JJ's World Views

Tag: Opinion

  • Changes

    Changes

    It has been a while since I have posted anything here.  Many things have changed in my life in that period.  I graduated from Normandale Community College and now have my first degree.  My brakes went out on my car and I had to struggle to get the money together to fix it.  I am thankful for my brother in law and his friend for helping me with the repairs.  I have started a new job this week as a educational paraprofessional substitute.   I am working to pay off a student loan before I can go for my B.A. in Teaching Social Studies.  So, I am currently not in school for the time being.  I hope to have that all paid off before June, that way I can get back to work on my degree.

    The next few months are going to be tight but I believe I will be able to make it through.  If I do not make my deadline of June I will head back to school by next spring.  It is good to have goals but they should not I believe, so rigid to the point that if you do not make it with in a time frame it kills your motivation.  This is what does happen to me a lot.  I sometimes push myself, to the point where I start to question my own worth and get down on myself.  Then I let everything go and just give up.  I have to make sure I have a secondary plan of action, because shit happens.

    Things happen in our lives that change us for better or worse.  The thing is when we are in a down spin we have to gain our composer and level ourselves off and change direction accordingly.  There is not just one way to get where you want to go in life there are many.  Some are short and sweet, and others may take a bit longer but you will still get there in the end.

  • What Type of Society Would You Like to Live in?

    What type of society would you like to live in?  Collectivist or Individualistic?  This is a question we were asked in Pillars of Leadership program at school this week.  This is a very hard questions to be asked and takes a lot of thought as to not give people the wrong idea.  If you say you want to live in a collectivist society people in the states think China or the former USSR.  If you say Individualistic people think of America and the corporate plutocracy that runs it.  I would chose a combination of both a more socially individualistic and economically collectivistic society.

    In America we have been traditionally a socially collectivist and economically individualistic society.  This means socially if you were different from the group you were labeled the outcast, different, freak, ect…  If you are are not white, Christian, hetrosexual you were the other and have historically been segregated against in one form or another.  Yet, if you raised have money, and power you were held in high regard even worshipped to some extent.  This paradigm has been hard for me to live in because I do not think the way I was taught to think.  I do not view wealth or power as a success factor.  I also see people as individuals and judge them on there actions not race, gender, sexual orientation, ect…  I view happiness and empathy as how successful a society is in the grand scheme of things.

    I do not think that it is up to the government or corporation should  decide what you do as a career or job.  I feel we help people to reach their potential in the field they enjoy and are good at.  Yes, this is would not be a nice and ordered society but it plays to people’s strengths and move society in a more positive direction.  This allows people to find out who they are and what they are passionate about.  This also breeds a much happier society and less conflict.  I feel that when a society reaches a certain level of development that the government can not only help it’s people militarily but making sure that the basic necessities are taken care of like food, clothing, housing, ect… They would not get to chose these thing for them, but, helps people to afford these items making sure no one is left behind or falls through the cracks.  This way the economic schizm does not grow so great that a few people control the rest of the society against their will.

    People will ask, “But, if we don’t have money to use as an incentive how can we motivate people to do the work?”  To them I answer ” There are many ways to motivate people like their passions. some people like helping others, some like to create things like art, science, or music..  Think of all the artists that have died in poverty, like Van Gogh, yet, after their deaths the pieces would have made them wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.  Think of people in the scientific realm like Nicola Tesla who died in poverty not to be respected till well after his death.”  How many minds have we wasted because of the greed of our society?  How many more will not have the opportunity because others think that because they are wealthy they are the best?  How many ideas will be stolen because of greed and pride?  These are questions I asked myself when people ask me “What type of society I want to live in?”

    I feel we need a combination of both in our societies and no pure system will ever work in a world full of differences.

    Peace and Love To all who read this and even those who don’t.

  • Journal Entry 6: My Mind Works in Mysterious Ways

    I have two fears that hinder me and they seem diametrically opposed to one another.  These ar my fear of failure and my fear of success.  The fear of failure I hear a lot of people have.  This is because we have been taught that failure equals loser, in most respects.  When we actually learn more from our failures than our successes.  This I know on a conscious level.  It is the subconscious level that needs the work.  I hate failing, but yet I know that is just a part of life.  I have started working on this by going back to school and building more confidence in myself.  It is my other fear that really stunts my growth, my fear of success.

    I fear success because I am afraid of what I will become if I am successful.  I do not want to be some self center person that doesn’t care about anyone except them selves or the close relatives.  I am not like that though I can some time come off like that, because I an severely introverted and am alone most of the time.  I try to get out to events at school but it is so hard to actually meet and talk to people for me. I hide away in my home wanting to go out and do things like: I wanted to go out to the protest at Standing Rock.  This is and important thing for me.  Standing up for something I believe like access to fresh water, and not having to worry about a pipe busting open, and polluting the entire water supply for mine or any other peoples area.  Yet, I was too afraid to go and kept making excuses, granted having to get to class and working to make sure all my bills are paid is s pretty good one.   I hate going places by myself and I do that all too often now days.

    Sorry I went on a bit of a tangent there.  Basically, I have issues with power whether it is me having it or someone else. Power is something that I feel should be spread evenly amongst the populous. This way we can make our own laws that way we can do away with this what I like to call “a sliding cast system”.  This is a system in which we have different rungs of people like: lower middle, upper and tippy top classes. Which people can move up and down in.  Though it is easier to go down than up.  Then there are very few who can even reach that level and when they do they hoard money to the point it destroys the economy.  Do people really need Monstrous mansions, the most expensive cars and homes all over the world; especially when there are people in this world who have a hard time just feeding their families or to keep a roof over their heads.  We have people making millions maybe even billions killing other for their resources.

    This year I had to read the “White Mans Burden” by Rudyard Kipling.  This is a poem about how us as Americans should take up the mantel of an empire.  Kipling thought that we should because we did not have the history that other countries had in the past like:Britain and the Belgians.  This show how much he really saw things.  We were brutal too the natives, black slaves, Chinese and Irish in this country.  I would say that the past five too six hundred years of history shows how brutal the white man is.  This is coming from a white male.  I do not hate my race, but I acknowledge that this nation has never been great.  Yes we we started the industrial revolution and we were making progress for a while.  But until we recognize what we have done as a country and try to make a mends for that we will never be great.  The true White Man’s Burden is something we did to others and ourselves.  Though many will not admit it.  Those are the ones who think they are better than everyone else.  Those are the same people who promoted slavery in the past, committed mass genocide of the native population in this land.

  • Home

    I have lived in Washington State, California, Florida and home is Minnesota. I have been a cashier, custodian (Disney World), Photographer/Videographer (Discovery Cove), salesman, Transportation Security Officer (TSA) and soldier.
    I am currently a student at the ripe old age of 41 and am Studying to become a Social Studies Teacher. I am a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (honor society).
    I want to travel more and see this great big world we live in. Explore new cultures and share what I have learned. I believe everyone has different experiences in this life. So, that we can grow and learn from each other. In order to make this world a better place for future generations.

    I have many reasons for starting this blog, one of which it helps to build up my writing skills.  I will be posting each draft of what I have written, this way I can get constructive critiques of my work and people can see my writing process a bit.   If you have constructive criticism of my work please let me know do not be shy.  This will help me to become a better writer which is one of my goals.

    Next I am pursuing a career in Social Studies education sot that I can become a teacher and join the Peace Corp.  This blog will serve as a journal of sorts for me to express my feeling on certain subjects and help me to see how I have evolved as a person and a life long learner.

    Lastly this blog is about me and my experiences over the past 40 years.  There will be journal entries, thoughts on life society, Ideas for thing we can do better and I will even put up some of my work from school after it has been graded, I don’t want to risk plagiarizing myself, lol.

    If you have any questions for me or would like to here my opinion on a subject, you can leave them in the comments below the writings or you can leave me a message on Facebook or Twitter for the time being.  I am still trying get a handle of all the uses for social media so bare with me.