The Year We Make Contact...

As of right now, I’m watching 2010: The Year We Make Contact, which is the sequal to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Those who had made the movie tried to make it in a sense that the United States and the U.S.S.R. were still involved in the Cold War. I just got done watching the part in the movie where they try “aero-braking.” There is a part where the elder United States’ doctor attempts to make it through the extreme braking techniques the Russians use. What they attempt to do they call aero-braking in the movie, that is, using the atmosphere of a planet to their advantage. While I am no scientist and could therefore not tell you if this was possible or not, I did find it interesting that the director included, in this exact scene, a moment where a Russian member of the space team, apparently a young, female, naïve member, comes to the United States team member as a form of comfort, most likely as a way to show that we can come together in peace.

In the vein of the movie: I wish I had a young, female, Russian cosmonaut to come hug me in times of dire straights. That would make me feel better no matter what was going on.

Assholemanship

Many people do not know where they stand. Many more people do know where they stand but are unsure that they hold that position. That is where I come in. When I debate people, I take the other side, usually to the extreme. Playing the “Devil’s Advocate” allows me to debate someone and pull out the reasons behind that person’s position. From there it just becomes a matter of trying to sway that person from the position they hold and convince them of my rightness. This, however, is where I become an “asshole.” Once I draw this person into a position where the views seem solidified, I test those now-sacredly held beliefs by turning the argument back around; I flip the debate on its head, so to speak. In all, I enjoy doing this because it truly lets me know where this person stands and it allows me the opportunity for a good, spirited debate. When I flip the argument on people, however, they usually just end up frustrated with me and call me an asshole. From there, I am quick to remind them, as I did when we first started debating, that I am merely playing the part for the rebuttal but most people just assume I am an asshole. Oh well, I am content with being an asshole.

Rockin' The Jeopardy

I love trivia, I love knowledge, and I love random pieces of information. Many weekends, my friend and I spend my evenings catching up on the Jeopardy episodes he saves on his Comcast. He, like me, is a lover of all things random-knowledge. We stay up many a late night, Coors Lights-a-plenty, viewing episode after episode of Jeopardy or even Wheel of Fortune, even after our girlfriends have gone to bed.

One such episode of Jeopardy brought the most amazing moment for me. Usually, both my friend and I can answer a whole category or a few answers here and there and rarely are we able to come up with the answer to Final Jeopardy. If you are familiar with Jeopardy, than you know how it works. Alex Trebek introduces the category and the contestants are than supposed to write down how much they wager while those of us at home wait around through the commercial break. Up return, the question is asked and the contestants write down their answers. I need to back up, however, as before the commercial break even happened, right after Trebek introduced the category, I shouted out an answer. My answer was “Paul Bunyan” and the category was American Legends. When we fast forwarded back to the game, the question was read and none of us officially knew the answer. It turned out, though, that I was right with my answer of Paul Bunyan, answered even before the question was read. It felt amazing.

Anarchy?

an•archos: (Latin) no masters

For anyone who is curious about anarchy and what it is, you must rid youselves of any preconceived ideas or anything you may have heard and come at it with a new outlook. Many have used it to imply chaos, and if you believe that humanity needs an authority figure (be it a leader, president, prime minister, legislative body) to keep it from falling into chaos, then yes, no leaders would be chaos. However, if you do not believe in the legitimacy of anyone ruling over anyone else, than any leader would be tyranny.

Anarchy, today, has taken on many different shapes, such as the for-image title taken on by many within the punk scene or the libertarian-socialist perspective which is more a true political philosophy, since that is what anarchy truly is: a political philosophy. However, it is simply that, a philosophy, and not an answer, but we can also agree with Chomsky in that we do not know what would work and what would not, so it is also too early on to discredit it. What anarchy implies, basically, is no government and no rulers. It is utopian in the idea that people will coexist relatively peacefully and settle all disputes themselves as well as helping out their fellow humans. Because of the idea of no masters, it also has an inherent belief that their can be no private property. Property is a common, public good, and therefore, should not and can not be truly owned, bought, or sold. We can use it to our advantage and place our houses upon it, but to own land, something which one has not created, is sacrilegious.

Within true anarchy, there is also an idea of non-violence; violence being a rule/ruler imposed upon someone else. It is upon these basic tenants that anarchy is built and if you want more, research the various books on the subject, they are, for the most part, very good.

Punk Rock

For every 10 self-inflated punks out there is only 1 real punk, unfortunately. The punk scene itself has practically cannibalized itself, leaving only its rotting entrails.

Nowadays it seems most punks feel the need to be not-“posers,” whatever that means. Being a punk, in itself, I would claim is being a poser. Punk music, to me, only means music that is staying true to itself, considering that even early hip-hop artists considered themselves punk musicians.

Punks don’t stand for anarchy, they don’t stand for anything. If they did stand for something, it would be the idea that who one is IS who one is.

If anyone wants to know what this short venting is in response to, feel free to email me, as it does not Copy+Paste well in this Blogger program.

Democracy

For any readers out there who might still hold the idea that America is a democracy, I urge you to defenestrate (how about that, Prof. Wood?) that idea and reconsider.

Democracy comes from the joining of two words from ancient Greece, demos and –kratia.

If you choose not to follow the links, demos refers to the general public or the common people. In ancient times this was also considered the general “mob.” Meanwhile, -kratia refers to a form of government. Combined, democracy now means rule by the people, and while this may be thought of as a good thing, it is ultimately wrong.

Evidence of democracy being a wrong thing lies simply in the ideas that the forefathers of history held. For example, the majority, in the past, held that women could not vote, blacks were to be slaves, and the Earth was flat. While entertaining the idea that the Earth is flat apparently does not hurt nor impede anyone, people were considered heretics by the Church if they believed otherwise and were sentenced to death unless they recanted their position.

The authors of the Constitution attempted to answer the problems of democracy when they wrote the Constitution by introducing representatives and judges. Representatives do all the voting to ensure that those who are ignorant or uninformed do not vote. The judges act to ensure that anything that is voted upon or placed into law is not infringing on a minority of people. It is the job of both the representative and the judge to ensure that a misinformed majority is restrained and unable to inflict tyranny on a minority of people.

A Spring Break Hangover

It seems to be a good time to do some flagellation/understanding as a means of redemption, especially when one takes into account the fact that spring break is now over even though I personally did not do anything near regretful.

In an effort to make this more interesting (or more annoying, depending on one’s preference) I will be writing this following a minimalist pattern, it is up to you, the reader, to take these sentences however you would like…

I am a God-fearing atheist.

I hate being wrong.

Blood is thicker than water.

I still can’t believe it’s not butter.

Happiness is overrated but in a few years the pharmaceutical industry will have a pill to solve that as well.

I am a resentful son.

Rodents and reptiles creep me out.

I am an idealist.

I wish my band had more of a drive to succeed, myself included.

Nobody speaks for me.

I am a huge nerd.

My room is perpetually messy, even when it is in the middle of being cleaned.

Drinking is a habit that is too affordable.

I enjoy reading.

My ability to play guitar and my years of playing guitar are not correlated in the way they should be.

I am nobody’s fool but my own.

Music will never be as good as it used to be and it is constantly getting better.

I always lie.

I am me.

I hope what you just read was as fun, interesting, and thought provoking for you as it was for me. Many were contradictions and conundrums within themselves and I hope you enjoy breaking them down.