where did it all go wrong

while i find it encouraging that people can be passionate about something, i find it equally discouraging at how trivial the things are that people apply that passion to. politics, religion and sports seem to rule the day. in the now of social media, everyone has the opportunity to express an opinion. everyone has an opinion and they are so polarizing in these opinions, that it often leads to confrontation. with the mask of the internet, a competent, mature debate is impossible.

i tend to beg out of any conversation about religion or politics. i used to claim to be an agnostic, but i don't think that describes it well enough. i think of myself as more spiritual than religious. i developed a disdain for organized religion while growing up in a southern baptist environment, and it has only become more cynical. i have studied several religions in my life and i can't condemn any of them. they all seem to have the same moral compass, so i am okay with that. i am not okay with the notion that money needs to exchange hands in order for your sins to be absolved. lay vestiture began with the holy roman empire and it still exists today.

as for politics, i just don't understand it. i understand the meaning of the word and it stands for "shady". my definition is "the unnecessary ass-kissing of another, for the betterment of one's self". it is unfathomable to me that a government can be monopolized by a two party system that wins by bashing the other, raising billions of dollars and accomplishing next to nothing while serving the term. this monetarily infected popularity contest has done nothing but to accelerate corporate involvement in the government.

i guess it would be easy to say that i have been conservative in my views in my lifetime. i think that i have evolved to a point that i find myself oddly "apolitical". i have not voted in the last 3 presidential elections. many will say that this prevents me from having a say, but i don't see that in the constitution or any other law on the books. nothing is going to affect my decision to maintain a personal integrity. that is my law and it comes above all others. some call these ideals "morals". i just call this the thing that i won't sacrifice above anything.

in my lifetime there have been presidents. kennedy, lbj, nixon, ford, carter, reagan, bush the elder, clinton, bush the younger and obama. looking at this list explains everything you need to know about why the world hates us. the only true statesman on this list is nixon, but we know how that worked out. he sucked on the domestic front because he was just so paranoid. ford and carter were decent enough guys, but they were way out of their league. the rest, minus the sitting president, are a bunch of criminal douchebags. The jury is still out on b.o. nixon was a criminal, no doubt. this will, no doubt, spark debate.

the biggest issue that needs to be addressed in society is the pollution of the mind. we are being subjected to fear mongering from the left and the right. we are being force fed mindless images of people on "reality shows" to appease our shortcomings. we are told by talking heads in every walk of life how we should react to things instantly. we are full frontal in our need for information and most of the information that we are getting has no value whatsoever. as evidence i present glenn beck, perez hilton, et. al.

i remember when people were quoting gandhi, buddha, the dalai lama, kafka, mohammed or jesus. now people try to quote assholes like oreilly, beck, hannity, limbaugh or oprah, to which i respond, STFU. i could list more, but what is the point? it just makes me tired. i grew tired of degrading and laughing at other people for the betterment of my psyche early in high school.

i believe the human condition has devolved to the shallow end of the kiddie pool. i think that we should all be treated equally as human beings. i don't care what color you are, what religion you are, what sex or sexual orientation you have, how old you are, how much you weigh, what country or state you live in. it does not matter. we should all strive to have equal human rights. as soon as you start granting rights to selective groups, you are, by definition, discriminating against everyone else. this de-evolution of humanity has to stop.

i think that whoever started this science project is probably greatly disappointed.

Lebron

you may have missed the fact that lebron james left cleveland. you may not even care. here are my observations about lebron's announcement.

1. lebron, like wade and bosh, was tired of being a very good player on a mediocre team. that is why they hatched this plan.
2. the comparisons to jordan, magic or bird are unfair. all had players surrounding them.
   
3. i am not piling on cleveland, but really, cleveland or south beach? not a hard decision.
4. lebron, wade and bosh are good friends. now they have the opportunity to play together. When james came into the NBA, he was a highlight reel of dunks and drives, but he was also a gifted passer. having someone to pass to will only help that stand out.
5. who would want to go to cleveland now after the scorched earth announcement by dan gilbert?

with all of this said, i still will not watch the nba.

later.

how i see it

i will do these very infrequently. i have never done this before. i live in southern ga, which is pretty much northern jacksonville. i watch a lot of sports. i watch a lot of television. i watch a lot of movies, i don't capitalize. i think you get the point.

i will create entries on what i think on things. i don't give a shit what you think. you can tell me your opinion and i will invite a conversation. if you bring the "you are a moron" defense, i will ignore you. if i can't ignore you, i will make fun of you. i will stay on topic.

i will start shortly, with my take on lebron james.

wait for it.