Tuesday, October 31, 2006

A Few Brief Thoughts

I've been very bad about this whole 'posting' concept lately. I haven't been feeling very inspired; mostly just frustrated by not being supreme dictator of the United States and thus being able to bring a different madness into power.

Last during Bible study, we ended up talking about the following quote:
Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
It's been a thought I've been thinking about for a couple weeks now.

It's a whole lot easier to see where others approve of evil than where I do. It's easy to see where North Korea, Iran, or the one's political party of choice is approving of evil. But do I think much about how the policies I support may be promoting evil? How much would I be prepared to have my taxes go up to have a candidate who was honest?

It's pretty easy for me to see how lawyers, or business CEOs approve of evil - there's been plenty of press on that. But do I seriously examine the accepted practices and norms of my profession for how it engages in evil? Do I have any idea how Satan can tempt someone in my career?

Then there's more personal questions. Who do I idolize? Do I overly heed the professional athletes who have frequent encounters with the law, or take performance enhancing drugs? Do I envy the Hollywood stars?

Am I easily impressed by people's workaholic accomplishments, or by their priorities to spouses, children, or community that rarely improve resumes or earn public recognition?

Occasionally I wonder: If someone came in and took out our government, would we be any less chaotic than Iraq? Then I think about New Orleans and the chaos around Katrina. Mostly I've been thinking about how so many Americans, each of whom thinks himself mostly reasonable, can have so many expressions of evil in their country.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Power Conversion

Lately I've been looking at my todo list. In no particular order, it includes:
Exercise
Update e-mail lists
C++ Project
Do great good
Blog
Civic/community involvement
Get to know people
Photography
...

During most of my college years, various advisors assured me that college was when I had the most free time. I'm finding that more and more true. So much of my time is spent doing the basics - trying to keep the apartment clean, running chores, feeding myself, working, and the like.

There's no doubt that I could make better use of my time. And I hope to, a little bit. But lately I've been pondering the Michigan political race and pondering "How did Michigan manage to nominate two people for governor who inspire me so little?"

More to the point, if everyone did what I did, would it change? What does it mean for me to be intelligently involved in politics with my time and money?

Here's another way I've been looking at the problem: Why is it so hard for me to convert my money into influence? I'm fairly well off in one of the wealthiest nations. Why is it so hard for me to convert money to influence in clear, concise ways?

But there's no "$20,000 for sane politics" donation that I can make. There's no "Donate $10,000 to change public education" option. (Although for $10,000, I can fund building a church in India.) There's plenty of good causes I can donate to. But generally, the progress they make is slow, uncertain, and filled with set backs.

It makes me appreciate the appeal of lobbyist: Hire them, and they'll influence the people in power toward your way of thinking. Part of me wonders if we over-emphasize the contributions of the single individual in American and fail to look at the impact of many people working slowly and steadily toward a goal. Part of me wonders if I simply don't realize how little influence 1 in 300,000,000 has.

And part of me is reminded that while influence through power is cool, it doesn't change people's hearts. That's a much slower and harder process.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Fear will keep the local politicians in line

Fear of this electorate.

So in light of recent scandals sweeping the Congress, it occurred to me that what is needed is to simple vote out the Congressional GOP leadership team. Make a stunning example of how unacceptable this level of leadership is. Actually, there's a pretty long list of governance that I think the populace should be pretty put out about. But if campaign finance reform, responsible spending and integrity aren't bottom level issues, surely we can at least hold congressional leadership to the same standard we're holding the Catholic church.

No, I don't really expect the Democrats to get the message, and it'd probably be necessary to oust their leadership in a couple years. But the nice arrangement with the Congress is that they face re-election every two years, so there are plenty of opportunities to vote them out.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking I should start a grassroots campaign for President for 2016. I figure if I can convince 7 citizens per year to vote for me, and each person they convince then convinces another 7 each year, and so on, then I should will have convinced most of America to vote for me.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

A Brief Morsel

One blog I follow talks about the recent school shootings. Ironically, I came across this blog discussing the author's thoughts on some of the underlying issues.

I don't know if I have much to add at the moment, but one thought I've been thinking about is the principle that we reap what we sow. I don't mean that in a "we're such an evil bunch of people that of course we deserve to have our children randomly slaughtered" way, but more in a "When I look at the way Americans live, what values do I see us passing on to our children? Do we handle hurt, anger, rage, or fear in a constructive or healthy way? Do I want my children to be like America's role models?" way.

Here's my "Wow" question of the day: How can 65 percent of the world's richest nation live paycheck to paycheck? How can we be so wealthy and have so little savings?

And if we're not wise with money, why on earth do I expect us to be wise with law, or justice, or charity, or emotional healing, or child raising?