Conveniently Misplaced

Anyone that knows me knows that I’m a big fan of Atlas Shrugged. I recommend it to everyone I know who I feel would actually take the time to read the 1200 page epic typed so courteously in size -1 font. It’s a book that I am glad I took the time to sit down and read and one that helped to reinforce my views on life, liberty, and people in general.

For those who haven’t had the pleasure or the time, the novel has numerous themes and points. One of them being that when things turn from bad to worse, the government screams out “What can we do?”, “How can we fix this?” and “Who the hell knows what they’re doing around here?”.

This is an event that rarely happens all at once. It starts with one problem, then escalates to another, and another, and another. Instead of going towards the root cause of the problem and attempting to fix it, governments opt to put a bandage over it to temporarily stop the hemorrhaging. The cut is still there, and it continues to get deeper as time goes bye. And even if it stops the bleeding and heals, there’s always a scar. Always something left behind by your injury.

The important thing here through, is that if you get cut, putting a bandage makes you feel a lot better. Likewise, the better the bandage, the better you feel. A higher priced novelty bandage that looks like bacon will make you feel better than say, a makeshift bandage made from Kleenex and scotch tape. Either way, both feel better than coming to the realization that you screwed up, did something you shouldn’t have been doing or were careless, and ended up cut.

The bandage is a temporary fix. What if the cut is so deep that it needs to be cauterized? What if you require stitches? Or God forbid, surgery?

Government loves high priced bandages for our problems. Because the higher the price, the more they promise to do for us. The better they plan on making us feel. Problems don’t really get addressed. They don’t really get fixed. People come up with a short, quick solution that is easy enough to make people feel good about whatever it is that they are doing or what the government is doing. If a candidate’s plan feels good and makes the voter feel good, then they will vote for them. Examples run rampant every election year. Especially the presidential ones.

John F. Kennedy for example was great at making people feel good about themselves. He promised that everyone could be prosperous and that he could bridge the gap between races and party lines. He was a handsome man that made the average American feel at ease, like everything was being taken care of and that with the help of the Government and the people. But even his “good” messages don’t go far enough. “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” should have been “Ask not what others can do for you, ask what you can do for yourself”.

But when people compare modern candidates, such as Barack Obama to John Kennedy, I get scared. People remember Kennedy as a great president because when he spoke, people felt good. But what he actually did as a president has affected the modern course of action more than most people believe.

What cracks me up is Robert Kennedy Jr. claiming that the 2004 election was stolen by George W. Bush. While that may be the case, stealing elections is nothing new to the Kennedy family, who allegedly used their mafia connections and influence in order to fix the votes in areas by Chicago and Texas. Robert Kennedy owes a lot to having a presidential relative, and stealing goes both ways. If you read up on it, you will find that simply the Nixon campaign conceded that Kennedy had stolen the closest election in history, and let that be that. Had Nixon been elected, who knows what could have happened, but we do know that a lot of Kennedy’s mistakes wouldn’t have put us in jeopardy like they did.

Take the Bay of Pigs for example, where the United States was to supply support to a group of Cuban rebels who wanted to overthrow Castro. This is back in the day when people remembered a life without Castro, currently the world’s longest reigning ruler. The plan was that we would arm, train, and aide the rebels against Fidel and by the day’s end, they would have captured or killed their leader and established a new government. Kennedy however, decided that when push came to shove, he would not provide anything beyond the basic essentials of training, arming, and planning. No US troops were involved and there was no US air support for the raid on Havana. As a result, all involved were either captured or killed. No surprise that a year later the Soviet Union has missiles in Cuba aimed at the United States, threatening a swift and decisive death for many Americans.

Bad foreign policy doesn’t stop there. Kennedy and the CIA backed a coup in none other then Iraq and Abdul Salam Arif that was to put the Baath party in power and lead to the rise of Saddam Hussein and his rule of tyranny. The coup ended up with the harsh murdering of Iraq’s power elite, in which Saddam is rumored to have done some of the killing himself. I don’t think I need to explain into detail about how Baath rule leads to things like the invasion of Kuwait, tensions between the US and Iran, the killing of Kurds, and the current war that we’re all in.

Then there’s Kennedy’s involvement in the Vietnam war, something that I won’t even get into because that’s a whole different tome in itself. Ditto for his immigration reform and many of his domestic policies.

He made the American people of 1961 feel empowered, enthusiastic, and passionate. However, he made the American people of 2008 feel apathetic discouraged, and angry. He doesn’t deserve all of the blame by any means. I dislike George Bush as much as the next man, but we have to look at the root of the problem. No matter who we elect, unless they want to have a profound foreign policy that is going to change the core of our thinking for the long term and for the better, we aren’t going to make things better. The question is not “What do we do about the war in Iraq?” but instead “What do we do or not do to ensure that there will never be another way like this?”. That was the missed lesson in many foreign conflicts. Korea, Vietnam, etc. And it will be the missed lesson here. Obama is keeping all options on the table. McCain wants to stick around overseas until his children are nearing their deaths from old age. Guliani is not only under the impression that he is in fact Rambo (despite the fact that Rambo has endorsed John McCain), but that September 11th is also his birthday.

The problem is, no matter how good we feel about something, the problem is still there. No matter how good someone makes us feel, bad policy and bad decisions are not the right way to go about it. If we don’t like the way things are going, we want “Change”. And the change we hear about now echoes much of the change that we have heard about in years past. But ultimately, it is all rhetoric.

People voted for George Bush because they are pro life, and protecting babies makes them feel better. People voted for Al Gore because he wanted to protect the environment, and saving trees will make people feel better. Mitt Romney has a health care plan that models what he did in Massachusetts for providing in home care for the elderly, and I’m sure people sympathetic to that cause will (and have) vote for him because that will make them feel good. Clinton supports nationalized health care, so people who already have health care can feel better about giving it to those that don’t (never mind that they don’t give to non profits who seek to give people without health care some help, but as long as “we” do it, it’s alright).  John Edwards is under the impression that he is Robin Hood, and believes that the better you are at what you do, the more you can give to the government, who in turn will give it to someone else.

But how do they do it? Bush wants to use The Government to stop abortion. Gore wants The Government to save the environment. Romney wants The Government to provide care the elderly. Hillary Clinton wants The Government to watch over you while you are sick. John Edwards wants The Government to decide who gets money, no matter who earns it.

While many of their messages are different in nature, it all comes down to one thing: government intervention. How does the government intervene? In every case it is the same. They throw money at something until the people feel good enough about it to feel as though the problem has been fixed. Once the bandage is big enough and pretty enough, they are happy with it. Forget real choices in health care as long as people feel good about it. Forget about choices regarding personal life as long as you feel good about it. And forget about going to war if you feel good about the army you are defeating.

Being a charismatic speaker doesn’t make you a good president, but even worse so is that the entire “feel good” idea is all rooted in collectivism. “Let’s all get together, hold hands, and be happy” is the mantra and “We can do it” is the title. How many times do you hear candidates tell you that “We can do this” referring to something else that the government promises you? It’s a lot if you listen closely.

Meanwhile, Atlas is stuck. He bears the world’s problems on his shoulders and every day, we stick bandaids over them and look for ways to feel better as opposed to actually fixing the problem. Hence, more and more issues. The world becomes a ball of bandages, and Atlas continues to be stuck. The people will soon collapse under their own weight and inability to solve problems.

In Atlas Shrugged, the more the government gets involved, the more problems are created. We can see this today. We have more problems today than we ever had, and what’s the result? People telling us how more government will make it better. People telling us to look for hope in a smiling face with no substance behind it. Even worse, they are legitimately excited about the prospects of such, giving up long term solutions for short term fixes. Americans are addicted to the quick fix. It’s almost a drug addiction: forget the bills, just take another hit and you’ll feel better, at least till it all catches up with you.

It’s catching up to us, Ladies and Gentlemen. And quickly. I wonder if we are even still be able to be saved at this point. I have seen the reigniting of the spark of liberty from men and women from all over the country. I’ve seen it with my own 2 eyes. But most people just stare off into space like deer in the headlights. Is it time to abandon America? Find refuge overseas and look for new solutions? New freedoms? New ways of expressing the ideals of liberty?

That I don’t know. But if we continue down the path we are, we will find ourselves in that situation very soon.  What happens then?

So I went to see my doctor today who was less than pleased (much like myself) about the fact that it’s now almost two months since my injury and I am not completely healed. So he drained my knee and said if that doesn’t fix my movement restrictions by Thursday then I will have to call and schedule for surgery next week. While the knee feels a LOT better, I highly doubt that I will magically be in working order in time to avoid surgery. So I’m preparing to go under the knife. Not looking forward to this one damn bit either.

In other news, I’m getting sick of being broke. In an effort to make sure I can pay all of my bills this month, I am applying for some more loan money. It should be enough to keep me afloat as well as pay for all the needed classes next quarter so I can graduate come June and be done with all of this nonsense.

I’ve also gotten a bigger part in the movie I was in this past summer than I envisioned. I’m going to apparently be authoring the DVD for release. Which is fun, since I’ve never done this before. So I’m downloading some tutorials for Adobe Encore and will work my way through it. It will get me some money up front and then  a percentage of the movie gross, if it grosses anything. So all I have to do is learn this program. Should be cake, right?

So in 3 days of canvassing for Clean Water Action I’ve threatened to have the police called on me in Mount Clemens, Been picked up by the police in Wixom, and fell and screwed up my knee in Shelby Township. I’m done with this stuff. Combine that with the fact that after nightfall NOBODY wants anyone who looks like me knocking at their door. Which I can understand, I look like “that guy” that they always show on the news who is pretending to be a building inspector, meter reader, etc. who then proceeds to hold you up at gunpoint and rob you blind. So needless to say, the job just is not a good fit for me, plain and simple. So I’m back to square one, time to start looking again for employment. Probably better this way, as not all of their issues I agree with and could never see myself campaigning on global warming (I much rather prefer Simon Que’s take on the matter, which you can read over at Lew Rockwell). Maybe I’ll wait till after Monday when I talk to my doctor again and see what the deal is with my damn knee before I make any decisions.

Who knows where I’ll end up. But it should be interesting. I’m also going to get the rest of the pages on this blog/site up and running. There’s been nothing on here for too long now, it’s getting ridiculous I know. So I’ll get it all taken care of.

It’s also come as quite a surprise to my how controversial my hair has become.  When you have short hair, people don’t ever say to you “You should grow it out”even if they like long hair. But if they don’t like long hair, when it’s long they all tell you to cut it. I only bring it up because I did one of those stupid MySpace bulletins that was a Valentine app, and this seems to be the consistent message: If you have short hair, people don’t tell you they hate it if they do. But if you have long hair, you will get hell for not cutting it. Well, not hell as much as harassment. But still, very weird.

In other news, Jenn’s taking me to Flogging Molly next Month. I’m super stoked, last year’s show was such a blast.Maybe this year one of us standing outside will have a camera that actually works. They have a new album dropping in March which I’ve been listening to quite a bit of lately. It’s called “Float“, and the title track is just awesome, it’s such a good song. The rest of the album is pretty good too. It’ll be great to hear some new material (hopefully) at the show. I’ve decided that I don’t care if I can’t fully walk by then, I’m going into the pit and will be pushing my way to the front regardless. I’m well used to standing on my feet for hours on end, so I’m not too worried about how it’ll all end up. As long as I can still walk at the end of the night, it’s all good

Speaking of concerts and new albums, I sincerely hope Counting Crows keep touring as their new album “Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings” is dropping 3 weeks after Flogging Molly’s. To make things juicier, 3 tracks have already been released for download through the internet (MySpace, their website, etc). I doubt they’ll release more with the album right around the corner. If the rest of the album is half as good as the first 3 tracks has been, then I’ll definitely be one of their best. From what I’ve heard thus far, it sounds like it would chronically fit in between August and Recovering. I’m sure Gil Norton (who produced Recovering the Satellites and half of the new album) had something to do with all of that. On a more personal note, how Adam describes the album is “…it’s about a flood of sin and liquor and dissolution and insanity and it’s about trying to rebuild the life you wrecked in the wake of that flood. It’s about the way it feels.” Sounds entirely too much like my life over the past year or so. Liquor, sin, and regret. Que sera sera I suppose.

From someone part of the group I used to hang out with. This is a Myspace bulletin he just posted. I don’t know why I find this kinda funny, but I do. He’s putting together a fundraiser to pay for a window that I’m assuming he broke. IDK the details, but I’m sure there’s a good story behind it.

My Social Problems professor is quickly becoming one of my favorites, as I near the end of my tenure at Baker College. For the simple fact that even though the classes I’ve taken with her suck (Sociology and Social Problems), she is real, down to earth, and the class discussions are beyond amazing.

Last quarter, for example, we all discussed parenting tactics, whereupon we all pretty much agreed on the same thing:

Mad props to Maddox on this image, which is NOT hotlinked.

Now, the extra cool thing about having this professor is that she’s a parole officer. So we get to learn about all the interesting ways that people decide to take drugs, and of course there’s usually someone who is able to share a personal story about it (bonus points if it involves them, but usually it’s “My Friend”). For example, we brought up all the interesting things you can use to smoke crack with, all the non-conventional ways you can take certain drugs, fun uses for Chore Boy and why you’re looking out for the guy with all the candy necklaces at the rave.

For those in the class that have had little previous drug exposure, this came as quite a shock. They apparently had no idea that people can, and will, take some liquid (insert random drug you can turn into liquid form or crush and mix with water here), smother a tampon with it, and insert it anally to get high quickly. Or that people will use the cardboard from a tampon as a blunt wrap and toke with it.

This is the point in the article where I planned on putting an interesting or funny tampon picture. However, after turning safe search off and searching google images for “tampon”, I am officially scared for life at some of the pictures, let alone the websites out there. Remember that feeling when you first watched “2 Girls 1 Cup”? Yah, it’s that bad. So moving on rapidly…

One of the girls had a lovely story to share about how she was at a hotel party and this girl kept popping X anally, after the 2nd pill she decided she didn’t give a shit and just threw down in front of everybody, where upon the professor exclaimed that she wants to party with her just for the sake of observation. Amazing.

Another girl that graduated from my high school (Mount Clemens) told a story about some dude who sat there and popped X right in class in front of the teacher. She couldn’t remember which class when I asked her, but with some of those teachers, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

My favorite point of the night was when someone screwed up and said you could walk up and buy marijuana from the corner store (instead of saying cigarettes). We all got a laugh of it, but the instructor said that hey, it’s possible, and if you go right up Abrahm street you can get pretty much anything you could ever want. Which was funny for a few reasons, first off being I know someone who lives on that street and know first hand how easily you can get any and everything on that street, and secondly because it reminded me of a very special Chapelle’s show episode.

Here, Tyrone Biggums is supposed to be telling kids to stay off crack, but he goes on to tell them where to go, when to go there, and who to talk to if they want some crack. Granted, it wasn’t nearly that bad, or even really the same thing when it comes down to it, and I seriously doubt that anyone left class that day to go buy crack (although I did end up down Abhram street, it wasn’t for drugs. It was to watch Saw4).

Baker College: Real education for real life. Do you guys learn stuff like this at Michigan? Oakland? Wayne state maybe. But this isn’t some BS course taught by a professor who does “studies” and hasn’t seen much of the real world in forever. This is real, this is what the world is really like, and they don’t hide it.

So Here I am unable to really concentrate on my work. I can’t believe I’ve hit the point where I’d rather blog, read other blogs, or just mill around then not procrastinate. Not like I have tons of homework to do, but it’s the bloody principle of the thing. This shouldn’t be a problem.

In other news, Pownce has gone public. Add me at http://pownce.com/JohnCruz/

To everyone who contributed to every single moment of my day since I woke up being a complete and total waste of time. Love you all.

So I’m still working on my write up for New Hampshire and everything that happened with the campaign. So much to cover. But in reference to that, I realized that I really enjoy getting out and talking to people. More importantly, I enjoy being around people who are passionate and care about what they do. To know that you are doing something of importance drives you like nothing else.

Taking that back with me,  I found a job for an environmental activist for a group called Clean Water Action. So I got an interview, did a day of field work and was offered the job. Considering I have nothing else to do with my time right now, I took it. It’s part time @ 24 hours a week and is a citizen funded non-profit, but it should be able to sustain me well enough for the foreseeable future. Especially since It’s only a mile away. No more $40+ a week in petrol. No more eating lunch out every day and spending more money on food than is ever necessary. None of that nonsense. The job is a canvasser, I walk around, knock on doors, talk about the issues and try to get donations. Assuming I can keep my quota on donations, shouldn’t be a problem. Should be fun.