Changes are coming! Changes are here!
I sense that everything, both good and bad, is building up to something big. Last night I just got really excited for the new skit on retreat. On the way to Austin's house, I saw a huge shooting star, and it was falling for the longest time I've ever seen a shooting star fall. I love the sky...especially at night. I feel like its God's way of showing off his skills. When I saw that star I just got really happy...so much at peace. I don't know why, but I feel this momentum building up for something big on the horizon to explode. Nothing bad...actually its going to be something great. Something perfect. Anybody else feel me on that? I'm on a roll.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
New Nationalism
I've always said that Theodore Roosevelt was my favorite President. I back this up half-jokingly by citing the "Teddy bear" and the fact that he basically incited a revolution in order to gain the Panama Canal. And who can forget the REAL OG Rough Riders (seriously...its like me telling a bunch of my friends to pick up some guns so we can go to Iraq and/or Afghanistan!!!). Seriously though, to me Theodore Roosevelt was one of the greatest Presidents to grace the Oval Office (up there with Lincoln, FDR and I want to argue Clinton, but thats saved for a whole different post). And despite the fact that Roosevelt was a Republican, I believe his greatest qualities were the ideals he stood for when he created the Bull Moose Party (aka the Progressive Party). His ideals were so far ahead of his time, and today I believe that it would be a great platform for the Democratic Party (shows you how times have changed and how polarized the political parties have become, huh?). It is my dream to enter politics for two reasons: 1) First and foremost to restore a rightful place for faith in politics (just because the masses don't share a common religion does not mean that faith has to be expelled from public life. Politics can very well be universally inclusive of all religions as opposed to indirectly exclusive to Judeo-Protestantism) and 2) to create a viable party that breaks the traditional two-party system. I would love to base a party platform on Theodore Roosevelt's speech in which he defines "New Nationalism" as the founding principles of his failed Bull Moose Party (Progressive Party).
Check it out:
Theodore Roosevelt's New Nationalism Speech
Some highlights I would like to point out:
"We come here to-day to commemorate one of the epoch-making events of the long struggle for the rights of man—the long struggle for the uplift of humanity. Our country—this great Republic—means nothing unless it means the triumph of a real democracy, the triumph of popular government, and, in the long run, of an economic system under which each man shall be guaranteed the opportunity to show the best that there is in him. That is why the history of America is now the central feature of the history of the world; for the world has set its face hopefully toward our democracy; and, O my fellow citizens, each one of you carries on your shoulders not only the burden of doing well for the sake of your country, but the burden of doing well and of seeing that this nation does well for the sake of mankind."
"Of that generation of men to whom we owe so much, the man to whom we owe most is, of course, Lincoln. Part of our debt to him is because he forecast our present struggle and saw the way out. He said:
'I hold that while man exists it is his duty to improve not only his own condition, but to assist in ameliorating mankind.'
And again:
'Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.'
If that remark was original with me, I should be even more strongly denounced as a Communist agitator than I shall be anyhow. It is Lincoln’s. I am only quoting it; and that is one side; that is the side the capitalist should hear. Now, let the working man hear his side.
'Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as any other rights. . . . Nor should this lead to a war upon the owners of property. Property is the fruit of labor; . . . property is desirable; is a positive good in the world.'
And then comes a thoroughly Lincoln-like sentence:
'Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.'"
"Practical equality of opportunity for all citizens, when we achieve it, will have two great results. First, every man will have a fair chance to make of himself all that in him lies; to reach the highest point to which his capacities, unassisted by special privilege of his own and unhampered by the special privilege of others, can carry him, and to get for himself and his family substantially what he has earned. Second, equality of opportunity means that the commonwealth will get from every citizen the highest service of which he is capable. No man who carries the burden of the special privileges of another can give to the commonwealth that service to which it is fairly entitled.
I stand for the square deal. But when I say that I am for the square deal, I mean not merely that I stand for fair play under the present rules of the game, but that I stand for having those rules changed so as to work for a more substantial equality of opportunity and of reward for equally good service. One word of warning, which, I think, is hardly necessary in Kansas. When I say I want a square deal for the poor man, I do not mean that I want a square deal for the man who remains poor because he has not got the energy to work for himself. If a man who has had a chance will not make good, then he has got to quit. And you men of the Grand Army, you want justice for the brave man who fought, and punishment for the coward who shirked his work. Is that not so?"
"We grudge no man a fortune in civil life if it is honorably obtained and well used. It is not even enough that it should have been gained without doing damage to the community. We should permit it to be gained only so long as the gaining represents benefit to the community. This, I know, implies a policy of a far more active governmental interference with social and economic conditions in this country than we have yet had, but I think we have got to face the fact that such an increase in governmental control is now necessary."
"A word of special warning to my fellow citizens who are as progressive as I hope I am. I want them to keep up their interest in our international affairs; and I want them also continually to remember Uncle Sam’s interests abroad. Justice and fair dealings among nations rest upon principles identical with those which control justice and fair dealing among the individuals of which nations are composed, with the vital exception that each nation must do its own part in international police work."
"Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us."
"The fundamental thing to do for every man is to give him a chance to reach a place in which he will make the greatest possible contribution to the public welfare. Understand what I say there. Give him a chance, not push him up if he will not be pushed. Help any man who stumbles; if he lies down, it is a poor job to try to carry him; but if he is a worthy man, try your best to see that he gets a chance to show the worth that is in him. No man can be a good citizen unless he has a wage more than sufficient to cover the bare cost of living, and hours of labor short enough so after his day’s work is done he will have time and energy to bear his share in the management of the community, to help in carrying the general load. We keep countless men from being good citizens by the conditions of life by which we surround them."
"I do not ask for the over centralization; but I do ask that we work in a spirit of broad and far-reaching nationalism where we work for what concerns our people as a whole. We are all Americans. Our common interests are as broad as the continent."
"The object of government is the welfare of the people. The material progress and prosperity of a nation are desirable chiefly so long as they lead to the moral and material welfare of all good citizens."
"The prime problem of our nation is to get the right type of good citizenship, and, to get it, we must have progress, and our public men must be genuinely progressive."
These are just the basic ideas. I'm telling you..READ THE SPEECH!! Vote for me in 16 years! haha.
Okay..that is enough of my poli sci rant. Until 2024...
ROCK THE VOTE!
Check it out:
Theodore Roosevelt's New Nationalism Speech
Some highlights I would like to point out:
"We come here to-day to commemorate one of the epoch-making events of the long struggle for the rights of man—the long struggle for the uplift of humanity. Our country—this great Republic—means nothing unless it means the triumph of a real democracy, the triumph of popular government, and, in the long run, of an economic system under which each man shall be guaranteed the opportunity to show the best that there is in him. That is why the history of America is now the central feature of the history of the world; for the world has set its face hopefully toward our democracy; and, O my fellow citizens, each one of you carries on your shoulders not only the burden of doing well for the sake of your country, but the burden of doing well and of seeing that this nation does well for the sake of mankind."
"Of that generation of men to whom we owe so much, the man to whom we owe most is, of course, Lincoln. Part of our debt to him is because he forecast our present struggle and saw the way out. He said:
'I hold that while man exists it is his duty to improve not only his own condition, but to assist in ameliorating mankind.'
And again:
'Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.'
If that remark was original with me, I should be even more strongly denounced as a Communist agitator than I shall be anyhow. It is Lincoln’s. I am only quoting it; and that is one side; that is the side the capitalist should hear. Now, let the working man hear his side.
'Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as any other rights. . . . Nor should this lead to a war upon the owners of property. Property is the fruit of labor; . . . property is desirable; is a positive good in the world.'
And then comes a thoroughly Lincoln-like sentence:
'Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.'"
"Practical equality of opportunity for all citizens, when we achieve it, will have two great results. First, every man will have a fair chance to make of himself all that in him lies; to reach the highest point to which his capacities, unassisted by special privilege of his own and unhampered by the special privilege of others, can carry him, and to get for himself and his family substantially what he has earned. Second, equality of opportunity means that the commonwealth will get from every citizen the highest service of which he is capable. No man who carries the burden of the special privileges of another can give to the commonwealth that service to which it is fairly entitled.
I stand for the square deal. But when I say that I am for the square deal, I mean not merely that I stand for fair play under the present rules of the game, but that I stand for having those rules changed so as to work for a more substantial equality of opportunity and of reward for equally good service. One word of warning, which, I think, is hardly necessary in Kansas. When I say I want a square deal for the poor man, I do not mean that I want a square deal for the man who remains poor because he has not got the energy to work for himself. If a man who has had a chance will not make good, then he has got to quit. And you men of the Grand Army, you want justice for the brave man who fought, and punishment for the coward who shirked his work. Is that not so?"
"We grudge no man a fortune in civil life if it is honorably obtained and well used. It is not even enough that it should have been gained without doing damage to the community. We should permit it to be gained only so long as the gaining represents benefit to the community. This, I know, implies a policy of a far more active governmental interference with social and economic conditions in this country than we have yet had, but I think we have got to face the fact that such an increase in governmental control is now necessary."
"A word of special warning to my fellow citizens who are as progressive as I hope I am. I want them to keep up their interest in our international affairs; and I want them also continually to remember Uncle Sam’s interests abroad. Justice and fair dealings among nations rest upon principles identical with those which control justice and fair dealing among the individuals of which nations are composed, with the vital exception that each nation must do its own part in international police work."
"Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us."
"The fundamental thing to do for every man is to give him a chance to reach a place in which he will make the greatest possible contribution to the public welfare. Understand what I say there. Give him a chance, not push him up if he will not be pushed. Help any man who stumbles; if he lies down, it is a poor job to try to carry him; but if he is a worthy man, try your best to see that he gets a chance to show the worth that is in him. No man can be a good citizen unless he has a wage more than sufficient to cover the bare cost of living, and hours of labor short enough so after his day’s work is done he will have time and energy to bear his share in the management of the community, to help in carrying the general load. We keep countless men from being good citizens by the conditions of life by which we surround them."
"I do not ask for the over centralization; but I do ask that we work in a spirit of broad and far-reaching nationalism where we work for what concerns our people as a whole. We are all Americans. Our common interests are as broad as the continent."
"The object of government is the welfare of the people. The material progress and prosperity of a nation are desirable chiefly so long as they lead to the moral and material welfare of all good citizens."
"The prime problem of our nation is to get the right type of good citizenship, and, to get it, we must have progress, and our public men must be genuinely progressive."
These are just the basic ideas. I'm telling you..READ THE SPEECH!! Vote for me in 16 years! haha.
Okay..that is enough of my poli sci rant. Until 2024...
ROCK THE VOTE!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Crackberry
I couldn't resist. I bought a Blackberry Curve (her name is Scarlett). I freaking love this thing. I thought it would be appropriate for me to enter this blog WITH my Blackberry since that's what this post is about. I just hope I have a better relationship with her than with my past phones (my last one got run over...and still worked).
The other day Mai Anh and I watched Vicky Christina Barcelona. It is a REALLY good film. I dare to say one of Woody Allen's best. It really makes you think about what you want in life, your priorities and how social norms affect our goals. As Jack said inThe Departed...I fon't want to be aproduct of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me. If nothing else, Vicky Christina Barcelona makes me want to travel to Europe.and just live in the moment. Oh what I would give in order to live as a nomad..
The other day Mai Anh and I watched Vicky Christina Barcelona. It is a REALLY good film. I dare to say one of Woody Allen's best. It really makes you think about what you want in life, your priorities and how social norms affect our goals. As Jack said inThe Departed...I fon't want to be aproduct of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me. If nothing else, Vicky Christina Barcelona makes me want to travel to Europe.and just live in the moment. Oh what I would give in order to live as a nomad..
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