My sources on the last post came from a 15 minute web crawl, as I mentioned my research is heavily influenced by my feelings, not my experience or understanding of the system.
A strong word of caution on sources though, Wikipedia is probably the last place I would go for truly credible accounts. To many times it has been shown to be wrong (the price to pay for community involvement/information sharing)---many times the sources are incorrect or misleading...Update: Nature Magazine found the scientific articles reasonable accurate-which was soon disputed by Britannica on BBC (see below), but I still caution single resources, biased or not.
Looky:
Nature Article references from BBC
Wiki Accuracy 1
Wiki Accuracy 2
Looky:
Nature Article references from BBC
Wiki Accuracy 1
Wiki Accuracy 2
I'll give you my POV and that will help determine where I am heading socially, politically and personally...
+ I have a family including a 5 year old son whom I love more than anything. Given my current circumstances, they are a primary focus. The fact I could lose them makes it all that more important.
+ I am a graphic designer by trade-not quite an artist, but inclined toward it and very appreciative of the arts
+ I am heavily involved in the outdoors--cycling in any shape, kayaking, hiking, camping---my "religion" if you will, my closest moment to a higher power, comes when I am outdoors, usually alone, but always outdoors. It is when I am the most clear headed, calm and thoughtful.
+ I am working on be a healthier individual, including eating better, understanding my impact on the world and environment, including how my actions influence the world around me both intimately and from afar.
+ A consumer at heart, I find my desires lend themselves to the following: bikes, music, shoes, jackets and more bike related stuff. Toss in a new Mac every 4 years and that covers my compu-side. I look at HDTV's, even want one, but find my money goes to bikes, coffee or clothes (after bills and family fun). My turning point has been paying off my credit cards and living more within (still a WIP) my means. Quite the contrary to the American standard, whether individual or as shown by our own government (deficit spending, borrowing from other nations, the feeling like you are owed an SUV or HDTV, instead of the FACT it is a privilege---NOT a right).
There's so much more, but my point (if there is one) is the parts of me described above, help build the person I am and how I look toward leadership, choices and decisions and the future.
The major problems I see are the usual; the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer and more widespread (as the middle class begins to be absorbed into the classification), special interests (generally spearheaded by the ultra rich in my opinion) gaining favor and influence (yes, that includes BIG oil as they influence so much of what we do everyday), and a general disregard for personal responsibility and understanding of yourself and fellow man, woman and child.
Problems, blogging, chatting are all fine to ponder, my next step, albeit a very tough one, is figuring out what I can do at even a small scale to make a difference...and that my friend will be a life long endeavor.
2 comments:
well, at least as far as some basic scientific articles are concerned, wikipedia has been shown to be about as accurate as some "more credible" sources. check out the article in Nature: here.
Can't vouch for its accuracy as far as the political sphere is concerned.
I think you and I have a lot more in common then we give credit. We can all agree to disagree as long as we are always moving forward.
I do want to say you cannot really put down wikipedia if you’re welling to quote The New York Times…. ha, ha, ha. Plus I was only giving a definition of “Pork Barrel” spending.
I’m with you Ken. My family is the most important thing to me. I want them to have the same opportunities I did. That’s why I’m so scared of the future. Your comment on the rich get richer, you first have to define “rich”. Yes big companies like “big oil” have a lot of pull in government. The reason for this is because the government is the biggest global corporation in the world. If our government was not as powerful as it is the special interest groups would have to fight it out in the free market and not have the ability to pay politicians. That’s why I keep preaching for our government to stay the hell out of the market and quit trying to manipulate it. Smaller government, more business freedom equals more jobs and better living for everyone who is willing to work and make a difference.
I know we probably don’t agree with this but I will never be for our government deciding who can make money, how much, and the government can take what they think is right from that company. Almost everyone who is considered poor in this country owns a TV or a cell phone. People need to take responsibility for their actions and not depend on the government for handouts. I really feel our government is luring classes of people into government programs that take care of them. People will not know how to take care of themselves. Our culture has already turned into the “entitlement” crowd. Being a small business owner I see this all the time with employees. They demand a lot of money but never want to prove their worth. They come, they quite, they head to the unemployment office to try and get a check. It’s crazy.
The things I have tried to do is stay informed on the government. Vote for the people I believe in and have the track record I agree with. Making sure I live by my values and not something new every other year. Raise my girls to be thinkers and challenge everything they will hear or learn. And most of all teach them how to support themselves and the value of independence.
I’m a freaking nut job!
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