Words have great power to frame thoughts. Here's a good example reported by Ebonmuse of Daylight Atheism, reporting on the recent Secular Society Conference in NY: The conference organizers next played a rare audio recording of [Carl] Sagan reading the famous passage, Reflections on a Mote of Dust, from his book…
The environmental analysis is surprisingly complicated, according to an article in Slate, "Public bathroom dilemma: Paper or air?" What is one or two paper towels or 30 seconds of hot air compared to the emissions belched from cars stacked on I-84? But consider the following: So far this year Americans…
I was shown this clip at a conference today. It's already made the rounds, but it's worth a chuckle or two if your haven't yet seen it. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN3MGN899yE[/youtube]
If I were asked to divide the world into two groups of people, I would flatly refuse. It is extremely unfair, I would argue that it would be absurd to divide humans, as ineffably complex and diverse as they are, on the basis of one quality or trait. But then again, that would just be me being politically correct. I actually believe that on some level, all of us tend of categorize people into two groups on the basis of one overarching quality. We tend to empathize with individuals who ‘have’ that quality, and believe that the world would be a better place if everyone were like them. For some this ‘vital’ quality is hard work, for others humility, and for some others, it may be looks, or a sense of style. The quality that I regard as most important is the ability to be affected by your surroundings.
I have to come to realize that I have always tended to view the world as consisting of two groups of people. The first group consists of individuals who only concern themselves with the interests of their own selves and that of the immediate circle of family and friends. These individuals do the work that is expected of them, and have no interest or concern for people who are not directly related to them. The other group, whose members I admire, consists of individuals who feel connected to and, hence, are affected by the larger environment they live in. They take …
I’m in Washington DC still (I’ve been here most of the week for a business conference). Yesterday was the day of the American flag. You can see flag-waving everywhere these days. Americans do focus on the accoutrements of democracy rather than making sure we have a healthy democracy with active citizen participation (e.g., consider our pathetic voter turnouts compared to many other countries).
We obsess about flags instead of getting our citizens involved in their government. Our persistent failure to correct this situation is mind-numbing. It’s like being a baseball player at bat in the 9th inning. He could tie the game with one swing of the bat, but strikes out. Instead of focusing on putting the wood of the bat on the ball, he’s obsessing about drinking champaign and having his photo in tomorrow’s newspaper. He’s spending his energy at the wrong level. The waving of American flags is like thinking of drinking champaign while at bat. By waving flags instead of educating and empowering the People, we’re waiving real democracy.
For a strong democracy we need fewer flags, fewer Pledges of Allegiance and a lot more participation by informed citizens. This would start with an active and vigorous media. …