Two Years for a Hell of a Country

Originally Posted: 12:42am Thursday, Sep 13


2 years mandatory service for every individual, what da hell am I thinking? Then again, what am I thinking, thay's it! That's the step our country needs to take to start heading in the right direction.
Why?
Because our country is lacking one thing more than all other, a strong morale. When people criticize our people as being idiots for re-electing our President or for obsessing over Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, they're wrong. We are not a country of morons, it is wrong to expect people to make a decision on something they have no conception of.
A large portion of this country (especially the youth) is made of two damaging mentalities:

1. People who don't want to work hard and who just want a free ride (the "The Hills" mentality).

2.People who only care about their own self interest, and are bound to become greedy and corrupt. They fail to see that they're neglection of issues that don't directly effect them will come back to hurt them (the hustler and wall street mentality).

Our country is as now, headed in the toilet, we have a war that no one is willing to pay for, fight for, or even face the consequence of leaving. We have a democratic system that is saturated with corruption, and major media essentially controls the minds of the people through fear, commercials and entertainment. We also have an array of pressing issues that need to be addressed such as global warming, social security and health care. Yet, we have not came together as a country on any of these, oh and that war.

Why is this?

It is because we have no sense of what it means to be part of a country, we are disconnected from the reality that we are all connected.

What do we do to fix this?

If each person worked in public service, whether it be the military, public works, a hospital, a research institution, for the government, for 2 consecutive years of their life...We would see change. People would be more enlightened as citizens and would make better decisions in the poll booth. They would be willing to take upon the responsibilites they hold as citizens instead of avoiding them (actually voting is one). The morale of the country would be booming.

Now I've taken into consideration this is not a pratical policy, however it is pracitical in its design, but only inpractical because the public is not ready for it (they don't want to take upon the challenge).
Here are some frequently asked questions about my plan:
1. I want money, how will I be paid?
The government will pay you for your service, and give you free room and board. This pay may not be enough to buy a mercedes with, it will however be enough to keep you happy and healthy?

2. How can the government force everyone to do this?
Well there are a few ways. They could actually force you, send you to prison if you refuse, but I think there's a better solution. The government could offer you a major incentive that would be essentially impossible to refuse such as free health care, social security, college tuition and/or citizenship (which would probably be the best solution but it might be unconstitutional).

3. How could the government pay for this?
The service pays for itself. If millions of people are suddenly doing projects and work for the government, well that's going to cut a lot of taxes, and that's going to stimulate the economy and provide revenue for the government. Also, this would be more efficient than just paying taxes because the work done will most definitely be effeciently done, unlike a lot of government handouts which do public works/military projects.

4. What would my life be like?
Whatever you do, it would be in a military like living scenario. You would live in a government station, and you would be given assignments. Exercise and manual labor would be required for everyone though a lot of people, like in the military, would primarily be doing jobs that fit your specialty as a person. In other words, you'd basically be doing the work you want to do, but you would have government assignments instead of having to look for a job.

5. Why is this good again?
We as citizens would gain a stronger sense of nationalism, know what its like to serve our country and be better citizens and people for it.


No President would advocate this, but this is the solution to our countries problems. We must strengthen our countries heart before we can test its muscle.




Brian Liebman

Futurechoes

Pratap: the Model of Manhood

Originally Posted: 12:20am Friday, Aug 31

Pratap was telling me the other day that he's enlisted into the army. Now I've always respected Pratap a lot, but this set a new standard for me. This guy just joined the army and made it seem like it was nothing. This is the same army that so many cowards have fled to Canada to avoid being a part of. This is the same army that over 2000 soldiers have died fighting for in Iraq in these past 5 years. He just joined, like it was nothing. That's who this guy is, he's just doing what he has to do, whether its running, schoolwork, or even going out and risking his life for his country. He defines what being a man is (ladies, don't get mad yet, I'll get to you a little later on).
This brought me back to an old motivational tool I used to use. I call it, "the penis principle:"
God gave you a penis, but it's not free, you gotta earn it. You gotta go out every day of your life, work hard and earn it.
Many have disgreed and still disagree with this. They say it doesn't account for women. Well I'll tell you the reason for that. I don't understand women, I'm not a women, I don't know what they go through. I know they've got a whole other burden going on with the PMS and the childbirth and the generally subdominant physical state they are in. Women have it much harder, don't get me wrong.
But that's just another reason why as men, we have to work extra hard to make up for that difference. That's why to be a man you can't fear, you can't complain, you can't hesistate. If a women does that, I'll let it pass, she's got enough going on. If a man does that, forget about it, drop down and give me 50.
Pratap does the 50 without anyone even asking him, without even violating the rules of manhood to have a reason to do it. He does it because its gotta be done. Now that's a man, that's putting the down payment on the tools God lent you.



Eat up buddy, you deserve it.

P.S. Thanks to Tito and James Jones for some revisions on this.

Futurechoes

What do I need to be human for?

Originally Posted: 8:51pm Wednesday, Aug 8


I was watching this show called "The History of Disbelief," its a history of athiesm. It wasn't the history itself which caught my attention (though it is pretty interesting); rather it was the attitude of the host Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller.
In it he says (not exact quote but damn close): "I am so certain ther is no God that, I don't think there should be a term athiest because its stating what should be obvious logic like calling people who believe the sun revolves around the Earth, revolvists."

This struck me as such a defensive statement. I have noticed in observing and communicating with other athiests that they cling so tightly to their denial of spirituality and they refuse to even consider the possiblity that logic may prove itself wrong.
I wondered, why do they take such a strong stand in their position, and why be so defensive? Why put your whole self in the hands of logic?
Perhaps not in all cases, but in many cases the answer is simple.
Atheists don't want to be human. They don't want they weaknesses that come with it, the uncertainty of faith, and the acknowledgement that human logic and perception may be flawed.

This parallels the same reasons people become fundamentalists. They need solid direction in their lives and so they look to religous text. In following this religous text, they take this text as literally as possible because they fear that if it were to be interpreted on a higher level then the message of the text would be uncertain and their faith would be uncertain (which really is the opposite of true faith, because anyone can just believe the most literal translation of a book).

Now you may ask, why wouldn't someone want to be human? Why would someone immerse themselves so far in logic that they lose the complete perception of the world?
Think about what comes with being human, it is very hard to human, life is hard no matter how you slice it. Being human means feeling pain, feeling weakness, feeling uncertainty, feeling lost. But, if one immerses themselves in logic and block out anything that contradicts that logic, they have something rock solid that they can rely on. Logic is perfect, it works, its like mathamatics.
But, there is more to the world than what we see, there is more to the world than what logic and reason can explain (for example you can't convey what they the soul is using observation or description). Rather than admit to this, athiests fight this, they attack religon, they attack spirituality and they hide behind science saying it is the savior of man.

Science alone cannot save man, logic alone is not man's mana.
Religon alone cannot save man, faith alone is not man's key to heaven.

The two do not conflict, like Ying and Yang they make the whole of our being. It is only our fear of being whole that creates the conflict and has fueled both the athiest and the fundamentalist rage.

Brian Liebman

Futurechoes

Atheism: What is it good for?

Originally Posted: 12:22am Wednesday, Aug 8


I want you to try something; I want you to try to describe a "soul" in scientific terms.
Go ahead...



Alright, I'm sure you've failed, and that is because it is impossible to do. Science and logic are inadaquate because they cannot explain or use this other realm of our psyche.
This other realm of our pysche complete's us, it makes us human. To deny it, is to deny man his soul, which deny's man himself.
Art, culture, courage, morality, and all human progress require this second half of man. Do you think Beetoven created all his music because he felt it logical to do so? Do you think Ghandi stopped eating for his country because of scienfic phenomenom?

Atheism (as I am using it) means the complete rejection of spirituality. It is as harmful a school of thought as any to exist in our world. It is the degeneration of our evolution as a society, it denies our greatest strengths as individuals and as groups.
Unfortunately, atheism has taken hold of both the philisophical communities and much of the scienfic communities. While at the same time religous fundamentalism is growing and man his logic and science (an equally as important half).
The two juxopposed trends are fueling each other, few scientist wants to admit to having spiritual beliefs because it would put them in danger of being considered a fundamentalist. While few fundamentalists want to admit to their logic because those who speak the logic are becoming more and more arrogant atheists.

I wish I could get to the fundamentalists, but unfortunately I doubt they would read this because, well, its not religous text. However, many people on the other side of the specutrum do read things such as this and that is why I am going after them.

Atheism denies man:
his soul
his purpose
his art
his love
his courage
his faith (different than soul)
his God

If you take all that away what is left. Not a hell of a lot, but the worst thing about it is that atheism is a ridiculous concept. We as humans are in no position to outright deny anything, espcially something that definitly does exist. We are only looking at things from one perspective, how can anyone say that we can see the whole picture. Anything is possible, and I respect any belief. However, the problem is that atheism denies this possibility and limits man to only things he can hold in his hand, and see with his eyes. But, there's a lot more to the world than that.
Fact is, atheism exists because scienfic thought can't explain the soul, but in the rigid thinking of science, this disturbs some people to the point where because they can't explain something they've decided to outright deny it.


Brian Liebman


P.S. There will be more coming on this

Futurechoes

The Solution is Clear

Originally Posted: 11:55pm Monday, Jul 16

Troops are overseas dying. For what? For nothing, they are all dying in vain, and our government is doing nothing to end this disgraceful shame. Our President refuses to conceed anything, well if this is his cross to bear MAY HE BURN WITH IT, not the rest of our country, not the rest of our soldiers. The rest of the government is caught up in politcal faction and cowardice, and contineue to stall in a path of inaction. I say to them, cut the purse tomarrow or we as a people should cut their purse out from under them.
When government fails its the people's job to step forward. I understand this is a difficult burden to beear, but in search of strenght remember the tremendous burden that each of our servicement and their families carry in their duty to our country. We lost the war years ago and now it is time to accept the consequences: bring our troops and our focus home, and let's fix the system so that such a curse never befalls this country again.
2008 is too far away, the voting booth falls short in its power for the urgency needed in this conflict. If you would like to end the war in Iraq then do this one thing:
DO NOT PAY YOUR TAXES!!!!! Our government is corrupt with money so lets take the one thing that their hearts burn to have. They can't throw us all in jail, they will have one choice but to listen to US and act.

Brian Liebman



P.S. I understand this is a crazy idealist unrealistic idea. I was debating myself as to even post it. The point I am really getting at though, is not to create some sort of mass civil disobidience where no one pays their taxes and the country falls apart. First of all, that's not a good solution and second of all, its not going to happen.
My point is this: the voting booth has lost its power to hold our governemnt responsible for its actions. The system is so thoroughly
corrupt that there is probably not more than a dozen pure hearted polticians in office and of those, they are forced to compromise their interest in properly governing this country by the pressure to be re-elected and open themselves to leathal poltical assaults.
I don't want to say democracy is dead in this country, but its getting really close to that. I want to bring it back, before destory ourselves with conflicts and diasters such as Katrina and the War in Iraq.
No matter what you think, we can all agree that the government hasn't solved a single problem in this country since 9/11. In fact, we haven't even taken a step in the right direction to solve one of our many growing crises. This is not ALL Bush's fault, the entire government is corrupt, the polticians are fake, the media is only interested in ratings and profits, and the people hardly give a damn. Half of them don't even take the effort to make it to the polls to cast their Presidential vote (that's like letting someone else choose what college you go to, or what car your going to drive for the next 4 years).
That brings me back to my real point. The polls are not effective in checking the polticians (reasons are numerous) that is why I think we need to figure out another way we can pressure them to do the right thing. Finances came to my mind, since the government lives and breathes on taxes if we stopped paying taxes like any other living thing: if you cut off its breath, it will listen to your demands. My solution is not a good one, but I hope to trigger a new approach to checking our polticians, an approach that involves more than voting booths and an approach that will breed results.

May we never forget what this country was born from, and may we always look to progress that ideal.

Futurechoes

The Choice is Yours

Originally posted: 11:23pm Tuesday, Jul 3


First, I must say that this has absolutly nothing to do with our current President, his incompetance speaks for itself. I'm past it, I'm looking to the future, to the next President.

The way I see it we have two options:
Keep things the way they are
or
Vote for change

Who is it we can vote for to vote for change?
Party is not a factor, opinion on issues is not a factor. Vote for Clinton, vote for McCain, vote for Edwards and the result will be the same, more of the same. What we need is a President who is not scared of living on the edge, a man who isn't afraid to point out the flaws of our country the way he sees them. A man who isn't afraid of speaking as himself, not just saying what his political advisor tells him. If a President speaks of a specific plan, I don't care what it is, its bullshit. The President's job has nothing to do with specifics, its all about direction, its all about setting the tone.
This country is falling fast and this election could very well determine its future. If we don't vote for change we very well be doomed. Our political system is in turmoil, we've got a disgusting war that no one has the guts to end, we've got an energy crisis, health care crisis, imagration crisis, racial problems, climate crisis, all real, all breathing down our neck.
It doesn't matter what the opinion of the candidate is, opinion and plans mean nothing if they don't have the guts to carry it out.
That is why America needs Mike Gravel!!!!
He's got the character!
He's got the vision!
And he's got the guts got do it all!

He's the only candidate out there to vote for, if you want to vote for change.

See for yourself (note these clips are only about a minutes each and they're very entertaining, he tears apart the other candidates).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J8R-SakqCA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQgvur71Lto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz4lLUfP6HI

There are more, you'll see them.

The only reason I've heard not to vote for Mike Gravel is that "he's not a serious candidate." Well if that's the only reason, then maybe he should be a serious candidate. Lets stop having the media tell us who is a "serious candidate" and choose for ourselves.
Time is running out, Gravel...America needs your help now!

Futurechoes

Futurechoes

Hypocrites and War

Original Date of Posting 8:48pm Saturday, Apr 7


Think about what would happen if the children of Congressmen had to fight in Iraq. You'd bet your ass we'd be out of there in a week. So, its okay for the kids of people they serve to die in vain, but if the same fate was to fall on them, they wouldn't stand for it.

Nothing can be accomplished by staying in Iraq, lets get out of there before its too late. Our foreign policy is like a raging bull, all you need to do is hold out a red flag and we'll charge. We don't think, we don't change the path of our actions, even when it is clear that they will bring no progress. Think about what happens to a bull at the end of a bull fight, he's tired out and he's killed. That's where America is headed if our leadership continues in the same war mongering mentality.

Anyone whose for a war should fight in it or their kids should fight in it, simple as that. Cause if your not willing to die for the cause how can you possibly as a man and an American citizen propogate an action that will cause the death of so many others like yourself (who would actually be far superior to you because they had the guts to fight).

War is an inevitable biproduct of the large organizations of land and people we call nations. It will happen, and often times it is the right thing to do. But, that doesn't mean that to be against a war is to be a coward (and anyone who calls someone a coward for the latter, who isn't willing to fight is not only a coward, but a judgemental hypocrite). Peace is often a much more noble cause to defend, and certainly some of the most noble men to ever live such as Ghandi and Martin Luther King were not cowards.

So what about this war. I don't need to mention why this war should end tomorrow, look at the progression of events and news stories the past 2 years and that will prove itself. There's no pride in slow, embarressing degeneration. I have the uptmost admiration for every soldier that puts themselves on the line for this great country. But, the leadership that misguides them and takes them forgranted infuriates me as it should every other honorable American citizen.

So, in short, lets bring em home!!

-Brian Liebman

Futurechoes

An Introduction

This blog will serve as a catalogue of thoughts and ideas that I either think of or come across. It will also serve as a place for discussion on those ideas. These ideas may sometime seem radical and impractical. However, I am posting them in an effort to not only share but to improve. Criticism is more than welcome. My first 7 posts will be previously written notes from my old blog.

Futurechoes