An 18 year-old's outlook of Life

 I find it interesting how important perception is to our everyday lives. Our view of the world is what makes us, us. There is no one way to describe how the world works. There is no one way to describe how the world works, but it's clear to me that perception plays an essential role in people. For example, say you have just gone through a break up. You still have these preconceived thoughts for the other person as a lover, but the reality no longer matches these thoughts. It causes you to dwell on the past and the events that led to the break up. You perceive their to be mistake. That somebody is at fault. However, the other person might just think there was an agreement, and has already moved on to the next person. Or perhaps already had before the break-up. This is because they no longer perceived the relationship to be necessary or important. I'm sure you can all tell this isn't a hypothetical scenario. but aside from my self pity, I do see perception as an intriguing concept. My example may be a way of drowning in my own sorrow, but it provides truth to my point. We don't act on impulse, we act on perception. The way you look at something supports the way you interact with that "something." It doesn't have to be a physical object, but it could more of a symbolic idea, like the relationship. Or it could be a larger scale. How do you view life, or how you perceive life. If you think the world is an evil place, and truly believe that man is harmful to the environment, then you will perceive the world to be an evil place. When you get up in the morning, you may not think about it, but in the back of your head you'll think, "what's the point." You won't allow yourself happiness, because you will perceive happiness to be false and unjustifiable. On the other hand, you may have an extremely positive outlook on life. You get to wake up out of bed in the morning and not think anything but, "YAYYY!" Everything that happens you have a positive thought. Somebody steals from you, you say they needed it more. You may be taken advantage of daily, but always be happy. Where the pessimist understands society more, but is less happy. There is a balance between reality and perception. The easy way to see this is to think that you have to balance the two. To find happiness, but also understand the world. Which may be the correct way to think. It might be the moral way to think. But take this idea that is 7 billion percent impossible; that everyone thinks like captain happy. That all people are overwhelmingly optimistic and positive. Wouldn't it be better to be happy? Would it be selfish? Sure as hell would be, but to always think positive could be a completely enjoyable way to live life. Everyone has fears, everyone feels pain, and sadness, anxiety, anger, and so on. But to negate these feelings, by just thinking the world is a good place, no matter what it is that makes you feel like that, maybe that's the perception we all could use. Now it isn't possible, but the idea is to own your perceptions. Re-evaluate them. Then determine if it is the best way you could be living, or the way you want to live. Then move on from there. There are billions of holes in this plan, such as what if you're idea of happiness is to kill everyone around you. Well, that would damage everyone else's happiness. But if that person even believed in some sort of haven of an afterlife, where killing is all that ever happens. Then they can live positively before that. There is no one way of life.There is no one way of perception. There isn't one way to be happy. It's an odd world out there. Find a way to look at the world and be happy. Then again, I just threw out a bunch of random generalizations and gave myself credit for it. But that's what makes me happy, and maybe it will make you happy.

Night Before Graduation

 12:22 AM, May 27, 2014. The first thing I think about before bed, is how repetitive stories have become with this first person perspective. Second thing, how by allowing the audience to be aware of your writing style it makes you, the author, seem more intelligent. But aside from all that, it is time for the cliches. That it isn't just the last four years that have gone by, but the last 18 and 10 months. Life has been a journey, sometimes more literally then others. Whether it's moving from Columbus, Ohio to the D.C area, or taking a trip to Europe, I've been around. I've seen different parts of the world. But only fractions. I've been to two of seven continents, I've been in 23 out of fifty states, and I never will see everything. In my life, I will only know what I have seen. And we cannot see everything. I will never know everything. I won't ever come close. I've felt love and heartbreak. I've felt fear and guilt. I've felt happiness and excitement, anger and anxiety, depression, and pain, but most of all, I have felt loneliness. No matter how often we are surrounded by others, we are more often alone. We are forever trapped within ourselves, barricaded inside our minds never to share the true thoughts of others. We are isolated. We can share as much as we can, we can give as much as we can, but we cannot truly feel the way someone else does. We can have similar emotions, similar experiences, similar thoughts, but never identical. It is the unique trait of man, that all men are different. We are not created equally. We are different. We all deserve equal opportunity, but there are certain parts of us that are superior to others. And just so, there are as many parts that are inferior to others. Perhaps that balance is equality. That we all share life. But we do not share the same life. We try to understand life through what we know, but because there will always be more to know, we can never truly understand. This all sounds vague, but I believe it to be true. But I cannot know it to be so. In my 18 years I have felt this way. I have always felt like people are supposed to help me, like there is a burden on us as humans. But this is not true. There is no obligation of man to perform any task. There is only will. Because we will never truly understand another person's will, we will never truly understand them. Our lives are completely unique to ourselves. We can help each other along the way, but only you can truly comprehend what it is that you want. What it is that you need. Perhaps you will need others, perhaps not. But, if you do, remember that they are not you, and they may need just as much help. We are all people, we are all different. But, we share qualities. We do not however, share minds, remember to guide yourself. Observe the world around you, so that you can better attempt to understand the people around you, and maybe it will help you learn about yourself. But if there's one thing I think I know after the short time I have lived, it's that we cannot know everything, and we will never know everything. Not even about ourselves. We will keep living, because we are always searching to understand not just what's around us, but also ourselves.

More subjective nothingness

 I've never been very good at expressing my emotions, so often I write down my true thoughts. Now that I have a blog, I can share my thoughts with the world. Whether anyone reads it is another question. You can choose to look at it, you can dislike it, or you can do whatever makes you happy. My life story is my life story, you all have your own. We are all important to ourselves. Maybe that's what makes me feel so negative all the time. Because my own emotions are what cause me to feel the way I do, but I often want to make others happy before myself. I'm not a selfless person. I just have a fear of discontent from other people. I don't know if this is common in other people, as I cannot think for other people. I'd like to think we are not all so different, but that there are unique tweaks to all our lives. In the grand scheme of things, how important are we? I don't think anything in the Andromeda Galaxy gives a damn about a nuclear war on Earth. In fact, in a few billion years, our neighbor galaxy will most likely merge with the Milky Way, and because Andromeda is bigger, it will probably swallow up any remains left by humans. Assuming something else hasn't destroyed us first. Now that is clearly a very cynical perspective of life. But, sometimes people get to full of themselves. That's why there is no real point to this, it's just one big rambling on. Maybe that's what life is, there's no real point to it, it just exists and allows for us to do whatever it is we do. Maybe there is no overwhelming idea of what we call life. There isn't a big picture, there is just what's around us. Or perhaps there is a big meaning, some reason that were here, some purpose. Who knows? Either way, we're here, so you have to keep on keeping on as someone else once said. I don't know. I just enjoy thinking about what we know to be life. Maybe one day somebody will figure it all out. But most likely not.

10 best American Presidents

There have been 43* different men to hold the position of President of the United States of America under the constitution and by the power of the electoral college. This is a list my own personal opinion of which presidents have been the best based on their overall performance as commander and chief. This is not my most philosophical writing, but it gives my subjective beliefs on our best presidents.

10. James K. Polk: Elected as a dark horse president, Polk was known as the last Jacksonian president. He was known as young hickory as he was supported by Andrew Jackson. Polk ran on a platform of 44 40 or fight. As the United States was moving west, people wanted the Oregon territory. He also had said he wanted peace with Mexico over the border dispute in Texas. Polk twisted these policies and made peace with the British sharing the areas that are now British Colombia, Canada and Washington state, USA. Polk declared war on Mexico after Zachary Taylor claimed American blood had been spilled in American lands. The U.S. defeated Mexico and Polk did everything he set out to do in four years. He did not run for a second term.

9. Harry S. Truman: Truman isn't often considered to be a great president, but looking back on his time as president, he helped the U.S. prosper. His controversial decision to use the atom bombs in Japan may have been immoral, but it did end the bloodiest war in history in the allies favor. By winning the war the great depression also came to an end. Truman also kept a firm hand on the Soviet Union and Stalin. Truman was also a very humble man, he was once nominated for an award but declined saying he hadn't done anything to win it.

8. James Madison: Madison was president during the war of 1812. Although he was the incumbent while the White House burned down, he was able to show the world that the United States was a legitimate country. There was no clear victor to the war, and the British did maintain impressment against the U.S. merchant ships. Madison's tariffs did help the U.S. become a self sustaining economy.


7. Woodrow Wilson: Wilson is best remembered for being president during World War I. At the time, he was seen to almost have failed because many Americans wanted to remain neutral and stay out of the war. Eventually American ties to Britain forced us to intervene and helped lead to the armistice. Wilson was also a progressive president who helped enact the Clayton anti-trust act. Wilson was ultimately too much of an idealist as his 14 points failed to prevent a second world war, his poor health at the end of his term also deterred his authority.

6. Andrew Jackson: Old hickory was a very controversial figure in American history. He left his mark by making politics more democratic and more direct to the people. He also allowed for public conventions instead of political party leaders making their own nominations. Jackson also helped take Florida and establish the Adams-Onis treaty. Jackson may have been a good president, but was a brutish man. He was pro-slavery, and also performed a massive genocide on the Cherokee tribe during the trail of tears. Jackson is the only president to ever balance the debt, but this lead to high inflation.

5. Thomas Jefferson: Jefferson is well known for writing the Declaration of Independence, but during his presidency he signed the Louisiana Purchase. Doubling the U.S. in size, this area opened up the entire Mississippi river to the United States, and allowed for American expansionism to develop.

4. Theodore Roosevelt: TR was a strong political leader. His big stick diplomacy left the U.S. as the lead power in the west. His Panama Canal allowed for easier trade. He also created the Square Deal to give more help to unions and end the long period of Laissez-faire. He created the first National Parks and reservation of lands. Roosevelt also desegregated the military, but this would be stopped by Wilson.

3. George Washington: Washington is probably more glorified for what he didn't do as the father of our country. He was the first president under the constitution, and allowed for democracy to flow. He did not take over the congress, or disband the Supreme Court. Washington allowed for his cabinet to run their positions effectively. Most notably Alexander Hamilton who developed our economic system. Washington allowed for the transition of power to occur peacefully. A precedent that has held up until today. (With the acceptance of  Civil War.)

2. Abraham Lincoln: Perhaps it was timing that allowed Lincoln to establish himself as a giant in American history, but Lincoln was able to hold the union together in a period of civil war and national divide. His strong military defeated the Confederates. Lincoln also freed the slaves, and gave African Americans the right to citizenship and enfranchisement. Lincoln's military action ended the succession and allowed for stability in the United States.

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt: A completely bias opinion as I have always been a World War II junkie, but there is no question FDR was an incredible leader. In the bloodiest period of world history, Roosevelt took over the American industry and built a military that could battle on two fronts. Roosevelt helped free the world from fascist regime and end the second world war. Although he died prior to the end of the war, his new deal programs provided recovery, relief, and reform to an impoverished nation. Franklin Roosevelt helped end the greatest depression in American History, while simultaneously winning the largest battle in world history.

*There have been 44 presidents, but Grover Cleveland is counted twice because his two terms were not in direct continuity.

Ignorance is Bliss

 Control is powerful. People must have control, because there is chaos without it. This is the obvious reason for government. This is how people associate themselves with a ruling entity and its regional jurisdiction. By being a part of this social structure, people have a sense of place. Democracy is what gives people the illusion of power in government. By people electing politicians, they do have a vote in who makes policy decisions. However only the person who is elected has any power to make decisions. This person can easily manipulate the political structure by campaigning on certain policies and actually enacting opposite policies while in office. It’s a system based on trust. Although it seems as though that trust has been broken. With resistance between the two major political parties and a split in power between the congressional houses there is no way to pass legislation. This makes political gridlock an extreme problem. With a split in government policy making, even if politicians are truthfully working to help the people they represent, (the ideal form of a republic), the opposing party will just shoot down whatever bill is created.  It seems almost as though there is no longer a way to reform the government. This is a major problem because people and society are always changing, therefore government (the structure that holds society in place), must also adapt to these changes. This is known as gradualism and has helped the United States remain stable for 238 years. It has helped the English last for a good deal longer than that. However, the world changes. The United States was created because Great Britain did not adapt to the the colonists society. In the U.S. there has already been a civil war, and there are secession talks from states of Washington and Oregon to become a new country with western Canada. Texas seems to threaten secession every Tuesday. People hold separate ideas. The belief that one federal government can work for the good of 308,000,000 people who all have freedom of expression is irrational. Which is the point of federalism, to provide local governments based on the needs of regional preference. The problem once again becomes the gridlock when all these regions are are represented in Washington. Nobody agrees on anything, and nothing gets passed. Even in the days when they could pass legislation, it was always out of compromise. People truly have little say in the government, but somehow the bureaucracy has functioned since the revolutionary period. By giving people the belief that they have value to the government, they tend to be more complacent with government decisions. The only real power of the people is to elect another candidate in four years. But that's not a lot of power if there are two parties with no intention of helping the people.

History Repeats, Big Surprise

 Go back to 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain has just declared, “Peace in our time,” after signing the Munich Agreement with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler. Hitler had just invaded Czechoslovakia and had militarized the Sudetenland, a direct violation of the treaty of Versailles. Versailles had been the place where the Germans finally signed an Armistice ending World War in 1918. Hitler had come to power in Germany under the Nazi or National party in 1932. Chamberlain’s signing of the Munich agreement was in relation to his appeasement policy to avoid war at all costs. By signing the agreement, Chamberlain also did not punish Hitler for taking military action as long as he stopped. Hitler broke that promise, and what would follow was the deadliest war in the history of the world. In March, 2014, Russia attacked the territory of Crimea located in the Ukraine. Following the attacks, the United States provided economic sanctions, but took no military action to support the Ukraine. This comes 23 years after the cold war. World War II started 21 years after World War I. Some very interesting similarities. There is no question that Hitler has tested the allied nations, just as Putin does now. President B-Rock Obama has vowed to not take military action over the Russian annexation of Crimea. He and the rest of the western democracies have taken economic sanctions against the largest remnant of the former Soviet Union. These sanctions followed the referendum taken by citizens in Crimea who voted to become part of Russia. (With the Russian military pointing guns at them.) The UN did not recognize the vote. Regardless, Crimea is under military control by the Russians, and nobody has stopped them. This could lead to either a third world war, or perhaps Cold War II.
 http://cohencountry.blogspot.com/2014/05/history-repeats-big-surprise-goback-to.html