Goodbye 2012

Jean Val Jean is a Friend of Mine - interesting review of the Les Mis movie and how it fits into the author's worldview. History repeats itself, to the detriment of us all.

Enough Gun Violence!? - I've been very disturbed at the recent tragedies and this article was interesting to read. I really am disparaged to hear the NRA and folks advocating more guns in the aftermath of this. horror.

The other hot item at the moment here in USA is the fiscal cliff debacle. When I traveled to poor countries over the holiday I had one stunning realization. We are so prosperous and sit atop the entire globe in wealth and opportunity. Despite all these opportunities all you hear about is how hard it is to get a job and to make an impact. That's highly due to the bombardment of media blasting you with consumerism ideals that leave you empty and penniless. The working people I saw in those poor countries seem pretty happy regardless of the fact they'll never eat Kentucky Fried Chicken or get a daily dose of Dunkin Donuts, never mind texting their friends and tweeting their every action to nobody. They'll never know what they're missing on American Idols, The Biggest Loser, or America's Extreme Wipeout.

I can't believe we have to be goaded into wanting to work. We have to be incentivized to want to build and create. We have to be praised and lauded as geniuses in order to "get through the week" and make life worth living!?!? If only we knew what paradise we live in and what paradise exists outside of our routine lives. But we do know, we should know. The knowledge is right there. I can't reconcile it in my head just yet. How we can live in the "best of times, and the worst of times" when really it is the best of times!? And why we can't control ourselves from maiming ourselves, and grounding our best programs, retarding our best projects and ideas, and fighting each other to keep the status quo. My whole life I've felt an enormous struggle just to be able to "do the right thing" and IMPROVE SOCIETY. Why are there such huge barriers to innovation and creativity? Why is it so hard to just "get through the week"? I think we all need a dose of perspective and hopefully amidst the tragedy and the miracles of everyday life it will resonate through to our civilization that "A BETTER WORLD IS POSSIBLE".

AND WE ARE MAKING IT