JJ's World Views

Tag: Thoughts

  • A few Economic Solutions

     THIS IS TO BE A LIVING DOCUMENT OF IDEAS.  If anyone has any ideas they would like to add write them in the comments below.
    Minimum Wage
    I feel the issue is more about the implementation. The way they have been implementing the minimum wage hike is every one must put it into play at the same rate. what if they started with the biggest first, lets say a company worth 1 billion or more, have to put it into play within 6 months. Then companies worth 750 million to 1 billion within one year. Next 500 Million with in 2 years and so forth. Granted there would have to be ways of stopping the bigger companies from moving jobs over seas. This could be done by raising Tariffs so that the merchandise coming into the country is on the same level as the stuff made locally. This will have to be a multi-pronged implementation. Not one thing alone will work. For one thing we have to few people hoarding shit tons of money in banks over seas. This hoarding of money leads to the artificially inflation. This means because they hoard that money that the reserve bank (which I thing should be abolished) has to release more money into the system in order to keep the economy fluid. This also increases the prices of things because the dollars worth is being devalued. Since money is now more in the electronic variety than the physical we could basically tell those with money over seas that you must repatriate the money with in a certain amount of time or else those notes would be canceled. We have lived under the thumb of the rich for over 4000 years now. With businesses the way they are now being around for about 400 years of that. We as citizens of this world have to do something or we will just keep repeating this circle of economic violence forever.

  • 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.

  • A call for calm

         In this historically trying time where people are scared, angry, and hateful. We must remember who we are as a species. We have a tendency to let our emotions get the better of us. Without really trying to find out what caused these situations. This goes for both sides of the Isle and I admit I have let my emotions get to me as well. We must each take some time to look inside ourselves and do a critical analysis. No one is perfect because there is no such thing as perfection. if there were this would be a pretty dull place. Everyone has their own ideas and opinions but before we go out there and committing acts of violence on one another and before families become so far damaged that they can not be repaired let us take a few minutes to reflect on ourselves. this is something most of us do not do or even know how to do.
              We all feel the pain of our current economy. We are all struggling. This is just like in the 60’s and 70’s when protesters would spit on vets and call them baby killers. Which was wrong.  Just like back then the elitist class with which both Clinton and Trump are a part of are pitting us against ourselves so they can control us with our own fears and hate. Why? Because it is easy to do when we are all distracted with family issues, working long hours, and just trying to get by. it has been like this for thousands of years. There is one thing that is different now than in the past our level of Technology.
           Look at what the possibilities we have the power to change this world for the better if we just have the will to do so.  The rich are not always the smartest people in the world.  Some of them just inherited their wealth, some worked for it and others have stolen it from honest hard-working people.  We give more help to the big corporations that give huge bonuses to their CEOs for maximizing profits by underpaying those they need to run their businesses like: Cashiers, cooks and stock people.  We the citizens of this world need to focus on bring the power to the people.  Not the elites.  We know whats best for us not people who have not spent much time in the failing economy that we are in.  We are the ones with the real power that most of us don’t realize we have.  I do not condone violence in any way.  This is why here in America we have the first Amendment.  As a reminder here it is.  “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion; or prohibition the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances .”  
         The the right to Peaceably assemble if the right to protest which has been used so much over the Past One Hundred or so years.  Martin Luther King used it to fight the Jim Crow laws and the right to vote as a full human,  Women used it to get the right to vote and to have control of their own bodies, and LGBT used it to get the right to marry.  We now need to use this again so that we may have a fair and free society and to keep the peace.  This is going to be a huge hurdle for us to climb but we can do it if we work together as one.  We must set aside our differences to focus on this goal.  We need to hold our leaders feet to the fire and makesure they are doing what is best for all of us not just the privileged few.
    This is our time to shine and rise to the Occasion.
    We have the power and the brains to make this possible.
    Otherwise this civilisation will go the way so many before have gone and collapse in on itself.
    Peace be with you all 

  • Unacceptable

    I found this video this morning and here are my thoughts about it.

    We need to take a good long look inside ourselves.  As someone who suffers from mental illness a story like this speaks volumes.  If I am feeling suicidal I will not be and I will tell others not to call the cops for help.  My biological father also has a mental illness and even though I have not seen him since I was 3, I would not want this to happen to him.  I have my illness under control for now and I try to avoid my triggers as much as possible.  But, as a human I can not avoid them all.  It gets rough at times and these thoughts pop in from time to time.  Deep down I do not want to think this way, but it happens.  This why we need to wrangle in the police they are jumping the gun to much as of late and not really assessing the situation.  If you are a cop or you know a cop, please stop and think get as much information as you can before you fire that weapon.  I know I may lose more friends over this but at this point I just don’t care.  No one seems to be listening to the people of this country at all and we the citizens are paying the ultimate price.  What if this was your family member? What if you were a family member of this Officer, who did the right thing and got fired for it?  This is unacceptable!!!!!!!!!!

  • Should we Break up the States?

     

    I have heard a few of my old friend say that the states should become their own countries.  These people also think they are patriots.  In some ways I kind of agree.  I mean our constitution is set up like a treaty if you really think about it.  Most of the states where not there at the time of the signing of it.  This would ease the tax burden on people a bit, not having to pay federal taxes.  We would only have to pay state taxes, which would be federal taxes I guess at that point.  Every country would have its own currency which would be easier to keep a closer eye on it.  This way the few would not have so much control over the many.

    This would also give many that still lived in a democracy more control over their government.  This would promote more activity in the political process which could be much better thing.  People would be more willing to stay informed if they actually thought they had a say, unlike the current system we have now.

    We could give the new countries there national guard back.  If there was a war the individual countries could come together and fight side by side.  May be do drills together annually, this way if the militaries of the countries train together they would be less likely to want to fight them.  So, there are a couple of positives but I feel there are some major drawbacks to this.

    One of the major problems I see right off the bat is what to do about the nukes.  Does anyone really trust the south with nukes?   The KKK would definitely rise to power again and the right wing religious fundamentalist, would want to kill anyone not like them or believe the same way they do.  We would be more like Europe was in the dark ages.  Hell I consider the time we are living in now the Social/Technological Dark Ages.  I is little doubt in my mind, if it were not for our current level of technology we would already be in the dark ages.  We have not yet learned how to live socially yet in this new world.

    Slavery might come back into play if we were to divide up.  I do not think it would be successful though.  The countries which did not legalize it could put major economic pressure on them.  Which brings us back to the nukes again.  How many people think that there would be a leader that might try and play that card just out of spite.  Look at our political climate right now it is crazy.

    Though slavery most likely would not last long I think, Segregation would definitely make a comeback in many parts of the country.  I feel many leaders would try to become permanent dictators, or at least try.

    I want to say right now I know that not all people in the south are bad people.  I lived in Florida for 10 years I know plenty of people from the south.  It is the people they elect that scare me.  I am a Humanist I believe in our potential as a species.  I feel we are not ready yet as a country or s species to do something like that in this country.   Then again people usually only learn when bad things happen to them, so maybe we should, just for the wake up call.

  • How can we find meaning in a world of chaos?

    I dedicate this to my Brother

    How can we find meaning in a world of chaos?  How do we find happiness in a land of greed and hate?  These are questions I struggle with on a daily basis.  I have been told I think to much. Personally I think those who say that do not think enough.  They are to caught up in their own little world only looking on the surface to frightened to look inside, for fear they may not like what they will see.  The darkness in their own hearts that drains them of humanity.  They are devoid of empathy and compassion for their fellow humans.  Why is this?  A big factor I feel is what we have been taught and the refusal to question it.  I look at the world around us and I see our potential as a species, but I also see the devastation we cause, because of greed.  I try to have hope then it fades, I try to be positive then it is broken.  What can we do to stop this and help ourselves and other to find their true meaning, their true purpose in life.  I know we have to create our meaning and purpose, but why? What then?

    Hope is something I cling to for dear life, because if I don’t it will mean my life.  Fore if I do not have hope then life is not worth living.  Slowly day by day hope slips away leaving an empty shell.  A life dedicated to only making money is not a life I want to live there is no meaning or purpose to it.  Money is worthless till we give it worth, not the other way around.  Why do we allow it to have so much control over our lives?  Why do we let those who have it to have power over us?

    I see those high level bank, big pharma, big agra and fossil fuel executives, wall street shills, venture capitalists and lobbyists as the true throw away people, not the poor.  These are people who could not make it in the real world without destroying others.  There is no need for these types of professions other than to rape and pillage society.  We have been trained to think we need them in reality they need us much, much more.  Necessities like housing, medicine, military, police, food and water should not be for profit.  it is the frivolous thing that can be to a point.  Money is supposed to be in limited supply, but it is not at least not at the top.  The dilemma of the fiat currency is the fact that the obscenely wealthy horde the currency causing inflation.

    Imagine if all the money that the .1%  have was actually in circulation and not sitting in some offshore account.  There would be no need to print any more money for a long time.  The world economy would stabilize there would really be no need for charities as they are now.  More people would be able to donate time instead of money.  There would be less discontent and war.  People would be happier and fear would start to fade, because people could travel more and experience new things and meet new people. Instead, of  being inside hiding from the cruel reality that is this life at the moment.   Then we could actually find the answers to the questions I have asked.

  • Suicide Squad

    So, today I went to see Suicide Squad for the first time.  I saw a bunch of reviews on it and wanted to see it for myself.  Let it be known I am not big on comic books, but I love the cartoons and movies.  Now that being said I liked this movie, yes it had its flaws but what movie doesn’t.  The thing that stuck out most to me was the theme behind it.  Whether the studio meant it this way or not, to me it was an allegory on the U.S.’s international policies in the middle east.  I do not go searching for meaning in movies, it is just where my mind goes when I see similarities in life and art.

    Look it how the U.S. has handled the situation in Iraq and Syria. When we went into Iraq  and took down Saddam.  This to me was when Joon found the Enchantress stumbling into a cave without really thinking about it.  Then we have have Waller who is part of the government who puts together a force of people that are pretty shady to say the least.  We fund and train rebels in both Iraq and Syria not knowing who is good or bad, eventually creating ISIS.  This is where the Enchantress breaks free and starts wreaking havoc, just like ISIS in the middle east.  Which had lead us to where we are at today over there.  That is a basic analysis of the theme for me.

    I liked the backstories of the Characters they did them on like Deadshot,Diablo, Harley Quinn and the Joker.  I thought that the bar scene was interesting, a lot of people I saw review the movie thought it was forced.  I thought it was fairly natural considering, I mean what would you do if you just found out that you are fighting a earth destroying witch.  Hell I would head to the bar as well especially being a villain and after being kept in the dark.  I would have probably done the same thing.  Who knows it could be the last time you do that.

    Could they have made a better movie? Yes.  I think if they would have had a couple of Batman movies with the characters in them it would have helped a lot.  The same thing with a Flash movie. This would have provided more context into the characters and more in-depth back story.  I think Warner Bros. jumped the gun and didn’t think thing through enough.  If you’re going to build a universe you start from the ground up.  We do not need the backstory for Batman but more on Deadshot and the Harley and the Joker.  I would like to know what is up with Capt. Boomerang and the pink unicorn.  Diablo seems like he could be a really interesting to me.  The same could be said about Killer Croc.

    This was a decent movie in my opinion.  I give it 6.5 out of 10.

    I know this is not the best written review it is my first one that I have written.  If you have any comments that would make it better please let me know.  If you need clarification let me know. please I will do my best.

     

  • Loneliness is a curse

    Well I am finally going to go see suicide squad today. I have seen the reviews but I have to decide for myself. I am just so bored and cannot focus on homework Mainly because all I do for the most part any more is just work, school, eat  and sleep.  I have no social life to speak of really.

    I have always felt alone in my life not, because I didn’t have friends or family. It is because I feel they just never understood me at all.  I am one of those people who could be in a room filled with people and still just feel like I am the only person in the room.  Over the past 4 or 5 years this feeling has grown.  That is one of the reasons why I started counseling and going back to school.  I wanted to try and put myself out there and find people who have similar interests who may understand where I am coming from and why I want to do what I am trying to do.

    I have such a hard time making new friends to do stuff with.  Here I am 40 years old divorced, single and living in a mobile home older than me,fighting my depression constantly.  It is a never ending battle.  I know people do worry about me in my family, yet it is hard for me to be around them.  The last few times I had been with them it just seem that when they were talking to me they were hyper critical of me and my viewpoints, even though I try to keep it on the internet they bring it into the face to face contacts. So I just do not want to be around them.  I feel like nothing I can do in their eye is right or good enough.  They expect me to see things the way they do and I just can’t.  It is not me I look deeper into things,  I try to understand the way the world works.  This is something I have always done.  It seems to me that all they see in me is a 40 yr old who like Cartoons, horror movies, and is decent with kids.  I feel they think I do not actually look into anything of substance at all.  They prove this by the way they try and push there own morals and beliefs on me.

    Look I am who I am and believe in my own moral code.  I have always been like that.  Religion has had no affect on my moral values.  All I want is to be a good person and help others try to treat others with respect as much as possible, not alway succeeding there.  When I came out as an Atheist for the first time that is when things started going south between me and them.  My mom was like no you’re not you Agnostic.  At the time I got offended because I didn’t know then what I do now about the word and its uses.

    Being an Atheist just means I do not believe there is a god.  Agnosticism is a state of knowing.  So my mom was right to a point, but we are all Agnostics.  No one knows for sure if a god really exists or not, despite what some people may say.  A belief is a feeling not knowledge.  I have tried to believe in a god so that people would except me I have been to so many different churches done research on the matter as well as read the bible from front to back.  There is nothing there to prove the existence of a god for me.  Some people would Probably say that it is your lack of faith that causes my depression and loneliness.  This could not be farther from the truth for me.  It is the fact that my family and old friends that think that I just want to be a rebel, different, and want to mold me to the image they want.  That is what want me to be, that has been a big contributor to my depression.  Me and my mom used to be close or as close as I can get to a person emotionally.

    I had to take a break from writing this post for awhile, because I have been in tears while writing this.  My heart is heavy and I hurt so bad, but I push on.   I expose my heart to all of you out here to let you know if you feel the same way you are not alone.   You can make it through it.  It does not matter if you’re a teen, in your 40’s or in your later years you can push through this.  You are stronger than you think.  I know because I am living it with you.  I feel the pain, the anguish, fear and loneliness the as much as anyone.  Those thoughts in your head can be change but only through practice and hard work.  You just have  you just have to have faith in yourself and find your passion.  Thing do get easier the more you work at it.  It may never go away, but at least it can be more manageable for you in the long run.

    If you know and love someone who has depression take the time to try and understand them.  Let them know they are loved don’t just say it show it.  You will make it easier for them and you may save their life.  Please.

    If you have any questions on ways I have used to manage this leave a comment down below or you can message me on facebook or twitter.  I will try to respond as much as I can.

    I want to leave you all who read this with this,  You are all loved even though it may not feel like it at times you are.  I love you all and stay strong and let peace be with you all.

     

  • Day 4

    Well today was the end of my first week of school.  I had Intro to Cinema and History of World Civilization 2.  After my classes I had a meeting with my TRIO SSS (Student Support Services) advisor.

    In Cinema we were learning about its technical history from the Zoeatrope to George Melies “A Trip to the Moon”.  It was interesting to see how they first attempted to colorize film.  It must have been painstaking painting each frame, even if it was a 13 minute film.  It is remarkable to see how far we have come in such a short period of time ( in the grand scheme of things).  I also started the readings tonight going through the influences of the different countries that had an effect on the industry from the late 19th century to 1947 is where I stopped for the night.  This cover things like the Kinetograph and Kinetoscope developed by William Kennedy Laurie Dickson in Edison’s labs (411 Barsam and Monaham).  Going into the Silent Period (214), The German Expressionists (418) and many more.

    This afternoon I had History in which we watched a video (narrated by the late Leonard Nimoy)and discussed the Black plague, and he answered questions on the syllabus.  The video was something that I had seen before on the History channel so most of the information was not too new to me.  Like I knew they used Bodies of the dead as a form of biological warfare of the time and that doctors of the time were some of the most vulnerable do to the closeness of working with those who had the plague.  What I had missed the first time I had watched the video was the Flagellants ( an extremist Christian sect) that had started to gain traction do to the Catholic Church own ignorance and unwillingness to hear any ideas other than those in the Bible.  I started my reading for this class today as well.  The reading are on some of the creation myths of the world.  I have gone through the Iroquois, which is more of a matriarchal view of the world and the Japanese which from what I read started out quite nice then became very patriarchal.  At least that is how I saw it.  I will be rereading it to get a better understanding of them both.

    After history I went to see my TRIO advisor.  I like going to talk to him we always have interesting conversations.  For those who do not know Trio is an organization that help first generation college students and students with disabilities navigate through college life.  They help you set up your schedules, filling out financial aid forms and help to keep you on track in school.  Some of the most prominent people who have been part of this program through the years (not at Normandale Community college where I go they just started theirs last year) are Oprah Winfrey and Angela Bassett.  This Program has been around since the 60’s and is federally funded.  If you are in college and they have this program check to see if you qualify it is extremely helpful.  Me and James (my advisor) talked about how my classes are going so far, some of my financial aid and a little about this blog.  it was a short meeting but it is the first week and he is swamped with the new semester and people on his team. He did ask me if I “If I thought that I would have any problems with the number of classes or the classes themselves.” I dont really think I will of course while writing this blog my self doubt started creeping up again.  This happened before this time I feel I have the support I need to concur it.  beside I always feel like this until the end of the semester.  By then I have seen where I am at and know what I need to do to get the grades I need and want.  Hell right now I am waiting to get my invitation to Phi Theta Kappa our Honor Society. Over the past 2 semester I earned a 3.53 GPA in my college level courses.  If you add in my remedial courses it is a 3.68 GPA.  So, as long as I keep doing what I am doing I should have another good semester.

    Works Cited

    Barsam, Richard Meran., and Dave Monahan. “10/Film History.” Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. 5th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2016. 411+. Print.

  • Day 3

    Today was a long at school, this wasn’t because the classes were boring I just had a long break between classes.  The classes were rather interesting today with Freshman Comp.  and Theory and Practice of Tai Chi Chuan.

    In Comp. we watched a Ted Talk on “The Danger of a Single Story”.  What is a single story?  A single story from what I have gathered from the video is a one dimensional look at the world (seeing things from one point of view).  An example of this is the way we see Donald Trump speak about illegal immigration and the people in the middle east.  The issue with a single story is: they have a tendency to breed ignorance, bigotry and hatred in those who are not willing to do research and/ or go out and meet people who are different then them.  At least, that is what I had gotten from the video.  We see people who buy in to the single story trap so much in our society today, it is astonishing to see in this day and age.

    In between classes I had a lively and invigorating discussion in the smoking area about religion, politic and corruption.  This is one of the things I love about college, actual intellectual conversation about tough topics.  I get to practice my conversational skills without the pressure of hurting someone’s feelings or someone just getting up in my face.  I just can not to that with my old friends and family. That is one thing that has stifled my personal growth as a human being.  I am someone who enjoys that type of conversation, because I get to actually exchange ideas with people instead of having them dictated to me.

    Then in Tai Chi it was a basic first day until we started learning the moves.  I am so out of shape.  We first learned a stance, then practiced breathing and lastly how to walk.  Doing the stance was difficult for me because I had a hard time keeping my toe connected to the floor.  The breathing was not too difficult, it is something I have been practicing for a while to keep my stress level down.  The hardest part for me was the walk.  I am a big guy, out of shape and extremely right side dominant.  When I was done with the walk my left inner thigh was killing me.  The muscle had started cramping up on me it felt like a bunch of needles poking in to a single point on my thigh.  I am going to need a lot more practice and push myself to make sure I can do this correctly.