Are you living your life? The life you’re living right now is it really yours; or is it the life that has been put on you. In everyday life we have unseen powers putting pressure on us to live a certain way. Almost everything we do is influenced by society. Everything from the clothes we wear, to the food we eat. So when you go to the mall and you tell your self that your going to pick out the clothes that you like or buy this brand of food because you know its healthy, how much of that is really coming from your own thought out opinions. The fact is most people don’t live a life that they truly want to live. And because of that there life can be labeled as meaningless. A meaningful life is a life that you choose to live through understanding of what’s going on and not a life where you do as you are expected to do.
The average persons life is so planned out that they don’t even have an idea of what they eat. When you go to the supermarket and pick up a package of stakes, you don’t really know how those stakes got there. You just do what you’ve been taught to do; go to the frozen meat section, pick up the biggest piece you can afford, and leave. There is no questioning and no need to know where those stakes came from. If somebody knew the inhumane treatment of cows, such as the live castration and cramped living conditions of the cow, then maybe they wouldn’t pick up that stake. Before all the corperations taking of the food market people knew where their food came from. People could see the cow when it was alive and everyone knew how it was killed and cut up. These days you don’t see the cow till its already cut up in the package.The thing that makes eating the stake meaningless isn’t the fact that they are eating it, it’s the fact that the average person doesn’t know how it got there.
A major part in people lives are holidays. Even the smalls ones such as mlk and may day people find important. On Martin luther king day everyone loves to talk about the great change and listen to that one speech. But by doing this you are helping to keep his message dead. If you ask anyone to name lines from any other speech by martin luther king they will probably draw a blank. If you ask someone if they think MLK would be happy with the way things are today, after alittle thought they will probably say no. By giving Martin Luther King his own day people have stopped hearing his message. People can live their lifes in a racist society because on that one day a year they can listen to a speech and be proud of the change that has happen. People no longer look deeply in Martin Luther King because they feel they don’t need to, they have heard his I have a dream speech and that’s all they ever hear so they figure that all there is. People look more deeply into Malcolm X. They read his book and I know of cases where he has changed their lives. They reason they have looked so deeply at him is because he has no holiday. People don’t think they have and understanding of what he stood for there for they look and what they see usually changes them. If MLK didn’t have a holiday some people would probably look more deeply at him, they would read more then that one speech and have a better understand of who he is. The practice of MLK day is not meaningful because on that day people only talk about the parts of MLK they have been told to talk about. There is no full understanding of who he is.
If you go to west London to Portobello road there is a bridge. Under the bridge ever Saturday there is a market. One stand inpeticular sells Che Guevara clothing. This of course is a message in its self. When you analyze this you see that it is saying the way to live a meaningful life is to buy and wear clothing that have revolutionary figures on it. One morning the people of this street woke up to see the bridge painted by an unknown person. Across the bridge there were six pictures of che. In each picture he has cool sunglasses on and other apparel, but in each picture while the image of the sunglasses stays strong the image of che seems to melt away. Till in the end you see a melted face with that is impossible to recognize, with really cool sunglasses on. This makes the clear statement that people no long wear che because they agree with what he believed in, but because you get to have the revolutionist persona. And that has gotten to the point where people no longer even know what he stood for. In other words Commodity your descent. The artist of the images is known as Bansky, and what he did was meaningful. He had a full understanding of the world he lived in. He understood that people just wear the Che Guevara with out evening knowing that much about him. Through the understanding of the world around him he was able to live a more meaningful life.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
702 words
“you are what you eat”. We have all heard the saying but we have never really thought about it. The truth is what we eat says a lot about who we are. You meet someone and you have a first impression; how does the impression change when you find out they are a vegeterian or even a vegan. If you don’t eat pork your religouse, if you eat six meals a day you are a seriouse athlete. A lot can be said about a person by what they eat. So what does is say about a culture who buys questionable meet in plastic packages with no idea of where it came from. Food is one of the mose important things in our lives, yet we are clueless about it. We don’t know what to consider healthy, we don’t know where it came from, and were rarely even cook it ourselves. The luxury of having options has caused us to lose understanding of the importance of food.
Cultures before us had a deeper understanding of their food. Native American tribes of north America had what was called the tree sisters. The tree sisters were corn, squash and beans. These were the most important part of the native Americans food group. The Native Americans needed to farm to survive. If there was a bad season they did not eat. What they realize what by growing these three plants together they were able to grow a lot more. The beans were a climbing plant, they needed the corn to climb. Squash was a plant that grew on the ground. This prevented weeds from being grown around the corn. Since the native Americans needed these plants to survive they needed to find the best ways to plant them. Today most people probably don’t even know what squash looks like. Why should they? They can just go to the store and get it cooked and canned. We no longer know the importance of beans and corn. To use they are just different cans on a shelf, not a means of survival. We no longer know how to support our selves; we must look for expert’s opinion.
When we have so many options we sometimes don’t know what to do. We get lost in all the big words. Because of this we think we need the experts advise. We have a set group of people set on a pedestal. These people know about food, while we are clueless and unhealthy, these smilling faces on the side of the magazine can correct us. All of the options we have confused us. It use to be you ate what was available so not much thought was needed. These day you have so much available you don’t know what to eat. Even sugar has gotten complicated. We no longer no what to eat, so we must now turn to strangers. By letting someone else control the most important thing in our life we have become abit more lost.
In Our Dailey Bread. The film crew takes footage of the European food instrusty. What you see is food being mass produced. Multiple cows are being milked at once. Animals are kept in as small space as possible, and farming is done mostly by machines. All of this is done to maximize profits. Farming is no longer done to keep your family alive, it is done to make as much money as possible. In some cases humans hands don’t touch the food until the packaging. We no longer have a connection to our food. By having an excese of food we lose the meaningfulness of that steak dinner. When you grow pick and cook your own food your connections is strong. You feel good knowing that your survival was continued by your work. By going to the store and picking out your favorite name brand there is no conncetion. There is no feeling of accomplishment as your home grown food is cooked, just the feeling of plastic. Our lives are in the hands of the major corporations. If they stopped making food or the trucks never delievered or the store never opened, we would starve. We are in the hands of our creations.
Cultures before us had a deeper understanding of their food. Native American tribes of north America had what was called the tree sisters. The tree sisters were corn, squash and beans. These were the most important part of the native Americans food group. The Native Americans needed to farm to survive. If there was a bad season they did not eat. What they realize what by growing these three plants together they were able to grow a lot more. The beans were a climbing plant, they needed the corn to climb. Squash was a plant that grew on the ground. This prevented weeds from being grown around the corn. Since the native Americans needed these plants to survive they needed to find the best ways to plant them. Today most people probably don’t even know what squash looks like. Why should they? They can just go to the store and get it cooked and canned. We no longer know the importance of beans and corn. To use they are just different cans on a shelf, not a means of survival. We no longer know how to support our selves; we must look for expert’s opinion.
When we have so many options we sometimes don’t know what to do. We get lost in all the big words. Because of this we think we need the experts advise. We have a set group of people set on a pedestal. These people know about food, while we are clueless and unhealthy, these smilling faces on the side of the magazine can correct us. All of the options we have confused us. It use to be you ate what was available so not much thought was needed. These day you have so much available you don’t know what to eat. Even sugar has gotten complicated. We no longer no what to eat, so we must now turn to strangers. By letting someone else control the most important thing in our life we have become abit more lost.
In Our Dailey Bread. The film crew takes footage of the European food instrusty. What you see is food being mass produced. Multiple cows are being milked at once. Animals are kept in as small space as possible, and farming is done mostly by machines. All of this is done to maximize profits. Farming is no longer done to keep your family alive, it is done to make as much money as possible. In some cases humans hands don’t touch the food until the packaging. We no longer have a connection to our food. By having an excese of food we lose the meaningfulness of that steak dinner. When you grow pick and cook your own food your connections is strong. You feel good knowing that your survival was continued by your work. By going to the store and picking out your favorite name brand there is no conncetion. There is no feeling of accomplishment as your home grown food is cooked, just the feeling of plastic. Our lives are in the hands of the major corporations. If they stopped making food or the trucks never delievered or the store never opened, we would starve. We are in the hands of our creations.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
meatrix and the legit domumentary
for the homework i watched two videos
the first was the meatrix. I found the meatrix down right stupid. the idea was clever but it was as convincing as arnold shwartisneger against steriods. The whole video was blaming the big bad coperations for taking over the family farms, as if they had brainwashed the farmers with the beams. What they dont mention is that these farmers choose to be the meat indusrty we see today to make money. the video had major wholes in the logic The other thing that bothered me was the biased points. It was full of insults about people who eat normal meat. the whole thing was very unofficail and annoying to watch.
The second video i watched was alot better. There were no talking animals and the footage was enough to get my sister to stop eatting meat for at least a day. The video showed the inhumain treatment of the animals such as cutting off the balls of a baby pig while its awake. It was interesting to watch this because some of the practices seemed crewl for no reason. I always knew that they treated animals bad, but i dont understand why they did some of the things they did. I was surprised how little we know about how our food is made. all we see is whats in the plastic.
the first was the meatrix. I found the meatrix down right stupid. the idea was clever but it was as convincing as arnold shwartisneger against steriods. The whole video was blaming the big bad coperations for taking over the family farms, as if they had brainwashed the farmers with the beams. What they dont mention is that these farmers choose to be the meat indusrty we see today to make money. the video had major wholes in the logic The other thing that bothered me was the biased points. It was full of insults about people who eat normal meat. the whole thing was very unofficail and annoying to watch.
The second video i watched was alot better. There were no talking animals and the footage was enough to get my sister to stop eatting meat for at least a day. The video showed the inhumain treatment of the animals such as cutting off the balls of a baby pig while its awake. It was interesting to watch this because some of the practices seemed crewl for no reason. I always knew that they treated animals bad, but i dont understand why they did some of the things they did. I was surprised how little we know about how our food is made. all we see is whats in the plastic.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
food i grew up on
growing up my family had rules about eatting. every meal needed at least one glass of milk and dessert was two cookies after dinner. my mom like to cook vegetables and healthy meals. I remember one summer have a month or two of only vegetarian dinners i asked where the meat was. Because of this I grew up watching what i eat. When i go out to eat i try to avoid stuff that is fried or soaked in oil. I also try to eat some of each food group each day. I think this has effected how i live. I think when people eat better they feel better emotionaly and physically. you feel good knowing that you eat well, but in alot of cases this goes to your head. I find that people who eat well tend to look down on those who dont. They assume they are better then everyone else because they eat better. to have food be meaningful you must eat well but at the same time be humble about it.
this holiday is to shut the workers up for the other 364 days
On may day all over the world workers go on parade and yell about workers rights. They are given this day so they can remember the people who actually did something. but this day is like giving a baby a lollipop so they can make them behave. While all the working class are yelling and protesting, the fat cats just deal with it for one day then send them all back to work. By giving them this one day the workers feel like they have used their power when really they are just screaming to deaf ears. This day isnt meaningful because while it does remember the people who were killed, nothing gets done and nothing is acomplished.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
my american dinner
my two households are totally diffrent.
moms: at my moms i eat alot of colors. we usually have a small plate of meat surrounded by diffrent plates of fruits and vegetables. she get organic milk and veggies and usually spends 30 minutes cooking. we sit across from each other at the table and eat for about 30 minutes.
dads: at my dads there are 3 step siblings so everything is bought it bulk. you can tell by looking at them that healthy food is on the top of their priorities list. there is usually a big blate of meat, some kind of vegetable that usually i only eat and some sort of pasta. the kids usually drink caprisuns or the juice you make by adding water to that frozen....stuff. i eat there as fast as i can.
The moms meals are alot more meaningful because the food is more intentional and has more thought put into it.
moms: at my moms i eat alot of colors. we usually have a small plate of meat surrounded by diffrent plates of fruits and vegetables. she get organic milk and veggies and usually spends 30 minutes cooking. we sit across from each other at the table and eat for about 30 minutes.
dads: at my dads there are 3 step siblings so everything is bought it bulk. you can tell by looking at them that healthy food is on the top of their priorities list. there is usually a big blate of meat, some kind of vegetable that usually i only eat and some sort of pasta. the kids usually drink caprisuns or the juice you make by adding water to that frozen....stuff. i eat there as fast as i can.
The moms meals are alot more meaningful because the food is more intentional and has more thought put into it.
food log
last night dinner was quick. i came home at 930 so my mom had already eaten. i threw some pasta and shrimp into a bowl and ate that. i mainly did it because i felt i needed to eat something after two hours of muay thai. after the meal i moved on to homework feeling no more satsified as i did before.
this morning for breakfast i had a mango with salt. i found this to be a tasty treat and i enjoyed eatting it. on the way to school i was craving a chocolate chip muffin so i bought one from the stand. i didnt really want to think about the calories or what went into that muffin. i washed it down with a can of arizona green tea which has more high fructose corn syrup then tea should have.
for lunch i was poor so all i could get was a guacamole torilla. all it was was torrilla bread wrapped stuffed with guacamole. at least i am getting plent of green colors. i also had a arizona with that since arizona is only $1
for dinner tonight i had salmon with red peppers. i was sitting with my mom and her boyfriend so i sat as they talked. when it is just me and my mom dinners are usually silent.
over all i never really eat when i want what i want
instead i eat what i can afford in the time i am told to eat. not very meaningful
this morning for breakfast i had a mango with salt. i found this to be a tasty treat and i enjoyed eatting it. on the way to school i was craving a chocolate chip muffin so i bought one from the stand. i didnt really want to think about the calories or what went into that muffin. i washed it down with a can of arizona green tea which has more high fructose corn syrup then tea should have.
for lunch i was poor so all i could get was a guacamole torilla. all it was was torrilla bread wrapped stuffed with guacamole. at least i am getting plent of green colors. i also had a arizona with that since arizona is only $1
for dinner tonight i had salmon with red peppers. i was sitting with my mom and her boyfriend so i sat as they talked. when it is just me and my mom dinners are usually silent.
over all i never really eat when i want what i want
instead i eat what i can afford in the time i am told to eat. not very meaningful
Sunday, April 26, 2009
mental health
In this unit we talked about many things dealling with mental health. The thing that stuck with me the most was the idea that mabye we dont have to be happy 24/7 to be healthy. In todays society we dont talk about emotions that much, becuase of this we assume that the only good emotion is happyness and that we need to do what ever we can to reach happyness. Even after a tramatic expirence we are told that we need to move on asap. But mabye moving on is not the best option. muarry cried everytime he thought about his mom who died when he was very younge. I now think it is much more healthy to have other emotions besides happyness. In fact it is now my idea that to have a meaningfull life you cant always be happy. when your always happy there is never anything wronge. So to be always happy in this world is to lie to your self. a man wins the lottery and gains 1,000,000,000.86 dollars. he buys a nice house, afew cars, and a puppy and then continues to live his life in bliss. The buddhist beleive that no matter how many materail possesions you have suffering will always come. so to live your life in total happyness means that there are parts of the world you must be blocking out, that might be the death of a loved one or the opressive racist government we have. the blocking out of reality so you can live in bliss is not a meaningful life. to have a meaningful life you must accept everything and let the emotions healthyfull come and go. if your friend dies you should feel grief and let the feeling leave naturally. feeling justified emotions at the right time is part of having a meaningful life.
a fridge full of condiments but no food
bread
grapes
lettuce
brussle sprouts
cheese
peroponie
cucumbers
ginsing
polly cheese sticks
beer
ketchup
mayo
barbeque suace
spegetti sauce
maple syrup
ranch
soy sauce
jelly mustard
pesto
In my fridge the majority of the stuff was ont the main shelfs. and on the main shelfs were condiments only. there was no actual food. its only when you opened the drawer did you see the vegetables. its interesting how the vegetables are put out of site while the ranch dressing is in a place anyone can reach. This shows that food to the rest of my family doesnt really have that much meaning.
grapes
lettuce
brussle sprouts
cheese
peroponie
cucumbers
ginsing
polly cheese sticks
beer
ketchup
mayo
barbeque suace
spegetti sauce
maple syrup
ranch
soy sauce
jelly mustard
pesto
In my fridge the majority of the stuff was ont the main shelfs. and on the main shelfs were condiments only. there was no actual food. its only when you opened the drawer did you see the vegetables. its interesting how the vegetables are put out of site while the ranch dressing is in a place anyone can reach. This shows that food to the rest of my family doesnt really have that much meaning.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
emotional break...not really
During spring break i felt the most emotionaly healthy after muay thai. Over break started doing intermediete classes which left me drained. one class in peticular left me the most emotionally healthy. we had done a total of 500 kicks that day. i felt the most emotionally healthy waitting in the station to go home. the work out had left me physically tired but at the same time it was a good feeling knowing how hard i was trainning. other healthy moments where after parkour work out sessions and a 6 mile skate. there is a clear connection between hard physical task completion and emotional health.
The least healthy was when i was doing anything that had to do with school. even talking about school made me emotionally unhealthy. the thought of school killed my spirts like some one watching a tsunami head toward their ocean side town. to be emotionally healthy, you must be interacting with something you like.
Emotional health is diffrent from constantly happy. you dont have to be constantly happy to be emotionally healthy. if im bored and pissed in school all day then i get out and im happy and joyful. just because i wasnt constantly happy doesnt mean im not healthy. i think to be healthy you have to be able to take joy in afew things everyday.
Its interesting to me how much the subconcouse effects us, when cairo was being analyzed you saw into how she thinks just by asking about the words she used. it was really simple but really informitive. it shows the importance in the small details of things. this shows that mental health is also about the subcoususe mind and that we are affected by things we dont even know we are thinking about.
The least healthy was when i was doing anything that had to do with school. even talking about school made me emotionally unhealthy. the thought of school killed my spirts like some one watching a tsunami head toward their ocean side town. to be emotionally healthy, you must be interacting with something you like.
Emotional health is diffrent from constantly happy. you dont have to be constantly happy to be emotionally healthy. if im bored and pissed in school all day then i get out and im happy and joyful. just because i wasnt constantly happy doesnt mean im not healthy. i think to be healthy you have to be able to take joy in afew things everyday.
Its interesting to me how much the subconcouse effects us, when cairo was being analyzed you saw into how she thinks just by asking about the words she used. it was really simple but really informitive. it shows the importance in the small details of things. this shows that mental health is also about the subcoususe mind and that we are affected by things we dont even know we are thinking about.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
1. What are the best things to eat/drink to help increase concentration and focus in school?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AtAID76gcKsw.XcBu.7r173sxQt.;_ylv=3?qid=20090401081502AAccgQb
-blueberries
-salmon
-green tea
-almonds
-dark chocolate
2. what is the big deal about vitaman C
Vitamin C vitamin helps to heal wounds, keeps the immune system strong, keeps your teeth and gums healthy, it also helps the body absorb iron and folic acid. Studies have shown that it plays an important role in the antioxidant defence system, destroying free radicals thereby reducing the risks of degenerative diseases like cancer and slowing down cell damage and the ageing process.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AszlYe8ioUKbuV.J4VlvabgjzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20070626123134AANBYAG
3.wats the most common vitiman defiency
Vitiman D
http://odyb.net/nutrients/vitamin-d-is-the-most-common-vitamin-deficiency-in-the-world/
4.whats kinds of fats are there. are any of them good?
there are 6 types of fat some of them are good.
http://odyb.net/nutrients/are-you-aware-of-these-6-types-of-fat/
5.what are the effects of obiesty
http://odyb.net/physical-health/9-types-of-diseases-caused-by-obesity/
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AtAID76gcKsw.XcBu.7r173sxQt.;_ylv=3?qid=20090401081502AAccgQb
-blueberries
-salmon
-green tea
-almonds
-dark chocolate
2. what is the big deal about vitaman C
Vitamin C vitamin helps to heal wounds, keeps the immune system strong, keeps your teeth and gums healthy, it also helps the body absorb iron and folic acid. Studies have shown that it plays an important role in the antioxidant defence system, destroying free radicals thereby reducing the risks of degenerative diseases like cancer and slowing down cell damage and the ageing process.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AszlYe8ioUKbuV.J4VlvabgjzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20070626123134AANBYAG
3.wats the most common vitiman defiency
Vitiman D
http://odyb.net/nutrients/vitamin-d-is-the-most-common-vitamin-deficiency-in-the-world/
4.whats kinds of fats are there. are any of them good?
there are 6 types of fat some of them are good.
http://odyb.net/nutrients/are-you-aware-of-these-6-types-of-fat/
5.what are the effects of obiesty
http://odyb.net/physical-health/9-types-of-diseases-caused-by-obesity/
Saturday, March 28, 2009
"you and me baby aint nothin but mamals"
"you and me baby aint nothin but mammals so lets do it like they do it on the discovery channle". While the song by The Blood Hound Gang is a song about sex, the chorus speaks a biological truth, we aint nothin but mammals. Human seem to seperate them selfs from other animals such as dogs and monkeys. This unjust serperation creates a void in our lives that effects how we live negetivitly. There are six main reasons why we think we seperate our selves from animals.
The first reason is Genisis. In the book of Gensis the first chapter tells the creation myth. God created the earth, light, plants, animals, and humans. Then god dacreed that man would dominate over all other living things. Genisis tells us that all the animals of the world are here to serve us. this idea puts us above the animals, we are here and everyone else is here for us. this is used as a justification to mis treat other animals because they are so we may be happy.
The second reason is science. Scientists have created a tree which shows what family every animal is in. when the tree is drawn you see that humans branch out from the rest of the animals. This tells us that while techinally we are animals, we are a specail kind of animal diffrent from the rest. according to this chart we are diffrent from other animals, like a super animal.
A third way we seperate ourselfs from animals is the myth of creation. We are told that there we're the end result of evolution. Evolution started at amebais who got bigger then came onto land and after millions of years we were born. We are told that we were the end result everything. that all that evolving and such were all so we could be here. This is the equivlent of a jellyfish saying that after years finally the jellyfish was created. the average person will find that stupid. they will says things like "thats stupid after the jellyfish things kept evolving." The same can be said about us. who said the world was done changing. This idea of we are the final product tells us that all the animals of the world were just part of the equation to make us. we put ourselves on a pedistil sayin elvolution has created the ultimit species, us.
In dailey life we are constantly surrounded by people. At the same time we are rarely near any other animals. sure we see the squirl or pigeon, mabye even a hawk. but 95% of the time we are with other humans only. By seperatting our selves from animals we easly forget our animal instincts. We get so cuaght up in the human socail pressures of everything. we lose sight of the fact that we are animals and enjoy doing animal things.
Descartes came up with an idea that would further seperate ourselves from animals. He believed in dualism. the idea that we are just a soul trapped in a body. but he took it to another level by saying animals dont have it. he would then tutore dogs and explain that the cries of the dog were really stimulus responces and that there was no real pain and no real soul. This idea has been taken in by our society. by adapting this idea we can now easly kill hundreds of animals for food and uses hundreds more for test expirements, because they dont dont have souls so they arent really there. while we on the other hand have soals and must be defended from everylittle thing that might harm us.
Along with this idea of dualism is the idea of religion. Since we humans have souls we get to go to heaven. the human is just a ghost trapped inside of a machine. when we die that ghost is released and sent to heaven or hell. other animals dont have this. When a dog dies, he just dies. there is no soul to go up to heaven for eternal bliss. This idea that we have an eternal soul and others dont puts us a grade above everyone else. while everyone else will die, we will last for ever.
That last way we seperate ourselves is the most clear. When we think of animals we think of wild animals running through the woods or playing with each other in the plains. we see these images on the tele as we sit in our desks in a unnaturally lighted room. We spend the majority of our lives in chairs. your bed, to the kitchen, to the bathroom, to the train, to school and back. we dont run around and be active like the other animals. This creates a void in us. by sitting down all day we cant act on our animal instincts.
There are four major benefits to relizing we are infact animals.
the first is childbirth. By seperatting ourselves from our animal ways, we lost confidence in how we give birth. we bagan to go to hospitals and get the drugs and metal objects. by understanding we are infact animals and seeing that no other animal lets other animals cut them open to take out the baby, we understand that we can give birth with out the hospitals and surgeries.
The second is our physical health. By accepting we are animals we throw out the idea of dualism. Once we accept the idea that our body is part of ourself we start taking better care of it. we will start accepting the fact that we do need excersice to be healthy, and not just to fit into those jeans. As humans we look for the greater things in life. we try and develope our mind, because we think thats what makes us better then the other animals. We focouse so much on the mind we forget about our body. by understanding we are infact animals we will look at our bodies as important too and try to improve that.
The final reason i remember is the idea that no one will save us. By assuming that we are the end point of evolution, and that we have souls we assume that we will be saved in the end. What we have to understand is that we are not specail. we are the same decaying matter as everything else. 99% of the animals who lived on this planet are gone. Once we understand that we are just another animal we will understand that no one will save us and that we are on our own.
This subject has effected me.I like many people have said "we are animals" but never really beleived it. The idea that we will not be saved has caused me to lose hope. up until now i always thought things would get better one way or another. in part because i seperated my self from other animals. but now i see that i am jsut an animal and i have just the same chance of becoming extint as every other specieces.I now believe that we wont last for ever. All hope for humans have been lost. its only after you lose everying are you free to do anything.
This unit has also effected my ideas of a perfect world. my dream world has alot more animals roaming free and alot less hard sidewalk. one day dream i had after a class was new york city, except the sidewalks and streets were gone. in their place was dirt and trails, kinda like when you take a hike through the forest. i saw vines climbing the walls of buildings and animals in trees. While this was only a day dream its interesting to think of a world where we are more connected to nature with out doing back to the wild.
its also important to understand we are animals so we may shed the socail pressure that seperate ourselfs from animals. i have never seen a fox with skinny jeans and a tight polo shirt. by understanding we are animals we can do thing that benefit us and not the opposite. instead of eatting burgerking we get a salad. instead of wear bright red skinnt jeans which are hard to move in we wear looser clothings that we can move. The more we let go of unnatural behaivor the more we become free.
The first reason is Genisis. In the book of Gensis the first chapter tells the creation myth. God created the earth, light, plants, animals, and humans. Then god dacreed that man would dominate over all other living things. Genisis tells us that all the animals of the world are here to serve us. this idea puts us above the animals, we are here and everyone else is here for us. this is used as a justification to mis treat other animals because they are so we may be happy.
The second reason is science. Scientists have created a tree which shows what family every animal is in. when the tree is drawn you see that humans branch out from the rest of the animals. This tells us that while techinally we are animals, we are a specail kind of animal diffrent from the rest. according to this chart we are diffrent from other animals, like a super animal.
A third way we seperate ourselfs from animals is the myth of creation. We are told that there we're the end result of evolution. Evolution started at amebais who got bigger then came onto land and after millions of years we were born. We are told that we were the end result everything. that all that evolving and such were all so we could be here. This is the equivlent of a jellyfish saying that after years finally the jellyfish was created. the average person will find that stupid. they will says things like "thats stupid after the jellyfish things kept evolving." The same can be said about us. who said the world was done changing. This idea of we are the final product tells us that all the animals of the world were just part of the equation to make us. we put ourselves on a pedistil sayin elvolution has created the ultimit species, us.
In dailey life we are constantly surrounded by people. At the same time we are rarely near any other animals. sure we see the squirl or pigeon, mabye even a hawk. but 95% of the time we are with other humans only. By seperatting our selves from animals we easly forget our animal instincts. We get so cuaght up in the human socail pressures of everything. we lose sight of the fact that we are animals and enjoy doing animal things.
Descartes came up with an idea that would further seperate ourselves from animals. He believed in dualism. the idea that we are just a soul trapped in a body. but he took it to another level by saying animals dont have it. he would then tutore dogs and explain that the cries of the dog were really stimulus responces and that there was no real pain and no real soul. This idea has been taken in by our society. by adapting this idea we can now easly kill hundreds of animals for food and uses hundreds more for test expirements, because they dont dont have souls so they arent really there. while we on the other hand have soals and must be defended from everylittle thing that might harm us.
Along with this idea of dualism is the idea of religion. Since we humans have souls we get to go to heaven. the human is just a ghost trapped inside of a machine. when we die that ghost is released and sent to heaven or hell. other animals dont have this. When a dog dies, he just dies. there is no soul to go up to heaven for eternal bliss. This idea that we have an eternal soul and others dont puts us a grade above everyone else. while everyone else will die, we will last for ever.
That last way we seperate ourselves is the most clear. When we think of animals we think of wild animals running through the woods or playing with each other in the plains. we see these images on the tele as we sit in our desks in a unnaturally lighted room. We spend the majority of our lives in chairs. your bed, to the kitchen, to the bathroom, to the train, to school and back. we dont run around and be active like the other animals. This creates a void in us. by sitting down all day we cant act on our animal instincts.
There are four major benefits to relizing we are infact animals.
the first is childbirth. By seperatting ourselves from our animal ways, we lost confidence in how we give birth. we bagan to go to hospitals and get the drugs and metal objects. by understanding we are infact animals and seeing that no other animal lets other animals cut them open to take out the baby, we understand that we can give birth with out the hospitals and surgeries.
The second is our physical health. By accepting we are animals we throw out the idea of dualism. Once we accept the idea that our body is part of ourself we start taking better care of it. we will start accepting the fact that we do need excersice to be healthy, and not just to fit into those jeans. As humans we look for the greater things in life. we try and develope our mind, because we think thats what makes us better then the other animals. We focouse so much on the mind we forget about our body. by understanding we are infact animals we will look at our bodies as important too and try to improve that.
The final reason i remember is the idea that no one will save us. By assuming that we are the end point of evolution, and that we have souls we assume that we will be saved in the end. What we have to understand is that we are not specail. we are the same decaying matter as everything else. 99% of the animals who lived on this planet are gone. Once we understand that we are just another animal we will understand that no one will save us and that we are on our own.
This subject has effected me.I like many people have said "we are animals" but never really beleived it. The idea that we will not be saved has caused me to lose hope. up until now i always thought things would get better one way or another. in part because i seperated my self from other animals. but now i see that i am jsut an animal and i have just the same chance of becoming extint as every other specieces.I now believe that we wont last for ever. All hope for humans have been lost. its only after you lose everying are you free to do anything.
This unit has also effected my ideas of a perfect world. my dream world has alot more animals roaming free and alot less hard sidewalk. one day dream i had after a class was new york city, except the sidewalks and streets were gone. in their place was dirt and trails, kinda like when you take a hike through the forest. i saw vines climbing the walls of buildings and animals in trees. While this was only a day dream its interesting to think of a world where we are more connected to nature with out doing back to the wild.
its also important to understand we are animals so we may shed the socail pressure that seperate ourselfs from animals. i have never seen a fox with skinny jeans and a tight polo shirt. by understanding we are animals we can do thing that benefit us and not the opposite. instead of eatting burgerking we get a salad. instead of wear bright red skinnt jeans which are hard to move in we wear looser clothings that we can move. The more we let go of unnatural behaivor the more we become free.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
our views on old peopl effect us
http://health.yahoo.com/news/healthday/viewsonoldagemaybecomerealitylater.html
Saturday, February 28, 2009
being a teenager prevents meaningfullness
Between parents and school there is no real time for a teenager to live his or her life. We are told to be at school at 830 so we have to wake up earlyer then we want to. We spend the first half of the day learning things that we are told are important, then we are given a set amount of time to eat before we go back to learning about the "important" things. then we go home, mabye do an after school activity, and do homework.
then we have week ends. As if school doesnt take up enough of our lives, it bleeds over into our week end. the point of the week end we are told is to get away from school and relax. That wouldnt be such a bad idea if it wasnt for school and parents. In between over the weekend school work, and our parents having control over where teenagers go and what they do, there isnt much freedom left in it at all.
This leaves us with the question of between going to school five times a week, to having to ask permission to leave the house on a saterday night; is a teenagers life really their life. Or is it the life that other people force upon us.
being a teenager is just like being a dog. How much control does a dog really have over his life? He eats only when he is fed, he pees only when he is let out and if he doesnt sit down when he is told, he is punished. Niether teenager nor dog has the freedom that they think they have
then we have week ends. As if school doesnt take up enough of our lives, it bleeds over into our week end. the point of the week end we are told is to get away from school and relax. That wouldnt be such a bad idea if it wasnt for school and parents. In between over the weekend school work, and our parents having control over where teenagers go and what they do, there isnt much freedom left in it at all.
This leaves us with the question of between going to school five times a week, to having to ask permission to leave the house on a saterday night; is a teenagers life really their life. Or is it the life that other people force upon us.
being a teenager is just like being a dog. How much control does a dog really have over his life? He eats only when he is fed, he pees only when he is let out and if he doesnt sit down when he is told, he is punished. Niether teenager nor dog has the freedom that they think they have
Sunday, February 22, 2009
my living funeral
The real question when making this list was who would make me sounds good. The point of a funeral is to make the person better then he was. A man kills a girl when he is 23; at her funeral they talk about how great he was at 17. People who speak tell everyone else how "meaningful" the dead guys life was. A man sits at a desk all day everyday till he dies, the people talk about that one time he gave a homeless man a dollar. Because by talking about that one time his life seems meaningful.
So the question who who can kiss my ass enough to make my life seem meaningful.
So the question who who can kiss my ass enough to make my life seem meaningful.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
questions
1)how much does a funeral cost?
average funeral cost 6,500
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/PlanYourEstate/HowToPlanAFuneral.aspx
2) how much is the average nursing home?
$2,969 a month
http://www.mcknights.com/Survey-Average-cost-of-private-nursing-home-room-drops-in-2008/article/120072/
3)How many old people live in poverty?
3.4 million seniors age 65 and older live below the poverty line
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/07/elderly_poverty.html
4)how many old people are in a nursing home
5 percent of the 65+ population occupy nursing homes, congregate care, assisted living, and board-and-care homes, and about 4.2 percent are in nursing homes at any given time.
http://missourifamilies.org/quick/agingqa/agingqa7.htm
5)how many old people are widows
67 percent
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEED6103EF935A25757C0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
6)57 percent of men and 52 percent of women today enjoy sex. About one quarter of those old people ages 75 to 85 are now sexually active. (http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/sexual-reproductive/2008/09/04/making-the-most-of-the-new-sexual-revolution.html)
7)Researcher found that 91 percent of U.S. adults, about 50.5 million, used at least one medication regularly. Prescription medicines were used by 81 percent of adults, or 44.9 million older Americans. Most medications were used by those 75 to 85 years old. (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_73119.html)
It has become clear to me the importance of old people; money. Old people are seen as people with lots of money and nothing to do. becuase of that buisness have gone and tried to squeeze every penny out of them. from the pills to keep them erect, to the expensive funerals you never stop buying stuff. We talk about the idea of the media telling us what a meaningful life is as if it only is told to teenagers. its not, even old people are being told how to live their last days. With all the wisdom and history these old people have, they are still being told their life isnt meaninful.
average funeral cost 6,500
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/PlanYourEstate/HowToPlanAFuneral.aspx
2) how much is the average nursing home?
$2,969 a month
http://www.mcknights.com/Survey-Average-cost-of-private-nursing-home-room-drops-in-2008/article/120072/
3)How many old people live in poverty?
3.4 million seniors age 65 and older live below the poverty line
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/07/elderly_poverty.html
4)how many old people are in a nursing home
5 percent of the 65+ population occupy nursing homes, congregate care, assisted living, and board-and-care homes, and about 4.2 percent are in nursing homes at any given time.
http://missourifamilies.org/quick/agingqa/agingqa7.htm
5)how many old people are widows
67 percent
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEED6103EF935A25757C0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
6)57 percent of men and 52 percent of women today enjoy sex. About one quarter of those old people ages 75 to 85 are now sexually active. (http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/sexual-reproductive/2008/09/04/making-the-most-of-the-new-sexual-revolution.html)
7)Researcher found that 91 percent of U.S. adults, about 50.5 million, used at least one medication regularly. Prescription medicines were used by 81 percent of adults, or 44.9 million older Americans. Most medications were used by those 75 to 85 years old. (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_73119.html)
It has become clear to me the importance of old people; money. Old people are seen as people with lots of money and nothing to do. becuase of that buisness have gone and tried to squeeze every penny out of them. from the pills to keep them erect, to the expensive funerals you never stop buying stuff. We talk about the idea of the media telling us what a meaningful life is as if it only is told to teenagers. its not, even old people are being told how to live their last days. With all the wisdom and history these old people have, they are still being told their life isnt meaninful.
Monday, February 9, 2009
statistics
1. What percentage of old people live in nursing homes?
2. What percent of old people are widows?
3. what percent of old people keep in touch with their family?
4. Still work?
5. How many old people kill themselves?
6. How many old people have kids
7. How many are sexually active?
8. On medications?
9. Socially active?
10. How many have come over from another country to try and live a better life in America for themselves or their family?
11. How many have health care?
12. Pension?
13. How many old people know how to use today's modern technology?
14. Rate of poverty?
15. Food stamps?
16. percent over age of 65?
17. How has that changed over time?
18. How many old people actually talk to their grandkids or kids in general?
2. What percent of old people are widows?
3. what percent of old people keep in touch with their family?
4. Still work?
5. How many old people kill themselves?
6. How many old people have kids
7. How many are sexually active?
8. On medications?
9. Socially active?
10. How many have come over from another country to try and live a better life in America for themselves or their family?
11. How many have health care?
12. Pension?
13. How many old people know how to use today's modern technology?
14. Rate of poverty?
15. Food stamps?
16. percent over age of 65?
17. How has that changed over time?
18. How many old people actually talk to their grandkids or kids in general?
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
interview
1. What is your favorite memory
Oh, I have so many its hard to pick one. But i remember one year at camp on parent visitting day i tell my dad i came in third in a swim race. "how many kids were in the race he asks?" "three"
2. do you think your life was meaningful
I lived my life, had many expirences, learned alot of lessons. yes i do.
3. were there any parts of your life that you thought were wasted
Nah, i wouldnt say my time was wasted. It might have not been excitting, but i was always working toward some goal and every goal takes work.
4. do you feel you are just waitting to die
(laughs) im not waitting to die. I am living my life in a relaxed manner. right now im waitting for lunch.
5. do you have any plans for the future.
Im gonna eat my lunch.
Oh, I have so many its hard to pick one. But i remember one year at camp on parent visitting day i tell my dad i came in third in a swim race. "how many kids were in the race he asks?" "three"
2. do you think your life was meaningful
I lived my life, had many expirences, learned alot of lessons. yes i do.
3. were there any parts of your life that you thought were wasted
Nah, i wouldnt say my time was wasted. It might have not been excitting, but i was always working toward some goal and every goal takes work.
4. do you feel you are just waitting to die
(laughs) im not waitting to die. I am living my life in a relaxed manner. right now im waitting for lunch.
5. do you have any plans for the future.
Im gonna eat my lunch.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
paper
Intro:
You see them on the internet, on TV, on the sidewalk, in trains, and even on the side of NASCAR’s. Advertisements. Small messages telling you how to improve your almost perfect life, how to make life meaningful. But do they work, in a motor oil commercial a handsome white man stands next to his mustang’s engine in his big garage. This shows the message of his life is perfect, except for the fact he is using the wrong motor oil. When he does use the right motor oil his life becomes perfect and meaningful. But wait, I'm not a big handsome man with a mustang. Does this mean my life is lacking something? This is how we are taught to think, rich people are powerful people, and powerful people are right. So to have a meaningful life we need to work to be rich and powerful right? Wrong. A meaningful life is a life that you choose; if you choose to climb Mount Everest or if you choose to sit at home and watch paint dry as long as you choose. These messages of a meaningful life don’t help create a meaningful life, they prevent it. Corporations use billboards and commercials to scream at you, the best way to life a meaningful life is to scream back.
Argument one, Bansky:
If you go to west London to Portobello road there is a bridge. Under the bridge ever Saturday there is a market. One stand inpeticular sells Che Guevara clothing. This of course is a message in its self. When you analyze this you see that it is saying the way to live a meaningful life is to buy and wear clothing that have revolutionary figures on it. One morning the people of this street woke up to see the bridge painted by an unknown person. Across the bridge there were six pictures of che. In each picture he has cool sunglasses on and other apparel, but in each picture while the image of the sunglasses stays strong the image of che seems to melt away. Till in the end you see a melted face with that is impossible to recognize, with really cool sunglasses on. This makes the clear statement that people no long wear che because they agree with what he believed in, but because you get to have the revolutionist persona. And that has gotten to the point where people no longer even know what he stood for. In other words Commodity your descent. The artist of the images is known as Bansky, and what he did was meaningful. He stood up and stated his opinion. He ignored the fact that vandalism is illegal. In big impossible to miss letters he made a statement, thus leveling the playing field against all the corporations who scream advertisements at you from billboards.
In our culture ads have almost become sacred. When you go into the train they are usually behind plastic, almost like they are on display at a museum. These ads are everywhere we turn screaming at us to change. All I’m saying is scream back. Take those very same ads and do something to them. These ads were shoved in your face; they were forcefully given to you; that means you may do with them as you please. Asking permission to take or change an ad is like asking permission to keep a rock some one threw at your head. (Bansky)
Argument 2, Graffiti of the mind:
"Graffiti the land with skyscrapers. Graffiti the sky with airplanes and satellites. Graffiti the minds of children with your man-made laws." (Rehab-Graffiti the world). From an early age we are programmed to think a certain way. In kindergarten we begin to learn the morals we hold through life. It is in these early stages we are taught to shut up and sit down when going against a person in power. A life in which you are told what you are going to do, may it be block time or nap time, and is not a meaningful one. As we get older we no longer are told we need nap time but the same fallow the orders mentality are still in place. We are taught to fallow the rules and question nothing. This prevents us from choosing what we want to do, and thus prevents us from having a meaningful life.
Students are taught history, math, science, English, and how to take shit. The school system is set up against the student. Students are looked down upon by the average teachers. Students are more like sheep them people. We are herded from class to class. We are told to respect and suck up to even the worst and stupidest teacher because they are a teacher. If we try to speak up to against the teacher, even if they were wrong, we are sent away to the principle where we had even less power then we did before. In some schools they get harassed for walking in the door. They walk through metal detectors and get searched. We are then told that all of this is helping us, that this is opening new doors. That is not true, they are choosing which doors they want opened. Think about the number of times you have learned about medieval Europe. How many hours have teachers spent talking about it like it was important? While people where dieing of a plague caused by poop and rats in Europe, Muslims were making technological achievements; but we only learn about the dead people. When was the last time you learned about a rebellion? I personally was barely taught about the American Revolution. School is not meaningful, it has potential to be if the student is given more of a choice, but the system now puts blinders on us like race horses.
I have a friend who is a wonderful artist. He has sketch books full of drawings, some of them graffiti style. When I asked him if he wanted to go draw on a wall, he said no because it was against the law. It is illegal for two kids to tag a wall, but companies throw movie posters up on every blank wall they can find. What’s the difference between us and them; money. No body makes a financial gain from graffiti, even if it’s a beautiful mural. In Pompeii graffiti was used to state political views. People would put their ideas for politicians up on a wall, after a period of time the wall was paint over to make room for more views. My friend wanted to graffiti, but man made laws told him that it was wrong. He is being controlled. He thinks he can choose what he wants to do, but how is he free when he can’t even draw where he wants.
Argument 3, other people’s ideas:
Unfortunately not every one has thought about this as deeply I have, or I have been forced to. There for they do not have their own answer, they actually buy the crap that is fed to them. This became clear when I asked people on the street what they thought meant life meaningful. I realized the more “normal” the person was, the lamer the answer. One man I went up to was a rich upper class white man. When asked to rate the meaningfulness of his life on a scale of 1-10, he gave me an eight. When asked why so meaningful he said “Well I have a good job, a family and a nice car”. That answer was so brained washed in I almost puked on his clean ironed hundred dollar suite.
I asked a few more people and got a few more boring responses, until finally I asked a homeless woman. When asked refused to give a number. When asked what made her life meaningful she replied ““Man, I use to go to school, life was stupid. Then I did drugs, life was different but still not meaningful. Now I’m a hopeless addict and life is still as meaningless as it ever was. The only difference between the different lives is I went through different problems.” This is as close to a meaningful life as I got from strangers. This women was not a drone, she had her own ideas. And while her life wasn’t the best, she was now choosing what she did everyday. It seems that “only when you have lost everything are you free to do anything.” (Fight club 1999)
Argument 4. Dominate messages:
There are some messages that are put out by large corporations. These are the messages that try and tell you how to live a meaningful life. One example of that was the car motor oil. The messages commonly tell you that your life is almost meaningful, but it lacks one thing. And if you get that one thing, your life becomes meaningless until you get the upgrade. Got a radio? You need a TV! Got a TV? You need cable! Got cable? You need on demand! Soon you have hundreds of channels you don’t watch and your shoes are over 100 dollars for a reason you can’t figure out. The worst part is, we think these ideas are our. We think we bought those shoes because we like them. It just so happens that everyone else has the same idea and Kanye wore them in his video. The fork in the road turns into a diamond.
“There's a war going on for your mind. Media mavens mount surgical strikes from trapper keeper collages and online magazine racks.” (Flobots) In our daily lives the media shove messages in our faces about how to be happy. They show pictures of models and tell you that you too can have flatter abs. There is no tolerance for being different. There is known “you could try this product, but you’re still beautiful with out it”. Usually the messages are clear, but sometimes you have to analyze.
Many remember the ads on the subway for Trimspa. Until her passing the star of the ads was Anna Nicole Smith. One advertisement Shows Smith, coming out of the water in a wet suit and holding a surf board. This is supposed to be an image of the good life. The advertisement almost seems to say that you can have this life too. Along the side of the picture there are smaller pictures of other people who have lost weight. In the after picture all of them are standing on a beach. The only way you would know this ad is trying to sell a pill is by the small bottle in the corner. Next to the bottle it says “are you ready”. This gives the idea that you can look good and be on a beach when ever you decided to start taking the drug. This ad says that the meaning of life is to be able to look good on some beach. People are looking for a way to get out of their sad lives; ads like these distract them from doing some really thinking to come up with a good answer of how to make life meaningful.
Argument 5, marginal messages:
All you need is love by the Beatles gives a more marginal message. It states “all you need is love”. It tells you that as long as you have love you don’t need anything else, which is ironic coming from a group of rich guys who are in a popular band. This “all you need is love” idea which is backed up by a simple and happy video; is naïve and is more meant to sound nice then to be actually true. We can all say that all you need is love. But if you ask a homeless man who needs to beg for change to get some food, I’m pretty sure he will ask for a little more then just love. The Beatles can sing this song because they can get what they want. They can have this happy mushy all you need is love life style because they don’t have much to worry about. It is just as hard for a poor struggling family in the ghetto to relate to this song as it is for them to relate to then 50 cents get rich or die trying.
The 1999 movie Fight Club is a story that goes against the cooperate messages. It agrees with my argument, the best way to live is to live your own way. In one part of the movie by literally putting a gun to the back of his head, the Tyler Durden forces a connivance store worker to chase his dream of becoming a vet. “Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessel's life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I have ever tasted” This is putting out the idea that to live a truly meaningful life you must do what you want. Living by other people’s standards and laws leads you along a lame life with no real meaning.
You see them on the internet, on TV, on the sidewalk, in trains, and even on the side of NASCAR’s. Advertisements. Small messages telling you how to improve your almost perfect life, how to make life meaningful. But do they work, in a motor oil commercial a handsome white man stands next to his mustang’s engine in his big garage. This shows the message of his life is perfect, except for the fact he is using the wrong motor oil. When he does use the right motor oil his life becomes perfect and meaningful. But wait, I'm not a big handsome man with a mustang. Does this mean my life is lacking something? This is how we are taught to think, rich people are powerful people, and powerful people are right. So to have a meaningful life we need to work to be rich and powerful right? Wrong. A meaningful life is a life that you choose; if you choose to climb Mount Everest or if you choose to sit at home and watch paint dry as long as you choose. These messages of a meaningful life don’t help create a meaningful life, they prevent it. Corporations use billboards and commercials to scream at you, the best way to life a meaningful life is to scream back.
Argument one, Bansky:
If you go to west London to Portobello road there is a bridge. Under the bridge ever Saturday there is a market. One stand inpeticular sells Che Guevara clothing. This of course is a message in its self. When you analyze this you see that it is saying the way to live a meaningful life is to buy and wear clothing that have revolutionary figures on it. One morning the people of this street woke up to see the bridge painted by an unknown person. Across the bridge there were six pictures of che. In each picture he has cool sunglasses on and other apparel, but in each picture while the image of the sunglasses stays strong the image of che seems to melt away. Till in the end you see a melted face with that is impossible to recognize, with really cool sunglasses on. This makes the clear statement that people no long wear che because they agree with what he believed in, but because you get to have the revolutionist persona. And that has gotten to the point where people no longer even know what he stood for. In other words Commodity your descent. The artist of the images is known as Bansky, and what he did was meaningful. He stood up and stated his opinion. He ignored the fact that vandalism is illegal. In big impossible to miss letters he made a statement, thus leveling the playing field against all the corporations who scream advertisements at you from billboards.
In our culture ads have almost become sacred. When you go into the train they are usually behind plastic, almost like they are on display at a museum. These ads are everywhere we turn screaming at us to change. All I’m saying is scream back. Take those very same ads and do something to them. These ads were shoved in your face; they were forcefully given to you; that means you may do with them as you please. Asking permission to take or change an ad is like asking permission to keep a rock some one threw at your head. (Bansky)
Argument 2, Graffiti of the mind:
"Graffiti the land with skyscrapers. Graffiti the sky with airplanes and satellites. Graffiti the minds of children with your man-made laws." (Rehab-Graffiti the world). From an early age we are programmed to think a certain way. In kindergarten we begin to learn the morals we hold through life. It is in these early stages we are taught to shut up and sit down when going against a person in power. A life in which you are told what you are going to do, may it be block time or nap time, and is not a meaningful one. As we get older we no longer are told we need nap time but the same fallow the orders mentality are still in place. We are taught to fallow the rules and question nothing. This prevents us from choosing what we want to do, and thus prevents us from having a meaningful life.
Students are taught history, math, science, English, and how to take shit. The school system is set up against the student. Students are looked down upon by the average teachers. Students are more like sheep them people. We are herded from class to class. We are told to respect and suck up to even the worst and stupidest teacher because they are a teacher. If we try to speak up to against the teacher, even if they were wrong, we are sent away to the principle where we had even less power then we did before. In some schools they get harassed for walking in the door. They walk through metal detectors and get searched. We are then told that all of this is helping us, that this is opening new doors. That is not true, they are choosing which doors they want opened. Think about the number of times you have learned about medieval Europe. How many hours have teachers spent talking about it like it was important? While people where dieing of a plague caused by poop and rats in Europe, Muslims were making technological achievements; but we only learn about the dead people. When was the last time you learned about a rebellion? I personally was barely taught about the American Revolution. School is not meaningful, it has potential to be if the student is given more of a choice, but the system now puts blinders on us like race horses.
I have a friend who is a wonderful artist. He has sketch books full of drawings, some of them graffiti style. When I asked him if he wanted to go draw on a wall, he said no because it was against the law. It is illegal for two kids to tag a wall, but companies throw movie posters up on every blank wall they can find. What’s the difference between us and them; money. No body makes a financial gain from graffiti, even if it’s a beautiful mural. In Pompeii graffiti was used to state political views. People would put their ideas for politicians up on a wall, after a period of time the wall was paint over to make room for more views. My friend wanted to graffiti, but man made laws told him that it was wrong. He is being controlled. He thinks he can choose what he wants to do, but how is he free when he can’t even draw where he wants.
Argument 3, other people’s ideas:
Unfortunately not every one has thought about this as deeply I have, or I have been forced to. There for they do not have their own answer, they actually buy the crap that is fed to them. This became clear when I asked people on the street what they thought meant life meaningful. I realized the more “normal” the person was, the lamer the answer. One man I went up to was a rich upper class white man. When asked to rate the meaningfulness of his life on a scale of 1-10, he gave me an eight. When asked why so meaningful he said “Well I have a good job, a family and a nice car”. That answer was so brained washed in I almost puked on his clean ironed hundred dollar suite.
I asked a few more people and got a few more boring responses, until finally I asked a homeless woman. When asked refused to give a number. When asked what made her life meaningful she replied ““Man, I use to go to school, life was stupid. Then I did drugs, life was different but still not meaningful. Now I’m a hopeless addict and life is still as meaningless as it ever was. The only difference between the different lives is I went through different problems.” This is as close to a meaningful life as I got from strangers. This women was not a drone, she had her own ideas. And while her life wasn’t the best, she was now choosing what she did everyday. It seems that “only when you have lost everything are you free to do anything.” (Fight club 1999)
Argument 4. Dominate messages:
There are some messages that are put out by large corporations. These are the messages that try and tell you how to live a meaningful life. One example of that was the car motor oil. The messages commonly tell you that your life is almost meaningful, but it lacks one thing. And if you get that one thing, your life becomes meaningless until you get the upgrade. Got a radio? You need a TV! Got a TV? You need cable! Got cable? You need on demand! Soon you have hundreds of channels you don’t watch and your shoes are over 100 dollars for a reason you can’t figure out. The worst part is, we think these ideas are our. We think we bought those shoes because we like them. It just so happens that everyone else has the same idea and Kanye wore them in his video. The fork in the road turns into a diamond.
“There's a war going on for your mind. Media mavens mount surgical strikes from trapper keeper collages and online magazine racks.” (Flobots) In our daily lives the media shove messages in our faces about how to be happy. They show pictures of models and tell you that you too can have flatter abs. There is no tolerance for being different. There is known “you could try this product, but you’re still beautiful with out it”. Usually the messages are clear, but sometimes you have to analyze.
Many remember the ads on the subway for Trimspa. Until her passing the star of the ads was Anna Nicole Smith. One advertisement Shows Smith, coming out of the water in a wet suit and holding a surf board. This is supposed to be an image of the good life. The advertisement almost seems to say that you can have this life too. Along the side of the picture there are smaller pictures of other people who have lost weight. In the after picture all of them are standing on a beach. The only way you would know this ad is trying to sell a pill is by the small bottle in the corner. Next to the bottle it says “are you ready”. This gives the idea that you can look good and be on a beach when ever you decided to start taking the drug. This ad says that the meaning of life is to be able to look good on some beach. People are looking for a way to get out of their sad lives; ads like these distract them from doing some really thinking to come up with a good answer of how to make life meaningful.
Argument 5, marginal messages:
All you need is love by the Beatles gives a more marginal message. It states “all you need is love”. It tells you that as long as you have love you don’t need anything else, which is ironic coming from a group of rich guys who are in a popular band. This “all you need is love” idea which is backed up by a simple and happy video; is naïve and is more meant to sound nice then to be actually true. We can all say that all you need is love. But if you ask a homeless man who needs to beg for change to get some food, I’m pretty sure he will ask for a little more then just love. The Beatles can sing this song because they can get what they want. They can have this happy mushy all you need is love life style because they don’t have much to worry about. It is just as hard for a poor struggling family in the ghetto to relate to this song as it is for them to relate to then 50 cents get rich or die trying.
The 1999 movie Fight Club is a story that goes against the cooperate messages. It agrees with my argument, the best way to live is to live your own way. In one part of the movie by literally putting a gun to the back of his head, the Tyler Durden forces a connivance store worker to chase his dream of becoming a vet. “Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessel's life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I have ever tasted” This is putting out the idea that to live a truly meaningful life you must do what you want. Living by other people’s standards and laws leads you along a lame life with no real meaning.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
martin luther king day
There isnt much i can say about MLK day. For most of the day i forgot why i had school of. This holiday is meant for the black people to be proud, and for the white people to twittle their thumbs and hope no ones brings up what other white people were doing in the the 60s. I didnt watch Tv that day so i didnt get to see the I have a dream speech i have seem over and over.
MLK day is for the postage stamp MLK but also for the postage stamp black people at the time. Everyone loves hearring about the giant march on washington, but there are facts that are forgotten. In the original plan, the protest was going to be a mob of angry black man and women storming washington and demanding their rights. it was suppouse to put fear into the government. unforetunetly plans were changed. the protest became funded, and these people who gave money also gave "advice" too. the angery storm of washington quickly became, the peaceful march on washington. After the march not one congressman interviewed had changed their stance on civil rights, why would they. All they saw was a bunch of black people saying that they didnt like how they were treated, which wasnt a big secret.
MLK day is a day of taking people of the past, and putting them on a pedistal.
MLK day is for the postage stamp MLK but also for the postage stamp black people at the time. Everyone loves hearring about the giant march on washington, but there are facts that are forgotten. In the original plan, the protest was going to be a mob of angry black man and women storming washington and demanding their rights. it was suppouse to put fear into the government. unforetunetly plans were changed. the protest became funded, and these people who gave money also gave "advice" too. the angery storm of washington quickly became, the peaceful march on washington. After the march not one congressman interviewed had changed their stance on civil rights, why would they. All they saw was a bunch of black people saying that they didnt like how they were treated, which wasnt a big secret.
MLK day is a day of taking people of the past, and putting them on a pedistal.
comments
how to be a perfect boyfriend: its nice to know that every girl is so simple that by watching a video afew minutes long i have a perfect understanding of how to make them happy. These tips seem to be basic and logical. If your too stupid to know you have to listen to what they say, then you deserve to be doomed to masterbation and hookers for the rest of your life.
Facebook: While these are true i think there is a bigger problem to look at. If you have hours of time to waste on facebook, the problem isnt that your not ignoring enough requests, its that you have nothing better to do. the best way to avoid facebook is too make plans. you wont spend that long on facebook if you know you have to meet a friend for a movie at 2. facebook is what we do as we wait for something better to happen.
Facebook: While these are true i think there is a bigger problem to look at. If you have hours of time to waste on facebook, the problem isnt that your not ignoring enough requests, its that you have nothing better to do. the best way to avoid facebook is too make plans. you wont spend that long on facebook if you know you have to meet a friend for a movie at 2. facebook is what we do as we wait for something better to happen.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
obama
surprise surprise the man that was on everyones t-shirt won. And he gave his speech like he was suppouse to. And it sounded like every other speech. I really dont listen to much to these kinds of speechs. All they talk about is how the new president wants to change the country. its rare that the president actually lives up to the standards he sets for him self. unforetunetly the standards are already high for obama.
Like always he talked about peace. he talked about helping all the smaller countries of the world as if we are gonna stop exploitting them some day. He talked about the working class. while im glad they got special attention i dont see any strong plans for them. it seems that a meaningful life is one where people help the smaller people.
I have no reflection on his speech because there is nothing to relfect on. of course it sounds like he will really make a change, thats the point of the speech. all that shows is that he hired some good speech writters. I believe strongly that actions speak louder then words, and i look foward to reflecting on his actions.
Like always he talked about peace. he talked about helping all the smaller countries of the world as if we are gonna stop exploitting them some day. He talked about the working class. while im glad they got special attention i dont see any strong plans for them. it seems that a meaningful life is one where people help the smaller people.
I have no reflection on his speech because there is nothing to relfect on. of course it sounds like he will really make a change, thats the point of the speech. all that shows is that he hired some good speech writters. I believe strongly that actions speak louder then words, and i look foward to reflecting on his actions.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
kindergardeners
dear kindergardeners.
hurry up and finish your cookies because if you can understand what im about to say it can change your life. In afew years you will begin to be fed propoganda that tells you that you are powerless. let me give you some examples. when your whole class wants to go to the playground but your teacher says no because its math time. your teacher will try to control the whole class just because she is a teacher and you are a student. You dont have to take this. there is nothing stopping you from leaving. start thinking of those orders of what to do more like suggestions. If you gain these morals you will grow up to stand up for what you think is right instead of falling in line.
I bet you have heard if you have nothing nice to say dont say anything at all, ignore that. if someone is being mean, tell him or her. feel free to say shut up stupid. this idea of always being nice will only lead to you not being able to tell people who are doing something wronge (like the government) to cut that shit out. You need to learn how to get people to stop doing what ever you dont want them doing.
Your parents/teachers are not always right. I bet you are often told you are wrong and the only reason they give is that you are younger and you dont know better. Dont listen to that. that will only lead to you thinking that who ever is in power is always right. you need to learn how to question things and how to keep talking even when you are told to shut up.
Dont snitch. learn how to take matters into your own hands. you are probably told that when some one does something wrong to tell a teacher, fuck that. when some one is bothering you deal with it your self. learn how to independent. when you grow up there wont always be someone to tell, you will get picked on by people in power. if you learn to be independent you can deal with these people, if you learn to tell the teacher and the day comes where the teacher figure is picking on you, you wont know what to do because there is no one you can snitch to.
the teachers dont always do whats best for you. Did you ever notice that nap time went alittle longer then you wanted, or play time in the playground was alittle shorter on cold days. some times people in power sacrafice things in your life to make them happy. this happens more and more when there is a large number of you, like a school or country, and the person in power doesnt know you as well and doesnt mind taking things away from you. learn how to tell this is happening in hopes that you may find a way to stop it.
hurry up and finish your cookies because if you can understand what im about to say it can change your life. In afew years you will begin to be fed propoganda that tells you that you are powerless. let me give you some examples. when your whole class wants to go to the playground but your teacher says no because its math time. your teacher will try to control the whole class just because she is a teacher and you are a student. You dont have to take this. there is nothing stopping you from leaving. start thinking of those orders of what to do more like suggestions. If you gain these morals you will grow up to stand up for what you think is right instead of falling in line.
I bet you have heard if you have nothing nice to say dont say anything at all, ignore that. if someone is being mean, tell him or her. feel free to say shut up stupid. this idea of always being nice will only lead to you not being able to tell people who are doing something wronge (like the government) to cut that shit out. You need to learn how to get people to stop doing what ever you dont want them doing.
Your parents/teachers are not always right. I bet you are often told you are wrong and the only reason they give is that you are younger and you dont know better. Dont listen to that. that will only lead to you thinking that who ever is in power is always right. you need to learn how to question things and how to keep talking even when you are told to shut up.
Dont snitch. learn how to take matters into your own hands. you are probably told that when some one does something wrong to tell a teacher, fuck that. when some one is bothering you deal with it your self. learn how to independent. when you grow up there wont always be someone to tell, you will get picked on by people in power. if you learn to be independent you can deal with these people, if you learn to tell the teacher and the day comes where the teacher figure is picking on you, you wont know what to do because there is no one you can snitch to.
the teachers dont always do whats best for you. Did you ever notice that nap time went alittle longer then you wanted, or play time in the playground was alittle shorter on cold days. some times people in power sacrafice things in your life to make them happy. this happens more and more when there is a large number of you, like a school or country, and the person in power doesnt know you as well and doesnt mind taking things away from you. learn how to tell this is happening in hopes that you may find a way to stop it.
dear joan
dear joan
how are you. Im doing well. I am currently taking a class on the meaning of life and i realized that you gtreatly shaped my life. Back in middle school you were my middle school director. you were also a closed mind puppet who was to busy trying to please the teacher and parents that you forgot about the kids. Time after time my friends and i would come to you with logical and 100% statements about how the teachers were horrible at their job. Not one time did you listen to us. it is because of you that i first realized that people in power only look out for other people in power. your lucky i was small, if some one tried to pull the shit you did today, there would be issues. If i ever have to see you again, i hope its through a scope.
fuck you
-dylan
how are you. Im doing well. I am currently taking a class on the meaning of life and i realized that you gtreatly shaped my life. Back in middle school you were my middle school director. you were also a closed mind puppet who was to busy trying to please the teacher and parents that you forgot about the kids. Time after time my friends and i would come to you with logical and 100% statements about how the teachers were horrible at their job. Not one time did you listen to us. it is because of you that i first realized that people in power only look out for other people in power. your lucky i was small, if some one tried to pull the shit you did today, there would be issues. If i ever have to see you again, i hope its through a scope.
fuck you
-dylan
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
april fools day
April fools day is a day of mischeif. It goes against the "sane" way of living. In normal day life we are told to not piss of anyone. we cant say or do anything that would offend a group of people, april fools day flips this. a strong message of april fools day is laugh at other peoples expence. It tells us that we should do what ever makes people laugh.
It is also a small version of anarcy. during this day we do what we want with no thought of consquence. This is what is meaningful; to do what we want, when we want. It's the ultimite form of freedom.
It is also a small version of anarcy. during this day we do what we want with no thought of consquence. This is what is meaningful; to do what we want, when we want. It's the ultimite form of freedom.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
winter break
The majority of what i did over break i will not write about so i can still plead the 5th. Besides that i spent alot of the time skatting and chillen with friends. christmas day was spent in new jersey with family. New years was spent with friends in williamsburg. and all it was a chill break.
Looking back i think of two things. first is the saying "we are the people our parents warned us about" Some of things i did my parents warned me against when i was younge. this of course means they didnt give me the idea that it was meaningful, i guess that means i learned it from society. thats nice of them to teach me such great things.
the second thing i thought of was how practiced the gift thing is. everyone has to get some one something. the only time where i ever see my aunt is on x-mas when she gives me a $50 gift card to barnes and nobel. i personaly would be fine is she didnt give me anything, especially since i didnt give her anything. someone tells us that aunts give presents to neifes that they never see.
Looking back i think of two things. first is the saying "we are the people our parents warned us about" Some of things i did my parents warned me against when i was younge. this of course means they didnt give me the idea that it was meaningful, i guess that means i learned it from society. thats nice of them to teach me such great things.
the second thing i thought of was how practiced the gift thing is. everyone has to get some one something. the only time where i ever see my aunt is on x-mas when she gives me a $50 gift card to barnes and nobel. i personaly would be fine is she didnt give me anything, especially since i didnt give her anything. someone tells us that aunts give presents to neifes that they never see.
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