Sunday, September 07, 2008

Society



hmmm ooh hooo hooo

It's a mystery to me
we have a greed
with which we have agreed

You think you have to want
more than you need
until you have it all you won't be free

society, you're a crazy breed
I hope you're not lonely without me

When you want more than you have
you think you need
and when you think more than you want
your thoughts begin to bleed

I think I need to find a bigger place
'cos when you have more than you think
you need more space

society, you're a crazy breed
I hope you're not lonely without me
society, crazy and deep
I hope you're not lonely without me

there's those thinking more or less less is more
but if less is more how you're keeping score?
Means for every point you make
your level drops
kinda like its starting from the top
you can't do that...

society, you're a crazy breed
I hope you're not lonely without me
society, crazy and deep
I hope you're not lonely without me

society, have mercy on me
I hope you're not angry if I disagree
society, crazy and deep
I hope you're not lonely without me

Jerry Hannan and Eddie Vedder

Monday, May 05, 2008

Settlement of Indiana

The French explorer, Robert La Salle, navigated the Great Lakes regions and the Mississippi River in the late 1600's, including the waterways of Indiana in 1679. He saw vast tracks of unused land, Native American goods, and new plants and animals as something that could be profitable for his home country. He quickly claimed the entire area for France, including what would become Indiana.

Trading posts were established around Native American populations and along major rivers in Indiana. In days before railroads and automobiles, rivers were used for transporting goods. Therefore, riverbanks became places of commerce, mission work, and settlement. Military posts were built to protect these areas from rival European powers. Three major posts of the 18th century are Indiana cities today: Post Vincennes, established in 1732, is presently Vincennes; Fort Quiatonon (1717) is near present day Lafayette; and Fort Miami (1721) is now Fort Wayne.

Benefits of Trade
The story of the fur trade is usually one of genocide, the death of millions of Native Americans because of disease and war, but there was also considerable amount of peace between Europeans and Indigenous people of Indiana through trade. Bartering is a win/win situation, because people only trade when they are expecting to gain something. In addition, the voluntary nature of trade between two people creates peaceful relations and cultural awareness. There is evidence of these peaceful relations in Indiana between Europeans and Native Americans.

Native Americans initially embraced French settlers and traders, because of the benefits of trade and because there were too few Frenchmen to threaten their way of life. As trade expanded, more interaction between the two people created peaceful relations. Alliances were built by trading goods and friendships were developed by exchanging gifts. It was important to learn languages and customs of the other side to determine what trading goods were desired. For example, European traders made iron arrowheads, something that was not part of their culture, because they knew this was a marketable item with Native Americans. Cultural awareness also lead to integrated wardrobes, and Europeans sometimes chose to live among Indian tribes, some even married and raised families.

Native Americans bartered for items such as firearms, cloth, metal tools, jewelry, and alcohol. They were interested in obtaining items that had practical use in their daily lives. For example, arrowheads and cooking utensils made of metal simply replaced existing tools made of stone. Furthermore, because trade allowed European goods to arrive in places long before Europeans themselves, Native Americans often tried to position themselves as middlemen in larger trading networks with other Indian tribes to improve their trading power and social prestige.

The French were interested in trading for animal furs and skins from Native Americans. Companies entrusted goods to traders who transported them by canoe to exchange for deerskin, and beaver, muskrat, and raccoon pelts. The furs were then sent to Paris to satisfy fashion demands in Europe. A beaver pelt hat, for example, was popular among the aristocracy; it was a symbol of wealth and prestige.

Costs of Trade
The benefits of trade, however, came at a cost. European tools often made daily life easier for Native Americas, but trade creates a problem of dependency. For example, using metal arrowheads may have made daily life easier, however over time ancient skills of making stone arrowheads by hand were lost. This made Native Americans dependent on trade with Europeans to obtain more iron arrowheads. Another example of dependency involves firearms. Once an individual relies on the use of a gun, he or she becomes dependent on trade to maintain it; one must obtain shot, powder, spare parts, and anything else to keep the gun working.

Though Native Americans traded for European tools, they did not trade beliefs and values. They resisted ideas about property rights, year-round farming, and religious beliefs. Therefore, as more and more settlers arrived, the culture difference between the two people intensified. Another cost of trade included the exchange of diseases. Europeans spread diseases, such as smallpox, measles, tuberculosis, and influenza, to indigenous people of the New World, who had no immunities against them. Disease, along with war and genocide as a result of culture differences and racism, led to the death of millions of people and nearly a complete annihilation of an entire race of people.

One Land, Two Peoples
Competition between Native American tribes for European goods, along with competition between France and Britain, reached a turning point in the 1760's during the French and Indian War. Native Americans generally chose to fight alongside the French, because they were more dependent on French trading goods and because the British were more interested in settling large tracks of land. Great Britain won the war in 1763, giving them dominance over trade relations with Native Americans for a short period of time. The British traded items that reflected an empire–tobacco, guns, and rum. This lasted until the Revolutionary War and the birth of America. Eventually, in the 1800's, more and more Americans moved west of the Appalachian Mountains because of cheap land and resources. As more settlers arrived to places like Indiana, conflict with Native Americans intensified. This conflict, along with fashion changes in Europe, helped bring an end to the fur trade around the 1850's.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Howard Zinn on Empire

Howard Zinn is the single most influential author/historian in my life. This is my creed.

"Have we not reached a point in history where we are ready to embrace a new way of living in the world, expanding not our military power, but our humanity?"

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Astronaut Jesus

Jesus died. He is on his way to Heaven. Heaven has to be a large place, considering all the people that apparently fit in there with great comfort. Therefore, we can conclude that, because astronomers can see billions of light years into space, Heaven cannot possibly be anywhere near earth, otherwise we would be able to see it.

Lets assume that some how Jesus was traveling at the speed of light. This means he is roughly 2,000 light years away from earth. This means he has 23,000 more years just to reach the center of our galaxy. That is, assuming he didn’t have to go around the sun to get through our solar system. If he was not going in that direction, then he is probably heading in the direction of one of the billion of galaxies out there. It will take him 160,000 years just to reach the nearest one. Whatever he is going, he has a long way to go. The billions of galaxies in the universe are each constantly moving apart, so there are millions of light-years between each one. So, considering the universe is mostly empty space, it is safe to say that Jesus is still traveling in space and he is billions of years from his destination.

Also, do not forget astronomers know approximately how fast the universe is expanding, and it has be doing so for 10-15 billion years. This gives Jesus little hope of ever actually getting closer to his destination. That is, if he even knows where he is going! Chances are he is lost. Our galaxy alone is filled with too many stars and clouds of dust to see the center (hence the name Milky Way). With all the stars, planets, moons, asteroids, meteors, comets, dust clouds, and dark shadows with no light between galaxies, there is a great chance that Jesus is aimlessly drifting in space. Even worse, he is probably caught up in some asteroid field or black hole, or he might be caught by some planet’s gravitational pull. This would mean he is aimlessly orbiting a planet!

Despite all this, I will give him the benefit of doubt. After all, he cured the sick and walked on water as a man, so I’m sure he knows how to get back to Heaven. (Though, I doubt he is there yet.) After all, he was sent by God and somehow got to earth in the first place, so I am sure he can find his way back. However, what about all the other people on their way to Heaven, too. I doubt anyone knows the way or has the capabilities to get there.

Wait a minute. I want to know how Jesus got to Earth in the first place! Considering (a.) the distance from Heave to Earth is billions of light-years, and (b.) the age of the earth is 4.6 billion years. This means he had to have started traveling here billions of years before Earth even existed--billions of year before he knew humans needed a savior!

Wow. Maybe I’m thinking too hard. In any case, I do know that there is a certain point in childhood development that children learn concrete items much easier then abstract concepts. They do not learn abstract ideas like patriotism, freedom, or racism until a latter age. They learn by picturing abstract ideas as concrete imagines in their head. This is why people believe stories in the Bible are actually true. They believe God is sitting on a cloud with angles feeding him cherries and playing harps for him. This isn’t likely.

Lets read religious text metaphorically. The messages, themes, and lessons should be taken seriously, not stories that divert what is really important. This logic, of course, can be applied to any story, such as Lord of the Rings. The messages and lessons taken from this book are as deep and meaningful as the Bible. Lord of the Rings is my religion. Gollum died for my sins.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

"We Will Reign Them In"

My question for Hillary Clinton:

"War has always been privatized in the sense that it benefits the rich at the expense of the poor. However, war is being outsourced and privatized at an unprecedented level in American history. My question is regarding private military companies and what your Administration will do to hold them accountable and to give them oversight--or dismantle companies such as Blackwater, Worldwide."



"We Will Reign Them In" More to come.......

Friday, March 21, 2008

Faceless Generation - updated

I wouldn’t say our generation is entirely nameless. Perhaps the “Faceless Generation” is a suitable name for a generation that takes an active role of ignorance and privilege acceptance; one that is complacent with its way of life and apathetic towards poverty, war, and suffering. Many people I have come in contact with seem to lack intense or enthusiastic political beliefs, and not many have meaningful interests or convictions. Very few seem to question any authority or challenge the status quo. There seems to be a generation void of thought.

Tony Benn, a former member of the British parliament, reminds us that, “We are the first generation in the whole of human history that has the money and technology to resolve the world’s problems.” We could just as easily send recruiters into schools that inspire students to become teachers and doctors, rather than soldiers in the military. We could build schools, hospitals, and homeless shelters, rather than developing high-tech weaponry that destroy such things.

This will not happen without political dissent, but there simply is not enough participatory democracy. But it does not have to be this way. There have been many silent generations in the past that have spawned the greatest revolutionary periods in our history. A simple action by Rosa Parks can inspire people to question the status quo; a charismatic leader, such as Martin Luther King, can animate a crowd towards a common goal.

But what will it take to motivate people today? There is a lot injustice taking place, yet very few people seem to notice. It is time we start. Lets stand up against the injustice taking place. And let us remember that America’s greatest qualities--qualities that separate us from the developing world--have not been achieved through victory on the battlefield. The eight hour work day, child labor laws, workplace safety laws, the right to vote for women, and desegregation were won, not with guns and tanks, but through protest and dissent against our own government. This country is great because of boycotts, strikes, rallies, marches, petitions, sit-ins, tree sitting, hunger strikes, pickets, candlelight vigils, tax refusal, go-slows, blockades, draft refusal, and public demonstrations.

There is hope!