Month: July 2015

In eastern philosophy and religion there is the concept of Yin and Yang, opposites that must be kept in balance in order to maintain balance in oneself or in the greater world. These opposing forces are hard to define as they can be masculine/feminine conservative/liberal; but above all they are the polar opposites that at once are attracting and repelling each other. If ever left alone to have free reign they become an Ouroboros; a snake eating its own tail.
In western philosophy and religion there really isn’t the same type of concept. More often than not there is a dominant submissive ideology, where the expectation is that everything is viewed as right or wrong. That one must be firm and steadfast, unwavering against views that because they are opposite must by their nature be wrong. Here too though as one ideology dominates and chokes out all others it too becomes an Ouroboros, unable to sustain itself.
If we look at the history of the United States we can see how there is an ebb and flow of power between conservatives and liberals. Each side alternating between a rise to power and self destruction. The length of stay in power usually correlating to how far from the center they govern. We are most successful when we put aside our differences and are able to find the common ground that can only come from compromise and a balance of ideas.
Maybe it is time we push forward a third party from the center willing to push for more compromise and work to build a more balanced body politic.

Path from the Greek patheia, a word part defined as suffering, feeling, emotion or disease which is determined by the prefix and suffix applied. There are many combinations that can be created but the four versions that I want to look at though are empathetic, sympathetic, apathetic and antipathetic; to provoke thought within myself as well as others.
So what do these words really mean and how do they impact who we are and how others see us in the world.
Empathetic from the Greek empatheia, to be in feeling. Being able to understand or be sensitive to the feelings, thoughts or experiences of another person or group of people; without having to explicitly share the experiences. To see or read about the struggles of others and mentally place your self in their shoes enough to have an understanding of their plight.
Sympathetic from the Greek sumpatheia, to be with feeling. Being able to feel the same feelings as another during their time of strife or trouble. Most often we think of this during times of loss or misfortune, friends who grieve with you during the loss of a loved one; can also be during times of joy though as we can have sympathetic feelings for a friend or loved ones good fortune.
Apethetic from the Greek apatheia, to be without feeling. Not caring, indifferent to the situation, an absence of feeling. When we just don’t care, doesn’t effect us so not our problem.
Antipathetic from the Greek, to be opposed in feeling. A dislike or aversion to others or situations.
In, with, without and opposed; a very broad range of feelings. Realistically we all experience this range of feelings even in the same day. Just today I feel empathy and sympathy for the families of the Marines killed in Tennessee. I also feel empathy for the family of the shooter. I feel antipathy towards people like the shooter who embrace violence. I also feel apathy for the myriad of people who will be voicing their opinions about what happened.
And this is how we all are; based on what is important to us, how we see the world or what we feel strongly about. So many factors go into how we cycle through these feelings. We are human and there will be things that make us angry or that we just don’t give a damn about. But what feelings do we portray to the world ultimately is all on ourselves. When other people look at the things we say and the actions we take, what do we want them to think.
But we have lives to live, crosses to bear and mole hills to build into mountains. Looking into our own lives with serious introspection is a hard and thankless task or an exercise in futility. I personally find it to be very hard; my low self esteem, lack of self worth in relation to other people and a desire to be accepted by others means that I am constantly questioning what i say and do. I probably spend way to much time worrying about these kind of things but for me it also comes from the study of many different religions and philosophies.
The Samurai believed that they were already dead at the beginning of each day, their lives already committed to their lord; so every action and interaction could not be taken back so one must be deliberate in everything. Because they viewed their death as already having occurred anything done that would bring shame to their lord could not be undone. Debts could not be repaid, slights excused. In Christianity this is akin to when Jesus says that when you pray to ask for forgiveness of your debts or trespasses as you also forgive the debts and trespasses of others. There is this expectation that these are daily occurrences so we should always be mindful of them and correct our behavior accordingly. In Buddhism and Hinduism the idea of karma requires mindfulness of interactions as your negative and positive actions return to you.
Other than atheism and just guessing but probably satanism; there is no religion that does not in some way address how our feelings and actions towards others impacts our own spirituality and soul. So I strive everyday to keep myself heading towards the path I want to be upon; to be an empathetic and sympathetic person.

I have this re-occurring nightmare. The situations are always different sometimes they involve me having to speak up for other people, others times I am having to speak up for myself. In each of these situations when I go to speak I can’t. Nothing will come out, no matter how hard I try I can not speak. My mind forms the words and they wont come out, my mouth stops working to the point I cannot breath. I wake up from these dreams in a cold sweat still unable to speak, it takes a few minutes for my mind to remember how my mouth works. For years now this nightmare has haunted me. My soul cries out for all the times I have been silent in my life. Keeping my mouth shut and my head down when I worked with a group of people that were just hateful towards everyone, back stabbing and vicious. Standing on loading docks and construction sites listening to every type of sexist, racial and religious slur possible used towards other people or in jokes,
Silence has always been easier for me as I think it is for many. I wasn’t the one they were talking about. I needed my job. My family needed me to support them. Don’t rock the boat. All of these little things we tell ourselves to justify our silence, our complacency. They can eat at our souls until they cry out in pain.

And I have gone through my life silent, keeping almost everyone at a safe distance. Hiding how I feel, afraid to let people in because what if I needed to defend them against such language and couldn’t. What if I had to defend someone else from them and couldn’t. Easier to not really make friends or open myself up to other people. Easier to hate myself for my silence.
Why I have chosen to break my silence through written words, on the internet; where anyone can find them. I don’t know. I think it is because words are still so hard to speak. This is actually easier for me, it allows for me to slowly, rationally try and articulate these thoughts. They are there so that anyone can read them. They do not allow me to back down.

Now there is a tough discussion. How do we recognize those who fought and died without celebrating their cause; is that even possible? How do we move forward and try to find real healing if we are still stuck in the past celebrating a myth; built to nurture the wounded pride of the defeated? How do we stand up against the clamor of voices that by removing the memorials, we are rewriting history; voices who were silent when the south reinvented the war as "the war of northern aggression", voices that are not up in arms that Texas just rewrote history by reducing the importance of slavery and erased Jim Crow. Will removing the memorials do anything other than inflame the anger and hatred of those who want to keep them.
I personally believe that tearing down the monuments will not change the hearts of those who emotionally clutch at preserving their "rebel" heritage. Neither will it fix any of the long standing societal problems that slavery, segregation and racism have created. Realistically I believe it could push us to the brink or over the edge into armed insurrection, if the pro/neo-confederates are serious and back up their words with action.
Perhaps the bigger question is can we as a society every get past this underlying issue until we face it head on. Maybe we should instead erect memorials to those who suffered under slavery; place them right next to each confederate memorial, prominent and large to stand in opposition and as a reminder of the war. I believe though that the statues for the kkk founders should not be left standing and instead be replaced with memorials to those who suffered and died at the hands of the kkk. If this truly is about heritage on what grounds could they oppose such a solution?
I typed all of this up and I read it and reread it wondering if I just sound one sided. Deep down I am an idealist. For me the ideas in the Declaration of Independence about equality and liberty are not mutually exclusive. In order for me to truly be equal then we must all be equal, in order for me to truly be free we must all be free. I think our founding fathers, despite having to compromise on slavery, despite the lack of rights for women at the time it was written; provided for us the true ideal of how great the United States of America could be in the preamble of the Constitution. Because in that one paragraph they did not limit who was establishing this nation instead they used the word WE and it is we the people who are to be united in a more perfect union. They even had the grace to allow for our failures, not a perfect union but a more perfect union, so we can grow and improve ourselves.
So maybe the question we should ask ourselves is do we want to maintain the status quo or find a path to grow together; balance our individual liberties with the ideal of equality for all. Hard decisions and questions to ponder.

Sort of a chicken and egg problem.Poverty negatively impacts education in a multitude of ways. Impoverished parents who work multiple jobs are not available to help their children. Impoverished areas do not have sufficient money to invest in education. Graduation rates suffer as people leave school to work. People working multiple jobs, rotating shifts; have to decide between a job or paying to further their education. Have children, well then you have to provide for them first.
Education, where to start. If we don’t invest in education well we get what we pay for every time. Make a habit of demonizing teachers and people won’t want to teach. Don’t invest in teachers and pay them competitive salaries in order to retain talent, well they eventually leave. Let politics and personal beliefs dictate what is taught then eventually you end up with a mess.
I understand that there are so many other issues involved that we can’t ever get past the complaining and finger pointing stage when it comes to fixing education but sooner or later enough of us need to decide that we have had enough and try to fight the good fight. I am not convinced that the states can succeed in fixing education as they continue to struggle decade after decade. Even within each state individual school districts have such disparity that it is time for a drastic change.
So here is a radical proposal to fix education nation wide, sure to twist the knickers of some but we need to fix this problem.
First step is to nationalize education and make all teachers federal employees with competitive salaries whether they are in a big city or a small rural town.
Establish reading, writing, math, science, civics, world and american history standards at the national level so that a student in any grade can move to another school anywhere else in the country without being penalized. This is especially true for the children of our service members who are faced with difficulties as duty stations change.
Have each state establish history requirements for their state and local regions.
Expand the school year to be year round and have physical education to provide a healthy balance to activity.
Provide after school activities, tutoring and homework labs so single parents and households were both parents work have a safe productive place for their children to stay and continue to learn.
Establish community outreach programs to encourage and help parents and guardians get involved effectively in the education of their children; we need to make this a positive experience for the entire community.
We have to start somewhere and decades of failing schools will not turn around overnight. The nation has to be committed to the cause, a commitment last seen in World War II when the nation as a whole was willing to sacrifice together.
Now I know there will be many who clamor and say that states rights would be trampled by this plan however the preamble to the Constitution clearly states "promote the general Welfare" and the education of children is part of the general welfare. This is restated in Section 8 "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States" Congress has this authority it only has to exercise the authority.
Do I think this is a perfect solution, no. But this solution would be effective at normalizing how much is spent per pupil as well as ensuring students are receiving equal education. Fixing some of the basic issues will allow us to begin making positive changes.
One other major change we need to make is to re-prioritize and stop cutting education spending first because that just guarantees failure.

When I was in high school I became a christian joining a southern baptist church, read the bible through twice and the four gospels many times. The more I studied the gospels and tried to understand what Jesus meant for a christian to be, I began to question things.
How come the people around me only cared that they were saved, it was all that mattered to them and they would gladly proclaim it to any who would listen. Not with actions but with words. Why love your neighbor seemed to mean only their actual neighbors as long as they were Christians. Then there was the youth pastor cheating on his wife with one of the teen girls in the youth group, to avoid embarrassment it was kept silent despite it being statutory rape.
The last straw for me though was the racism both blatant and ingrained. I am not a big fan on quoting Paul as I have met too many people who can quote him but would be hard pressed to quote Jesus correctly. This passage however really speaks to a specific issue of ingrained racism seen throughout the south, the confederate flag.
Romans 14:13-23 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.[a] 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.[b]

I could not reconcile that the people around me who are supposed to be part of the body of Christ, the Church, the kingdom of God; thought that meant only white people like them. That these peopledid not care that they cause others to stumble, instead was just about them. So I left and cast aside my beliefs because I had no voice to stand up and tell them they were wrong and no desire to be like them That is why I have tried to speak out lately, to find my voice against what is wrong.

I think that at this point in the presidential campaign of Jeb Bush, many of us understand that he is not the most eloquent speaker and usually will take 3-5 iterations across several days to get out what he wants to say. His latest point is sort of correct that we do have an epidemic of people trying to support themselves and families on part time jobs. Unfortunately I am sure the solution will be more of the same line we hear every election cycle, tax cuts that amount to trickle down economics. The problem in my opinion is we keep talking about this in the wrong direction because every time we do give these businesses and the wealthy the tax cuts we don’t get a damn thing in return. They don’t hire more workers, increase full time employees or raise wages.What we need is a commitment from Americas businesses that they will stop bleeding us dry and reinvest in the nation, the back scratching needs to go the other way for a change. In return I would like to see a simplified tax system for individuals and businesses. I am sure this will irritate some but it would be a progressive tax because the only way to reduce the assistance money needed by the poor is to put more money in their pockets. I don’t see this as punishing people for success because the freedoms we have are not free they come with a cost and cannot always be paid with the blood of patriots.
Individuals, I don’t care where your income comes from; whether it is your hard work or your investments, everything would be equal. No tax credits, deductions or shelters. And one single penalty, you cheat on your taxes or try to hide money offshore and complete forfeiture of all assets. Mistakes would require simple payment of what ever the amount, no interest or penalties. Poverty level would be calculated annually for the next year so that people know a year in advance where they might fall.
0 to poverty level no tax
poverty level to double poverty level 10%
double poverty level to triple poverty level 15%
triple to quadruple 20%
everything above that 25%
Businesses would be the same type of progressive tax based on 5 levels, with the levels locked in for certain amounts of years.

Is this the best tax plan, maybe not but I think it would be a good start. Unfortunately until America’s businesses get behind the nation and fix the stagnant wages and put more people to work we are just shit out of luck.

To go through life with a mind or emotions that are not always your own or what you want them to be at any given moment. When every day can be a struggle even if you are receiving treatment. Being medicated and still it is all you can do to get out of bed and go to work. The daily fight to remember to take your medicine, to do your job, to keep focused on what matters most in your life.
People may look at you and see nothing wrong, mental illness as with many other health problems lack those glaring, visibly signs that society wants to see. Society distrusts what they don’t understand and when it comes to mental illness understanding is in short supply. Then society has seen fit to attach stigmas to mental illness that drive some to self medicate or deny themselves the help they so desperately need. People can be cruel intentionally or not; doesn’t make a difference, the pain we can inflict upon others is astounding.
Imagine for a moment what it is like to only be able to mourn the passing of your father a few moments at a time across the course of a year and a half. Being unable to deal with the pain because the medication that keeps you functioning, keeps your emotions on an even keel, keeps the depression in check and the anger on a leash; doesn’t afford you the time you need. That is the price of mental illness that I pay; untreated and I doubt at this point I could even hold down a job, properly controlled sometimes I have to wait for the moments when my emotions want to be free.
I really hope that one day the stigma of mental illness will go away and people will treat it just as they do any other illness. I also hope that as science and medicine advances we will one day be better able to understand and diagnose the brain so that others might never have to experience this particular disconnect between mind and emotion.

Do you know people who have grown up and they act like they are perfect and never did any wrong in their life. They are so pious and full of self righteousness that they vehemently attack people who make the same mistakes they did all the while acting like they are beyond reproach. Even if confronted with the truth they deny it because they are so full of shame they would rather live a lie, in fear of the truth, rather than face themselves head on and find healing.
This doesn’t just occur with people though, one only has to look at how people have tried to reform the confederacy and the truth of the civil war. Not only would they like everyone to forget that it was about slavery and white supremacy; they want ever\yone to ignore all of the writings of the confederate leadership and accept their fantasy that the south was being oppressed by the north. It was states rights they cry. They also want to pretend that segregation didn’t happen or deflect the issue; "yeah but look at so and so". They want to talk about history, rewrite the past and accuse others who stand against them of doing the same.

The thing about these lies though is that as they draw people in and they believe and spread these same lies; they now own them. They joyfully rally behind the lie. Will they accept the price though?

And you know, so what. Why do I really care, it is after all their right to say and believe what ever it is they want. In fact I support that right and would do so with my last breath. But it is hard, hard to watch young minds give themselves over to a lie or to a hate that shrouds itself in words like heritage and honor. Harder still to remain silent and not speak out even if no one would listen. I know that I am the least among all; no moral authority by any stretch, not a scholar either; just a simple person speaking out from my heart.

As we celebrate our independence and freedom today let us not forget the less fortunate among us who need our help.

Source: National Alliance to End Homelessness: The State of Homelessness in America 2015