Monday, May 07, 2007
I wish I was crazy so I could declare myself Emperor of the United States...
...just like Joshua Abraham Norton did.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
J.S. Mill is my kindof guy
I just turned in my Western Civ II paper a few minutes ago which was a focus his work On Liberty. Amazing book, by the way. I'm not even joking. Every time I re-read it, it makes me want to be a libertarian. And that's saying something.
However, this particular time I read it... I felt an overwhelming since of dread.
We're screwed.
As a nation.
As a society.
As a civilization.
Maybe even as a species.
Here is my intro paragraph from an early draft:
In John Stewart Mill’s On Liberty, he envisions a dystopia that will come about if human kind as a whole ceases to value individualism as the chief value of the human experience. He believes that if humans continue to value the opinion of the masses over the importance of difference of opinion, we will quickly be “encroached” with overwhelming uniformity where “all deviations from that type will come to be considered impious, immoral, even monstrous and contrary to nature. Mankind speedily become unable to conceive diversity when they have been for some time unaccustomed to see it.” (Mill 71). Mill’s concerns over despotism and the forces that crush individualism are as valid today in 2007, as they were when he originally wrote On Liberty in 1859. Moreover, unless we as a human race recognize these concerns and take active steps to value individual differences of opinion, humankind is destined for a dystopian civilization that will make it impossible to do so in the future.
So I wrote that. And then at the end, I interpreted current forces that were crushing individualism...and there is a ton. Mills contention is that when people stop valuing being different, we cease to expand as a species. And, people, we've stopped.
Like Rome, maybe our time has come.
A civilization that can thus succumb to its vanquished enemy, must first have become so degenerate, that neither its appointed priests and teachers, nor anybody else, has the capacity, or will take the trouble, to stand up for it. If this be so, the sooner such a civilization receives notice to quit, the better. It can only go on from bad to worse, until destroyed and regenerated (like the Western Empire) by energetic barbarians. (On Liberty, Mill, Ch. 4)
--
This is where B pops me upside the head for being a pessimist. I sure hope I'm wrong. Anyone out there? I have no problem being completely off-base with this. I am sure I am in some regards, but seriously how far away are we from 2+2=5?
However, this particular time I read it... I felt an overwhelming since of dread.
We're screwed.
As a nation.
As a society.
As a civilization.
Maybe even as a species.
Here is my intro paragraph from an early draft:
In John Stewart Mill’s On Liberty, he envisions a dystopia that will come about if human kind as a whole ceases to value individualism as the chief value of the human experience. He believes that if humans continue to value the opinion of the masses over the importance of difference of opinion, we will quickly be “encroached” with overwhelming uniformity where “all deviations from that type will come to be considered impious, immoral, even monstrous and contrary to nature. Mankind speedily become unable to conceive diversity when they have been for some time unaccustomed to see it.” (Mill 71). Mill’s concerns over despotism and the forces that crush individualism are as valid today in 2007, as they were when he originally wrote On Liberty in 1859. Moreover, unless we as a human race recognize these concerns and take active steps to value individual differences of opinion, humankind is destined for a dystopian civilization that will make it impossible to do so in the future.
So I wrote that. And then at the end, I interpreted current forces that were crushing individualism...and there is a ton. Mills contention is that when people stop valuing being different, we cease to expand as a species. And, people, we've stopped.
Like Rome, maybe our time has come.
A civilization that can thus succumb to its vanquished enemy, must first have become so degenerate, that neither its appointed priests and teachers, nor anybody else, has the capacity, or will take the trouble, to stand up for it. If this be so, the sooner such a civilization receives notice to quit, the better. It can only go on from bad to worse, until destroyed and regenerated (like the Western Empire) by energetic barbarians. (On Liberty, Mill, Ch. 4)
--
This is where B pops me upside the head for being a pessimist. I sure hope I'm wrong. Anyone out there? I have no problem being completely off-base with this. I am sure I am in some regards, but seriously how far away are we from 2+2=5?
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Too busy to write in this blog...
Monday, March 26, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
One more game...one more game
Oh my gosh. Here we go. Off to the Wheel. Wish us luck if you have a heart.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Game time, whoop!
Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Come on Jayhawks, goddamn it!
I am so excited I can barely be productive. Screw that, I am not being productive. Sweet Sixteen oh yeah!!!
---
Ok. Deep breath Jarrod.
All right, so here it is: we are going to win this game (probably). I know this because of a quote I read in the Star today:
Oh my god, oh my god...
---
Two posts, two days! Whoop! And some could call me a lazy blogger, hah. Yeah, you.
I am so excited I can barely be productive. Screw that, I am not being productive. Sweet Sixteen oh yeah!!!
---
Ok. Deep breath Jarrod.
All right, so here it is: we are going to win this game (probably). I know this because of a quote I read in the Star today:
Because they’re playing such a physical team in Southern Illinois, the Jayhawks said workouts the past few days have been particularly intense.
“Some people get really mad because coach isn’t calling (any fouls),” KU guard Sherron Collins said. “People get a free pass to whack away at you. You get popped everyday on the face or scratched on the arms. But we know it’s for the best.”
Comments such as those make Self grin. For four years he’s been trying to get his players to grasp his defensive philosophy and embrace it.
This year’s Jayhawks, it seems, finally have.
This is why we are going to win. We have finally taken a team attitude of defense through and through. Our Hawks have fully become totally immersed in the Bill Self tight and fast defense one hundred percent. Through and through. SIU may play just as smart as defense as KU, that I do not doubt. Yeah, let's see it with world class athletes and future NBA players.Oh my god, oh my god...
---
Two posts, two days! Whoop! And some could call me a lazy blogger, hah. Yeah, you.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Dead Sea Scrolls, Chi-Town, Hawks, and Happiness
Yay! Spring break! Doubleplus Yay!
So, Spring Break 2007.
Best. Break. Ever. No, not really, (Maybe!) but it is up there.
So, I have been requested to blog a little bit, and blog a little bit I shall.
So, I just used 'so' three times in 5 sentences. What a lazy writer, this Jarrod punk. So, sue me.
---
Start: Friday at 3 AM in Lawrence, KS.
Ack and I journey to Chi-town. We arrive around Noon. Best driving of my life. There is something pretty damn Huck Finn'ish about about driving over the Mighty Mississippi (no spell check needed, thankee sai) through Hannibal, MO, at 7 or so in the morning as the sun comes up listening to The Weight by The Band. (Take a load off fanny, and (and) (and) you can put the load right on me.)
Yeah, it was going to be a good weekend.
Highlights:
My dad was just leaving the house for Houston, Texas. Fun parallelism. I am arriving and he is leaving at the same time to two very different objectives. Him: business and making money. Me: sleep.
---
Here is a partial list of music Ack and I listened to for the 18 hours of driving:
Since then, life has been, let's just say wonderful.
Today, my fam and I visited Union Station to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. Unbelievable. I need to have another blog post to really say what I want to say about that because this post is getting rather long. (And for the record, not inspired by green beer nor Lake Michigan.)
More to come soon, world! Go Hawks!
So, Spring Break 2007.
Best. Break. Ever. No, not really, (Maybe!) but it is up there.
So, I have been requested to blog a little bit, and blog a little bit I shall.
So, I just used 'so' three times in 5 sentences. What a lazy writer, this Jarrod punk. So, sue me.
---
Start: Friday at 3 AM in Lawrence, KS.
Ack and I journey to Chi-town. We arrive around Noon. Best driving of my life. There is something pretty damn Huck Finn'ish about about driving over the Mighty Mississippi (no spell check needed, thankee sai) through Hannibal, MO, at 7 or so in the morning as the sun comes up listening to The Weight by The Band. (Take a load off fanny, and (and) (and) you can put the load right on me.)
Yeah, it was going to be a good weekend.
Highlights:
- Soccer at Galway Arms with a genuine Irish barkeep serving Guinness at 10 in the morning on St. Patty's day. Ack teaching me the intricacies of European soccer leagues and clubs. Go Arsenal!
- Chilling with AJ. (Like it is every time I see him, goddamn it Jarrod, hang out with this man)
- Imagining life as my cousin in Chi-town's Lincoln Park. Our best guess was that there was 200 bars in 5 square miles.
- KU winning twice by a combined margin of victory of 52.
- Wandering with Ack.
- Thinking of Topeka.
- AJ and cab rides.
- Having an amazing cousin who would shelter us rambunctious animals for a couple of nights in her incredible Lincoln Park studio apartment with a view of Lake Michigan.
- 1000 miles in 72 hours + 10-14 No Doz. + St. Patty's day in Chicago = Sick Jarrod
- Six dollar Shoe Shines "You don't gotta do shit, I gotta stay in the cold! Gimme my six dallas!" (absolutely a story there, I'll tell you over a beer sometime)
- The cheapest beer we could find wasn't. Expensive weekend.
My dad was just leaving the house for Houston, Texas. Fun parallelism. I am arriving and he is leaving at the same time to two very different objectives. Him: business and making money. Me: sleep.
---
Here is a partial list of music Ack and I listened to for the 18 hours of driving:
- Rolling Stones, Beatles (especially post August 18, 1964), Gorillaz (both Demon Days and their self-titled album), Radiohead (OK Computer, Hail to the Thief, and Live on MTV), Arctic Monkeys, Johnny Cash Live at Folsom Prison (Jez: 25 Minutes to Go still haunts me), Blow OST, Easy Rider OST, and Wicked (yah, judge us, Ack and I rockin' out to Wicked at 2 in the morning, singing Broadway. [ Wonderful / They called me "Wonderful" / So I said "Wonderful" - if you insist I will be "Wonderful" / And they said "Wonderful" / Believe me, it's hard to resist /'Cause it feels wonderful/They think I'm wonderful])
Since then, life has been, let's just say wonderful.
Today, my fam and I visited Union Station to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. Unbelievable. I need to have another blog post to really say what I want to say about that because this post is getting rather long. (And for the record, not inspired by green beer nor Lake Michigan.)
More to come soon, world! Go Hawks!
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