The Two Party System

"However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion" - George Washington


America is politicly divided.  That's not the problem, disagreement is necessary in a heathy democracy.  The problem is it's politically in to two sides that have a stance on every issue.  You no longer vote on issues or candidates, you vote democrat or republican.  Sure, there are third (fourth, fifth, sixth, elevendysecond) parties but they are viewed as impractical for not acting within the two party system, and are usally way out of the realistic range of political actions anyway.


If we want to sustain democracy, this cannot stand.  A two party system is just a civil cold war between two one-party systems. 

I honestly belive that most people would vote for a third party if they thought it was a viable option, but settle for the party they are closest to.  So how can we solve this problem of inviablity?  My answer: start small.  On a local rather than a national level the stakes are lower and you have more political power preportionaly.  So by consideing your national vote to the "Lesser of two evils" third party voters can have their cake and eat it too, in a practical compromise that slowly shifts our country in a more democratic direction.
 
Meanwhile you can sign this petition to let thrid party canidates on the oklahoma presidential ballot:
http://www.change.org/petitions/state-of-oklahoma-allow-third-party-candidates-for-president-on-the-oklahoma-ballot

In Defense of Labels

In Defense of Labels

“I think putting labels on people is just an easy way of marketing something you don't understand.” -Adam Jones

I Respectfully disagree.

Labeling (and by labeling I mean labeling chiefly with regards to personality traits and beliefs of individuals) has been branded a problem in society. I have been told its silly for me to label people as nerds or class clowns, green libertarians, or paleoconservatives, metalheads or punk rockers. Many people make the case that humans are much to complex for use to fit into a single category. This is not an assertion it’s reasonable to disagree with, so a defense of labels is an unpopular stance.

However, the problem of pigeonholing is not innate to labeling. The argument is based on two false pretenses. First, it is wrong to discount that if you are labeled, you then can have many other labels to describe yourself. The second pretense, is a mistake in the definition of labeling, our collective amnesia to the fact that a label in this kind of context is a generalization. At the same time we also seem to have forgotten that a generalization is by definition not to be followed adamantly, but a trend to be factored in to decision making.

Now this all probably seems really abstract at the moment, but if you put yourself on the lookout, you will see yourself and others knee-jerk rejecting things because they are labels. It may be hard to visualize now because a label has so many meanings, but I am confident it will make sense.

I want to apologize for my absence, I told you in my last post you could expect my next post to be more lighthearted. I had some difficulty meeting that end.

Beyond the Self

“I wish them the only thing that can prove today whether one is worth anything or not — that one endures.”- Friedrich Nietzsche

Now that I have gotten “settled in” to this mode of communication, I think it's time I addressed some more serious (and somewhat darker) topic.  This topic is not easy to put into words, so bear with me.

Our newest generation, the generation I am a member of, places a high value on apathy and sloth. It idolizes those who are not merely cynical, but totally defeatist, with regards to making an impact on the world at large. Instead of aiming to make a legacy that will endure beyond the end of one's human existence, one is supposed to merely seek maximum comfort while they live. This is, of course a very difficult assertion to support. The best quantifiable piece of support for this is that the average American spends 2.8 hours a day watching TV. The rest more subjective, and so this particular post isn't here to convince you of that assertion. Instead, I aim to show why this needs to be stopped did those willing to entertain it. And since religion provides its own set of goals, I only need to show this to the nonreligious (everybody else, go for home).

The individual is temporary.  We all know this (assuming, as I said above that the reader is nonreligious).   And because we know this, any pleasure we achieve is a hollow victory.  Recognizing that isn't the problem.  The problem is, it doesn't seem like we have another option.  It's extremely unlikely, that any of us are going to make a significant impact in the world.  So why bother?  I propose that the reason we should try to make an impact on the world, is because it makes for a good story.

 

In the book “The Story of B” by Daniel Quinn, there is a section that talks about the human capacity to tell stories where no other animal can at a remotely similar caliber.  It proposes that this ability makes us human, and as such our minds are wired to think in terms of stories.  Memory experts also use made up stories in order to remember a sequence that has nothing to do with each other.  Our mind thinks in stories, therefore when our memories form a story of his struggle to make the world a better place, it's more satisfying than any temporary pleasure.

As I said above, this is a difficult issue to talk about, and so him this first post on the subject does not even come close to expressing everything I have to say about it.  But I have to start somewhere.  Expect an elaboration of this topic throughout this blog’s lifespan. 

 

Also, expect me to lighten up a little next post.

Keep Screamo out of Texoma!

“You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”

Ah, this is a wonderful time! I have so much to say and to think about, my head is filled to the brim. The best part? Unlike other so many situations where you have a lot to say, I know exactly where to begin.

I’ll start with something from my from my life. I am a metalhead, and on facebook, a local band invited their followers to “join” a “troll“ (I.e. internet sarcasm designed to frustrate and confuse) event called “Keep Screamo out of Texoma” and “troll” them. The fake purpose of the satirical page was to pass a law banning “screamo” (I.e. metal mislabeled by normal people) from the area between Texas and Oklahoma. While this page was clearly a joke, It got me think about people who honestly think that metal/”screamo” must be stoped, and that it undermines the values of society.

The huge(est) problem with that is that Metal has its own values. In fact, one could even go so far as to say metal is its own culture. No one who wants to stop Metal (or Goth or Punk or any other counter-cultural music) realizes its importance to the listener. It’s easy to assume “It’s just music” to an outsider, because to most people, it’s just a causal form of recreation, or at most an interest. But to many metalheads, it is like a religion, a way of life, or a crusade for ideals (or somewhere in between).

However, I can’t judge them at all, their ignorance is totally understandable. I found that I did (and sometimes still do) the same kind of undervaluing to aspects of peoples life that I find of low importance.

Namely, religion.

I was raised atheist (whether or not I still count as one is debatable, and I intend to address it later), and so when I talked to religious people about religion, I had know idea what it really meant to them. I viewed it (when I was an elementary schooler anyway) as a simple waste of time people did, and thought that logically trying to disprove peoples beliefs, would be enough to make people just “shrug off” what I now know are often the most core assumptions in peoples life. And as a child I was not at all afraid to speak my mind.

You can imagine how that went.

So what does this have to do with the title? Well, to put it simply, this post is a reminder to everyone (including myself) to tred carefully when trying to persuade others. You don’t know how important something you might find trivial is to someone else, and since this blog is going to go into some pretty weighty subject matter, it’s especially important to keep that in mind here.

　

-J. Patrick Wentz

Introduction

Beginnings are hard.

Wew! Glad I got that out of the way, now I can explain what this blog is actually about. This is a (or will be) collection of thoughts I have the nerve to think are worth recording, that will expand upon in formats that may or may not resemble an essay or article. It is not a chronicle of events in my life, though I may or may not make a separate blog for that. The aim of this undertaking is simply to get people thinking, to spread and discuss things work talking about, and I don’t think hearing my ideas necessitates knowing my life story. That said it is still a good idea to tell you something about me because we are all shaped by our experiences, and no one is completely unbiased.

　

I am a teenager, and I have an ego even larger than average for my age. Even larger than my age for a gifted child (My IQ was scored at 133, Gifted but not genius intelligence, however IQ tests are shown to give lower than correct scores to children with Asperger's syndrome like me(Here are some links on that)). I try not to waste my time quite as much as most people in my generation, and I am engaged in many creative pursuits (Dlef, National Geopatrick, and Crypton for instance). I am a deep thinker, which is why I made this page. My friends have suggested I write a book on my thoughts, but I am neither focused or skilled enough for that at this time, so I’m starting with a blog.

This one.

That you are reading.

Right now.

With that information in mind you may or may not have a good idea of why I called my blog “Dare I say Wisdom?”. Fools tend to think their selves wise, teenagers tend to be fools, and humility is supposed to be a mark of wisdom. Yet, I can’t help but look back on struggles to succeed with a (albeit moderate) learning “disability” and social rejection by peers from a young age, and think “you know, there just might be something to my philosophy” and people older and wiser than me in many other ways seem to (partially) agree. On top of this I seem to be very capable of recognizing my own flaws and addressing them, which should hopefully stop me from making great bounds of hubris. So, I hesitate to call my thoughts wise, but still have the confidence to put them out there.

　

Which brings us to a request from me to the reader.

Please, if you see something you disagree with, or even just at all question, leave a comment about it. Let your opinion be heard. I want this to be a place where people can discus the various topics I address openly, without things getting nasty, this improves the minds of everyone participating and hopefully brings us closer to the truth (or at least a good story!).

As for the specific topics, they will range from politics to culture to philosophy to psychology to everyday life to what may or may not be called spirituality (I will explain that in a coming post) and the grey area in between. I may venture out side this realm a little, but don’t expect this to turn into a food blog or anything. The general rule is that the topics are things were one could call an idea about them wise, rather than a scientific discovery, technological invention, or a creative work. This will most definitely not include a recipe for butternut squash soup.

Probably.

Whatever, format conveys the idea I wish to express will be the one I use, so don’t expect a set, conventional format. At the same time don’t be surprised if you see an actual essay. I wish this paragraph could have been longer but I really don’t have anything else to say about that subject.

So…

All in all this blog is just food for thought and if it’s not the most deep, interesting, or wise thing ever,

There are much worse ways to spend your time on the internet.

I found out the hard way.