Things To Do; Dissertation Procrastination

Of course when I have something consuming my time and life (dissertation), I think of all the things I need to do that aren’t that. So, just to be sure I do not forget these items or ever feel like there is ‘nothing’ to do with my time, I am listing them here. Also, it will keep me from procrastinating on my writing and pursuing them now, which is terribly tempting.

Things I want/need to do:
- Start running again
- Get a job
- Put CV online in a nice polished format.
- Re-design PDF CV the way I’d like
- Start volunteering/getting involved with London social innovation groups (NetSquared)
- Business Card.
- Bleach the bathroom walls.
- Sell vintage clothing, tv, ski boots, etc
- Go to the map/tate exhibit, still.
- Write/finish the 3 blog drafts I have laying around.
- Detox the soda from my body.
- Get some half decent photos of me for my website
- Clean off my computer!/organise files
- Get in touch with Grandparents, Aunt, etc. Call Elaine.
- Figure out how to vote in the UK
- Figure out what the hell is happening in US politics (Sestak)
- Rearrange the lounge.
- Dear god finally go see Inception so I know what everyone is talking about, as well as all the other films I’ve missed over the months
- Get a haircut.

For some reason I think posting this publicly will make me more prone to actually following through.

Keeping Content Free on the Web: Mini Essay on Ideal Advertising

I don’t have the space I’d like to fully explore the idea of this here, but I wanted to get it out there in some format, because I think its worth considering, critically in terms of both social sustainability, and business sustainability. Examples are all hypothetical, but you will get the picture.

There should be a cultural movement to click on online ads. It sounds ridiculous, but it makes more sense than ignoring them.

There is this panic in media, especially news media, as it moves online and the marketing model shifts, and its all based around monetization. You can’t monetize what you can’t substantiate in the advertising world, and here online that means clicks, page views, time spent on a page, Twitter followers, and Google hits. Just look at the response to the Times putting up a paywall; beyond whether or not it will ‘work’, it completely contradicts the beauty of the internet (easy sharing and access) and also encourages other outlets to do the same (scary, but unlikely or it will cause a drastic shift in media consumption, providers, and information flow as we know it online).

Organisations Require Money to Keep Producing Good Content

Advertising and monetization of media has always been a bit arbitrary in its cost structure- how many people might see an ad in a mag just because they purchased it its assumed they landed on particular pages, driving past a billboard equates likelihood of noticing it, etc. These “views”  are usually called “Gross Rating Points”. They are powered by reach and frequency– the more people who see your ads more often are most likely to buy into it, so the logic goes. There is a lot more social psychology behind this, far more sophisticated and statistically tested, but the important equation in monetizing is the more who see it/interact with it, the more the owner of that magazine/billboard/TV channel can charge for it.

All at once, the internet presented a beautiful world to both content producers (bloggers or corporate) and advertisers: seemingly endless exposure and access. What seemed more attractive to advertisers was the insane idea of more precise analytic behind advertising– unlike the times you flip past a magazine page, webpage interaction can be measured, in some way.

It turns out, this is juxtaposing to our democratic agenda of information sharing and notions of universal access: fancy social tools like Facebook or information wikis like Wikipedia require money to run, as does the New York Times or even your beloved Huff Po. Good content requires research, structure, resources; and while people can ‘donate’ some time toward things like editing through wikis, we can’t expect the same high-level journalism once highly sought after without… a monetization structure to support it. Clay Shirky mades a good point in his lectures at the LSE that actually some of the best online resources come out of crowd sourcing and free time put into projects like Wikipedia which reduce costs, but the social thinking it would require to do this large scale, and replace things such as news media and journalism, is far off and possibly not even realistic. Until then we have to pay those who should be skilled (not necessarily in the professional sense but in their ability to deliver) journalists, designers, and information architects to keep put consumable content online. Sure, some of it is ridiculous hyper-commodification of ‘news’, but really, it applies to even the most basic quality content.

Advertising is a necessary evil. Having studied advertising and media for some time and worked both in corporate and NGO settings (my allegiance lies with the latter), it is not only a fundamental part of every major economic system in the world, it… it works. Or it could. And it could certainly work better.  Advertising keeps content ‘free’. If you aren’t willing to pay for an online subscription to the NYtimes or Hulu or anything else, but you do not want to have to pursue other outlets, your payment is exposure to advertising. If this is the case at least for the time being, why not engage with it instead of accepting it passively.

Advertising should be participatory.

The best advertisers are those who understand targeting: the majority of people who see their promotions are people who want to or would be interested. Poor targeting and overly attention seeking ads [novelty beer ads, singles ads, flashing free computer offers] exist because 1) websites sometimes have to take any advertiser they can get, and can’t be concerned about the appropriateness for their audience 2) Advertisers are constantly trying to reinvent their approach, sure that now we’re used to seeing banner ads we can more easily ignore them 3) They think kitschy and memorable for any reason is ‘branding’; while in essence that is not true, it does get a response, even if its not the best one or a long-lasting one 4) Relating to 3, online advertising is all about hits, that’s how they are charged . Of course there are other factors in this dynamic, but these are certainly issues both parties face.

The key to advertising earning its cultural weight is in its ability to target. Imagine if everything you wanted, whether only nature-friendly organic products or the highest quality cleaners or cars-built-for-safety-not-luxury were… reflected in the ads you saw. They were reflected in the media you see. It would be and is a process, but participating actively would speed it along.

Clicking on ads of Evil Corporations or Advertisers You hate, or Have no Interest In.

I’ve told a few friends about my thoughts on this, particularly those who are very anti-corporate 0r see advertising as a synonym for ‘brainwashing’ or ‘selling me things I don’t need’. Right, so, there are all those companies out there that sell horrible products for society, or, sell what we see as staple goods for now (At&T, BP) but are awful. Often the former comes up on smaller websites just trying to sell advertising to keep afloat, so they advertise “Snuggies”, and the latter on major media sites like the Guardian.co.uk who have what big corporations want: millions of site hits a day; only big corporations can afford those ad spots. The type of targeting they provide sometimes doesn’t apply to smaller advertisers, and would take too much logistics and management (read: more expensive on the personnel side of the website) to make it worth catering to those advertisers. Unless it was a niche audience, where the advertisers are by nature smaller and the website readers are more prone to clicking.

However! What happens when you click on a BP advert on The Guardian website? Depending on the website’s click marketing structure, they pay for it (pay per click). Or, they pay for CPM’s, which is cost per thousand impressions. Every time you click on the Paid Search Result on the top of Google, that company is paying for it. Yes, evil/bad corporation X pays ever single time; yet still I know they are not getting my business. By being conscious and active in looking at advertising when possible (because lets be real, it isnt all the time), there is a very small chance that no matter how amazingly well written and aesthetically pleasing that company’s website is, that you would change your opinion. In my imaginary ideal world of clicking, these corporations are paying extreme amounts of money that will never convert to sales. #win.

How clicking Translates…stay with me here…

Even with the ads you genuinely are not familiar with, or those companies you are not fervently opinionated on, the idea of being active in advertising still has an impact. Aside from what this is really about, which is being an educated active consumer citizen which means being more media and product literate as a society (ideally speaking), it is a cycle that helps us both 1) keep content free and 2) better quality advertising. The process is something like this: X company buys online advertising with Z website being told they will get N amount of viewers exposed to their message — the bigger (corporate news) or more niche (classic cars) the website, the more they can charge >> X company tracks their campaigns through conversion rates: Did this increase traffic on our website, and if so, by how much? How long did each person stay on our website? Did they click around? Did they buy anything (or if you can’t buy online, such as with BP, they look at general sales over a quarter OR brand equity).

Now imagine you are X company, you spent $$$$$ on advertising, had a MASSIVE jump in people viewing your website, but you have nothing to show for it offline. No sales, no good press, no change in consumer mood towards your brand. What do you do? Initially, you change your advertising strategy– either better messaging, OR, a better outlet (maybe Guardian readers really arent a part of BP’s best market). This urges better targeted advertising, as well as simply innovation in advertising; it forces companies to be more intentioned in their advertising–  which they should be prior, but, forces them to rethink it. After numerous failed campaigns or negative feedback, it can also encourage a complete change in business plan; ie Ford deciding to make more hybrids because the other stock isn’t selling.

Huff Po's Green page with ads for home insurance and credit cards.

Best case scenario, this big media website learns that BP, Virgin, or the Gap just does not appeal to their readers, through this process [since they are charging by 'views' instead of clicks, not clicking is not an inaction or your personal boycott when it comes to this advertising model]. It urges the website to seek out better advertisers for their readers- because they want advertisements that actually appeal to readers, otherwise they won’t keep their advertisers, and will lose money.

Sure, you can keep not clicking and ignoring ads. And you’ll keep getting the same advertising. The advertising you hate or doesn’t apply to you.

So.

Okay. Its a long term process. Its my dream of a social and consumer awareness for those of us living a market and advertising culture. Its my dream that we all try to be more media literate and aware of where information and alliances come from and how money influences the way information is produced. And, as competition becomes even more cut throat with lower barriers to entry with the internet, and consumer having more and more power, there is no reason we shouldn’t wield it; companies should earn us as consumers. For me that might mean being ethical and concerned for the customer, others that might mean being trustworthy quality.

And best of all, it would keep most content free. Or this is what I’m hoping for.

What Americans mean when they say they’re from…

How Americans basically refer to where they are from to non-Americans while abroad If they are not from a big city†: (click to enlarge)

A Remix of a Remix //// Summer Songs 2010

It is going to be an amazing summer for music.

This is me compiling what I’m dancing to around my flat, walking down the street, in my head when I should be listening to a lecture, waiting for the tube, and at my desk. I’ll probably add to it. You’ve probably picked up on most of these already. You’ll see below I don’t have the most sophisticated or insightful approach to music – I don’t really do them much justice. Furthermore, this doesn’t include the new LCD Soundsystem OR the new Arcade Fire, which are being described as … well, epic. Those albums will still be spinning decades down the road.

Alas, here they are in one spot. My narrative and soundtrack for the summer — most because of their sweet beats and melodies along with some of the best lyrical content I’ve heard in a while. They’re all melodic and choral in one way or another, you’ll notice … a theme.

Yeasayer /// O.N.E. (…and the rest of the Odd Blood Album)
I am a fan of their video aesthetic, and I think their dancing really sums up my feelings about this song. There is something beautiful about a synth-drum filled dance song of constant motion saying “You don’t move me anymore– and I’m glad that you don’t/Because I can’t take it anymore/Control me like you used to“. I can’t wait to hear this out at a bar in London.

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Ida Maria/// Oh My God
Another Norwegian rocker has  stolen my heart.  The song that sums up what is going on in everyone’s mind, as we seem to sail through life, looking relatively intentional, purposeful, and composed, when really we come into being more like a Jackson Pollack– things are violently flung into place in reactionary decisions. Not always, but more than most of us want to admit. I first heard this for the Its Kind of a Funny Story trailer, here, and had to seek it out. Shout along.

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Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros /// Home (RAC Remix) / Home (original)
When I first heard this song, I had it on a looped playlist and I couldn’t stop listening to it, or whistling it. I’m a sucker for brass, strings, and piano in melodic folk and indie songs. Once I sat down and really listened to it, I feel like its probably the most romantic song I’ve ever heard, and it reminds me of summers past. Both versions = brilliant.

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Vampire Weekend ///Horchata
Don’t get me wrong, I love the catchy cords and springy vocals of that was the entirety of the first VW album, but the new album offers a richer take on the same idea. This one in particular has delicate instrumentation and build up that swells into a sea of xylophone, drumming, clapping, and tambourine moving back to delicate strings and bells to a choral anthem:
“Here comes a feeling you thought you’d forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Oh you had it but oh no you lost it…”
I could listen to this every day of the summer.
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Vampire Weekend /// I think Ur a Contra
Couldn’t really find a good video for this. One of their first real ballads — it ends on an even more delicate vocal note than the album opens on. The narrative of this song is so strong it almost stings, if it weren’t so sweetly sung. Incredibly timely for my summer.
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Antlers /// Bear
This is a dancing song. Actually, its about a traumatising decision for a couple, yet its sung so sweetly, it rivals Ben Fold Five’s ‘Brick’ which is on the same subject. He quietly sings “All the while I know we’re fucked and we’re getting unfucked soon” and then comes in the snare and horns, as the music video depicts a visualised grimness to what the lyrics are actually talking about. Still, how you could resist dancing around is beyond  me.

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DailyBeatzBlogwave Summer /// MIXTAPE
[ie: Bag Raiders-  Shooting Stars]

This is only one song off the best mix I have found all summer, with this being the most upbeat of the electronic mixes (definitely download this). However it features CSS, Delorean, Delphic, Tunng, and a range of others. This is a genuine dancey electro pop song that could make the atmosphere at any club in the summer time. Honestly, there is just something about it, I can’t stop listening to it– something about the keyboard refrain. And, check out the 90′s tech spacey journey 3-D modelled music video.
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Two Door Cinema club /// Undercover Martyn
Everything about this band reminds me of weeery UK electro-guitar pop that came out years ago. I could care less and I am totally okay with their Northern Irish approach to borderline emo highly-dancable beats and dry lyricism. I think you have to make that decision for yourself.

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Neon Indian /// Psychic Chasm
Filtered hazy vocals and highly stylized synth. For me, its almost relaxed, slow-moving pop that I can have playing while I do most anything around my room.
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Caribou /// Odessa
I have had this song on repeat for a while to dance to when no one is looking. There is something throwback and funk about these beats that is completely modern with an electric downbeat that I catch myself moving to as I am out around Londontown.
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Hot Chip /// I Feel Better
Perhaps I am just sheltered, but one of the most ridiculous music videos I have ever seen. Worth watching  just for that. Had this come out 15 years ago, the context alone would change the sound; the video embraces their overly dramatic 90′s synth sound– despite being very white electropop indie nerds from the UK. Its EPIC. I can’t imagine this won’t be played everywhere this summer.
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Yeah Yeah Yeahs /// Soft Shock – Hysteric
Same album, well-played in my car as I drove around last summer, especially around twilight when I’d be getting off work. Soft Shock  is easily one of my top 5 YYY songs. Karen O completely woos me with her cadence  in both of these songs and everything that goes with them musically. Very different, but for me, always played during warm drives home and to see friends.
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Camera Obscura /// French Navy
Such a whimsical way-retro pop ballads. I feel like we’ve all been on this holiday in Paris, and we want to know where it went. It inevitably ends. How sad. Still perfect for summer.
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Teenagers /// Remixes of …

Delorean \\\ Love No Remix
Another band of the summer. They have a list of songs that are gratifyingly upbeat  and do something amazing with their electro sound. And their Spanish, so to me they are even more summery!  (If the remix doesn’t do it for you, Stay Close will. Unless you don’t like my taste in music. Entirely possible).

Vampire Weekend \\\ Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa Remix

You have to listen to this almost as if its another song. I think this is the best kind of remix– it  loops and layers the best hooks of the song and themost poignant lyrics, adding bass and starry synth. Again, I think you can see a theme as to what I’m listening to right now.

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Bloc Party /// England

This is just something that comes on my lists every so often and I always like it more than I think I will. One of those songs you walk home to when the streets have emptied out and it just echoes in your ear. It makes me strangely content.
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||||||  I am taking requests.

Mediating (Liberal) Hollywood and Health Care Agenda

This post is about two things: mediation and politics of health care in pop culture. I swear, it will make (some) sense by the end.

Despite the fact I should be reading literature surrounding the ‘public sphere’ and ‘democratic civic culture’, right now, I am instead thinking about the role of media, in any reiteration, and its role in mediation. Mediation as the media theory to frame our cultural/social relationship with media, not mediation as in reconciliation between two parties… although I am sure you’ll see the etymological and conceptual connection.

Every time I see media, advertisements to Facebook posts to a television show, I try to think not about what I am seeing alone, but what that creator/producer/writer wanted me to see. I also think about why I see what I see; the connotations and information I attach to it– am I seeing what I want to see or the full context. Sounds incredibly convoluted, maybe.

So if mediation is the process in which information of all types is circulated, communicated, and conveyed through media (individual or collective), it offers some interesting implications if not causality to how norms and ideas take shape, as well as public opinion (Silverstone, Martin-Barbero, etc.). However, it cannot be said that it is completely one-way; just because a media predominantly portrays one thing that it is then absorbed or mirrored by those who hear/see it, does not mean that it was not first culture that influenced the media to portray that. Basically, “media” isn’t this alienated node that sits in their tower deciding what we want to think; whether they like it or not or mean it or not, they are members of the same society recycling the same issues or impressions too.

Mediation really makes you think about the ‘chicken and the egg’ scenario- does media represent us and dynamically work off mirroring society or do we absorb media and it determines our attitudes/knowledge/connotations/culture which is perpetuated again? Academically speaking, there is a lot surrounding it and can hardly be as dichotomous or mutually exclusive as that. It can at the very least be said that there is a dynamic there, and an important one that people are paid ridiculous amounts of money to harness that dynamic (looking at you Dr. Frank Luntz, #usingmediationforstraightmanipulation).

I’m fascinated by ‘mediation’ as a process because it says quite a lot about about the power behind media and communications and what people take from it to construct their opinions, ideologies, and realities.

For Instance…leading labels
This title- “Liberal Hollywood and Health Care”.  Just by stating that, I am taking an entire social entity, Hollywood, and labeling them with a _highly_ divisive or at least connotative word, liberal, and putting it next to a hot-button issue. Also, the title plays off stereotypes that you probably know already exist based on past media consumption. That title says so much about what one would assume they were going to get out of this article. Not just that, it aligns those ideas, giving the impression that there even IS a relationship between this thing Hollywood (which lets be real, its not a place, its a type of person in our society) and this political/policy issue ‘health care’ (again, left to one’s POV, many see it as more than policy, but also an ideological issue). The title is very loaded; in comes mediation. I solely used that title because it’s a pretty standard use of media to pull people in and draw labels, that influence our own associations of concepts and information.

Truthfully, a more appropriate title would have been “Thoughts on the Dynamics behind Mediation and a Recent Example”.

So what provoked all this talk, other than general observation, and my academic studies-

I stumbled upon what I think is the latest episode of that medical drama “House”.  It was purely for entertainment reasons. If you’ve seen it, you know it normally follows around eccentric Dr. House  and the drama within his team of doctors as they treat rare diseases. This episode, however, was about one of the major but peripheral characters, Dr. Cuddy, who is the Chief Administrator and Dean of Medicine for the hospital.

…You may or may not be able to watch it here. If not, the recap is here.

Dr. Cuddy deals with telling a patient that their insurance probably won't cover an unusual perscription despite having paid premiums for 30 years

The reason this episode seemed a bit different…
While it follows her around, really emphasizing the stress of her job and how much she deals with on a daily basis, from her sick infant to an employee stealing thousands in prescription drugs, the focus of the day is agreeing on the terms of the relationship between her hospital and AtlanticNet, the largest health insurance provider in their state. During this time, a gentleman also meets with Dr. Cuddy as he is suing the hospital for sewing his thumb back on– a procedure that costs $60,000 and he hadn’t asked for it, because his insurance would not be enough to cover it. The distressed former patient is very clear that the financial burden is so much he rather lose his thumb than not be able to provide for his kids, and lose his house (which is already close to foreclosure).
Obviously its moving, but Dr. Cuddy explains that this training and services cost money, and just like him, they are in a bind with insurance companies to keep running.

There other scenes of this sentiment that pop up in this episode; and despite not clearly ever saying it, this was directed and written to speak to the health care crisis we have in America. The producers of this show are using their medium, a fictional TV drama, to add to the public discourse surrounding the state of insurance and health care. [Watch it and see if that's debatable]

There are always questions to be asked: how accurate is their representation of these relationships? Is this just their personal opinion or did they really do their research? What were they hoping I would take away from this?

Again, the guise is “Look how hard Dr. Cuddy has it, all she has to deal with”, but there is a far more political message behind it. This happens in everything purposefully made for consumption and not, like my blog, opinions are there. But if you watch, you’ll see its far to obvious to be accidental.

There is real-world not-just-built-for-entertainment-truth in its message. The administrative and structural friction that exists in these institutions and just people are very present; and although they make a point to paint the insurance corporations in a very damning way (not that it’s inaccurate),  even if you overlook that, on message seems pretty clear: the current system is so messed up that it simply does not serve the purpose it is designed for.

It reminds me the fact that in Congress it is debating the legitimacy of investing in that massive problem or navigating too far from the current system is absurd, just for these reasons (among so many others that are better justified in more legitimate and exhaustive resources than available in a blog posting).

Back to the point– this is mediation. This  is how ideas and opinions are circulated. What we grasp onto and choose to make the agenda of in our culture, and how we do it. At least part of it.

This feels strangely relevant to right now, and more so every day. In fairness, there are people out there of a different school of thought, questioning the lack of agency in this model, and its implications as a conceptual framework, and if they’re reading this, I encourage comments.

The New Romantics (Emocon 2010)

Some people out there really like to get down on Valentine’s Day. We’ll generalize and say these people tend to be of the single variety. But they really love to hate everything behind Valentine’s Day.

Not me.

Any excuse to celebrate ‘love’, even if it is superficial and cheesy, is also a great excuse for me to bask in equally cheesy sappy love songs. Recognizing there are a few moods one might to set– whether for your ipod on the drive to dinner tonight, or after when you’re on the couch in your living room/ parent’s basement- I compiled three  lists of ‘modern’ love songs, depending on what you want to say to that special someone.

They are rated by awesomeness, and my personal interpretation. And for those of you who asked, do not worry, the first list is about as sappy as it gets (you’re welcome, Molly).

Undying Love/Growing Old Together:

10.  Make you Feel My Love – Adelle [This is more selected for the video, I'm pretty sure you can recycle it for your Valentine. It would work. You should try.]

9. Postcards to Italy – Beirut

8. Naive Melody (This must be the Place) – Arcade Fire’s cover of Talking Heads (Its just more romantic to have Arcade Fire & David Byrne all in one song)

7. True Love waits – Radiohead

6. I will Follow You Into the Dark – Death Cab for Cutie

5. Two Doves -  Dirty Projectors

4. Swallowed by the Sea - Coldplay

3. Maps -  Yeah Yeah Yeahs

2. First Day of my Life – Bright Eyes

1. Sea of Love - Cat Power’s Cover

I  miss you/I want you [Upbeat]:

7. Better Things - Passion Pit

6. Nashville – Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

5. Lets make Love – CSS

4. Forever - Chris Brown (yeah, that just happened)

3. Emily Kane - Art Brut

2. Digital Love - Daft Punk

1. Such Great heights – Postal Service
And for all of you mourning Valentine’s day,  simply in-hate with your ex, or embracing a broken heart – I’ve made you a list too.

I think we should break up/ Me? Bitter?:

7.  One more Night – Stars

6. Landlocked Blues- Bright Eyes

5.  Pictures of Success – Rilo Kiley

4. Sentimental Heart - She & Him

3. Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wrecks - The Blood Brothers (oh man)

2. My Dreamgirl Don’t Exist – Neutral Milk Hotel

1. This is How you Spell “HAHAHA, I’ve destroyed the hopes and the dreams of a generation of faux-romantics” – Los Campensinos

I am sure I am missing other great modern love songs; surely there are Mason Jennings , Bloc Party, and Shakira songs I am missing. Not to mention this pays no tribute to the classics  (Oh Joy Division, Smiths, has there ever been a heartfelt playlist without you?).

Enjoy, and Happy mf Valentine’s Day.

{Cannot remember the source of the Bike photo, but kudos to whoever took it}

Death and Growing Old(er)

This is not an in-depth or very critical post, just slightly reflective.  I am not one for the “The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!” or the Apocalypse is upon us (other than Snowpocalypse)– however, I can’t help but notice all the…deaths.

Today, Alexander McQueen hung himself in his West End flat. The respectable papers here (London) won’t say it, but its on all the other dailies.

He was 40, and amazingly successful. It has been said: People die every day. Yes, they do.

And if I had to read about them individually I would still be equally upset. That isn’t quite the point. Our perception of death as a tragedy is a part of the human condition not being able to negotiate its unknown; except if you’re someone well-settled in your spirit, obviously.

That isnt the point.

In the last 3 years, and especially the last 12 or so months, a lot of culturally prominent people have died for no real reason. Suicide. Mismanaged meds. Irresponsible recreational activities (drugs). Cancer.

Are we just more aware and sensitive to it as we get older and its always been like this– frequent sudden deaths? Does mediatisation just mean that we hear and see more (which is certainly true on some level)?
Or, are people depressed, living escapist lifestyles, and cancers is just a result of our ‘copious’ societies?

One has to assume there is nothing causal about these events. McQueen had a series of life tragedies, Jackson had a hotbed of issues after lifelong stardom, Murphy had health issues.

More bothersome, the press has all but moved on from Haiti.

What a downer note to end the night on. But I just thought it deserved a think.

I still think its all a bit tragic.

Hiatus Nation

Lucky for some I have been far too busy to concrete a blog discerning my issues with Ron Paul and his followers that I spoke of a few posts back. More so about the fact he represents a bigger picture of a movement toward Libertarianism, and, beyond that, the big picture of what those principles imply about those who uphold them as well as society at large.

I am however, on a writing hiatus due to a change in my employment and other life factors. Good thing this isn’t a professional blog.

For those of you hoping for a good ol’ conversation about my views on subjects such as Ayn Rand, and the institution surrounding that hive of beliefs, I’d love to partake, as I mostly disagree with the entire concept behind this, but alas, I will be delayed in such commentary.

I believe that not all people are created equally (by that I mean the _same_), but all people should be given equal opportunity that lets them define their character by more than just their circumstantial environment provided.
Believing people should exist in a pure competitive organic society, with no interdependence, is not only ignorant but elitist.
Elitism is the anti-community; a concept that always gets railed against in every society, eventually, as a cycle.

You almost had me there- I started to write a long rant. Truly the subject could end up being a much too long manifesto. Suffice it to say I morally disagree with the overarching principles behind hedonism, libertarianism, objectivism, and dumbed-down utilitarianism, oh and anarchy, if anyone actually still wants anarchy as a societal following.

Can’t get down with that.
Once I’m off my hiatus- pending an election- I’ll have to get on that.
Until then, be well.

“The aim of life is self development. To realize one’s nature perfectly- that is what each of us is here for”

- Oscar Wilde.

Don’t abuse it.

Cheers

Universal/Socialized/Public Healthcare: Your Arguments are ridiculous America.

Facebook has done us all the ‘favor’ of putting the Presidential debates on forums for all those ‘Facebookers’ out there to debate to exhaustion. I generally don’t participate in these because its not just tiresome but frankly, I come across arguments like the one I am going to post, and frankly, these kids don’t know what they hell they’re talking about.

In terms of taxes, most of our parents bred us to think lower is better. I remember in high school debating with fellow classmates about the very-real operational tax the school district HAD to pass to open the newly built lower school. If it didn’t pass, they’d cut 90% of sports and extracurricular activities. I remember our Valedictorian and two sisters, who were I believe captain of the volley ball team, along with other highly engaged high schoolers were like “No, because it will raise my parent’s property tax”. While I understand this, it doesn’t speak to the fact that the initial tax to build the school was passed, it was built, and this was the only viable tax. I think the same kinds of kids argue against public health care; their parents complain about taxes, they really don’t understand other countries’ systems, and they only look out for themselves.

The day they aren’t covered by mom and dad or they work a job that doesn’t provide health care, they’ll get it. Even then, its still a poorly executed system that relies on the invisible hand and trickle down theories. Pffft.

Here is what a Facebooker said to someone in favor of ‘universal health care’:

“It is not the worst in the world ( U.S. healthcare). It is among the best, it just is not the best. And that’s probably not due to our health care system but Americans being generally far more unhealthy and living unhealthy lifestyles than other countries. Bottom line, universal health care would be an absolute disaster. If you want your taxes to skyrocket, go ahead, be for it. It is not free, you pay for it with your taxes as well as for others. Why should I have to pay for someone else’s doctor visits, hospitalization, tests, medicines, and much much more? Why do you think people from all over the world come to America for health care? Because they don’t get good quality health care in their socialist countries and have to wait forever to be seen. Also, universal health care just adds more power to the government. Do you really want the government deciding whether or not you should have a certain surgery because there is not a life threatening need? Do you want the government running another institution with their tendency to not run institutions that well? Private health care is better for the economy and has better quality. Also, the salary of doctors and other health care workers would drop drastically. Thousands of people working for insurance companies would lose their job because their insurance company would go bankrupt. America is NOT a socialist country and we shouldn’t turn into one. If someone wants to live in a socialist country, they should move to Canada or a European country where the taxes are among the highest in the world. In my opinion, socialism is a minor form of communism trying to make everyone equal and to redistribute wealth. Communism has never worked. I understand that something needs to be done to stop the extreme high costs of health care, but universal health care is most definitely not the way to go. ” – Jane

My backlash of a response to her and all the others using Canada, taxes, and communism as a response. I apologize for the lack of citation and references, as it was a Facebook post, although I’m sure it would have augmented my perspective on things:

“There are hundreds of posts (on this subject), so I just stopped at the first that truly got my attention. Before you defend private health care: have you ever gone without any insurance during a health care crisis? I’m going to say probably not, because if you have, you’d understand how desperate things can get.

1. We have superb health care POTENTIAL but one of the poorest executed systems. So yes, we have the means, but few can attain the coverage needed to get that five star care. What does it matter if you can’t get it?

2. Having social health care doesn’t make us a socialist country. And what most Dems and liberals are talking about is an integrated system that allows for paid coverage as well as flat coverage. Examples of this already exist in our government you’re just USED to them; we have the USPS and its not like people don’t use Fed Ex or UPS. We even already have some of these elements in health care, it is just hugely lacking. It can be fashioned, and it would be sensitive to our market economy, naturally.

3. “Private health care is better for the economy”?? Who’s? If you haven’t noticed, the only people that truly reap benefits from private health care are hospital execs and pharm companies. Other countries DO have standards for public health care and they DO pay well because they can afford to do so by health incentives.
Healthier citizens and those with access to health care means less tax dollars wasted on preventable disease, early pregnancy, and even emergency medical attention. There ARE government checks and balances that can be implemented to better monitor this while still paying doctors well enough- European countries do it.

4. Out of all the socialized health care systems, CANADA ranks far far lower than others, so people should stop using it as an example! I can tell you the France and UK do not have the same gripes. AND EVEN IF THEY ALL DID, according to studies, countries with socialize services and high taxes rank among the HAPPIEST in the world. Literally!

5. I think people are using the term ‘universal health care’ broadly; it doesn’t mean just raking in a single tax and pumping out unquestioned free health care. It’s complicated and requires a great amount of infrastructure that is sensitive to both our economy and social needs. People like ME are willing to pay taxes for people LIKE YOU because I know none of us can predict our future need for a system like this; your child might be born with a handicap, and I might get cancer. As one doctor I spoke to on the matter said “It shouldn’t be health insurance. Sickness and death are inevitable.” Americans have no foresight for this, as a collective conscience.

6. People like me are more worried about creating a sustainable environment for our neighbors and our kids than just myself, and I’m willing to live a more conscientious lifestyle to do it.

7. Nine out of 10 Americans don’t know what they hell they are talking about when they say Socialism or Communism; neither of these systems are inherently evil.

8. Telling people to get out of the country if they don’t like things the way they are? True patriots and those who love their countries are willing to invest to make it better, not abandon it. (More information on ‘dogmatic nationalism’ opposed to ‘patriotism’ in previous blog Howard Zinn: Be apart of your Country’s Democracy”)

Please don’t take this personally, as this addresses my issues with many people who argue public health care. My points were brief and I assure you not as simple as I presented them, but I hope you truly consider the future of our entire nation before making your mind up on this.”

I wonder if any of this will resonate.
For now, those of you with this ridiculous dogmatic rhetoric from your parents, go ahead, prove yourself right, pay for your own insurance. Or, just drop it and run the risk of getting sick.  What are you waiting for?

Cheers not Leers!

Edwards is Finally Endorsing Obama

Finally, after all the begging, jokes, and projections: John Edwards is endorsing Barack Obama for his presidential candidacy.

He will later be giving his official endorsement at a campaign event in Michigan.
I’m supposing it will be riddled with careful verbiage to imply that he is supporting Barack Obama as the Presidential candidate, versus the Democratic nominee.

Edwards had dropped out because he thought it would expedite the process, and possibly to retain his gracious and humble image, but really the only offer he has brought to the plate lately has been his endorsement. Obviously he waited for a clear sign before making this decision.

Possibly helpful to Obama’s standings with the “hard working white” demographic?
Now if we can get Hillary on board.

Check it out.

Go Obama.

photo credits Washington Post