Common Sense and the Economy

It doesn't take a genius to tell you that something is wrong. Some say that America is in a deep economic recession, and to be sure, times are tough. Some argue against these claims, citing their numbers and facts while avoiding reality, somehow clinging to the hope that things aren't as bad as all that. The problem is that it really is as bad as all that. Something is undeniably amiss when a government is indebted to the tune of nearly $10 trillion. And as with any problem, it is necessary to approach this fiasco from multiple angles, to address not only the What, but also utilize some of the other W's, namely the Who, the Why and the When. It is most important of all, however, to understand the HOW (do we fix it).

The Who should be easy to determine, at least in a broad sense: in a word, the answer to this question is the WORLD. America is indebted to countries all over the planet. To name them specifically would be further enlightening, but not necessary for the purposes of my argument. The point is simple: if we're indebted to the rest of the world, that means the rest of the world (and more to a point, the very wealthiest of the world) owns America. That is not a very comfortable thought to my mind, but a fact that must be faced nevertheless.

The Why is much trickier and far less obvious. As such, I don't have much more than personal inferences to back up my own claims. But my opinion is simple. America was founded on certain ideals that are no longer popular in Washington. Our government has been hijacked by people with an opposing world view. There's no other explanation for how we could have deviated so far from our origins -- none that I will ever subscribe to, anyway.

Regardless of Who might ultimately be behind the fiscal mess in which America and, accordingly, the rest of the world, finds itself, it is necessary to understand this dangerous worldview we now find gaining popularity in the modern political arena, this idea that National Sovereignty is unimportant. Much of Renaissance and Enlightenment political philosophy addresses the importance of National Sovereignty, and our own Constitution is built around those revolutionary ideas, as well as the foundational underscore of Freedom for all citizens. The only thing that could possibly drive our leaders to sell their own country, which is exactly what has happened, is a parting of ways from this ideology.

This catastrophic worldview can be seen, readily, throughout the political scene. We no longer focus on fixing our own problems, whether it's economic, educational, military, or social, in nature; instead we've been coerced into believing that we have a duty to fix the rest of the world's problems first. I agree that the whole world must work together in this environment of globalization, but they must do so as independently sovereign states, able to freely speak for themselves.

This mentality saturates our media as well, which is no mistake by my reckoning. Whether advocating reconstruction by force as per the terribly unfortunate current events in Iraq or advocating reconstruction by more outwardly peaceful means, which usually amounts to throwing money at a problem (money we don't actually have, mind you), the media assumes we don't know an alternative to nation-building.

The point is it isn't our responsibility. And even further than that, these people who have come to depend on our government's handouts (read: your and my tax money) are human beings just like the rest of us. To assume that these cultures do not possess the same potential for a free and just society that we had at our nation's founding is both immoral and racially crude, based, in my opinion, on the same style of ludicrous research as early eugenics, which aided Hitler's genocidal thinking, and action. This mentality has the potential to stop civil rights advances in their tracks, something this nation cannot afford.

When you think about it, excessive foreign aid makes a lot of sense, seeing as how America no longer owns itself. Hmm, I think there's another word for not owning oneself... what was it again? Oh, that's right: Slavery. It's past time America broke free of its proverbial shackles and once again owned its own destiny.

Stay tuned for more on this topic, namely the When and the HOW (I need to do more research).

Iran, Just so You Know, I Want to be Friends

I just read an article, and have also been studying up casually, on America's potential war with Iran. Right now, this is an issue of utmost importance and I hope more people will inform themselves about it.

The article is about Tom Loughlin, an ex-lawyer and photographer who hopes to change the American public's perception of Iran with his project entitled "Pictures of You," featuring pictures of Iranian citizens at work and at play. Loughlin plans to showcase his pictures to ultimately avoid further unnecessary, immoral, and dangerous intervention in the Middle East region. Iran has for years been a target in the sights of America's military-political elite, despite having discontinued their nuclear arms research five years ago.

Many Americans don't know how they should feel about foreign countries, like Iran, and understandably so -- they have been led ever onward toward confusion. It is vital to understand that this chaotic state was engineered and also equally vital to understand by whom. No one knows what to think about anything, because we live in, precisely, this culture of confusion. If your mind hasn't been swept away entirely by the latest pop craze from week to week, it is still difficult to make heads or tails of any given situation while being lied to consistenly and systematically. And now the military-political elite, the current powers that be, spread, undeniably, across both "sides" of the political spectrum, Republican and Democrat, or Republicrats, as I prefer them, because they're very near the same thing, are seeking new ways to convince an already disillusioned public that more war would be good.

This article really struck a heart-string for me. It is just such a refreshing notion to step past the prevalent political bipartisanship, obviously destructive to 95% or more of the world's people (read: those not hoarding wealth); past the cliches on how darned suppressed, biased, and controlled the media is, without actually doing anything to change it, merely seeing who can bitch about it the hardest, and allowing it to flourish in the limelight; and emerge into a whole new environment, rife for debate and questioning. It's past time we stepped back and looked at our beloved America, and asked the question: do we want this generation of America to be remembered as global bully or for what America is historically known for and was in fact designed to represent: the closest thing to a perfect society that humans have thought of yet, setting an example for everyone else? I vote the latter.

The Nuge

I haven't written in a few days and I need to catch up on things I've been meaning to write about. Things like going to see the Nuge, the Motor City Madman, the Whackmaster, or whatever other name you might prefer that the outrageous rocker has coined for himself. If there's one thing he is it's cocky. His stage presence was radiant at the Lucas County fairgrounds to celebrate their 25th Annual Rib-off. And who better to celebrate such a momentous occasion? He did indeed celebrate it well, dedicating nearly every song he played, from "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" to "Dog Eat Dog" all the way to "Stranglehold" to what he liked to call "the sacred flesh." Being that he's also one of the most famous hunters in the world, and loves to go out and "kill shit" (his term, not mine), this wasn't unsurprising to me. What I've been wondering is whether this man is a respectable hunter and person or just a sadistic weirdo who's catered his chaotic tendencies to the masses.

Now, well known to most people near me, I think things to death. I often don't let them go even when I know I should. So, I annoyed people with comments like "It was kinda insensitive of him to wear that feather headress out on the stage. And besides that's something to do out in the Dakotas where Indians actually wore headresses, not in Toledo." And I can see why this might annoy some people. It's nitpicky but that's because I am. I often hold people to too high of standards. Call it a flaw if you must, but it's how I work.

He's a sight, standing up there, so proud of what he does, maybe too proud, but praising America and our freedoms in unconventional ways, all while rocking out: that warrants my respect though. And his lyrics can easily be manipulated to entertain folks at a massively large barbecue, because there's not really much depth to them. Dog eat dog, yep, that means we have to prey on one another to get ahead. Wang Dang Sweet Poontang, yep, people like having sex. And he's charismatic enough to realize that and cater to his crowd, cheesy as it may be to sing "Baby's gonna get some ribs tonight!"

His show was entertaining though, to be sure, especially for someone like me, who grew up listening to classic rock, especially Detroit-centered. But what about his beliefs? I know, it doesn't matter, yeah. Well, it does to me. I think about these kinds of things. I didn't like the feather headress, but I know 90+% of his crowd went nuts over it. Then when he declared that his Gibson archtop was "the Great White Buffalo" and vowed to kill it with his bow, the crowd was inconsolable. And I have to admit, watching him light an arrow and bullseye the crossed arrow target on the back of his guitar does get the blood pumping a bit. But other elements of his show, like when he tasked the American Armed Forces with "killing all the assholes for Uncle Ted" or any one of the many times he lauded "killin' shit and grillin' it" as a great American pastime, it kinda made me want to punch him in the head. But that's the general "conservative" concensus, I guess, and he got almost as great of a cheer for that as for his archery stunt. Kill all the assholes out there for Uncle Ted. Say that at a rib-off if you want people to love you.

The Dark Knight (may contain spoilers)

So, The Dark Knight is out and I have seen it! And it was awesomely amazing. Heath Ledger portrayed a stunning Joker as his last role. He was really the highlight. Christian Bale again plays Batman the way he should be played. Maggie Gylenhaal plays a much better Rachel Dawes than whats her face Tom Cruise's gal pal. And there are two bad guys for Batman to fight this time around.

The question I want answered is will there be another? It didn't end on an obvious sequel note, like comic book movies often do, so if I had to guess I'd have to say no just from that. Certainly, Ledger's death put a damper on their plans for the Joker. It just doesn't seem right to end a renewed franchise after the 2nd movie though. But with the end being as it was (don't wanna give too much away!) it's nigh impossible to have a new Batman that follows The Dark Knight. The next installment will probably bring new actors and actresses, a new crew who may or may not know how to portray Batman correctly, as this time around they have done well. It's so refreshing to see a Batman that doesn't have Jim Carrey in it... not that he's altogether bad, but rather that he doesn't belong in a Batman movie.

Enough Politics for Awhile...

As the title suggests, I'm burnt out on politics. I've been reading and researching all sorts of people for one reason or another and it is all bad news. So on a lighter note, I'm going to write a bit about the story I'm writing, mostly for my own purposes, clearing my thoughts, building ideas, and so forth.

So, the main character is the infamous Merkol. Many know of him, few understand him. At the start of the story he is an assassin in the sinister city of Kanebridge. His brother, Pren, along with a friend, Nogan Beardfist, has come back from his travels to retrieve Merkol. He finds his brother deep in webs of deceit, more tangled than Pren would like. Eventually, a rebellious detective named Dwyt Daubers, hired to investigate Merkol's most recent assassination, releases more information than his benefactors (who happen to be the same party who paid Merkol to kill Eldivar, who was a goodly noble of some importance and sway) desired. Removed from the private investigation, Dwyt puts up with the Kanebridge magistrate and gets a warrant for Merkol's arrest, then proceeds to chase him down with the full force of the city's police, something never intended by his first benefactors, who covered the murder up as much as possible.

Now chased by Kanebridge's police, as well as his own original benefactors, Merkol is forced to flee the city alongside Pren and Nogan, and returns to Elendra with them. Meanwhile in Elendra, the self-proclaimed king of all elves (haven't decided on a name yet) continues to conquer and unite communities. He is a very mysterious figure, even to me mostly because he's relatively new to the story. I'm not sure what to do with him... is he a part of the resistance movement that Pren works for? or is he an underground bad-guy aligned with Kanebridge's elite? Hmm, Kanebridge's elite... I'm alienating them and I can't do that. I have to develop them in their evil genius just like any of the hero characters. So that's on the list of things to do.

Anyway, at this point I get stuck. The grand scheme of things isn't entirely there yet. I know I'm combining the idea of the "moon crystals" in, and tacking on that they're a main source of energy and are nearly depleted. They are harvested all over the world, but concentrated in a few regions. But where the plot goes from there I can't say... Things I know must happen are that during the struggle Pren and his wife-to-be, an elf named Coramara Xen'shei, who elopes to be with him, gives birth to their son, and the end of this early saga involves Pren sacrificing himself in some way to end the evil threat (if only temporarily -- it'll return when their son, Xiev, comes of age, as any good evil should). Another problem: I haven't clearly defined the "evil threat" yet. Is it going to be some conspiracy thing? Probably, a little. But it should be some deep, dark evil too, like wizards sacrificing infants to raise legions of demons. Or something.

So as you can see, I'm very far from completion, or even really a true beginning. But I'm working on it, slowly. For now, I'm going to publish this though. Enjoy.

Research on Franklin D. Roosevelt

Argh, I'm sick of everyone telling me how wonderful FDR was, so I aim to set this straight once and for all, because he was not. He pulled the nation together, I've been told, got us out of the Great Depression, and stopped Hitler. He was a hero, a visionary, a great man. All these I've been told, and I wonder if anyone remembers or ever knew the real man behind the propaganda that has made him into what his memory is today.

FDR pulled America together to stop Hitler and end our Great Depression, I've been told. He's given credit for these things, but nations often, in fact are almost required to, "pull together" during war times. It's kind of a given. Coming out of tough economic times, of course people are going to pool resources and work towards a common ground, when a reasonable one is given. And as reasons for going to war go, stopping a man like Hitler from conquering all Europe ranks pretty high on my list. To me the credit isn't FDR's so much as the social circumstances of the time he was President.

I won't get into the steps he took to get us out of the Great Depression, because I don't know enough to speak of it. What I do know seems mostly unremarkable, and a large portion of his policies are glorified more than they ought to be. All in all, if this was the only thing he did during his reign as President, I'd probably give it to people that he was an alright leader. But it's quite the opposite. I guess I'm not so much arguing against him as I am making a case for bringing him back down to the level of all our other so-so or worse Presidents.

I've heard people compare Pearl Harbor to 9/11 before, and it makes sense: they were both focal points of their time. However, much like with 9/11, Pearl Harbor's mysteries still lurk, an uncertainty even to this day. What I do know is that FDR provoked Japan. He developed a plan to discourage other nations from trading with Japan and called for a complete embargo on US trade with Japan. Most of the US Navy was also placed at the open, unprotected site of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to entice Japanese aggression further. In the report outlining the call for these actions, it is said, "If by these means Japan could be led to commit an overt act of war, so much the better. At all events we must be fully prepared to accept the threat of war."

Also, much like 9/11, multiple intelligence reports of warning were received as early as 10 months before the attack. These were ignored or waylayed because FDR wanted Japan to strike first. That way the people would get pissed at Japan and allow him more freedom in his action, and also make him look like the good guy. Even though he had violated every law of war by embargoing Japan and also trading munitions with European countries, and even though he purposely placed our navy in a location vulnerable to Japanese attack, he's remembered as a WWII hero. It's a shame in my opinion.

Finally, not regarding FDR's war actions or economic policies, he was a straight-up, legitimate crook. With his Presidential Executive Order 6102 presented to Congress on April 5th, 1933, he effectively made it illegal to own gold. What once was currency was now claimed to be the scourge of our economy. Supposedly, money with real value ruins economies! And people believed it. The proposed reason for this was to prevent a devaluation of gold, which, by the way, can't happen because gold is a limited resource unlike paper which the Federal Reserve Bank can pump out in whatever quantity they desire to control most facets of the economy. Am I suggesting that the Stock Market Crash of 1929 was orchestrated as a means to steal America's precious gold? Not necessarily, but I will say that it was taken as a result, whatever the motivations.

I might add more later, as I find it, but I hope this little I've presented enlightens some to see that FDR was like most other Presidents: fully willing, capable, and active in serving the rich and wealthy and to manipulate, control, and steal from the poor.

Frustration, Instability, and Longing

Chaos surrounds me. Really, I suppose it surrounds most people, most of the time, and especially now in this tumultuous economy of ours. I just found out I'm laid off "indefinitely," whatever the hell that means. Dealing with the unemployment agency has been a summer picnic, let me tell you (can you see the sarcasm dripping off the letters there?) and now I also need to find something to do to make ends meet while I finish college, monetarily ready or not. There's just no such thing as job security for the non-skilled laborer in today's economy. As such, it's time for me to become skilled and finish my Bachelor's. Maybe I can still register for the classes I need to take? I hope? Who knows, though. What will I even major in, specifically? Just History? What job will I get with that? I need to find out specifically and start building a resume. Secondary Education in Social Studies and put up with brat high school kids til I can get a Master's and move on to the collegiate level? Maybe.

It boils down to longing for the right life. I found it, and I can't wait any longer to get to it. I have a calling, a hero's calling, as Joseph Campbell would say, and that call must be answered. Do I sound somewhat crazy now? Yes, I realize that, and I feel it as well, but that could just be the massive quantity of caffeine in my system (note to self: one cup of coffee is plenty). Also I believe in and respect Joseph Campbell's words and feel thankful and privileged to experience exactly what he said humans experience at key moments of their lives. It's like the perfect mixture of fate, or destiny, intertwining with personal responsibility, capability, and ambition. We'll just have to see where it takes me. I know it'll be somewhere good. Agh, major caffeine headache, must go tend to it. Farewell for now.