A Word of Advice

    Once again, a few weeks ago I found myself sifting through the nonsense people love to regurgitate on Facebook fan pages, or anywhere on the Internet for that matter. This particular post was in response to another wonderful discussion on the United States of America Facebook Fan Page entitled “What makes America so shit?” which garnered more responses than nearly every other post on the entire page. Taking that into account, it really needs no further introduction:

     All of you should consider actually learning the English language and utilizing it appropriately in your arguments. Perhaps then those arguments would have some proportionable weight in structure and content to the level of grammar used. It is hysterical at first to see not a single person grammatically correct in his or her writing. In the end, however, it is really just sad to realize that exactly what we are all doing here and now is the very culprit in practically dismantling entirely the fundamental building blocks of credible argumentative essays--a strong thesis, verifiable supporting data, proper sentence structure and appropriate punctuation. When the age of 'Internet-Ready Everything' dawned nearly a decade ago, texting and instant messaging immediately grew to become the ultimate source of acronyms and laziness in writing. But that is alright because here in the United States, you can go and get a star-spangled quality education at an affordable cost. There's just one little catch--you can't. Unless you are rich the cost of that quality education is so far out of your income range that it is just easier to stay stupid. And if anybody wants to get a loan, it becomes nearly impossible. Instead of basing the qualification to receive loans for education on the desire alone to attend school, it has become subject to the ever-changing, little, imaginary number called a credit score--a number which changes at the whim of credit card companies; the same ones that charge you 30% or more interest on your balance. Not a problem because that is what the purpose of life is: to focus all of our time and energy to the embellishment of the monetary system. (I hope that none of you agreed with that last sentence because it was clearly sarcasm.) But, it's okay because you still have a great Health plan. Oh, that's right--you don't. Unless you are rich or in government, good luck getting approval from an insurance company for a surgical procedure that could save your life because your illness is deemed "pre-existing" or some other invidious circumstance in place to maximize profits by saving money. Don't worry; at least you will still have a house to live in until you do die--uh oh.

     It was asked in the title of this post, "Why is America so shit?" I don't think that the United States is shit; yet. Slowly but surely, however, morons like G.W., Sarah Palin, the tea baggers and many, many more ignorant, arrogant douches are proudly wadding this country up in Charmin and flushing it down the toilet. George W. Bush is a sinker, along with the rest of the Sesame Street Administration; Palin is a floater just like the ice up there in Alaska; and the tea party is just a bunch of inbetweeners--you know, the ones that touch the bottom yet stick out of the water a little. All of this is happening, though, because people love so much to have opinions in this country, even if those opinions are unfounded, incredible or just plain ignorant. (Granted, this is a very opinionated post, but these opinions are based on obvious facts, research and observation of the painful truths here in the U.S. and are mostly intended in this particular as dry humor.) My favorite incredible claim is that the United States is the best damn country in the whole wide world. But, that's just fine because you can always start a reality show about how great your life is. There's just one problem: it’s not. Anyways, you won't because you are too lazy and will not stop spouting about how great this country is one instant, then just as obstacles arise the next, what a piece of shit this country is. The Constitution of the United States of America, however twisted and backward the government has become, guarantees you the freedoms to say and do what you want and grants you the privilege/right to be a citizen. And even that has changed a bit due to the Patriot Act. But, as I am sure there are only a few of you that have actually read the Constitution (four pages is just so much to have to read, I know), I am almost certain that none of you have read the 342-page Patriot Act which actually does abridge some of your rights and freedoms, especially those in Amendment V.

     Honestly, I could go on all day. But that is not my purpose in posting here today. What I am doing is challenging each and every one of you to better yourself; better your understanding of the world; and to learn how to write effectively. Don’t just act like your opinion is supposed to be of such prominent importance and strong subject matter when in fact the only place you are probably posting your grammatically incorrect discourse is here; on a Facebook fan page. Do some type of research and learn how to spell. And to those who will undoubtedly rebuttal with some sort of “I’m so patriotic!” garbage or "You're an asshole!"—you are exactly who I am talking about so get over yourself. Grow up people and do something beneficial to the whole of society. Life does not revolve around being a citizen of the United States of America. Don’t just sit here and whine about things because you can; that just makes things worse. If you want to truly get involved, learn about your government and ways to interact with that government before deciding to boast about your wonderful opinions. Then, actually do something. Bitching about anything and everything, neglecting to advance ideas on the betterment of anything and everything, is exactly what makes people all around the world look at the U.S. and laugh. (Do not twist my words with some sad excuse for a remark against what I just wrote. I did not say that everyone around the world laughs at us. Many people love the United States and move here because of our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms that so many of us take for granted on a daily basis; but, many people also despise the United States because of narrow-mindedness as well as arrogance and want us gone.) Perhaps I will be proven correct within a few of the following posts…

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

     Does a fear of failure get in the way of success?o To answer such a thought provoking question as this, one must take into account the very meaning of the word success and enumerate the terms under which one attains it. Success can be defined by a multitude of different situations, but the one that most abruptly comes to mind is something I have mentioned, and will continue to mention, often--financial gain. Undoubtedly, one of the most routinely asked questions of someone pursuing an advanced education is, "What is the purpose for which you are attending college?" The most common answer being, "To make more money." But in the end, is that what all this is really about--money?

     Perhaps the most problematic feature of success, at least here in the United States, is that it remains most commonly equated with this figment of our imagination. Somewhere along the lines of the past century, our society has horribly depreciated the true value of education--knowledge. Instead, we have conditioned ourselves to the understanding that if we can make more money by putting in as little effort as possible, then it is okay to do so without any gain in knowledge; that ignorance, on account of convenience, somehow takes precedence over knowledge, as long as the substantial reward remains. But, success without knowledge, in my opinion, is failure in its most pristine form.

     For some, a fear of failure surely does block the path to success. However, others may fear success itself and perpetually separate themselves altogether from any means that may propel them towards it. In any case, one thing is certain: that to obtain true success, one must relinquish his or her self of any fears that might become inhibiting factors. To do so takes an ability to analytically discern the outcomes of many different life-altering choices; critical thinking, in other words--an ability most notably obtained through education.

     To those whose fears of failure prevent them from making the ultimate decision of whether to pursue a higher education or achieve their notion of success, however obscure it may seem, I say that fear is born of ignorance and suppression and the only way to overcome that fear is to free one's mind of it and take that first step into the unknown. As I have said before, all that is now known was once unknown.

     It is quite clear to me the true power these fears hold over people. Today, I sit here a product of both of the fore mentioned fears. In the summer of 2007, my former band and I moved to California to pursue the dream of rock stardom. Not surprisingly, the band is no longer together and they have all moved back to Ohio. Maybe they feared success; maybe failure. I know now that I feared both. Because of these fears, in the end we all failed. Fortunately, that failure sparked in me a need to advance myself. Now I am pursuing degrees in physics and political science. My point is that just because one may fail at certain things does not necessarily mean those failures will not open doors to other opportunities where one may succeed. Life is about learning from mistakes and failures, analyzing that knowledge and applying it in our future undertakings. Some say one has to fail before succeeding; that failure inevitably precedes success. Whatever the case may be, and however difficult the circumstances, one lesson has been made clear by philosopher Charles Baudouin: "If your thought is saturated with the fear of failure, it will kill your efforts, neutralize your endeavors, and make success impossible."