Freedom, Liberty, and the Meme Mafia

Freedom, Liberty, and the Meme Mafia

The year is 2020 and let’s face it, the world loves memes. While some “old-timers” are sitting there like this:

The rest of the world has embraced the “who has time for a 30-minute sitcom? Just give me a meme that I can digest in 5 seconds” attitude of a very real hustle and bustle go, go, go reality. In fact, memes are so popular that we’ve created meme “templates” where people are able to easily change their words to make a passive-aggressive point under the pretense of it being “funny”. Some of the more popular ones right now include the “woman yelling at a cat”, “Lisa Simpson giving a TED Talk”, “toy monkey looking away”, and of course, “Baby Yoda” (among many others) seen here:

And with each world or cultural event, the “Meme Mafia” (as I like to call it) comes out in full force to incite a particular audience. Now that last bit is worth taking a pause for a moment. Memes are “successful” primarily because of their ability to target a specific audience with specific beliefs. Now, this isn’t groundbreaking information; books, plays, magazines, news broadcasts, and on and on have been doing this since the beginning of time. The reasons that memes have caught on like wildfire in our current global environment are threefold:

  1. They are quick and easy to “consume” (as previously mentioned)
  2. They are designed to make a statement, NOT to invite discussion. This becomes attractive to posters because it gives them a “this is the last word” type of feeling when sharing (an element that is particularly important in American culture regarding the psychology of competitiveness)
  3. They oftentimes mask their meaning behind “humor” (or attempt to), even when the subject matter in question is religious, political, or critical of any type of belief system or worldview (areas that prior to the emergence of memes, were faux pas to talk about).

Okay, okay. I’m getting there Willy Wonka. Back to 2020 and world events. In January, Australia was hit hard by wildfires, killing millions of animals, burning millions of hectares (one hectare is 100 acres in case you were wondering [insert “The More You Know” meme here – except I’m not actually inserting the meme, I just wanted you to hear the jingle that goes along with that in your head]), and creating ecological, biological, and health disasters all over the continent. And for those of us not living there, we made memes like this:

Then Kobe Bryant died in a tragic helicopter crash which claimed the lives of several others (including children) and we got memes like this:

In May, murder hornets became a thing (unless you lived in Asia, in which case, they were already a thing), and we got memes like this:

But more than anything else, of course, 2020 will be remembered for the novel coronavirus, Covid-19, which has brought entire nations to their knees (economically-speaking; physically-speaking, it put everyone in quarantine), and the “Meme Mafia” (in conjunction with how polarized American culture has become) has had a field day, turning a global pandemic into something that is labeled and separated down political lines. But as the internet has become flooded and saturated with “clever” (I put that in quotes because, in reality, they are mind-numbingly stupid and illogical) memes, I started to see a definite theme developing in memes like this:

At first, I thought: “We’ve got to be the only country in the world where people are protesting their ‘right’ to go risk their lives to make the rich richer (and the rich are the ones who are social distancing and avoiding the public like a…well, plague).” But even that’s too complex. To truly understand why memes like those above are so popular, we need to simplify all of it down to the obvious common denominator: “freedom”.

The current American “Pledge of Allegiance” goes like this (and yes, it’s been revised four times throughout history – cue “The More You Know” jingle):

‘I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.’

The ‘indivisible’ part is, in and of itself, more comical than any of the memes out there (at least in 2020), but let’s not get sidetracked. So nowhere in the “Pledge of Allegiance” is the word ‘freedom’. What about any of the other important historical American documents? Let’s see…the “Declaration of Independence”?

‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.’

Apparently women are not created equal (or weren’t in 1776 anyway), but again, let’s not get sidetracked. Not seeing ‘freedom’ in there either. 0 for 2 so far. Let’s check “The Bill of Rights” since our “Declaration of Independence” mentions rights with a capital ‘R’.

There’s too much to cite directly in there, but let me read it here a bit. Da da da da da. Eureka! “The Bill of Rights” protects ‘freedom of speech’, ‘freedom of religion’, ‘the right to keep and bear arms’, ‘freedom of assembly’, and the ‘freedom to petition’. Finally, something connecting being American to “freedom”!

You know what, Willy Wonka? I’m getting a bit anno-. Wait…

No! No meme wormholes here! The point – get to the point. Americans, it seems, might be interchanging words like “liberty” in “The Pledge of Allegiance” and “The Declaration of Independence” with “freedom”.

Yes Mel, that. Now go away. To investigate this hypothesis further, I took to Facebook-land and asked a simple question: “What is the difference between freedom and liberty?” Here are some of the responses I got (the anonymous one I chose sent me a private message – didn’t want to get flogged by the throngs of social media trolls out there perhaps):

Anthony C.: Freedom is what we earned when we said kiss my ass to England in [the] 1700’s and our constitution is based on freedom. Liberty is what we live by and receive as United States citizens! Liberty and justice for all, it’s what we promise for all.

Amanda L.: Liberty sounds more disciplined than freedom. It also seems to be used in more cerebral/educated situations than freedom, but freedom could be used in the same realm. There seem to be more connotations and uses of liberty alongside other political concepts, whereas freedom seems a bit more general.

Johnathan C.: Freedom is the ability to make a choice and liberty is freedom from oppression.

Tim S.: Freedom is the act of doing something without interference while liberty is the state of being free. To use a sports analogy, freedom is the act of shooting a basket while liberty is the game of basketball that you’re playing.

Cameron F.: Freedom is the ability to speak, act, and live without restrictions imposed by someone else. Liberty is the ability to do the above, while being part of a larger society.

Anonymous: There is no difference They are the same thing.

These responses were just a snapshot of all the responses I got, but I tried to provide an accurate representation of the overall feel for this piece, and overall, there were a small number of people who knew there was a difference (and even tried to give analogies), but still missed the mark a bit, some people who were so incredibly vague you couldn’t tell if they knew there was a difference or not, and another group of people who obviously think of them as the same thing.

So what is the truth? To get a more accurate understanding of the two, I asked a good friend of mine, who is a political scientist, a college professor, and an important member of a city committee. Here is what he told me:

“The short answer? Freedom is that you are free to swing your fist and punch me in the face. Liberty is that your freedom to swing your fist ends where my face begins. Liberty carries with it the notion that freedom is limited by the well-being of others.”

He asked me if I wanted the long answer. I said sure:

“I subscribe to the Thomas Hobbes school of thought of humans in their natural state.” He told me. “That the life of man is solitary, nasty, poor, brutish, and short. That in the state of nature, we are basically playing a giant game of king of the hill, where we are free to kill and steal for our own survival. Hobbes says that we give up this freedom and invite a Leviathan (a government) in to govern us.

As Americans, we believe part of this governance is protecting the liberty of all, but we give up certain freedoms to ensure that liberty is maintained…we lay down our arms…we are no longer free to kill and steal. In exchange, we are protected from others killing us and stealing from us.

To create a 2020 example, your freedom to go to the grocery store without a mask on ends when the well-being of others is in question.”

Ah yes, I still need that. Not quite done.

Yeah Grumpy Cat, now go sit in the corner with Willy Wonka!

So, freedom is what you think of it as. Your ability to do whatever the *firetruck* you want. Liberty, on the other hand, is the set of regulations and rules that a governing body puts in place to protect the perceived well-being of others. Liberty, in effect, is what limits freedom (in specific scenarios). Every semester when I get a new bunch of students, one of them inevitably always asks the question: “Can we cuss in your class?” This is my response: “You’re free to say whatever you want, words are just words. But you aren’t free to offend or insult someone else with your words.” They look at me a bit confused, wondering if I’m some sort of “snowflake” and follow it with: “So what does that mean?” Almost as if they don’t know the difference between freedom and liberty. I reply: “If you say ‘I got a fucking F on my biology exam’, that’s okay. If you scream ‘Fuck you!’ across the room at someone, that’s not okay.” Of course, this generally prompts a “but I have freedom of speech” type of comment from the ‘wise-guy’ student, but we’ve already covered our bases there.

Getting back to 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic, this lack of understanding the fundamental difference between “freedom” and “liberty” (and an interplay of “Rights”)

is at the heart of what the “Meme Mafia” preys upon with their specific audience in mind. Major areas of emphasis (thus far) have been facemasks, the reopening of businesses, white privilege, the upcoming Presidential election, and conspiracy theories. In each sub-topic related to Covid-19, the “Meme Mafia” is out in full force, turning each of these seemingly innocent topics into divisive issues along party lines (and party characteristics). Let’s take a closer look at one of them: facemasks.

Only in America can we turn something like wearing a facemask to protect others (again, liberty is spelled with an ‘L’) into a political battle between Democrats and Republicans. Here are some facemask-related memes to provide a snapshot.

Some are funny, some take a more serious approach, but they are all designed to have a manipulative effect on the reader. One common pitfall that the “Meme Mafia” uses over and over again (and their target audiences fall for it over and over) is the logical fallacy of “False Analogy” (in simple terms, you’ve all heard the saying “that’s like comparing apples and oranges” – that’s what “False Analogy” is). To teach this, I use the most common example: Hitler and Nazis. Whenever someone makes a comparison to Hitler or the Nazis, there should be giant red flags going up all over the place screaming “False Analogy”!

Hey! Just because I was talking about you doesn’t mean you can just interrupt me! Now go, get out of here! No…no you can’t sit in the corner with Willy Wonka and Grumpy Cat, get out! *door slams* Sheesh. But seriously, this meme was posted by an anti-facemask conservative on my social media.

But the “False Analogies” aren’t always as easy as Hitler and the Nazis to recognize. As you can see from the memes above, they can use abortion, gay discrimination, and privilege (to scratch the tip of the iceberg so-to-speak) in comparison to facemasks. This works, of course, because the “False Analogy” being made is in favor of the belief system characterized by the target audience.

The “Meme Mafia” is also successful in playing off of the characteristics of each “side”. “Liberals” are stereotyped as more empathetic (e.g. caring about others) and logical (two characteristics that allow “Conservatives” to create monikers like “snowflake” and “libtard”), while “Conservatives” are stereotyped as blue-collar, ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps’, rough and tough (characteristics that allow “Liberals” to create monikers like “redneck” and “deplorable”). In the memes above, you can see how the more “Liberal” ones try to use a more “I care about YOU” or here’s some logic-type of approaches. Here is an example of a “Conservative” meme that plays off of their stereotypes:

Of course, regarding the simple subtopic of facemasks within Covid-19, one must only go back to the simple difference between “freedom” and “liberty” to understand that the American government has deemed them necessary for the perceived well-being of society. Personally, I find it humorously ironic that the people propagating facemasks being against their “freedom” or “rights” are aligned with the current party that controls two-thirds of the American government telling them they must wear facemasks. Perhaps the best meme to capture this issue of facemasks, “freedom”, “liberty”, and “Rights” is this one:

The requirement of a shirt and shoes was never an infringement on “freedom” or “Rights”, but a facemask? Grab the pitchforks, folks!

I kid (kind of), but something ridiculous like facemasks should never have become “a thing” to be honest. Something more sinister is at work in American society, and the “Meme Mafia”, like flies on pig poo, was all over it. Maybe these two memes can paint a bigger picture:

In a polarized society, who are Americans supposed to trust? I would say that never in the course of history has this happened, but I don’t want that Adolf guy coming back, so I’ll say: rarely, and most assuredly before all of the darkest moments of humanity, the presence and promotion of dangerous echo chambers become unavoidable.

Not sure what I like more there: seeing Ed Hochuli still refereeing or noticing that the Pittsburgh Steelers are losing. Regardless, here’s the official (I used that word in honor of you Mr. Hochuli) definition of an echo chamber:

Simply put, the lack of critical thinking, trust, and non-biased news organizations (designed to generate money by manipulating their specific target audiences) in the United States have led our society to the point where people are willing to shoot and kill others over something as stupid as facemasks.

Regarding the “Meme Mafia”, we really can’t blame them for creating a fascinating medium of text that allows the deeper thinker to reflect on the sociological constructs of a given culture and its most prevalent subcultures. It’s their job to identify the strongest echo chambers present in society and to exploit them in hopes of going “viral”. But we can learn from that! We can use memes as a critical lens for what problematic echo chambers exist, not only on a global level but even on an individual level. What memes do you regularly share? Do they have a common theme? What echo chambers do they speak to or promote (that is the purpose of why you are sharing them after all)? And by sharing these types of memes day-in and day-out, is this “healthy” for you and those around you on a long-term basis?

To wrap up “freedom” and “liberty”, educate yourself. Know the difference and be a decent human being. Let go of your self-centered “stick it to the man!” or “fuck the libtards!” worldview and be a team player. Stop allowing yourself to think of America and other people in terms of us and them. As left and right. As white and black. As rich and poor. Do these differences exist? Of course. But instead of thinking about difference all the time, how about we think about the one commonality that we all have: we’re American, and Americans care. Let’s start caring about each other regardless of the differences we have instead of letting manipulative entities divide us and turn us against one another. We all have the “freedom” to do whatever we want, but we also have the responsibility to uphold “liberty” and protect our fellow people, even if you don’t always agree with it.

Why We Are “Stupid”

Why We Are “Stupid”

WHY WE ARE “STUPID”

The other night, I was invited to fill in for a low-level co-ed recreational volleyball game. Though I am an athlete and the primary objective of most sports is to win, the older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve found merit in the adage of focusing on “fun” as opposed to the victory or defeat of sports. So, in my estimation, a low-level co-ed recreational volleyball game had its appeal. What a poor estimation I had made. For the hour we were allotted the court, the opposing team did the exact same thing over and over. Hit, set, and spike. Not a bad strategy considering it is volleyball, but considering they continued to set the exact same guy who smashed the volleyball at admittedly impressive velocity (undefendable to 99% of the players in that league), it didn’t make for much “fun” at all (as a matter of fact, he drilled the ball into our player’s faces and bodies where they didn’t have a chance to react many times). By our third game, the routine had become quite old, and I stood there and thought: “how stupid this is. How could they be having any ‘fun’ at all?” I mean, the guy spiking it was probably having a ton of fun knowing we couldn’t do anything about it, and because of him, their “team” crushed us.

Not long after the volleyball game, my wife and I watched an episode of “Game of Thrones” (one of our favorite shows) and the following scene came up. Take a look (and I promise, there’s no spoilers in it if that’s of concern):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=997lGD65WNc

Orson the Beetle Crusher drew an uncanny parallel to the man with incredible spiking ability at the volleyball game. We were his metaphorical beetles, being crushed (not metaphorically) with every spike he sent over the net. And although there was clearly nothing we could do about it, he took delight in continuing to do it, just the same as Orson took delight in crushing the beetles in his garden. So my question is the same as Tyrion’s: “why?”

Of course, human beings generally ask ‘why’ when we don’t understand something. Now, I know that’s not ground-breaking information, you’re probably saying (or thinking)‘duh’ to that statement, but where it’s become all too popular (and unfortunately accepted) for people to rationalize things we don’t understand as “stupid” (e.g. ‘people are stupid’, ‘your boss is stupid’, ‘the world is stupid’, etc.), I’m not so quick to let it go. I tend to think that there’s something more of a design behind these types of behavior, even if those committing the behavior are consciously “stupid” to what they are doing, there’s something on an unconscious human level that is very intentional and opposite of “stupid” occurring.

Now, before I go on, it’s important to define “stupid” in the context of this blog and the situations being brought up (e.g. volleyball guy and Orson the Beetle Crusher). “Stupid” in regard to this blog should be read as: an act or behavior that one engages in which has no regard for the feelings or wellbeing of others that makes people ask “why?”.

I wish there was some sort of complex, philosophical answer to Tyrion’s question of “why?”, but there’s not. There’s a very simple one. The reason people do “stupid” things – things that hurt others or are done with no regard for the wellbeing or feelings of others – is: Because they can.

You see, whether perceived or real, the entire animal kingdom is ruled by the concept of power, and when one has power, even if their conscious brain knows better, their unconscious brain can’t help itself. Volleyball guy knew exactly what he was doing. His “team” knew exactly what they were doing. They knew it wasn’t any “fun” for the rest of us, but they couldn’t help themselves. They had the incredible power of someone who could spike the ball like Hercules on their side. And the stakes of a “victory” (e.g. the show of dominance) outweighed the desire of “fun” for all involved. Simply put, the animal kingdom is all about dominance, and human beings aren’t immune to this at all. As a matter-of-fact, human beings have embraced it in every culture one might examine. We even create (or fabricate) mechanisms (e.g. currency & status) that further enhance the need for dominance in society. It all comes down to power, and if one has power, it is an inevitable truth that at some point, the individual who has power won’t be able to help themselves in the right circumstance or scenario.

Think about it. At some point in life, 99% of the people on this planet will feel like they were wronged by a person in power (e.g. a boss, a teacher, their parent, etc.) – and most likely, they are right. Odds are, that boss or teacher or parent DID abuse their power (e.g. when you ask “why?”, have you ever heard the phrase “because I said so!”?). We live in a world of Orson the Beetle Crushers, who seek power (whether it be consciously or unconsciously) because deep down, they feel this is the only way to be relevant on our overcrowded earth. Dominance is the universal language in the animal kingdom, and people are desperate to gain dominance (or power) in whatever “communities” (e.g. workplace, home, recreational activity, etc.) they belong to. Unfortunately, the equation in our primitive animal brains is: level of dominance attained = level of importance recognized.

Now you might be thinking: ‘what a minute here! Not everybody abuses power. Some people genuinely try to do good things with the power (or dominance) they’ve attained.’ Perhaps, but there’s another important dichotomy here that needs to be recognized. Power creates two things: fear OR respect. Not both. One in a position of power may demand respect, and though it may be feigned by those being dominated, genuine respect will always be something that can never be gained from the use of fear. And yes, some gain power who don’t abuse it 99% of the time (again, I personally still believe that it is an inevitable truth that at some point, the individual who has power won’t be able to help themselves in the right circumstance or scenario) – these are the “cool” bosses or teachers or parents, but unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that those rare kind of power holders will eventually come across a “Beetle Crusher” that won’t care how “cool” they are, and they will be vanquished swiftly and ruthlessly. One of my many “life-isms”: Fear-based power always wins out. Orson the Beetle Crusher will always win out over Tyrion the Beetle Preserver. The “Orsons” of the world can’t help themselves. Regardless of who they hurt, they will continue to crush those they have dominance over because it gives their life a sense of purpose – no matter how perverted.

I know I used some silly examples like the volleyball guy and Orson the Beetle Crusher from “Game of Thrones”, but really, this is a real human problem, where real people around the globe suffer and die because of it. The same concept of power and animal-driven dominance can be seen in the behavior of child molesters, rapists, murderers, victims of domestic abuse, child abuse, governmental corruption, slavery, organized religion, and on and on.

Take a second and think about power and the role it has in your life. I’m not asking you to be perfect, but please, choose love instead of fear the next time you are in a position to impact someone around you with your behavior. Even if you are “rightfully” angry or hurt, it’s going to make you feel a lot better in the long-run if given the opportunity to let the “beetle” live instead of crushing it. Trust me.

Boobies and Brainwashing Part II

Boobies and Brainwashing Part II

Boobies and Brainwashing Part II

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An excerpt from “The Power of Myth”:

Bill Moyers: We hear people say, “Get in touch with yourself.” What do you take that to mean?

Joseph Campbell: It’s quite possible to be so influenced by the ideals and commands of your neighborhood that you don’t know what you really want and could be. I think that anyone brought up in an extremely strict, authoritative social situation is unlikely ever to come to the knowledge of himself. (176)

Of course, the “neighborhood” that Campbell refers to can come to represent society on multiple levels. There are universal or “global” ideals and commands that belong to society such as: murder is unlawful and will be punished. There are also “local” ideals and commands that belong to smaller communities such as: “on this team, we never yell at the referees, even when they are wrong.” When engaging others about an issue or topic, it is important to identify and agree on whether it is more a “global” or “local” issue before examining causality and possible solutions.

Regarding the issue of female-based discrimination in American society, there are certainly pockets or areas of the country where it is much more prevalent, but as presented in Part I of this discussion, I think it’s fair to say that female-based discrimination is occurring in every state and every city in America to some degree. I’d like to dive deeper into why it is happening, and what each of us – as individuals – can do to counter it.

If you turn on your television, your tablet, or your internet browser on your phone, how long do you think it would take to see an advertisement or program where a female figure is being over-sexualized to sell a product or increase ratings? About two seconds, right? But this isn’t a new concept at all. Somebody out in the world is given far too much credit for playing Captain Obvious in stating that “sex sells”. Heck, just think about the concept of make-up for a moment (something that has been around since the beginnings of recorded history 5,000 years ago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmetics#History). It’s primary function has always been to enhance beauty – “steroids” of the appearance world; false advertising if you will. Yes, some men wear make-up to enhance their appearance for their professions (perhaps even a few in their personal lives), however, the majority of all women in American society (be it for their profession or not) wear make-up on a daily basis. Their clothes are more expensive, their hair cuts are more expensive, their shoes are more expensive, their accessories are more expensive, their wedding rings are more expensive, and on and on. All of this tied to their physical appearance – and though some prefer not to think about it or recognize it, but all of this (subconsciously) is tied to the objectification of women.

And we are raised and conditioned – in our “neighborhood” (society) – to believe this is okay, or as our female friend from the Super Bowl party in Part I said, we just “have to accept it”. Such words make me shudder and think of Pavlov’s dogs (a link if you are unfamiliar: https://www.simplypsychology.org/pavlov.html). But let’s go even further. Is this simply an American issue? No, not at all. It’s a human “problem”.

I’m sure you’ve all heard of Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”. But if not (or if you need a refresher), it is a theory in psychology that every individual begins at the bottom of his identified hierarchy of needs and as one level is secure or stable in their life, they may begin working at the next level. If any previous level becomes compromised, the individual usually goes back down the hierarchy of needs to stabilize before being able to move forward. Here is a basic picture of Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”:

MaslowsHierarchyOfNeeds.svg

In Pathways to Bliss, Joseph Campbell writes about Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”: ‘These are values that we share with the animals. We have an animal body…and we live the animal life in the human mode. Let’s not flatter ourselves into thinking that [Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”] is the highest aspect of our humanity. We want to hold on to life, just as animals do. We have sex urges, just as animals do. And we have the desire to win and defeat opposition and put down what’s blocking us, just as animals do.’ (90)

But it’s clear that Campbell alludes to something beyond our inherent “animal instinct” to survive, procreate, and establish dominance. It’s what separates humans from being just like most other animals. It’s what I like to call “human intellect”, and it’s an aspect of our species that is able to develop and thrive when our “animal instinct” needs are being properly met. To put it simply, our “human intellect” is the capacity or ability to think and act beyond our basic “animal instinct” needs.

Campbell goes on to say that ‘today, we have the idea of a two-story psyche. Down below lies the unconscious, while the conscious individual is above…now, down in the subconscious is an “I want” machine called the id…all it knows is that you are a human animal and that you have needs. In other words, it is sheer organism, wanting something.’ (53)

In the animal world, think of functionality. In most cases, males challenge one another to be the head of a pack or herd or what have you. That male keeps many females for himself and asserts his perceived dominance until another male – usually younger, stronger, and healthier – displaces him. The females involved are motivated primarily by survival. “Human intellect”, unfortunately, has not changed this much over time. Men get over-protective of their wives or girlfriends when other men who they perceive to be a threat come near. Women ultimately want to attract a spouse that will make her feel “safe” in all respects – in modern society, this is not generally shown through muscle and force as it would be in the natural world, it is primarily shown through wealth. As every guy has rationalized at least once in their life: “How did a guy like that end up with a such a gorgeous wife?…He must be rich.” And what better way to make sure men are superior to women than to pay them less and to make their products more expensive? But in a way, most women play into this. They buy make-up and breast implants and high heels and fake nails. Their subconscious id is fueled by survival and calculates the best way to do this is to play into the objectification game of society to attract a suitable partner (usually correlating with wealth, though some default to the idealistic construct of “happiness” when attracting a wealthy spouse becomes tiresome or discouraging).

So while female-based discrimination may have been established by males several thousand years ago, women – by and large – play into it. Whether it is because of societal conditioning or because of fear. And fear is the other factor which keeps the establishment of men above women in place. Fear of not being able to support themselves financially, or fear of the men themselves. A lot of men, unfortunately, aren’t above the use of physical force to get their way if things turn for the worse.

In Part I of this discussion, I found it fascinating that so many women in American society opposed an awareness march about discrimination against their kind. Of course, if you remember, one of the commonalities between the first ten women I found on my social media account that opposed the marches was the fact that they were all either married to or in a serious relationship with a white male who had a steady and secure job allowing the minimum of a middle-class or higher living.

Perhaps the answer was much simpler than I thought. I mean, if you think about a herd of elk, what female is going to complain that they are being mistreated if the male leader they follow is a great provider for them and there is no fear for survivability? They aren’t going to care as long as the male continues to lead them to abundant pastures and protect them from predators with their big antlers. For the first ten women I found who opposed the women’s marches, they were quite happy and comfortable being objectified and subconsciously subdued by their significant others because they got security of survivability in exchange. They are all okay “accepting” the discriminatory rules and commands of our American “neighborhood” (even to the point where they would be fooled to think that female-based discrimination doesn’t exist in their “local neighborhood”).

So what can we do? Especially in light of the fact that societies all over the globe for as long as we can remember have functioned this way – discriminating based upon gender?

Awareness is always a good start, but movements and marches and speeches only generate temporary momentum that if not acted upon, mean very little in the grand scheme of things. I believe that it has to start with educating each individual about the difference between “animal instinct” and “human intellect”, and how each one plays a role in their lives. Instead of teaching kids how to identify similes and create matrices, we should be teaching them how the brain works, and why the brain works the way it does. American society does little (if any) developing of “human intellect” between the ages of 0-18, and very few seek such development after the age of 18. Yet, that’s the only thing that separates us from animals – our potential to think on a higher level. But in a way, it’s all cyclical. This “neighborhood”, most all “neighborhoods” through the history of civilization are – for the most part – deliberately set up to keep the masses functioning for “animal instinct” needs instead of encouraging the development of “human intellect”.

But this doesn’t mean that you can’t start thinking about your motivation to do things – that you can’t start putting conscious thought into why you do the things you do every single day, and make necessary adjustments to go beyond your own “animal instinct” needs.

And although I’m generally a pretty optimistic person, when it comes to human beings denying the self-centered, pleasure-seeking desires of their own id for the sake of the greater good, I have but little hope. But perhaps – hopefully – I’ll be wrong. Happily wrong.

Boobies and Brainwashing Part I

Boobies and Brainwashing Part I

Boobies and Brainwashing Part I

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I went out to lunch with three of my male friends a couple of weeks ago, and as such, it didn’t take long for one of them to start the “Marry one, Fuck one, Kill one” game using women that we all know (and coincidentally, women who I know for a fact will read this). The game is usually more tame when using celebrities or figures that nobody knows personally, but the stakes and consequent practice of objectification increase when using close friends or family members.

After the initial three women were selected by the friend who started the game, my other two friends played along, justifying their reasons for “killing” their preferred choice with logic such as: “[Woman A] might be slightly more attractive, but I bet [Woman B] gives much better blowjobs because of how much of a loud mouth she is. Plus it would be fun to shut her up for a minute with my cock, so I would definitely keep [Woman B] alive.” Regarding the ‘Fuck one’ option, one friend said: “[Woman C] is definitely the hottest and she’s quiet, so I’d marry her, and no question I would fuck [Woman B]. She seems like the type that would like an anger bang. [Woman A] is just a bitch, and I’d love to be the guy who puts her in her place by killing her.”

To my friends’ surprise (because I’m the type who loves hypothetical questions, moral debate, and ‘would you rather’ situations), I refused to partake in the game. Instead of going in-depth as to the reasons why I wouldn’t participate (mainly because I’m confident it would have been a massive waste of time and energy given these specific friends), I simply just said: “I don’t think it’s right.” The rest of the car ride was silent, and when we arrived at our destination and got out of the car, one of my friends apologized if they upset me and assured me that they were just joking around. You know, “boys being boys”, “locker room talk”, that sort of “harmless” endeavor.

The problem, however, is that while such silly boy games appear to be harmless on the surface, they are quite disturbing and destructive on a more subconscious level. The fact that the “Marry one, Fuck one, Kill one” game was so readily accepted and enjoyed by those three male friends should be an alarming red flag – a microcosm of the male-dominated societal construct we so proudly salute with National Anthems and Pledges of Allegiance. God forbid a non-white male takes a knee during our song and dance to ironically (and of course, metaphorically) stand up to the injustices happening around us. But I digress, this blog isn’t about Colin Kaepernick or law enforcement profiling. It’s about gender discrimination.

According to dictionary.com, ‘discrimination’ is defined as: ‘the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, sex, [or belief].’

On January 21st, there were “Women’s Marches” happening not just across the United States, but all around the world, and they stirred up quite a bit of controversy in the social media sphere around the perception of whether women were actually being discriminated against or not. And while I wasn’t surprised by the large white-male backlash that was out there (they are, after all, the primary perpetrators of female subjugation), I was surprised by the number of women who supported the white-male backlash and claimed that discrimination against females was all but gone – a thing of the past, and were quick to label the women partaking in these marches as “angry, radical feminists” who were just “looking for an excuse to bash males”.

Unfortunately, as is the case with any movement or protest, there is a small contingent (5-10%) who identify with the radical end of the spectrum, and go to extreme displays or employ hyperbole in speech to get their point across. The media flocks to these individuals because they know it will garner ratings or “click-bait” on the internet, resulting in more ad revenue for their company. In turn, what the media puts out there is in no way accurate to the reality of what is going on, yet many people who read / watch these stories are quick to generalize and condemn those who support the ideas associated with awareness movements such as the “Women’s March”.

But my fascination comes in why any woman would be opposed to an awareness march for the discrimination that exists against their kind. At first, I wondered if it was only white women who argued against it, but that wasn’t the case. Of the first 10 women on my social media feed that I found who vehemently opposed the “Women’s March”, 3 were Hispanic, 1 was African-American, and 6 were White. Age also wasn’t a factor as the age range of these 10 women spanned anywhere from 20 years-old to 67 years-old. I did, however, find two common threads that all 10 women had in common. 1. They all identified themselves as ‘Conservative’ or ‘Republican’ (less important of the factors to me) & 2. They were all either married to or in a serious relationship with a white male who had a steady and secure job allowing the minimum of a middle-class or higher living (the more important factor to me).

It was easier for women who were entrenched in the privileged white-male culture to say they haven’t experienced discrimination in their lives, or that they believed it didn’t exist. One of the 10 women’s husband (ironically) was one of the three friends playing the “Marry one, Fuck one, Kill one” game in my car. But I guarantee every single one of those 10 women has experienced gender-based discrimination recently (if not daily, then at the very least weekly). Another one of the 10 women who claimed that she’s never experienced gender-based discrimination and took an extremely strong stand against women marching on January 21st, so far as to call them “whiny feminist losers”, should probably put a foot in her mouth considering her husband posted this gem on his social media account seeing that Valentine’s Day is approaching:

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Again, the problem here – I believe – is that some women (primarily those entrenched in privileged white-male culture) wouldn’t see this as discrimination (please reference the dictionary.com definition above if you are one of these women). The same as they wouldn’t see a “cat-call” as discrimination, or men playing the “Marry one, Fuck one, Kill one” game as discrimination.

Another funny, and relevant story. I happened to be watching the Super Bowl with one of the 10 women who felt the concept of female-based discrimination in America was ridiculous. There was an ad that touched on the subject which set her off. Here’s a link to the ad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6u10YPk_34

The advertisement wasn’t even over before she starting saying that it was a “crock of crap” and it was “amazing the lies that they (whoever ‘they’ are) would put out there” about women being inferior to men.

I kept my mouth shut (for the most part), but after the Super Bowl was over, we were all hanging out in the kitchen and a ‘Would you rather’ question came up. The same woman who was offended by the car commercial promptly said: “Be careful, you don’t want to play this game with [MD], he asked me the hardest question last summer…just terrible.” With a wrinkled brow, I tried to remember, and naturally, someone else asked what the question was. “He asked me, as a girl, would you rather have a perpetual yeast infection for the rest of your life, or gain 60 pounds that you could never lose.” Everybody at the Super Bowl party got a confused look on their face and one of the other women present said: “That’s easy. The 60 pounds.” The woman who didn’t believe female-based discrimination existed in America quickly shot back: “No way! You know how much harder it would be to be fat in our society?” I really should have held my tongue, but I couldn’t help myself. I said: “But yet, you don’t think there’s discrimination against women in America?” She tried to rationalize her answer by saying that the same level of discrimination would exist if a man gained 60 pounds, but everybody in the room disagreed with her.

On the car ride home (I rode with her and her boyfriend to the Super Bowl party), she formally admitted that “discrimination is going to happen no matter where you go or who you are, okay? You just have to accept it. It’s not a big deal.” Word. For. Word. What if that’s what all the slaves said? What if that’s what all of the Jews in Nazi Germany said? What if that’s what Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony said?

But they’re just “cat-calls”, it’s just “boys being boys” playing the “Marry one, Fuck one, Kill one” game, they’re just “funny” Valentine’s memes. They’re “harmless”. “You just have to accept [them]”.

Well, that’s it for Part I of this blog post. In Part II, I will go more in-depth to why gender-based discrimination happens all over the world, and what it would take for discrimination (in general) to go away completely using the studies of scholars, psychologists, and philanthropists. As always, thanks for reading and please, if you ever use me or my beautiful wife in the “Marry one, Fuck one, Kill one” game, don’t tell us about it. 🙂

Don’t Think You’re Narrow-minded? Think Again

Don’t Think You’re Narrow-minded? Think Again

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America isn’t a great place to live in anymore, and you are largely to blame. I’ll explain in more detail, but first, I want you to play a little brain game. The following video is a perception exercise that simply asks you to count how many times a ball is passed between people. It’s not a trick or a gimmick – they aren’t trying to fool you. Just counting. Ready? Go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo

Did you get it right? Yes? Well good, pat yourself on the back. No? Don’t worry, most everybody gets it wrong. Did you see the gorilla walk through the middle of the shot and pound his chest? Oddly, most people miss this as well.

About a month ago, I was at a workshop in Breckinridge, Colorado hosted by Raven Wells that went into brain science and the complex construction of perception within the human mind. As a group, we were all asked to do this same task, and answers varied from 12 passes to 31 passes. The video was played a second time and we didn’t get any closer to a definitive answer. As a matter of fact, most people got the same number the second time, which only went to convincing them they were “right”, when in reality, they were wrong. On top of that, I was personally baffled that the overwhelming majority of people in the room didn’t see the gorilla on the first viewing. So why was everybody getting different answers, and what does this have to do with how you’re messing up America?

Let’s begin with the Reticular Activation System (“RAS”), something that every one of us has. According to wisegeek.org, ‘the most important function of the RAS is its control of consciousness’. Without diving into a full blown science lesson, the RAS is essentially the brain’s filtering system for stimuli occurring in one’s surrounding environment. When we are awake, the brain is constantly processing billions of data bits (99.9% occurring on an unconscious level), yet our conscious mind (or RAS) is only able to accurately process 7 (+/- 2) bits of all said stimulus (billions) at any given moment (e.g. fantastic “multi-taskers” would be up in the 7, 8, 9 range, whereas if you struggle with multi-tasking, you would probably be in the 3, 4, or 5 range). Now the kicker here, comes in the proven fact that our mind tends to focus on aspects or stimuli that we are individually interested in. An example: when you buy a new car, you start spotting that type of car of the road much more, creating the perception that there are more people driving that car around than you thought before purchasing your vehicle, when in reality, the number is the same, it’s just that your RAS is more attuned to that bit of stimulus because of the important event that occurred in your life.

With that in mind, there’s one other aspect to understand in the equation of how we are all making America a worse place to live: Neuroplasticity, a term that describes lasting change to the brain throughout an individual’s life. Now there’s a myth out there that once we reach adulthood, our brain stops changing and that fundamentally, we are who we are – that while an individual might make small lasting changes in their life, that the foundation of who they really are (their “true colors” if you will) will always remain the same. Simply put, this is false. Neuroscientists have discovered that adults’ brains have the same capability of growing new neurons and connections as younger brains. However, neuroscientists have also discovered that when someone gets “comfortable” with the way they know how to do something, with the way they see the world in relation to themselves, with their own behaviors and routines, their neurons stop growing and regression in dendrite connections actually begins to occur. Here’s an illustration:

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These are 4 pictures of dendrites and how they might connect in the human brain. On the far left, we see an individual’s brain (Person A) whose dendrites are not making many connections to each other, nor the world around them. Person A likely lives a very rigid lifestyle with close-minded beliefs and predictable behaviors to situations – a very “black and white” thinker who chooses to “block out” or simply label as “wrong” the information that goes against their beliefs and perception of the world. On the far right, we see an individual’s brain (Person B) whose dendrites display growth and healthy connection with one another and suggest an adept awareness of the world around. Person B likely sees the value of multiple perspectives and questions information with an objective point of view. They are likely to use abstract thinking in situations and in the processing of information.

An example of Person A would be my mother. She and my father divorced twenty-seven years ago and to this day, she believes he has connections to the CIA and no matter what she tries to do with her life, he will find a way to ruin it. He “steals” any money she could make, thus it is useless to work a job. He doesn’t allow her to find a place to live, he’s turned her own family against her, and she threatens her own children’s lives because that would be “the only way to get back at him”. In reality, she never paid her student loans, so the state garnishes wages if she gets a job, and she is in great need of mental health support. Her neuroplasticity is radically stunted, and her RAS interprets the world in a warped way which doesn’t at all resemble the actual reality of what is and has happened around her.

That last sentence is the important one though: ‘Her neuroplasticity is radically stunted, and her RAS interprets the world in a warped way which doesn’t at all resemble the actual reality of what is and has happened around her.’ Unfortunately in America, our culture thrives on “black and white” thinking and we are conditioned by it from such a young age via social media, cartoons, television shows, movies, music, etc. You either believe in God or you don’t. Do you like Pepsi or Coke? Are you a Republican (conservative) or a Democrat (liberal)? This is “right” and that is “wrong”. Are you a cat person or a dog person? And on and on. We live in a culture where the norm is to build stereotypes and pass judgement on others in quick fashion – a learned behavior that badly limits our neuroplasticity and forces our RAS’ to focus only on the aspects in our surrounding environments that go to reinforce our badly retarded and narrow dendrites.

The bottom line: American culture is an assembly line that churns out Person A after Person A. Narrow-minded, simplistic “black and white” thinkers that accept “learned helplessness” for their problems. And this is deliberately designed by the ruling elite. It’s not a new concept; as a matter-of-fact, it’s been happening since the beginnings of organized civilization anywhere in the world. Those with “wealth” create the fundamental building blocks of society (e.g. the “rules” by which those without “wealth” must abide by in order to get a share). Person A typically thrives under such a model as they don’t question the system, or they don’t believe they could change the system even if they desired to, or worse yet, Person A believes the system to be “good” and beneficial to them. The brass tacks of this is the idea that Person A is self-centered or more driven by their unconscious “animal instinct” (as Joseph Campbell would put it) for survival, and because of this, there’s a definite pack mentality. Moral code or acting for the “greater good” become meaningless endeavors in one’s quest to simply exist and survive. Person B, on the other hand, is the one who challenges the pack leader and is quickly ostracized. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are very few Person B’s in comparison to Person A’s in American society.

But I want to get back to Raven Wells and the video exercise on perception that he had us perform. Raven’s point in all of this – the RAS, neuroplasticity, and stunting of dendrites – boils down to one simple concept: a narrative. Because in reality, we aren’t as “black and white” as Person A and Person B stereotypes. We have aspects of both in us, but what drives each of our lives is the narrative we want to have. Raven said “the more energy and attention we give to a narrative, story, expectation, belief, etc. – the more it grows, and the more it becomes reinforced within ourselves.” Yes, because of the culture we live in and are conditioned in, we tend to be shaped more in the shadow of polarity and the belief that we need to have polarity in order to feel a sense of self. Instead of questioning the world around us and finding value in all perspectives, Americans tend to only find value in perspectives that align with their own dichotomous beliefs.

Hence the counting video that Raven had everyone perform. You believe it was X number of passes, so when you watch it a second time, you are wanting it to be X number of passes. You didn’t see the gorilla walk through the middle of the shot? Your first thought would be: “No, there wasn’t a gorilla. You’re pulling my chain.” You didn’t see the gorilla because the gorilla wasn’t important to the task you were being asked to perform. Americans don’t generally acknowledge the value in different beliefs or perspectives because it does nothing to validate their own narrow-minded beliefs. Remember, the RAS can only give attention to 7 (+/-) 2 points of stimulus at a time. And this doesn’t just happen on a small moment-to-moment scale. The attention your mind pays to the world around you does the same thing. People tend to only see the world through specific “lenses” (e.g. RAS), and it doesn’t matter what information others may bring forth that challenge those “lenses”. To my mother, my father will always have ties to the CIA and he will always get her fired from her jobs and steal her paychecks, because that is the belief (or narrative) she has built her world around.

There’s no greater evidence of this happening than the Presidential Election that just happened a couple of weeks ago. There’s a large group of people who identify themselves as Republicans and a large group of people who identify themselves as Democrats. And regardless of what denigrating facts emerge about their candidate, they are quick to focus on the other side and what the opposing candidate did that was so despicable instead of acknowledge information that would go against their candidate that somehow, strangely, represents their own identity. And people got really mean about it – treating complete strangers in ways that no moral human being should. And the irony about the whole situation is that neither candidate, in reality, gives two poops about those very people tearing each other to shreds (through words and sometimes, actions). But because the majority of people buy into this societal polarization as a part of their own identity, our culture continues to be a self-absorbing, non-progressive machine, where the elites are elite, and the non-elites are not. Culturally, we need to shift the way perception is taught, but that will remain an impossibility as long as the majority of Americans continue to consciously and unconsciously embrace polarity as a means of building individual identity.

As individuals, we need to shift the way we think about and construct our own narratives for the sake of the larger collective narrative of America which has taken a dastardly turn.

Why You Aren’t Happy

Why You Aren’t Happy

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The autumn leaves – the same green to yellow to gold to gone.

My good friend Adam and I were woolgathering via text over the past weekend, and as his words (featured above) often do, he pricked my mind into accepting the fact that October is in full swing – one of my favorite months of the year: where the dry summer heat gives way to the crisp breezes that sanction swirls of leaves in their wake and whisper their reminder that Old Man Winter is on his way.

It’s one of the most fascinating proceedings we have in the world – the annual microcosm of life itself; the cycle of birth, growth, and eventual death in the world around us, yet…scarcely few in American culture take the time to really witness it and bask in the wonderment that it offers. Our way of life provides endless distraction from the threads of time that seem to be woven too quickly in hindsight. It’s a “snap-snap” society where one task is constantly piled onto the previous and our ability to meet insurmountable expectations frequently falls short. There’s always someone who is disappointed, someone who is hurt, someone who passes negative judgement upon the things we say or do – seemingly, we’ve created a culture where nothing is ever good enough.

If you look up the word ‘bliss’, you’ll find its meaning along the lines of this: supreme happiness, or utter joy and contentment.

Isn’t this what we ought to be focused on instead of the mad as a March hare routines that we put ourselves in? But I want to be clear here: American culture gives us “bliss”, right? It gives us American Idol, silver screen cathedrals, NFL football, Gilmore Girls, phone games, colorful advertisements, alcohol – oh the alcohol, casinos, Minecraft, Disneyland, lottery tickets, strip clubs, concerts, and drugs. American culture is fun! We’ve got the “bliss” thing covered – to hell with the fact that we’re the most mentally unstable country on the planet. If you’re not experiencing “bliss” in America, something’s obviously wrong with you, not the system. Here…take this pill and you’ll be happy again.

True to American form, however, none of it is ever good enough. But why?

Author and educator Joseph Campbell once said this about happiness: “Follow your bliss. If you do this, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss.”

What’s problematic about this concept of “bliss” and American culture though, is the fact that we believe the distractions we depend on everyday as coping mechanisms to the stress of insurmountable expectations in other arenas of our lives will bring us happiness. And temporarily, they might. But as soon as the last season of your favorite TV show is over, or you run out of money at the craps table, or the final song at the concert you attended is finished, there’s usually the sinking feeling of knowing that you must “get back to reality”. It’s an insatiable void that most experience and no distraction can permanently fill (though some try with substance abuse). And as is the unfortunate product of such a vicious cycle, we gain “learned helplessness” (google ‘Pavlov’s dog’ if you are unfamiliar with this concept) about our situation – we just accept the idea that this is just how life is and there’s nothing we can do to change it. ‘But hey! Fast and the Furious 19 comes out next weekend, and I can’t wait to see it!’ American culture has become a process of biding our time between distractions, and before one knows it, they find themselves saying: “where did all the time go?”

Before long, your life has gone from green to yellow to gold to gone – just like the seasons, and while you’ve had moments that have brought some happiness, you still have that insatiable void – you’re still missing your “bliss”, and that brings regret. ‘What could I have done differently?’ ‘Why didn’t I realize that was a waste of time before?’

So what does bring us long-term and lasting “bliss” if distractions like movies, alcohol, drugs, theme parks, and money can’t?

The answer is everywhere around us, every day – 7.4 billion options out there. Campbell’s quote from earlier highlights the idea that when you are true to yourself, ‘you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss.’ People may be at the heart of happiness, the foundation (or potential) for which everything else grows from, but love (in its various forms) is the secret ingredient that brings happiness to life via the relationships we build.

Unfortunately in American culture, we aren’t raised nor conditioned nor taught the value of building love-based relationships (with family, with friends, with acquaintances, with co-workers, and yes, with strangers who we may only have one interaction with in our whole lifetime). Instead, we are raised and conditioned and taught to value wealth, status, and physical appearance. We then idealize the love-based relationships we see in movies and TV shows, wishing we could have grown up in a Full House or Brady Bunch-like atmosphere, wishing we could be a real life Harry or Sally or Romeo or Juliet. But what’s funny about the whole thing, is that when you follow your bliss and you have compassion in your heart, real life love is so much better than what we see in the popular culture around us. When you allow yourself to love others – even those who hurt us, take advantage of us, even those whose hearts are filled with hate and that’s all they seem to offer the world – you’ll find happiness, and you’ll live in bliss.

There’s actually a pretty cool piece written by Mary Jo Kreitzer from the University of Minnesota that talks about the science behind relationships and health. Click here to read it, but essentially, those who don’t build strong love-based relationships in life die much earlier and are subject to more devastating health hazards (such as cancer, depression, & heart attacks). I guess that shouldn’t be surprising in a culture like America where a lot of money can be made off of people who have mental and physical health issues.

The underlying problem in all of this, of course, is the realization that the overwhelming majority of Americans were never taught how to love others in genuine fashion. We were never taught the value of strong love-based relationships. And because of this, there are a lot of people who have lost touch – who don’t acknowledge, let alone reflect on the miracle that life is. So please, before the snow falls this winter and all the leaves are dead and gone, find ten or twenty minutes to just step outside and feel the sunshine on your skin. Watch the wind tickle the tops of the quickly dying grass. Take a deep breath of the October air and feel the crispness in your lungs. Think about how wonderful the miracle of life is, and think about how you could better embrace the idea of love in all of the relationships in your life. Think about the concept of “bliss” and what distractions you need to get away from to experience it for yourself.

Don’t continue along the same path of green to yellow to gold to gone. Have a great rest of October folks.

Why America Isn’t Great

Why America Isn’t Great

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Red, white, and blue. The first thing that comes to mind is America, right? Ever since we were born, a variety of associations have been consciously and unconsciously wired into our brains about the culture we live in. In America, it’s important to be a “patriot”. We’re supposed to take pride in the arbitrary grouping we’ve been born into on a global level. What it means to be “right” and “wrong” is already defined for us and expected of us. In America, it’s important to believe in a slippery concept like “freedom”, even to the point where you would die for it.

Fifteen years ago, I clumsily rolled out of bed to get ready for freshman college classes. As I stumbled into the living room, I found my roommate awake and watching TV. Strange because we had stayed up the previous day playing Tecmo Bowl until the dead hours of night, and he was the kind of person who wouldn’t miss sleeping in for anything…well, almost anything.

Puzzled, I watched the TV for a few seconds and saw colorful explosions and people screaming, crying, and running through clouds of dust and debris.

“What movie are you watching?” I asked.

“Look at the bottom of the screen.” He replied.

Across the bottom, there was a scrolling ticker going, showing sports scores from the previous day: SEA 5 ANA 1 WP – F. Garcia (16-5) LP – I. Valdez (9-10) / CHW 7 CLE 1 WP – D. Wright (4-2) LP – B. Colon (12-11) / BREAKING NEWS World Trade Center Disaster / Commercial airliner American Airlines Flight 11 crashes into North Tower in south Manhattan…

I recently asked the world of social media to help me answer a seemingly simple question: Name a truly great American (from any point in time) and what is it that made them so great?

I received a wide variety of responses both publicly and privately. For the private responses, I’ll leave the names anonymous. Here’s a sampling of what I got:

MIKAH: I feel like Chris Kyle was a pretty good American. I mean, anyone defending our country could be considered great. Chris Kyle seemed pretty selfless though. Which is actually a rare trait nowadays.

JOSH: Well, a common person I like to look up to was Abraham Lincoln. He was a revolutionary leader as president and in the civil war, and the way he stood up for black lives when half of the country was against it was purely inspiring.

DALTON: Pat Tillman. Safety for the Arizona Cardinals that gave up the paycheck and died while deployed after 9/11.

TYLER: John Steinbeck or Robert Frost; both used the power of literature to start cultural movements and help people change the paths of their lives for the better.

ANONYMOUS: I would say that a truly great American is Michael P. Murphy, he was a U.S. Navy SEAL, and he was one of the four main operators in the Movie Lone Survivor, sadly unlike Marcus Luttrell, Michael Murphy lost his life, he won the Medal Of Honor Posthumously, as he was the one who sent out a coms message to a nearby base in Afghanistan, Michael Murphy is the reason that his brother and fellow Frogman Marcus Lattrell survived and was able to tell the heart wrenching story that was operation Red Wings.

ISAIAH: Theodore Roosevelt, a full on American at heart, from a ripe age of 4, he struggled with asthma, but pushed himself to beat it, constantly in the gym, a boxing ring, or hunting on wild safaris, he was also a charismatic person, who knew how to talk to people, and lived by his own words, “Speak softly and carry a big stick”, meaning to be polite, but get hard if you have to. He fought for wildlife preservation, and started the international necessity for national parks, something that is still enjoyed and celebrated every day.

BRIAN: Jackie Robinson – First African American man in the major leagues. Jackie wasn’t the best Negro baseball player at the time but his character made him the perfect man to break the color barrier.

PATRICK: You always know I’m going to bring up Frederick Douglass. Born a slave, realized how important education was by the lengths people went to limit its access, constantly asked this country to live up to the ideals espoused in the Constitution, Ambassador to Haiti. Check out his “What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July?” speech in light of the Kaepernick controversy…

There were many more responses, but in all honesty, it didn’t really matter whose name it was that people listed, the common denominator in the overwhelming majority was the reason. Whether it was eliminating terrorism, or building national parks, or breaking a color barrier, all of these “great” Americans had one thing in common: they were fighting for something. Perhaps that’s what really creates the “American DNA”; perhaps that’s exactly what we are as a culture – fighters. And it’s from this subconscious composition that we create the concept of “patriotism” by which everyone in the country is judged. It’s a belief system, really – what it means to be an “American”. It’s got its own set of expectations and attitudes. It’s egocentric (a great deal of responses I got on social media stated how they, as the poster, were a truly great American), idealistic, mostly ignorant, and obtusely stubborn. In some ways, these traits are advantageous and have the potential to bring a great deal of happiness, while in other ways, they are the very characteristics that are creating some of the world’s biggest problems.

As many of you probably know by now, one of the headlines in the news this month has to do with the idea of standing or kneeling during the national anthem. As Patrick alluded to above, quarterback Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers has brought this to the forefront by boycotting the national anthem by kneeling due to his belief that African Americans are oppressed by law enforcement across the country and a variety of social injustices go unnoticed because of the ethnicity of the subjects involved. He has been met with the “American DNA” full-force. The majority of White citizens in this country have been quick to judge his “patriotism” and have interpreted his actions as offensive and ungrateful to anybody who has served for the military and fought or died for the “freedom” we – in theory – all enjoy. It’s the same kind of “if you don’t like America, then get the hell out” type of sentiment that makes America the oppressive, ignorant, and obtusely stubborn place that it in fact is. To the majority of African American citizens in this country, they haven’t clamored to Kaepernick’s cause not because they don’t see the value in his perspective, but because the platform and way in which he is trying to go about it is being grossly misinterpreted as somehow meaning he has no pride in America or the military or the sacrifices that many have made for this nation.

Now I’m not trying to defend Kaepernick’s boycott of the national anthem – it has its own inconsistencies and questionable motives, but I do recognize that the “conversation” which has resulted has nothing to do with the original intent of the boycott. It has nothing to do with American pride, or the military, or the people who have displayed tremendous “American DNA” in the past or present. It has to do with the fact that great social injustices do exist in this country and we – as citizens who say they care about America – should be concerned with what our country has become in comparison to the rest of the world. As much as our “American DNA” (as fortified by the propaganda the media uses) wants us to believe that we are the best nation on this planet, we are not. We aren’t even close. Educationally (way behind the curve and it’s been drastically trending downwards since 2002), economically (we are in recession and the rich-poor gap is ever-increasing), environmentally (we are the #1 contributors to global warming and it’s our beef industry that is doing this), medically (I’m not alluding to healthcare here; I’m alluding to the fact that 9.1/10 American citizens could be diagnosed with a mental disorder – yes, depression is the majority of that number, when the next highest nation on the planet is 3.6/10 citizens in England), and politically (scandals all over the place). It’s all about perspective, and unfortunately, the American people aren’t in touch globally with where we are at in comparison to the rest of the planet. Are there far worse nations out there? Of course! But are we #1 in anything besides military spending? *crickets*

Patrick also alluded to Frederick Douglass’ speech “What, to the slave, is the Fourth of July” that was published on July 5th, 1852. Of course, slavery was not yet abolished in 1852, so he was speaking about the oppression of African Americans in a much different light than what Colin Kaepernick thinks he is speaking to, but in one part of the speech, Douglass says: ‘Fellow-citizens! I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretense, and your Christianity as a lie. It destroys your moral power abroad; it corrupts your politicians at home. It saps the foundation of religion; it makes your name a hissing, and a bye-word to a mocking earth. It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your Union. It fetters your progress; it is the enemy of improvement, the deadly foe of education; it fosters pride; it breeds insolence; it promotes vice; it shelters crime; it is a curse to the earth that supports it; and yet, you cling to it, as if it were the sheet anchor of all your hopes. Oh! Be warned! Be warned! A horrible reptile is coiled up in your nation’s bosom; the venomous creature is nursing at the tender breast of your youthful republic.’ Thirteen years after this speech was published, slavery in the United States was officially abolished, but really…was it?

If I was to list the first “great” American that comes to my mind, I would say Franklin D. Roosevelt (“FDR”) because of his clairvoyance and ability to transcend the ignorance, stubbornness, and egotism at the heart of American society. He was elected President at what I believe will be looked back on in history books as the most pivotal point in American history – when our country was entering its first Great Depression and the rise of the corporation. To help get America back on its feet, FDR knew he had to empower big business to stimulate the economy, but he also knew that once the economy was reinvigorated, the government would need to pass regulations and anti-trust / anti-monopoly laws that took this power back and allowed for small scale competition to exist once again. If you’ve not ever read FDR’s “Message to Congress on Curbing Monopolies” that he wrote on April 29, 1938 in full, you really ought to at some point to understand why America has become the way it is now. But here are some of the highlights that set up my point related to slavery from FDR’s message: ‘The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is Fascism—ownership of Government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power…among us today a concentration of private power [the corporation] without equal in history is growing…we believe in a way of living in which political democracy and free private enterprise for profit should serve and protect each other – to ensure a maximum of human liberty not for a few but for all…private enterprise is ceasing to be free enterprise and is becoming a cluster of private collectivisms: masking itself as a system of free enterprise, it is in fact becoming a concealed cartel system…industrial efficiency does not have to mean industrial empire building, and industrial empire building, unfortunately, has evolved into banker control of industry…when prices are privately managed at levels above those which would be determined by free competition, everybody pays, even the government itself is unable to obtain competitive bids…even the most monopolistic business man disapproves of all monopolies but his own. We may smile at this as being just an example of human nature, but we cannot laugh away the fact that the combined effect of the monopolistic controls which each business group imposes for its own benefit, inevitably destroys the buying power of the nation as a whole…no people, least of all a people with our traditions of personal liberty, will endure the slow erosion of opportunity for the common man, the oppressive sense of helplessness under the domination of a few, which are overshadowing our whole economic life.” The problem, however, is that FDR passed away before he could officially put anti-trust / anti-monopoly laws to ballot and take the power back from big business. Without wasting a moment, the budding corporate world took over Washington D.C., buying out politicians, congressmen, and members of the Senate with promises of long-term financial prosperity for them and their families for generations to come. In a way, slavery of African Americans might have ended, but without anybody questioning it, we all became very real slaves to the dollar, and that continues to this day. And as anybody will agree, great social injustices begin to crop up wherever slavery is involved.

But it’s not all gloom and doom. I opened this piece with a look back at where I was and what I was doing the morning of September 11th, 2001. A part of our “American DNA” is the expectation that in the face of catastrophe, we set aside our individual greed and egotism and serve our otherwise unknown brothers and sisters who suffer around us. I would argue that is what makes us “great”. The first responders to the World Trade Center disaster all those years ago exemplified this. In the end, “great” Americans fight for each other, but unfortunately, it’s usually reactionary to a situation that results from our collective ignorance as a people. From a certain perspective, Colin Kaepernick is 100% right that there are tremendous social injustices happening every single day that we all turn a blind eye towards and do nothing about (and a lot of people – definitely more than just African Americans via police brutality – are suffering because of it). But if Kaepernick is going to take a stand against social injustice in America, he probably should have had the foresight to know that Americans (defined primarily by our ignorance, egotism, and stubbornness) were going to misinterpret his intentions and meaning as something completely different than what they were. He chose the wrong platform, and it went in a grossly wild direction. By not standing for the national anthem, the masses take that to mean that he is not proud to be an American, even if it’s his truly great “American DNA” that is motivating him.

As it usually does, all of it comes down to a matter of perspective, and ever since the days where big business was empowered and the media was created as a propaganda tool, very few Americans take the time to think about the concept of perspective and what influences shape their perspective both locally and globally, and how their beliefs and actions effect those around them. To be honest, why does anybody even care who stands or kneels or sits or prays during the national anthem? Just do what Americans do best – ignore it. Just because you believe in it doesn’t give you the right to judge others by it. But I digress – I don’t want to get soap-boxy. To close this blog post, a co-worker of mine shared this clip from “South Park” with me that I thought captured this whole Colin Kaepernick, the national anthem, and perspective rather well. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa8BNKzY0b0

 

Where American Education Fails

Where American Education Fails

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August brings children of every age back to dusty classrooms and overcrowded hallways. It’s that time every year when skeletons are brought back out of storage and Harper Lee gets ready to sing her rather dull and antiquated Mockingbird song once again. Bus engines are checked and parents clamor to their local Walmarts and dollar stores for notebooks, pens and pencils, rulers, folders, and a variety of other now obsolete “essentials” that their kids will never use. It’s back to school time, and the state of education in America is at an all-time low.

Sure, high school graduation rates are at an all-time high, but college drop-out rates are also soaring. High school “success” isn’t translating into more college degrees. So what IS happening in our public education system? We’re graduating more kids, but they are less “college-ready” than ever. It’s easy (and lazy) to blame the modern college drop-out rate on preposterous tuition rates (they ARE stupidly high; most Americans are appalled when they find out the United States is one of the only places on the planet where you have to pay to go to college), but that’s not the REAL (or should I say PRIMARY) reason there are so many college drop-outs these days, that’s just a socially acceptable excuse to mask the fact that today’s graduating high school seniors are much “dumber” than generations past. And it’s not their fault. Let me explain…

I was a teacher in public education for close to seven years (from 2010-16), and some of the conversations and decisions regarding curriculum and learning targets behind closed doors was downright disgusting. When I was at Berthoud High School (2012-13), we had a department meeting where we looked at literacy rate data for graduating seniors in the district for the previous five years. Put plainly, in the Spring of 2012, high school seniors in that district were graduating with a proficiency in literacy (reading / writing) equal to 7th graders from 2007. In other words, over the course of those five years, literacy rates within the district were drastically falling.

So we were the professionals – the teachers with the data. What do you expect we would do with this information? What questions should we be asking? Perhaps something along the lines of: How can we turn this trend around? Maybe you would expect teachers to develop lesson plans geared towards the development of a skill like critical thinking that doesn’t only apply to one classroom. Maybe you would expect teachers to create alternative assessments that allow (and encourage) students to think abstractly in their problem-solving. Sadly, such expectations are far from reality.

As my fellow educators and department members began discussing what this data meant, and what we could or should do about it, my department leader’s favorite slogan was: “It is what it is”, and she made it abundantly clear that the reality of the situation was that our jobs were to prepare kids for the big standardized test in the Spring. Period. It wasn’t about getting them “college-ready”, or even “life-ready”. We proceeded to take the past versions of the standardized test and pull out common concepts across the years (e.g. metaphor, personification, five-paragraph essay, etc.) to guide instruction. Because in the end – in the BIG picture – better standardized test scores meant more district funding from the government the following school year (which consequently means each individual school gets more money), whereas lower standardized test scores meant less district funding from the government (resulting in decreasing budgets in each individual school, which equals less staff, more students per teacher, less extracurricular programs, and all sorts of other compounding problems). It’s backwards, I know. But as my department leader at BHS would say: It is what it is.

Of course, teachers are the ones who get the axe first when school budgets are decreased, meaning it’s in their best interest that students score well on standardized tests. With this in plain sight, it becomes pretty clear what teachers need to do in order to not lose their jobs: TEACH TO THE TEST (as a side note, every teacher in BHS’ district has a ‘Performance Rating’ every year; 40% of this ‘Performance Rating’ is directly tied to the average standardized test score for students across the district. There are 4 categories an educator can fall into on their ‘Performance Rating’: Exemplary 90%+, Proficient 80-90%, Partially Proficient 50-79%, and Developing 0-49%. A ridiculous 40% of that 100% rating is determined by standardized test scores. If you are ‘Partially Proficient’ or lower two years in a row, you are put into professional development classes to “correct” what you are doing wrong, as well as those who have earned tenure, lose it). The problem with this model is pretty evident: the majority of students don’t care about how they perform on standardized tests. They realize it doesn’t affect them in any way, shape, or form, and schools can’t do anything to incentivize (positively or negatively) their student population.

I write all of this because the function of the teacher has changed, and it’s troublesome to the future of education in this country. The modern teacher’s job has become unfathomably prescriptive. Dropping standardized test scores obviously means teachers suck at doing their jobs, right? The solution by folks in positions of power who have never stepped foot into a public education classroom? Create a canned curriculum, with preset concepts (like metaphor, personification, five-paragraph essay, etc.) geared towards “success” on standardized tests, and cookie-cutter rules disseminated and enforced by administration in every classroom. Teachers are being neutered and creativity in lesson-planning and relationship building is being destroyed.

Famous author Jiddu Krishnamurti was a teacher for several years before becoming disenfranchised about the direction education was headed and chose to follow a path of writing philosophically instead. In one of his writings, he asks the question: “what is the true function of an educator? What is education? Why are we educated? Are we educated at all? Because you pass a few examinations, have a job, competing, struggling, brutalizing ambition, is that education? What is an educator? Is he one who prepares the student for a job, merely for a job, for technical achievement in order to earn a livelihood? That is all we know at present. There are vast schools, universities where you prepare the youth, boy or girl, to have a job, to have technical knowledge so that he or she can have a livelihood. Is that alone the function of a true educator? There must be something more than that, because it is too mechanical. So you say that the educator must be an example. You agree with that?”

The educator must be an example for young people. In modern times, the educator cannot do this without becoming a polarizing figure to their peers and their administration. In the 2014-15 school year, my principal called me into her office and reprimanded me because “students like you too much, and that’s not normal.” A former student thought of me when they received a buy one get one free Subway sandwich near my new school and didn’t want it to go to waste. We talked over lunch hour in my classroom and he left. The reprimand happened that afternoon. My principal continued to tell me: “if you don’t cease and desist in your efforts to build relationships with students, I will find reasons to remove you from the classroom.” She made life miserable for me over the course of the last few months, and when students found out (from a different staff member) that I was being non-renewed at the end of the school year, they took it upon themselves to email school board members and the superintendent to reverse her decision because of the positive effects I had on their lives. When I found out about it, I told students to stop, and that it would only go to hurt my cause. Of course, that same day, the principal had me in her office and told me to “shut up”, that she “doesn’t want to hear a word [I] have to say”, and that she knew “[I] was behind all of it”. She then told me in pointblank fashion: “I don’t care what it takes, or if I have to pay for it myself, I’m going to get you out of my school.” The following school day, she had the head of Human Resources in her office and I was summoned. She had a copy of one of my books in front of her that she had confiscated from a student. The student had bought the book via Barnes&Noble, but she believed I was running a “self-promoting scam” through the school (and yes, I do have all of this recorded). Human Resources told me there would be an investigation and that I wasn’t allowed on school grounds or school events until the conclusion of the investigation. Surely it wouldn’t take but a quick check into the student’s bank statement to show the purchase at B&N, right? The student was fully willing to prove that she bought it outside of school, but as one of the Chief Human Resource Officers later told me, “she wants to make sure the investigation lasts the rest of the school year.” Of course, a month later, Human Resources found that everything was legitimate and said I did nothing wrong, and that if it’s any consolation, she paid for the substitutes and my paid time off out of her own pocket. What broke my heart was that I knew students were getting no educational value out of the substitutes they had, and it was 100% time wasted at the cost of our country’s future.

One may ask why she didn’t like me in the first place, and sadly, I found out that it came back to other teachers. They were complaining behind my back that I was making them look bad. I had an alternative way of teaching students, of going beyond the canned content the district gave us and challenging each individual student to relate to concepts and ideas on a personal level – on a level beyond memorizing and “banking method” education (deposit and withdraw theory). I got to know students personally and I cared about them – genuinely. And they reciprocated that. They performed better in my classes, and they looked forward to my class every day. I had students who ditched every other class except mine, that only turned in work in my class and no other because they cared and they saw the relevancy in what they were learning. But the downside was that it made me stick out like a sore thumb, it ultimately cast administration’s gaze on my way of teaching, and they hated it. They want sit-down, shut up, and do your worksheets and take your notes teachers. This new wave of “Next Gen Learning” that is now catching fire in many states (Colorado must have it fully implemented across the board by Fall of 2017) is just that. Canned curriculum, worksheets, and a lot of worthless information that does the next generation of students no good in the BIG picture. They may graduate knowing what a metaphor is and what Pythagorean Theorem is, but they won’t be able to balance a bank account or use abstract thinking to solve problems. They are becoming less and less “college-ready” at the expense of public education’s desire to make more money via the standardized testing infrastructure which is employed.

As far as the soaring high school graduation rates go, even when students fail, administrators are desperate to “push them through” and pass them, because the higher your graduation rate is…you guessed it, the higher a stipend your school receives for the upcoming school year. I’ve had multiple occasions at multiple schools where the principal or assistant principal has told me that if I didn’t change a student’s ‘F’ to a ‘C’, that they would overwrite it themselves before grades were officially due. I told them to go ahead and do it because I wasn’t going to have that on my conscience. And it happened. A lot. And there are a good number of students who know this, and they take advantage of it. There’s also a population of entitled students who know they can do nothing and have Mommy or Daddy call in and have their ‘F’ changed at the end of each semester because an administrator will do ANYTHING to prevent a parent from complaining to the School Board. Just some insight into some of the PRIMARY reasons why high school graduation rates are soaring and not translating into higher education success.

Overall, the main problem is that public education is no longer about the student. It is about the student’s standardized test scores and the process deemed as best practice to get higher standardized test scores, and if a teacher can’t be a cog in the application of that process, that teacher is eliminated. I’ve found that students work wonders when you show them a shred of care. Ultimately, that’s what we are all seeking in life. We want to be cared about, and in public education, they aren’t cared about enough personally, and they feel it. Educators, administrators, and parents are quick to blame the student when they fail (e.g. “they just don’t care enough” / “they are choosing to fail” / “there’s only so much I can do to motivate them”), when in reality (more cases than not), they were failed by a horrific system the day they set foot in a public school. They’re not stupid (kids are actually quite bright), they’re sad, mad, and upset that they aren’t validated enough as their own unique human being.

The result as this next generation of students is coming out into the world and the workforce: apathy. An “I don’t care because nobody cares about me” attitude that has become easy to label and stereotype as millennial (and don’t get me wrong, I’m not attempting to defend millennials because they drive me crazy too, I’m just shedding some light on one of the reasons WHY they are the way they are). It’s become easy to make fun of millennials, but that’s because nobody in any position of power wants to acknowledge the messed up system that helped shape these millennials – the messed up system that IS public education.

Would You Die For This?

Would You Die For This?

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My stomach turned as I looked between the dirt-crusted wrinkles in my pants and held the barrel of my musket with both hands. It wasn’t quite mid-September yet, and I hoped I would be able to return home soon to enjoy the fresh apples and collards that Elizabeth would surely be harvesting. When I left to march with General Washington, she was several months pregnant, but still had a few to go. I promised I would be back in time to see our firstborn into the world, but that was many weeks ago. Time passed like molasses as we hadn’t but a few skirmishes which were over by the time I turned up, but now we had come flush against a garrison of lobster backs, and it was my first real exposure to battle.

“You’re rigid as a plank John.” A man named Charles who I’d first met in Philadelphia said as he sat in the tall grass next to me. “There’s not much to shootin’ a man, you know.”

“No…” I said. “I don’t know.”

“The first one will haunt’cha fur a bit, but after that, you learn to furget the faces.” He said matter-of-factly. “It’s just point, shoot, reload, and repeat.”

Charles said he marched under Colonel Allen and General Arnold before joining up with Washington’s men, but he seemed to be a bit long in his stories at times. Allegedly, he took the lives of six Regulars by himself in the trenches at Fort Ticonderoga with nothing but a field knife, but I suspected it was maybe two.

“Just forget the faces, huh?” I said out loud and not necessarily for Charles’ good.

“Got to. All these boat-lickin’ Nancy boys have it coming to’em.” Charles wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. “We got our families, and our land, and our way of life to protect. They got all that back overseas and they’re over here muck-flufflin’ in our business…can’t just let us be.”

Charles’ perspective was simple I suppose. It would be easy for me to just focus on Elizabeth and our baby and our farm full of apples and collards, but I couldn’t help but think about those whom I would inevitably point my musket at. Surely they had people who loved them too, and surely they had a place they missed called “home”. They had names and faces and stories that mattered – all of which I would never know…all of which I was being asked to take away if my shot landed its mark. But most of all, I wondered why this had to be. Obviously Charles found the will to fight in the perception that the things he valued most were being threatened – a perspective I suppose anyone could identify with, but beyond our own individual treasures, why am I compelled to feel justified in taking the life of any other man?

“Redcoats!” A shout from around the Quaker house we sat next to rang out, followed shortly by musket fire.

Charles jumped to his feet with excitement. “Looks like they finally crossed Brandywine! It’s time to get yur first lobster back John! Let’s go!”

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Independence Day has become my favorite holiday. And while the backyard barbeque socials and games of washers are always welcome, I’ve grown fond of the 4th of July because of the opportunity it affords every year. For whatever reason, it’s a day more so than others where people are able to set their own personal prejudices and problems aside. Collectively, American culture seems to embrace a mostly harmless and carefree attitude during those twenty-four hours. People are able to just be themselves, and it’s fascinating. I love the 4th of July because I love to study people all day and digest what I’ve seen as I lay at the lakeside under a spectacular firework display.

This year, there were an abundant amount of the really loud booming fireworks that shake your soul – the ones that I love the most, and it reminded me of cannon fire and what war must be like at times. War…without war, I wouldn’t have been watching those fireworks or sitting amongst a throng of drunken, carefree people. Without war, I wouldn’t even exist.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not pandering for guns or glory or the destruction of other cultures and ways of life for the betterment of my own. But it is rather odd, I think, that there were generations of others who gave their lives, in a sense, to protect all of the unborn and unthinkable people to come after them. Though, that’s likely not what those who have died in war were thinking about when they volunteered their lives for “freedom”.

Yet, the whole concept of sacrifice – especially the ultimate sacrifice – has always fascinated me (mainly because it is so often used as a device in stories because people have an unconscious and primordial connection to it), but are we losing touch with what the ultimate sacrifice really means? Have you ever sat down and really thought about what you were willing to die for? And more importantly, why you were willing to die for it (and don’t be lazy in answering such a question; no “because it’s important to me” or “because I love [that person / concept / thing]” answers are allowed…continue to ask why it’s important, why specifically you love that person / concept / thing – continue down the path of why until you discover an answer)? Because if you can’t answer why, then how do you know it’s worth risking your life over?

I was reading a story on CNN the other day about a Hillary Clinton supporter who was beaten to the point of hospitalization while refusing to leave a Donald Trump rally. Apparently, Trump supporters told the person to leave or they would kill him. He didn’t leave and had law enforcement not intervened, perhaps he would’ve died.

To me, there’s a great deal of sadness in such a story from a human perspective, but also a great deal of ignorance. Clearly there are two groups of people: Clinton and Trump supporters. One group is moved enough to act with violence if necessary, and one group is moved enough to risk their livelihood for what they identify with. But why? Odds are, none of the people involved have ever met Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, and it’s guaranteed (based on the rhetoric in every past Presidential election campaign) that neither candidate actually believes what they are saying, nor will the majority of what they “stand for” come to fruition in reality. Neither candidate cares about those who support them, they care about those who line their pockets with money and their future actions only go to return the favor if elected.

So why do people risk their lives, or why do people feel compelled to use violence to “support” these candidates? If you think about it, it comes down to values, and the media does such a great job of personifying figures like Clinton and Trump to fit these values and ideas that aren’t actually true. So really, it’s because these people identify with certain ideas and values so strongly that they are willing to stake everything they have – even their own lives – for them.

But that’s not unlike culture, or religion in general (both of which are the primary shapers of individual worldview mind you). The power of the human mind will always be fascinating to me – how people will go to radical and illogical means (if necessary) to justify and “rationalize” their own often hurtful actions and words. Belief systems are learned from birth and rooted deep within each mind, yet we are given the perception that we actually have agency over what we want to believe and who we want to become as we start to care about such things. And as some grapple with different beliefs and ideals, it’s hard to escape what feels “right”, and what feels “right” is what was conditioned into your brain as a newborn, an infant, and a child. If you grow up around guns and hunting and trucks, the odds that you’ll one day end up as a coffee-sipping philanthropist of Japanese art museums is incredibly slim. Instead, you observe what earns praise as a child (hitting a bullseye when you shoot your gun, killing an animal, etc.), and naturally, you’ll want that praise, so you’ll carry out the behaviors and actions around you that earn it.

In our fictional battle during the American Revolution that began this post, suppose John – better yet, his friend Charles manages to survive, finds a woman, and has children. From the moment his kids are born, Charles is the kind of person who would teach them what it means “to be American” and tell old war stories that made him a “hero”. And if his kids look up to him, they’ll strive to emulate him.

One of the problems in today’s American culture comes with the advancement of the media and how unavoidable it is to keep our young, malleable minds away from it. And it’s a compounding problem. When my father was growing up, very few homes had a television in it. Values and beliefs were hammered into their minds by their parents and institutions such as church and school. In modern times, our youth are bombarded by values and beliefs primarily through media and multi-modal texts. So while the concept of being conditioned to behave in certain ways and believe certain things is the same, the delivery method is quite different. The parents of today have very little (if any) control over what values and beliefs their children are being given in the culture around them. And that’s a scary thought.

We now live in contradictory times, where one of the celebrated concepts in our media is individualism or egotism, yet we cannot function without the help or dependence (in many ways) of others. Are we meant to be confused? Are we meant to constantly be questioning our identities – something the media and corporations promise they can “fix” if we buy their latest products? It’s a dangerous set-up to be sure. Embracing the idea of a super self-centered lifestyle breeds anger, fear, sadness, hate, and ultimately, apathy.

It’s easy for most to hide behind a computer screen on a forum with a fake name, or send a text message that eliminates human connection in order to say terrible things, but in reality, if you had to say the same things to a person face-to-face, would you? Would you fight for it and be willing to die for it? Perhaps that’s what makes someone like Donald Trump appealing to people. It might be hard to agree with what he “stands for” morally, but at least he has the courage to say what he wants to, when he wants to, and however he wants to. Maybe there are a lot more people (or “trolls”) out in the world who wish they had the courage to do the same thing?

Regardless, this isn’t a post about politics. It’s about the loss of the individual human story (ironic considering). Instead of valuing the journey and stories of not only ourselves, but of every other person as well, we let the biased and agenda-laced values and beliefs of the organizations and institutions around us shape who we are to become versus discovering those things for ourselves through an emersion in various cultures who have vastly different value systems. Instead we become polarized, as if concepts like conservatism and liberalism are sports teams that we have to stay loyal to no matter how hurtful they may be to others, or no matter how much we really might not agree with them deep down. It’s group mentality, and we subscribe to certain groups in an attempt to define our own identities. In the end, it’s confusion, and it’s not genuine.

On the 4th of July, people aren’t afraid to show their true colors (for the most part). There’s a sense that they aren’t going to be judged for their actions, words, and behaviors. Independence Day gives them a “free” pass so-to-speak to not have to hide behind a fake persona for the means of self-survival. It’s a day that we – strangely – have because of war…because of our need to band together as a group and believe in similar values and beliefs. We were once a culture that banded together around these ideals, but have now grown far from that. There are so many different groups trying to tell us who we should be nowadays, it’s hard not to think that our great country isn’t fracturing all over the place – something that will leave us broken as a nation if there becomes too much anger and fear and sadness and hate and apathy.

So what is it that you would be willing to die for? And why? Your spouse? Your family? Because you love them? Well where did you learn what love was? Why is love important to you? Who taught you that? What are their values? How were they raised? The rabbit hole goes on and on, but it’s important. Because if you were ever put in John’s situation during the Battle of Brandywine in the American Revolution and you saw the “enemy” (the other), could you pull the trigger knowing they had their own life full of memories and people and stories and love. Could you pull the trigger knowing they had meaning in existing? If I was to finish the story, John wouldn’t be able to do it, and John would die. Animal Instinct (to survive, to provide, to reproduce – this applies to culture as well) will always triumph over Human Intellect (higher reasoning; the ability to seek why) unfortunately. So are you a John, or are you a Charles? Now we’re back to polarized thinking and identity. Funny, isn’t it?