Philosophy and Politics

What we need to remember is that even though there are certain topics that we very strongly disagree on, we are all Americans with a common heritage and a basically uniform way of thinking.  Our disagreements are really trivial when we consider the balance of the remaining things that we all agree on:  peace, love and a pursuit of what gives our lives meaning.  There is no bridge we...

What do you think about unfulfilled dreams?  Do you have something that burns within you that won't go away, or do you struggle to find any meaning in the things you do?  What kind of life do you envision for yourself?  Too many of us are unrealistic about the kinds of lives we want, and not always toward the extravagant.  Sometimes we settle too easily, or don't try hard enoug...

This is most definitely a venting post, so if you don't appreciate that kind of writing, I'm going to recommend now that you go ahead and move on with your day.  Writing with emotion is rarely productive, but as I don't really have the ability to get it out where I am right now, and it has a vaguely appropriate application to the philosophy portion of my blog, I'm going to post it here rather...

Too many people today base their relationships on how they feel rather than realizing what they really get out of this mutual agreement to be with someone else.  All they see are the negatives that come with unfulfilled desires, not the positives that come with having someone there to support them through the hard times.  The mundane details of combined resources propelling them toward a...

What do you think about digital currency?  Is it likely that you might lose control of your finances in the near future?  What services do you use today that rely on transfer of funds by government aligned institutions?  It might seem paranoid to worry about such things, but when it comes to your ability to pay for the things you need to live, being concerned about such things isn't...

What do you think about UFO's?  Is all of this real, or is there something else going on?  Why the sudden change from secrecy to transparency?  As we discussed, there could be many reasons for this, but usually the simplest answer is the true one.  The question is that with a topic so complex as this one, which answer is actually the simplest?  A bit of exploration on the...

What do you think about political bullying?  Can we turn back the tide of insanity in which we currently live?  What methods can we use to combat this sort of negative behavior on such a major level?  Sometimes the solutions to our problems are very complex, while other times they can be quite simple.  Many times we overthink things to the point that the obvious answer simply e...

When I look at my career, I've shifted away from worrying about how much money I make to really considering my work/life balance.  My approach to this is exactly the same as how the employer does it:  maximizing the ratio that is important to me.  However, instead of worrying about the amount of money versus how much I have to give someone, my primary concern at this stage in life i...

For America to remain the dominant nation in the world, we have to get over our petty bickering and start really talking to each other.  To do this will require some hard choices, not the least of which is digging into the current system and purging the poisonous vipers from our midst.  It is only when we decide we're finally not going to take it anymore that we can "drain the swamp", be...

I'm grateful to live in a place where all I have to worry about is grindy work and that basic survival isn't something I really have to think about much.  There are much worse situations to be in and I certainly recognize that.  However, what many people don't understand is the very real needs we have the extend beyond just finding a way keep breathing.  There are levels of existenc...

What do you think about the current immigration situation?  Is it helping immigrants, or hurting Americans?  Is there an agenda behind it, or are they just trying to help people?  It's easy to ignore problems we don't want to deal with, but sometimes problems come to our door and we have to make a decision.  When it comes to the issue of federally assisted illegal immigration,...

What do you think about homework?  Is it an effective way of reinforcing information for kids, or is it an unnecessary indoctrination into becoming overworked?  We live in a time where people are really starting to learn what they want out of life, and for many it isn't slaving away for someone else for sixteen hours a day.  Perhaps it's time to stop teaching our children to bring t...

One of my favorite turns of phrase is the idea that "you can't legislate behavior", the idea being that no matter how many rules you put in place, people are ultimately going to do what they want.  The same thing applies to gender roles in that you can try to legislate and propagandize human behavior to shape what people are, but in the end we are going to be what we are and no amount of brai...

What do you think about dealing with details?  Are you the one everyone looks to when there's something complicated to get done?  Or do you struggle with just getting through a set of instructions?  We are each uniquely different, and it's ok if there are things we struggle with.  This is why it's important to have people in your life who are good at doing the things that you a...

What do you think about political vagrancy?  Are the Democrats fleeing Texas heroes or villains?  Do you see them as standing up for a cause, or running away from a fight?  There are few legitimate excuses for failing to fulfill a promise, and it's especially egregious when that promise regards something as sacred as American representative democracy.  How can we trust people w...

What do you think about relationship expectations?  Have we reached the point where happy marriages are near impossible?  Are you in a long term relationship with someone who isn't content with you?  Or are you the one struggling to live with a person who doesn't fulfill your "needs"?  In the end, happiness is much like love in that it is ultimately a choice.  If you choos...

What do you think about the differences between men and women?  Do they cause any issues for you in your personal life?  Are your relationships with the opposite sex strong and healthy, or do some of the issues written here plague you just as badly?  Or worse?  Very little in life is easy, and relationships are near the top of the difficult column.  It is up to each of us...

What do you think about Chinese aggression?  Is it a real threat, or is it all for show?  What would a real confrontation between China and the west look like?  Normal people fear war, and legitimate effort should be taken to avoid it.  However, giving in to bullies in the hopes of avoiding a fight usually results in a redoubled effort by those who crave power.  We see it...

In the end, there will always be conflict between groups of people who disagree.  As much as we might hate it, the fight will come to us if we don't go to it.  There will always be people who want to gain control of others, whether to take what you have or simply to enjoy the feeling of being able to tell other people what to do.  Whatever the reasons and whatever their ideology, fr...

As I look back on the nineties, it was an era of truly unique and original ideas regarding computer games, not because anyone came up with something that no one else had ever thought of, but because we had a truly revolutionary technology at our disposal that allowed us to branch out into a truly new area of development.  It's easy to come up with something new when you're in completely unexp...

What do you think about lying?  How often do you do it?  Do you lie for good reasons, or for selfish ones?  We all engage in socially unacceptable behavior for one reason or another, and our motives are the determining factor as to whether or not it was justified.  Before we step outside of our moral construct and engage in an act such as lying, it is important to determine if...

What do you think about meeting deadlines?  How many times have you had to rush through things to get something done on time?  Do you ever impose your own schedule on things?  Regardless of the source, time is never on your side and you should always be ready to marshal your efforts to get done what needs to be done.  Few things are worse than failing to meet expectations, espe...

What do you think about dealing with problems?  Do you get frustrated, or are you able to take it calmly?  Is your life made more difficult by an inability to respond well to unfolding events, or are you "cool as a cucumber"?  We all have things we end up dealing with, and the way we respond to them is unique to each of us.  There is no wrong way to handle these kinds of things...

I guess the point of this post is to articulate the idea that some of us really struggle with living in a way that prevents us from moving anywhere, not because we don't have valuable skills and abilities, but because we just can't maintain our focus on any one thing long enough to really get anywhere with it.  It's unclear to me how to escape from this choking loop of self-sabotage, but I re...

What do you think about the composition of our government?  Is going in one direction a good way to do business, or should there be more balance?  Are there any differences in what you're seeing today compared to the past that make you nervous?  The cold, hard truth is that competence is becoming a rare commodity, and the more we focus on dreams rather than ability, the more we're g...