Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Things we learn as kids

I remember growing up and hearing that everything the "good guys" did in the bible was good and justified... but was it? When you think about people today using god as an excuse for war and atrocities. We all shake our heads and call them fools, even other Christians think they are nuts... But what if you really examine a lot of the wars seen in the old testament? They claim the exact same thing, god instructs them to go in and kill and maim people. God instructs them to bash children on rocks. Those of us that were raised on the bible were taught to believe that those were heroic acts against non-believers but really it's a book documenting war crimes.

An a semi separate note, in my history class we're learning about King Solomon. As a kid I was taught that god gave Solomon the gift of wisdom and that he was such a great king. He built the great temple and brought glory to god. But in my class we learned that in order to pay for the temple and his palace Solomon taxed his people to ruin. After he died the Hebrews were split into two factions, ones that didn't mind the taxes and ones that had enough of them. This lead to the fall and conquering of Israel... Solomon was the worst thing to happen to the Hebrews.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Viva Revolution

Is a revolution always better for the people?

It seems like when a country has a revolution that throws out a foriegn government like America throwing out the British was in our best interest. But is it always for the best? It was after a revolution that Stalin took power, a revolution put Castro in charge. They convince the people that it is in their best interest. They end up worse off than they were. They get sucked into a furver and mob mentality.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Why They Can't Exist

There are a lot of people out there that have high hopes and ideals for man kind. They've come up with these great ideas on how we can live and all be happy. The only problem is none of their ideas can exist because they require the ideal human but are subject to real humans.

Communism/Marxism: This is not to be confused with what we currently see in different world governments. There is no such thing as a true communist government currently (or ever) in this world. The current governments that you see calling themselves communist are actually just dictatorships. True communism calls for everyone to be equal and distribution of goods to be fair. In a true communistic society there would be no supreme leader as seen in China or North Korea. This ideal way of living can never exist due to human nature. It is natural for humans to want to gather as much for themselves and their families to live comfortably. They naturally compete for resources and horde them for a rainy day. It is in our nature to want to have more than the family down the street. I think I will discuss further on why communism can't work in another entry that is all about the inevitable requirement for rich and poor.

Anarchy: A society with no leadership is not a society at all. This is an ideal government only worshipped by young rebellious teens. They build up in their mind that because the government is the problem that no government would solve all the problems. This is an overly simplistic and childish way of thinking. It's like a man who has been shot saying that all the problems in this world are guns, if we get rid of guns all of our problems will go away. The man doesn't put two and two together and realize that guns aren't the problem, it's the man pulling the trigger. If he saw that man pulling the trigger he might think OK get rid of the man, there will always be another man to replace him. A solitary human can manage quite well on their own. But when you get men together in a group they begin to follow what's called Mob Mentality. They will naturally look for a leader and follow them. Even the rebellious teens find a rebel leader. Men are lazy, if someone else offers to do their thinking for them they tend to let them. Don't get me wrong their are men that think for themselves and those are often the men that find themselves in leadership positions. What do you think organized religion is? Humans allowing other people to do their thinking for them. A true state of anarchy can not exist for longer than it takes the humans in it to organize themselves and find a natural leader. This could be hours or days but likely not much longer than a few weeks. The people that idealize about anarchy are the teenagers that still view themselves as immortal. They fantasize about taking what ever they want and roaming the streets free. They never think about people bigger, stronger or smarter than them stealing from them, hurting them or even killing them. Anarchist at their core are naive.

Utopia: What is utopia? It is my theory that in this world the religious person to god ratio is at least 1 to 1. Every single religious person has their own god and the reason I saw at least is some of them have more than one god. Ask a human some questions about his or her god and all of their answers will differ at least slightly. Every one's god agrees with them on everything (fuck their god even likes it's pizza the same way). No one person is exactly alike so no one god is exactly alike. Why did I go off on what seems like a tangent? Because no two people's gods are exactly alike just like no two people's Utopias are exactly alike. A utopia is essentially heaven. The idyllic place where everything is perfect and nothing ever goes wrong... gee Skippy I wonder why that can't exist. You would first have to discover the perfect society of humans to ever get a utopia and that doesn't exist.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

A Good Tip

The American culture is obsessed with proper tipping edicate. Are they supposed to tip 10%, 15% or 20%? I don't understand this new way of thinking at all. What is a tip? It was meant as a way of saying "great job, you did so well I want you to have this extra as an award". A mandatory tip is exactly the same as a mandatory donation. I know I know you tell me you feel obligated to leave a tip because the restaurant pays them less because they are expecting a tip. This is backwards thinking that can be equated to "The company does A because they expect the customer to do B, the customer does B because they expect the company to do A".

Today I had another realization about the tipping custom. Giving certain percents of the bill as a tip does not reflect the compensation the waiter deserves. Does the waiter at the restaurant that charges $3 for a bowl of soup deserve a smaller tip than at the restaurant that charges $20. Tips shouldn't be based on a percent of the bill if you want to be fair. A waiter can work their ass off for you at the cheap restaurant and be a lazy fuck at the super posh over priced restaurant. Instead I propose that if you feel obligated to leave a tip you should base it on the number of people in your party. Perhaps one dollar per person and you can raise or lower that if you want based on how good of a job the waiter did.

Don't get me wrong if a waiter does a really good job and goes out of their way they should get a tip. But if the waiter does the bare minimum and ignores you half the time then I shouldn't be obligated to leave them a good tip.

Friday, April 16, 2010

You sure are smart

I hear that every once in a while but I know it's not true. I've come up with a way of making it seem like I know a lot while barely knowing much at all. Most people dedicate themselves to mastering one or two trades. They become experts in their related fields and tend to ignore most other unrelated fields. I am not an expert in any one field but I know a little about a lot of different subjects. Why did I become like this? I study anything that comes along that helps me understand jokes. I hate it when I watch TV and someone makes a reference that I don't get. Mind you that at this point that is very rare unless it's very obscure. A good example is watching Family Guy, some people watch it and understand 30-60% of the jokes while I tend to get 80-90% of them. That was always important to me growing up. I remember the first time I watched Clockwork Orange because I was watching a TV show that referenced it and thanks to that I now get it when ever people reference strapping someone in a chair and locking their eyes open. There are still occasional references that I miss but I try to take care of that after it happens. That's it... the whole reason that I read and desire to learn things... to not be left out on jokes.

But I always keep in mind that there are plenty of people out there that know more about any given subject than I do. I accept that and I learn from them. There is an old saying that I will paraphrase: An intelligent man knows that he knows everything, a wise man knows that he knows nothing. It's good to be sure and confident in yourself but a little modesty never hurt. People tend to respect a modest person that is sure of themselves as opposed to an arrogant person that falls flat.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

A Letter to the Sexes

About the opposite sex.

Dear Men,
Why do you pretend you don't know what women want? The only reason you can't understand them is because you don't want to. A woman wants to be treated with the same respect you give your mother. She wants to know she can trust you and that you'll be there for her. Now men I know how you think and I know that anytime you see a good looking woman you immediately size her up as a sexual mate. You wonder what she looks like naked and how she is in bed. Sadly for you generally she doesn't think the same way about you. Just because you find her attractive doesn't mean she feels the same back. I know that as men we naturally have an ego and assume that any girl that gives us the time of day must want to have sex with us, they don't. It is possible for a girl to be your friend and have no sexual desire for you. Don't discredit this, this isn't a bad thing. Being friends with women doesn't make you less of a man, it actually makes you a much more well rounded person. You can start to better understand women and help you in your dating life. But a very important thing to remember is, if you ask a girl on a date and she gives you an obvious BS excuse, that is her way of trying to nicely turn you down. I know it seems cryptic but if she tells you she's "taking a break from dating until she gets her life straight" or some other excuse that means she still wants to be your friend. She has tried to let you down easily and not screaming NO and then laughing in your face. Take this how it was meant, she values your friendship enough to not want to be mean about it. Respect her decision and if you were meant to be together she'll come around to it eventually. But also remember that if you have feelings for a girl and you never flat out tell her, it's your own damn fault if nothing ever comes of it.

Now to address another part of man's ever expanding ego. When you've dated a woman and you break it off don't assume she must be pining to get back together with you. Every man has this ego built up inside him that no girl he's ever dated can actually be over him. She is. Hate to burst that bubble of yours but it is possible for someone to move on from you and not look back. Let it go and move on yourself, you'll be better for it.

Oh and men I hate to break it to you but every gay man you meet does not want to rape you. You don't need to feel threatened by him, if you're not homosexual he can't press a magic button and turn you. You don't need to treat homosexuals with a sense of fear, they are just another human being that should be respected.


Dear Women,
Please try and remember that in general men communicate with each other very plain and directly. If you want to get your point across to them you're better off being blunt. Now being blunt does not mean being cruel, it just means not hiding behind flowery words. Let a man down nicely means letting him down and not stringing him along hoping that he'll give up eventually, he wont.

How should a man treat you once you've said yes? Simply one word comes to mind, respect. He should respect you like he respects his mother. I'm not trying to get into some Oedipus complex, just respect. Never allow a man to make you feel inferior or less than you are.

Be warned of the manly ego. You know that nice guy you just met? What did you think of when you met him? I can tell you what he thought of you, he wondered what you looked like naked or how you were in bed. Go into every situation with that in mind, he isn't thinking that every moment he's with you but he has thought it. Don't be offended or disgusted he can't help it, it's natural instinct. Just be aware of your actions around him as he may misconstrue them as sexual advances.

Have you broken it off with a man but still wish to be his friend? Keep one thing in mind, that ego of his tells him your not over him. You just want to go back to being friends and he may want to be your friend too. But in the back of his mind he'll be wondering if you secretly want him back.

Another very important thing I'd like to get across to you ladies. Are you dating a man that has bad habits? Does he drink a little too much? Does he tend to be lazy? Are you convinced that with time he'll change his bad ways? He wont. No matter how much you harp him and no matter how much you think you can fix him, you can't. This is true with anyone, if someone has a bad habit they will not change unless they want to. They have to truly want to change their ways and nothing you say can do anything about it.

On one last note, if you walk around with your cleavage showing please don't act offended when a man stares at them, he can't help it. I know you feel the right to wear what ever you want but be aware of the reaction it will get.

Dear Hermaphrodites,
I got nothing, keep doing what you're doing.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Pre-Programmed

How are we trained to act and what are we trained to like?

From a young age boys and girls are given certain toys and taught to act certain ways. Boys shouldn't cry but girls can cry all they want. Boys can be openly sexual and promiscuous but girls have to remain celibate till marriage. Boys plays with Tonka trucks and girls are given dolls to dress up and make "pretty".

Why do young woman have a dream wedding? Because when she was a young girl she was told to want it. Why do man drink beer and watch sports? Because when they were young boys all of their role models did it. I remember when I was young my Father would be gone on Super Bowl Sunday but I sat in the basement watching the game with chips and popcorn, why? Because I was "supposed to".

This happens a lot in families that feel strongly on either side of the aisle (Right or Left). Strong Conservatives and Strong Liberals train their children to feel the way they do and carry on that tradition. A lot of parents, especially the liberal ones, will claim to allow their children to make up their own minds. While this may be true in some aspects but in the end there's some things you just can't help but pass on. Obese parents don't mean to train their children to over eat but they naturally copy their parent's behavior.

Another example of this accidental behavior inheritance is the use of alcohol and smoking tobacco. Children that grow up in homes with one or both parents that smoke and or drink tend to mimic that behavior later. For example I grew up in a home where no one smoked and my father only rarely drank a beer. Now I'm an adult and I don't drink or smoke at all.

Parents should be aware of the old saying "monkey see monkey do". Your child will mimic your behavior, the good ones snd the bad ones. You can lecture them all you want and say "Do as I say not as I do". But now you've just trained your kid to be a hypocrite... way to go dumb ass.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Pet Peeves

The following is a list of things people do that makes me annoyed.

1. Anyone that apologizes for saying the word hate and then says "I never say hate, it's too strong of a word". NO IT'S NOT!!! Hate is a weak word and so simple. Do you really dislike something try using "Loathe" or "Despise". Those words are so much stronger than hate.I hate a lot of things but I only loathe or despise a few things.

2. A lack of common sense. I know it's actually very uncommon but people lacking common sense and logic just piss me off. Do you know how people "predict" the future? They can logically predict that what happened those other 20 times is probably going to happen again. Don't over think things (or not think at all), logic isn't that hard.

3. People that force their way into the center of the intersection to turn left and run the red light because their already in the middle of the intersection. All you're doing is cutting off how much time the other direction has to turn left. I will also group with them people that tag along with the car in front of them. This can be with those people raping the middle of the intersection to turn left or people at a four way stop that think if they count as the same car as the one in front of them.

4. People that bring their family drama on to talk shows. Keep your personal business at home you trailer trash dumb ass.

6. People that accuse other people of being narrow minded or closed minded about their ideas but only say that to get them to listen to their opinion. Then when you try and share your side they close it off. The people that want their religion taught in schools and push it on others but when an Atheist complains about it they claim they are being persecuted.

7. This goes along with number 6, hypocrites. When you complain about people doing something make sure your not guilty of it. You know that car that just cut you off? Have you ever cut someone off? You think someone is forcing their ideals on you.. have you ever forced yours on someone? Examine yourself and be honest, you're mad at that person but as the Jesus said "Let he who is with out sin cast the first stone".

8. People that say "like" every other word. If you don't know what to say it's ok to be quiet and gather your thoughts.

9. People that say "I don't like to cuss, it shows you don't have a big vocabulary". No it fucking doesn't you damn piece of shit! If you only use cuss words then you look dumb but you shouldn't rule them out. There are somethings you just can't describe in the same way that a cuss does. I sound like a child to say I pooped, I sound pretentious to say I had a bowel movement... I took a shit. I'm frustrated over what just happened I don't say Oh phooey or darn it... Damn it! For people that suggest using other nonsense words in place of cuss words. If I say Cluck You! I still mean Fuck You! and just because I throw in a different word in it's place doesn't change the intent.

10. People that pick and choose what rules to follow. Recently an anti-government militia was caught and now they are being represented by a government appointed (and paid for) attorney. When you say the bible is the infallible law that doesn't mean you get to pick and choose what laws work for you. So you hate homosexuals and justify it because of the bible... when are you going to get around to stoning your child for disobeying you? If your daughter has sex before marriage your supposed to kill her too.

11. People that when asked about what type of guy/girl is their type and they insist they don't have a type. Be honest, there is a type of guy/girl that gets your blood going and lights that little fire in your pants.

12. This connects some of the other points... people that use cliches and don't realize it (or act like they don't). That was not your own original thought and don't pretend like it was.

Monday, April 5, 2010

The End of the World and Symbolism.

This is a continuation of my last post but because I started rambling into a different topic I decided to give it it's own post.

Another seemingly universal truth about every generation is the belief that the world will come to an end in their time. Look back in history and you can find record of predictions of the world coming to an end at least every 100 years or so. This is due to the fact that everyone wants to believe that the world could not possibly continue with out them. It is a self-centered belief that a lot of people share. How could the world possibly exist with out me? I'll never die, the world will simply come to an end on this set date.

What will happen when the latest mainstream prediction of Dec 21 2012 fails to happen? Wasn't the world supposed to end on Jan 1 2000? People were all over the TV predicting the end of times in 2000 and when that day came and went where were they? They all just said "oops we misinterpreted it".

Oh and let it be known, I hate Nostradamus and his followers. Give me one single time that people read a Nostradamus prediction was interpreted before the event happened. They always show up after the fact and point at one of his quatrains insisting he knew it was coming. But when the prediction reads "The eagle will swoop down and clutch the beaver by the tail and the large town will burn." Now give it 500 years and eventually someone that can in some way be linked with an Eagle that attacks or rescues someone in any way linked to a beaver or wood working or lumber mills and a city has a fire... and boom I totally predicted that.

Vague predictions using popular symbols (such as an Eagle) and events like a fire in a city that happen on a regular occasion.

So an ancient calender ends on Dec 21 2012... That calender was created centuries ago, how far in advance did you want them to make it? Should they have kept adding on to the calender until the year 5000? It doesn't matter when the calendar ended, someone somewhere would have found a reason to make it "symbolic".

I really liked the recent episode of South Park where they read Catcher in the Rye. In that episode the boys decided to write their own book and when it got published all the adults were reading all kinds of symbolism in the book that the boys never intended to be there. People can read and interpret what ever they want into everything if you try hard enough.

In the movie Number 23, Jim Carey's character finds he is haunted by the number 23 where ever he goes. This is dealing with Numerology which is one of the most frustratingly narrow minded beliefs. Take any number or word and you can find some complicated way to add, subtract, multiply and divide the number until it gets to the one you want. They ignore any numbers or words that don't fit into their grand diabolical plot of numbers.

So anyway as I was saying, you will die and the world will continue with out you. People will miss you (hopefully) and you will be remembered by at least a few people (hopefully). If you lead a normal life and never stand out in any special way you will be forgotten in a few generations. Your ancestors may look back at you and know your name and see your picture but they will never "know" you. This is how life is, don't let it depress you, if you want to be remembered you need to endeavour to do something memorable.

The Way Things Were

There are some universal truths in every generation of human history. Every single generation feels that they are smarter than the one that came before them and wiser than the one that comes after them. Things were always better when they were younger and worse when they get older. The next generation always has it better than they did but the one before them didn't have it any worse than they did.

In truth every generation in general is pretty much equal to the one before and after them. It is true that with modern technology that as generations pass they will have better technology and access to new information but the people themselves will have just as much capability to learn it. A dumb ass born in 1910 is just as likely to be a dumb ass having been born in 2010. A genius in one century will be a genius in another century, the only difference is what information they may have access to.

The elderly today feel that young adults are adrift and with out direction. They are all a bunch of drug users and sex addicts. This idea is laughable. If someone is 61 today they were 20 in 1969... the summer of LOVE! The generation that is currently criticizing the youth for rampant sex and drug use is the single most famous generation for having done so! But they aren't the only ones guilty of this, Even someone that is 25 thinks that those 15 year olds are "spoiled" compared to how they had it. People generalize about the other generations from only a few examples. They see one dumb or confused kid and assume the whole lot of them act that way. "Boy when I was a kid I was never that dumb"... ok but did you know anyone your age that WAS that dumb? Yes you did.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Normal

What is "Normal"?

When a child comes of the age that they are conscious of their own body they assume that everyone has what they have. Little boys assume that everyone has a penis and girls assume that everyone has a vagina. When the day comes that they find out that not everyone is like them, it changes their world forever.

Growing up I always had long toes and had the ability to cross them over each other. As a child when people would say they would "cross their fingers" for luck I would say I'm cross my fingers and toes. I thought that everyone had the ability to cross their toes. Little did I know that almost no one has that ability.

Normal is a point of view much like good and bad. In your point of view what you do is normal and everyone else is different or strange. You struggle to understand why people don't act "normal" like you do. Can't they understand that this is how they are supposed to act? You find groups of people that agree with you and act similar to you, this reaffirms that you truly are normal. This also reaffirms that those other people need to realize that they are wrong.

But what is normal to you is really strange to others. You may have a group around you that act "normally" but there are other whole groups of people that think you're just weird.

Never allow yourself to be told that being different is wrong. We are all different and unique and that needs to be accepted and embraced. Never change yourself just to suit others definition of "normal". You are unique and bring something to this world that no one else can. You have your own perspective and life story that no one else has.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Society of Now

We live in a society of instant gratification and impatience. We all want the youtube video to download faster and things we want done to be done yesterday. But that's not the worst part of it. We live in a society of right now but when I get there. It is becoming so acceptable to show up late.

Why do I say that? Go to a movie, at the local movie theater they actually have a screen that pops up saying "We;re proud to say we don't show commercials after the listed show time, now enjoy these previews of coming attractions"... They start the previews at the time the movie is listed to begin... this makes it perfectly acceptable to show up to the movie late and try to find a seat in the dark. I remember as a child you had to show up to the movies 15 minutes early to find a seat and see the previews. If you showed up a minute late for the movie you missed a minute of the movie.

It is a sign of disrespect to show up late. If you tell me you are going to show up at 5 pm and you don't get there until 5:15 you have shown me that you don't respect me enough to show up on time. If you are going to be more than a few minutes late for a get together it is polite to call and let the person know. I always do my best to show up on time because I know how much I hate to be left waiting. Fashionably late only works at large parties and that is still rude.

In the world of instant gratification there still needs to be respect for others.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Monsters

The Psychology of Monsters

Zombies: Why do people fear zombies? Yes they fear the obvious mindless brain eating aspects but is that it? Zombies represent something deeper, they are the past coming back to haunt us. Who becomes a zombie? Our Ancestors. They rise up and in a mindless rage they try to make us like them, brainless. What is the one thing we have over them, the power of reason and logic. People fear their past cominc back to haunt them and take from them what they have gained.

Vampires: Yes they have sharp fangs and suck blood but is that all? Vampires are associated with lust and overwhelming passion. The vampire is the lust that comes for you in the middle of the night. That power is burned away in the light of day. This power is overwhelming and has super human strength. It draws on blood, what does blood represent? Vitality. The vampire is that lust for vitality that comes for us in the dark. When we are consumed by it we can either be killed by it or feel that we can live forever. In the old world it was considered a curse to be consumed by this lust was to be cursed. It was considered better to be killed by it rather than losing your soul by giving in to it.

Frankenstein/Killer Robots: This is possibly one of the oldest fears known to man. In ancient times when a man had wealth or power it was known that his son would take his power when he died. Fathers feared that their son would try and take this power as opposed to waiting for him to die of old age. Zeus' father consumed his children due to fear of them taking his power. That is the origin of this more modern fear. Frankensteins monster and killer robots are proverbial children of modern men. Men fear that their creations will rise up and kill them or try to rule over them. In IRobot or The Matrix men's creations rose up to enslave men as a son takes the crown from his father.

Wolf man: Feral bestiality and raw animal nature. Men fear giving in to that inner animal that is scratching to get out. Like a vampire it is giving in to some inner instinct that society tells us to resist. Giving in to the inner beast we become a monster that needs to be feared. Depending on what school of thought on Lycanthrope that one subscribes to this inner beast is unleashed at a full moon or at any given time. Man has always felt an inner influence coming from the moon. People that study crime have noticed a trend of the full moon's unfluence. How do you quell the inner beast? Silver. This could represent a sacrifice of something pure with high monetary value.

The monsters that we fear represent things that we fear in ourselves. That is why these monsters are enduring and so widely feared. They are found in cultures around the world because these fears are inherent in all of us. Fear of the past coming back to haunt us, our children taking power from us and the lust and the beast inside us taking us over.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Words to Live By

Moderation in everything you do. This can be applied to literally everything. Moderation in fatty foods and in exercises. Moderation in your spending and saving. Moderation in compromise and in holding your position.

This is what Eastern Religions considered the Middle Way. A balance in life with out extremes. When you are extremely conservative you form Right Wing Militias and let tradition rule your life. When you're extremely liberal you lose any sense of tradition and throw everything to the wind. But if you allow for a middle ground you can still have traditions but allow for change.

When you consume high levels of fatty food you grow fat and endanger your life. But if you consume no fat and exercises obsessively you run the risk of hurting yourself and pulling and even tearing muscles.

Moderation is even important in your marriage. Spending time together and with friends in moderation. Sharing in each others hobbies and interests while maintaining your own.

Moderation in everything you do... words to live by.

The Use of Fear.

If there was not evil in the world, it would be necessary to create it. The single best way to unite people is not a flag, a god or a leader, it is an enemy. People are most united when they have a common person/people/idea to fear, hate or fight against. We lived as a country for years fearing and hating “The Communists” and now it’s “Terrorists”. For as much as people need a god to thank for unexplained blessings, they also need a “devil” to blame the bad things on.

When we as a whole are without someone to blame we begin infighting more and start to fall apart. The “Red Scare” of the U.S.S.R. lasted for as long as that country did. But the “Radical Islamic” scare has not lasted in the same way because of the heavier media coverage and lack of clear definition of the enemy. After 9-11-01 we had a clear enemy in Osama Bin Laden and we all united under that banner. Contrary to popular sentiment we did not rally under the US Flag, in truth we united under a common enemy.

If you look at the Republican Party in the U.S. they are trying to keep that banner up in hopes to distract us. They try to bring up Terrorists and Al Qaeda to unite their party and anyone that will listen. They know that if we have a common enemy we will get tunnel vision towards anything else. They also use this technique during elections to unite their party around the common enemy of Abortion/ Homosexuals/ ”Big” Government/ illegal aliens/ taxes.

The Democrats try to go at everything from an “Intellectual” stand point and do not present a common enemy but hope to somehow unite people under common agreements. A group of 5 people can barely agree on pizza toppings let alone more complex ideas that are involved in government. For as much as Barack Obama would have us believe he united people under a banner of “Hope” in truth he united people under a banner of George W. Bush as a common enemy and the idea of “Changing” the status-quo. People did not unite under one set definition of what things should be changed to but rather the non-specific idea of change from the current state.

When it comes to actually fighting wars the idea of defeating a common enemy or evil comes to the forefront. Men do not die for “Freedom” but rather they die to defeat some evil/enemy that they are told threaten that freedom. We are told that our fallen soldiers did so defending our freedom but when we lost in Vietnam did we lose any of our freedom?

When you examine the Civil War, to President Lincoln we were fighting to keep the country united but that’s not what the people that fought the war were thinking. To the North they were stopping the evil of slavery and quelling a rebellion. But to the South they were fighting against the evils of Washington DC trying to infringe of state’s rights and take away a key element of their economy.

There is a psychological trait we all share from evolution that causes us to want to band together when we spot a common enemy. That same trait however causes us to become selfish when it comes to good things such as money or food. You might think charity is selfless but only people with enough food or money for themselves do acts of charity to stamp out the evil of hunger or poverty. People will generally make sure they are provided for before committing acts of charity. Yes there are examples of poor people committing charity but usually that charity is giving time or acting as an agent to collect charity from others that do have more.

Humans by nature unite under fear not love. This may be a Machiavellian way of thinking but in my observation it is true.