The Looking Glass

Philosophy has a tendency to cause some people to re-examine themselves and their perspectives. I am one of those people who take the time to put the ant of their lives under the magnifying glass with a wicked chuckle. *I* as it is often said has been the one pronoun to cause the most problems. How many hours spent saying "*I* need to be more_____" or "*I* could have done that better" or "*I* know this better than they do." Does existence require the use of *I* in defining the world? Was Sartre right in saying existence precedes essence? Was Descartes on target when he said "I think therefore I am?" Both of those statements require the pronoun *I*, but can a day be spent without using it? What kind of perspective would ensue? In Buddhism, the concept of *I* or the ego is that which is what holds a person to the material world; perhaps Buddha was right...perhaps he wasn't. The pride, the selfish anxiety, the arrogance of belief or zeal all seem to lose any force without the infamous *I*. It may not be possible to lose that sense of self completely...but *I* am willing to give it a spin for one day.

Humanity...should there be exceptions?

I just watched an interview of the US Attorney General and found myself greatly disturbed. He was answering questions about Miranda rights being read to people brought in under suspicion of terrorist activity and how that did not deter them from answering questions. (remember the "anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law" clause) The attorney general is moving to have the laws regarding interrogation changed to reflect a "public threat" clause which would broaden the rights of interrogators if someone is suspected of terrorist activity, being linked to terrorist activity, or in any way plotting terrorist activity. This means if someone under those conditions who can be seen as "public threat" ie. able to do mass amounts of damage to the public or with information regarding that activity was brought in for questioning, the amount of force behind the interrogation could be greater than let's say if this guy was part of a child slave smuggling ring. Not only are we distinguishing the level of the crime based upon threat to numbers but also based upon global political arenas. is our government more shocked by a car bomb than perhaps 5000 children stolen for sex slaves? Does it make the child slave ring smuggler any more human than any man or woman accused of involvement with terrorist plots? Will this kind of law excuse some of the blatant racism that occurs when people of Arabic descent come to our country, or live in our country? We have profiling that occurs now that places anyone with a Muslim or middle-eastern last name under some sort of minor surveillance, either through the public eye or otherwise. This sort of law would build more hostility between the American government and its own people, not to mention the people of countries who end up being profiled along these lines. I am not saying that I agree with terrorism, but we should not change the rules of how we treat ANY human being under constitutional law. Those basic human rights, those inalienable human rights are why we have this country in the first place. The less human we treat anyone for ANY reason, the less human we become ourselves.

Wet behind the ears

It's Monday morning, and the rain is falling steadily. The air is warm and I can hear the steady rhythm of the runoff from roofs and leaves. The sounds remind me of the piece nicknamed "raindrops" by Frederick Chopin. Like any student before a final exam, I should be nervous, anxious, and cramming vital bits of information into my brain like those last socks into an overstuffed suitcase. I am tranquil; my heart is at peace and comfortable with the place where I am.
I spent a great deal of time wondering where and how I could find this internal sense. In my earliest adult years, it felt like anxiety and hope for things that were beyond my control dominated any possibility of building a serenity garden in the soul. I know many people seek this sense when they go for a spiritual journey: in church, in pilgrimage, through playing music, sculpting, painting, writing, teaching, exercising, and so on. I am glad to see that I can find this sense with something as simple as rain and a few quiet moments. Serenity isn't something anything else can give me; I have to reach out for it wherever and whenever I am to touch that inner "serenity garden" and find the sense of the moment. I saw the movie Avatar last night. It is a very well written film that borrows elements from other movies: the Matrix series, Dances with Wolves, the Lion King, and many others. The primary themes in the movie are: colonization and dominance of the other, humanity against nature, and my favorite: the inter-connectivity of all things. I recommend to anyone who likes a brief examination of the world through CGI-madness that they should see this film.