Guilt

Religion and Society use Guilt to manipulate you to believe as they do. Guilt is the most powerful motivator--it causes people to avoid eating donuts, it makes you go to bed early, it even makes you beat yourself up when you do something "wrong."

But who determines what is "wrong?"

Realistically we are all individuals and determine right and wrong on our own --I know, that's a very relativist statement. [we think eating donuts are bad because they will make you sick, ie fat ie unhealthy ie shorten your life, but if you think a short life is perfectly acceptable for you then what's so wrong about eating a donut  and being fat and unhealthy? --if you're comfortable with the outcome, it doesn't matter.]
MMmmmm...

The problem is that people aren't comfortable with certain outcomes because of guilt: society makes you think that being fat is bad and they ostracize fat people. Society is obsessed with living forever and finding ways to prolong their lives, so they frown upon people who want to live a short, happy life.

You beat yourself up because you want to fit in with society. You want to prescribe to the same things that everybody else does and you have a subconscious desire to believe what the rest of society believes. You simply want to be a part of the "in" crowd.

You don't have to be.

You are an individual.

My recommendation is to live your life questioning everything. Question why people believe the things they do. Question why people do or don't do things that you clearly want to do. And after you do or don't do those things that people don't want you to do, question whether they really bring you what you want.

Everything you need to understand about life comes back to elementary school jokes: If everyone jumped off a cliff, would you?

Value of a life

What is the value of a person's life?

This question suddenly intrigues me... 

Most people find it easy to think about value in terms of money. Is a person as valuable as the total amount of money they earn in life? How about the total assets they own, cash included?

A second prominent measure of value I have heard is "number of people touched" though i don't agree with this measure of value because it disregards individuals who create great value for their own lives and not others, which i do find valuable so long as they don't do it at the expense of other people.

Nor do I fully prescribe to the moral philosopher's measure, the total "good" he or she has contributed minus total "bad", though I think it comes very close to an accurate measure...if it were only possible to measure in that way practically.--until it happens you really don't know what will happen.

Every life is valuable. Every life has the right to make choices and live the way they choose. No one has the right to take another's life nor do they have the right to force another to live their life a certain way. Further, no one has the right to judge another, because doing so implies that the judge knows THE only way to live life. Judging a life, in effect, forces another person to prescribe to a specific way of life.

The value of a life is highly personal. Neither you or I can gauge the value of some other person's life except by our own subjective judgements. The only person who can gauge the value of your life objectively is you. Only you know what you value and if you have done everything you can to create value in your life. In the end, you will hold yourself accountable for your successes and failures. And, really, the only disappointment in life is when you quit trying.

Death is the opposite of life, and if life is valuable, death is not. Death is of no value to anyone, not yourself and not others. Since we do not know what awaits us after this life, the only understanding that matters to us is this life. What we do now, we can guarantee will affect this life, and because we have seen the far effects of those who have come before us, we know that what we do in this life counts. There is no guarantee that in death we start over. There is no guarantee that what happens to our spirits after we die is beneficial. In other words, we can only rely on the value of this life.

In essence, you are valuable so long as you are living, because if you are living, you can keep making value. And you can keep making value so long as you determine in your mind that you are valuable. The value of a life is limitless so long as that individual values his or her self.

Story Format: Comedy, Tragedy, and Real Life

I haven't written ANYTHING in a long time it seems...This (my final) semester of classes doesn't have any English courses and I've been preoccupied with other things so writing as a hobby has flopped.

The topic of this article is on real life and stories.

Stories are interesting; they are attempts to make the unreal real, but to do it in a way to emphasize a specific point. Stories aren't just "random" they aren't moj-poj collections of different items and plots--not just anybody can make up a story because there are surprisingly many rules--rules that our minds enforce subconsciously and when broken inform our conscious that the story is "lame".

One "rule" is that of the Tragedy or Comedy.

Let's start with comedy: It's a story line or arc just like a tragedy. But the comedy always starts with the main characters at the bottom of the pile. The lowest rung. The base of the totem pole. Bad things happen immediately starting the story.  But the point of a comedy is how the main character rises from the dust rises from the slum and succeeds.
If the initial trial isn't hard enough, the audience doesn't appreciate the growth that is made. The story of a rich man getting richer just isn't all that interesting.
Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's not funny, but the ending is meant to make you feel good--inspired that mankind is so capable.

But let's talk about Tragedy:
Tragedy is the opposite of comedy. Instead of starting on a sad note, it starts on a happy note. Something good happens, something too good. The purpose of a tragedy is to point out the folly of mankind, or human nature, or whatever else.  By the end of the story, the characters who were so successful in the beginning are brought to their knees, humbled, humiliated, and lost. They lose everything.


But real life is so different.

Sometimes rich people do get richer.
Sometimes poor people get poorer.
But we are still attracted to the situations where people in poor circumstances rise to prosperity.
It pains us and confuses us when people in prosperity fall.

The more human of us try to help those who fall to land soft, and help those who are trying to rise to rise well.

I'm never aware of where I am. Comedy leads to Tragedy leads to Comedy. Sometimes I feel as though I am in a comedy--that I'm rising from some horrible state. Other times I feel I am falling from a higher plane.

When one falls...

USU Makes a Deal

If you live in Logan, UT or Cache Valley...or anywhere near there, I am hosting a fund-raising event for a non-profit organization, Wasatch Social Ventures,  which is the organization responsible for raising funds for the Huntsman SEED program. The fund-raising event is called USU Makes a Deal, and is patterned after the TV show "Let's Make a Deal." We are going to charge $5 for admission (or $8 at the door).

Here is the event page for USU Makes a Deal
https://www.facebook.com/events/117270405089323/

And here is some more information about the SEED program, which sends students to 3rd world countries on a mission to educate people about starting businesses and to extend those people micro-loans to start up their dreams:
http://huntsman.usu.edu/seed/


Tell all your friends for me!

Circle of Life

It's been a while since I posted--I have 5 min before my boss responds back to me, let's see how this turns out...

(I don't know what this means but it looks cool)

I've had this thought on my mind the past few days: What about the afterlife?--I mean that in relation to the previously mentioned articles .

We will all die someday.
No one living knows what lies on the other side, death. We are all left to speculate based on our life experiences.
What we do know is that it does come--that no one, as yet, has been able to avoid death.

We also know that our physical bodies remain here, inanimate, and that the only way for them to move is for someone to move them. The living are therefore left in charge of moving the dead, and although it may serve a selfish purpose (if the body is in the way) the act of interacting with the dead is primarily a selfless act.

What we do not know is whether the physical body will be used by it's accompanying spirit at some future date. Many have speculated that the spirit is still connected to the body, or that the body and spirit will return together, or that the body does not matter. Honestly, I side with those who believe the body does not matter--not because I don't believe in the other two possibilities, but because our bodies decay. All of the chemicals and energy that went into our bodies will be dispersed elsewhere and what we borrowed to live in this life will erode away over time.

What matters most is not your physical body, but what you do with your body while living and what others will say about you when you are dead. This is your heritage and cannot be destroyed. Only spiritual things are capable of this because they are capable of changing and impacting the world around them.

The rich and powerful have found a way to preserve their heritage and legacy--but only so far as some other human being is willing to accept the selfless act of moving their body. Tombs and Graves are only maintained by the reigning power and if the latest king or sovereign leader opposes the dead, he or she will destroy the tomb, destroy the symbols, and eliminate the place of the dead.
Great minds have found a way to preserve their heritage and legacy by "discovering" the useful application of knowledge. --but only so far as that knowledge is still useful. Many philosophers have developed ideas that we still rely on today, that are still useful. Many inventors have created useful tools for our lives that we still use today as well--but how many inventors and philosophers were wrong or their inventions were replaced by more useful ones and we no longer know their name?

The point I am leading to is that although there are many ways to make a legacy or a heritage, even those things may end. The key is that they have to be done for the benefit of others otherwise others will refuse to "move your body" when you die.

Even with heritage and legacy in mind, there is a more important aspect of life and death that I will present now, and that is the present.We do not know what lies tomorrow. Though we may benefit people of the future, there are many people in the present who need our help now.
 Death is not a scary thing, nor is it a sorry thing. We do not need to mourn those who have passed on, because life is hard and they no longer have to deal with these troubles--if they died happy, you can take comfort in knowing they ended on a positive note. If they died sad, you can take comfort in knowing that they no longer have to deal with their trials. Celebrate their lives, celebrate the things that they did for you and the way they changed your life, but remember: they are not among the living anymore. There are those among you right now who need you more than the dead.

The dead really don't need us.

You are an ever-present, spiritual being. What happens to you today and how it affects you tomorrow is what matters--I think many people lose sight of their priorities when someone dies around them. They get caught up in the feeling of loss--that that person is no longer going to have an influence on their life--that they abandon all hope, they cry because they are confused. They cry because they don't know how to take the news, they don't know how to react to it, they don't know what they should be thinking about. They fear the unknown--but they don't need to! There are plenty of 'knowns' all around them, plenty of people, plenty of things.

When we fear the unknowns, when we feel the loss of someone, what is really happening to us is that we briefly lose sight of what is important to us. We lose our grounding in life. We get so focused on the one person who is no longer with us that we momentarily withdraw from the people who ARE with us.



Anymore, whenever I hear about deaths, my thoughts instantly go to the urgency to take up more responsibility. I commit to taking up the slack where that person left off (if applicable). Because to me, the living matter more than the dead.

When I die, I don't want a traditional funeral. I want to be cremated and my ashes to be scattered in a place few will go to. I want a monument built at some other religion's monastery that lists 3 of my greatest deeds, my name, and where I lived. And I don't want anyone to attend a ceremony in recognition of my death. That way, if they wish to know me (the dead me) they must learn about someone else's life, beliefs, and religion and therefore open their minds; they will never find my body and wonder whether I am not with them always; and rather than spend their time in celebration of my life, they will be with their family and friends, strengthening their relationships with them. Lastly, they will know that I lived in a town, city, nation, or world and will wonder what impact I made on it.

Trends in Terrorist Attacks- Global Public Enemies

The trend over the last couple decades in warfare is focused on guerilla warfare. Here are some quick observations we know from September 11th 2001 and 2012 (The attack on US Embassy's in Northern Africa):

• Terrorists use religious language and rhetoric to incite the lower classes of people who are economically and educationally deprived 
• They target nations, groups, and organizations that have economic wealth and freedom
• Their attacks are focused to maximize the terror factor and reduce costs
• As such they are very well organized grass-roots organizations
• Their overarching vision and mission is often vague (such as Jihad in the holy lands) and are designed to last forever (there is no way to measure overall progress)
• Even still, their vision is global not local
• Essentially, Terrorists can only win battles and not wars
• They are only permitted to thrive in locations of the world where individuals do not have sufficient freedom (either they are economically constrained or they are oppressed by their government) 

To me it seems as though "Terrorists" (if that's the correct term) are just bullies...they don't have the things they want and their life circumstances are so poor that they take their economic or govermental oppression out on targets that are not directly involved in their oppression. 

This is precisely what Hitler did to gain power over the Germans

What the Bolsheviks did to control the Russians

What Geronimo did to the Native Americans/Mexicans

What we are facing isn't new, and is likely the byproduct of a shrinking world. Although America may play a strong part in our shrinking world, Americans and American Ideology and Organizations are merely players in a constantly changing environment. The changing dynamics affect everyone and these "terrorists" are global citizens who are causing problems to our global society. They are no different than the village trouble maker in primitive societies or the town drunk. 

It is an unfortunate thing that our nations by themselves are unable to handle all of these problems on their own. This situation is comparable to the individual states in the U.S. being unable to contain Jesse James the train robber or Johnny Dillinger the bank robber. 

The solution, for the U.S., was to create a national criminal justice force out of the executive department of the government. This was known as the FBI.

But as the world expands, there becomes a need for an International Task force charged with criminal justice  . We need to recognize that Terrorist acts, Rebellion, Sedition, and otherwise are criminal acts. Such actors become public enemies to the global public. Unrest in one remote part of the world affects the rest of the world--this is 2012. 

In the past we have seen a village pride, town pride, county pride, state pride, national pride, and now it is imperative that we develop a global pride. We need to be proud to be citizens of the Earth and we need to be as involved in global affairs as we are in our local and national affairs. Without such pride we are doomed to repeat history over and over again. Public enemies will surface over and over again and we will be unable to prevent them, unable to stop them until it is too late. 

No man is an island and although modern terrorists tend to focus their efforts on America and its direct allies, all nations of the earth will be affected by these global public enemies. 

Mankind's Greatest Problem

A fellow traveler throughout life once asked me what I thought "the biggest problem was with people." I sat for a moment and then said that the biggest problem with people (individuals and society) is that they don't forgive often enough. Everybody wants Justice. They want what's fair and they want at least an equal share of it. If someone does something to offend them, they want that person to suffer and they themselves to be blessed.
Eventually, the universe will balance itself out. Karma will turn right around and bite everyone who takes more of their share and it might even give more than a fair share to those who are offended. Those who get the worst out of life initially get the best out of life later, and those who have life easy struggle when they are older. But none of that matters really when it comes to people...

People are the catalyst of life. How you treat people is what matters most--the relationships you have and maintain are what is important, not what is just and fair. In the real world, justice and equality don't exist in the same breath as friendship, love and happiness. With people, there is no right and wrong, everything is just different. Some people do things one way, others do things another way, yet both are still living, still surviving. If doing things their way helps them accomplish their goals and find purpose in life, then let them do it. So long as they aren't knocking you down, it's alright that they step on your toes. This world is too big to take offence whenever someone rubs against you the wrong way.

There is something beautiful about being able to withstand other people's negative energy and transforming it into something neutral--or even something positive!

Typically, people's problem (individual's and society's biggest problem of not forgiving) comes down to a common scenario: one friend gets into an argument with another friend or lover or other relation, and they vow not to forgive or forget. They build up a long list of grievances and don't ever let go of the situation and they distance themselves from their friend.
The trouble is that the times when you need friends the most is in that moment when your friend disappoints you, upsets you, turns on you, offends you, hurts you, or otherwise influences you negatively; and in that moment, you've distanced yourself from your friend. In the moment that you harbor animosity between you and your friend and you create that distance between them, you lose your friend and you no longer have your friend to be with you during that, the worst, time.

Forgive people, let the universe balance itself out, life is to precious to lose a good friend.