution in the same wasteful manner that the U.S. developed, we got more problems coming. What do we do?
Those are four that stick out for me. What else is important? Are none of these things important? As we move to our own adulthood, what is the road toward responsibility and growth? What's the road toward something else entirely?
Let's talk.
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