Involuntary suicide

I consider any drug overdose as a suicide

Land of the free?

Life liberty 

and the pursuit of happiness

 or property

It's always been a plutocracy

If you pay attention you learn that not all citizens are concerned with the rights of others

They don't want life or liberty or property or happiness for others

People want to be able to do what ever they want to do 

but they want everyone else to be controlled

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Deep Thought

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.
Mother Teresa

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/mothertere107032.html#uOgjyHUVhpX9qS1W.99

Morality

Do not do unto others...

Love your neighbor as yourself 

Love your enemy

An it Harm none do what ye will

Put yourself in the other person's shoes 

Even things that are done in private affect others. Especially your future self. 

Though self is an illusion 

Subjective yet universal 

Because people aren't that different

Consequences are eerily similar throughout time 

Live and learn

The hard way through pain to yourself or others?

The easy way by watching and learning from others

No comprende

It is said that most people don't listen. They just pause and wait for the next time they can speak.

Actually, when people are having a conversation, they are usually just talking to themselves with someone else in the room.
Pay attention one time you get into an argument and find that the topic of your conversation sort of diverged. You'll notice that you and the other person aren't actually talking about the same thing.

Who does this?

Colossians 3
But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Where are the followers of Christ?

Philippians 4
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Deep Thought

Eric Hoffer once wrote:

“A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people’s business.”

The loss of the Rites of Passage

What has this loss done to our society, the world?

How has it tributed to a culture of violence?

Or had the world always been violent and it's a part if our nature we must accept

Word of the Day

Stereotype
noun

Sociology. a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group:

an idea, trait, convention, etc, that has grown stale through fixed usage

stereotypes exist for a reason...
Yes, the reason is people are too lazy to actually get to know other people before they judge them
and it's easier to feel good about yourself by believing stupid bullshit about people you don't even know

Deep Thought

Matthew 5

21 ‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.”
22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell of fire.
23 So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,
24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

Your anger is your responsibility. The way you treat people is your responsibility.
If you hate, if you have disdain, if you look down upon, if you blame,
these are signs that you need to look within

If your actions and thoughts are not led by forgiveness and compassion,
It is you that you are hurting the most.

Deep Thought

I'll tell you what's at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.

Lyndon B Johnson

What he didn't say is that all you have to do to get away with this is to tell the white man that it is the black man in his pocket instead of you

LBJ defines white privilege beautifully

Where is the leader?

Progress does not need a leader.

It needs compassion
It needs coalition
It needs a council
It needs support

It needs freedom

There is no one person to guide all
All must guide ourselves
With the help of others.

Affirmative Action: Too Little Too Late

I'm a proponent of equal opportunity
Current Affirmative action fails because it enables the idea that minorities/women are not good enough to have a job based on merit
Standards are lowered to meet a quota.
What companies actually took time out to recruit the best and brightest minorities/women?

And they hire people with supposedly lower standards and say "I didn't want to, the government made me do it." Bullshit.
"The contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The contractor will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, color, religion, sex or national origin." -Executive Orders 10925 & 11246
The only thing the government ordered them do is stop discriminating.
I propose they didn't hire minorities because they were told, they hired them because they could pay them less. Which is still happening.

Real equal opportunity starts with making sure every child has access to adequate shelter, education, nutrition, health care.

Making sure every child has all they need to strive and excel. Encouraging every child to pursue their interests. Instilling in them the belief that they can achieve anything if they work hard, are tenacious, are not afraid of failure, have some serenity, and have a support system

Example
Military standards. women, lower scores.
Look at high school and college age track athletes. Women's times surpass the male standards in military guidelines
Look at strength. boys and girls are at same level until puberty. Is it that women are unable to push/pull a certain percentage of their own body weight or are they discouraged?

Be aware that I understand talent and predisposition. I also understand hard work and hard work can overcome both. You may not make it to the top as fast or as easy; but you can still achieve your goal.

Abolish legislation that prohibits women from determining when they are ready to have a child

Ensure everyone has access to jobs with a wage that can provide secure shelter, healthy food, reliable transportation, continuous education, and adequate health care.

9/16/08
updated

18 oct 12
updates

Deep Thought

The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress." 

- Joseph Joubert

Doctrine

Religious doctrine tells stories of humanity

And though those stories are not verifiable, they are true

Stories of love, forgiveness, compassion 

Stories of struggle; personal struggle, struggle within the family, struggle within a community, struggle amongst nations. 

Stories of humanity from the perspective of those living the struggle, seeing it 

Stories of humanity from the perspective of those reading it, taking it in, and finding meaning for their lives. finding purpose

Purpose  

Origins, purpose, and endings

Asking and answering questions only subjective 

None that can be objectively observed, repeated, or tested under control

But always familiar and close enough to give value to the reader

What is white privilege?

When someone says you have white privilege,

essentially they mean you're being used

Post-Racial America?

Apparently the greater society decided to stop being racist.
Not quite sure when this happened. I assume people think it happened after the Civil Rights Movement.
Let's take a moment to look back. Slavery was made illegal by government. Not by a vote of the people. 

And slavery still exists.
Civil Rights were given by force of federal government. Not by a vote of the people.
The people have never just decided to stop being prejudiced or bigoted. There is no point in history where you can point and say that racism (or any -ism) was eradicated.
The people opposed these advances. The current silence is not a sign of acceptance.

Let's look at it in the present situation. Gay marriage has been made legal in several states. Some by court order, some by legislation. Few by popular vote. And when it did pass by popular vote, it never reached 60%.
Still plenty of people who oppose it. And when the government makes it legal everywhere, there will still be a good portion of people who oppose it. People won't just accept gay marriage or other gay rights because they were made legal.
Same is true for race and sex. Just because government forces compliance, doesn't mean the base opposition is destroyed.

History of white privilege

When Europeans came to America, they brought poor Europeans with them and used them as forced labor. By means of debt bondage. Some people justify this by saying it is perfectly fine for a person to work off a debt through labor as long as they consent to it. That's fine in theory. In practice, the debt seems to get deeper and the worker is rarely justly compensated for their labor. And workers are abused in every way during their servitude.
In the meantime, Europeans took Africans to America to use as labor. Whether they were indentured servants or plain slaves...
The owners were killing (by disease or neglect) Indigenous people and poor Europeans they were using as laborers. Africans seemed to be the most profitable source of labor.
And all these worked side by side for the owners. All these conspired. Found that they shared a common oppression. Found the spirit to revolt. And so they did.
And the outcome of their failed revolt is what we now know as white privilege and racism.
Life long, hereditary servitude was legal. Owners made a shrewd decision. African labor was the way.
Create a rift between African and European workers. Free European workers and create justification for keeping African workers. By stating that they were savage, not worthy of rights, no more than animals, inferior.
Promote the notion that white workers were better, more superior, deserving of rights and privileges that Africans could not enjoy.

And when slavery ended, labor was still needed. Who better than Africans still. And to justify, they were imprisoned. By false charges or by unusual sentences. Then they were given to owners to use as labor.
Still perpetuating the idea that Africans, now free, were dangerous, uneducated savages, that proved to be unfit for society. Justifying their imprisonment.
Europeans still had greater rights and privileges.
And now, after the Civil Rights Movement, owners still use the lies and privileges to divide workers. Blaming Minorities for the plight of working class European Americans.
Hopefully one day we will unite.

Nothing remains the same

Are you sinking or rising?

k-12 solution?

Partnership with local institutes of higher education

Partnership with local business

Exploitation questions

Are you doing this because you want to?

Is there something else you'd rather be doing?

What are the perceived barriers to you doing what you really want?

Are you doing this for someone else?

Is someone else forcing you to do this?

Deep thought

Bigotry is not a result of ignorance
Bigotry is a result of Fear and it is impervious to data
Replace fear with relationships

Paraphrasing Reza Aslan

Truth and consequences

There's this odd idea that a person is innocent until proven guilty. An idea necessary in our legal system. Necessary when the state is deciding to take someone's life liberty or property because they were accused of violating the law.
Is it necessary in our communities?
Does every violation of life, liberty and property need to be handled in court?
Does every injustice need to go to trial?
If a person does not go to trial, does that mean that person is innocent?
Beyond a reasonable doubt is crucial in a court of law.
But, that does not negate a society from enacting consequences for actions outside of the law.

Actions that don't deprive a person of their life, liberty or property.
Many people who have been violated do not choose to involve the law. That does not mean their violator is innocent. Nor does it mean that the violator should not face any consequences for their actions.

Simple rule for human interaction

Don't touch another person without their consent unless it's in strict self defense (to stop an imminent threat)

Everything should be handled at the lowest level possible 

Government involvement a last resort

If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.

There is no free market

The market does not want to be free

The market seeks an enforcer. It seeks regulation. It seeks protection from liability. 

Three actors war for law in their favor

Worker. Consumer. Company

Each law used to control the other. 

Even in the black market there are mafias, gangs, lords 

Deep Thought

It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.

Ann Landers

Deep Thought

Rich kids get taught

Poor kids get tested

The Real Job Creators

Supply and demand (S&D) is said to be a fundamental concept of economics
Who sets the standards for S&D?
I have a product and I create 100 units. I sell 10. Do I create 100 more to increase demand? No. I decrease my output or change my product.
If I create 100 units and sell out in a day, I create more. What if I can't do it by myself? I lose money. So, I have to hire someone else to help me make it. The goal is to profit off of their labor. I will not pay them more than what I would make from the sells of the items they create. That would be stupid.

Let's go back to the first scenario of loss. Would I hire someone else to help me make the extra units even if I only sold 10 of the first? No, that would be a waste of money.

Two labor rules
Employers don't hire anyone unless they have to.
The only reason they would have to is if the labor would stand to make a profit.
A person will only hire you if they can make a profit off of you.

An employer is not going to make a profit if no one is buying their product.

Some say an investor is a job creator. Not so. They provide capital for the work you need. If there is no need for more labor, that investment will not go to labor costs.

So, back to the question of setting standards for S&D.
It is the demand that sets the standards. Who creates the demand?

Consumers.

If there is no demand, there is no need for a supply. There is no need for more labor if there is no need for a supply because there is no demand.

Consumers are the real job creators.

Purpose of School

Learn skills to support yourself

Or learn skills to get others to support you  

I'm not going to say if looks determine what category you belong in, but I'll imply it