How Far We’ve Come

The Tie

This weekend, three things opened my eyes to a simple truth.  They include Twitter, church, and a red and blue striped tie.

Twitter.  It makes my world go round.  Most days, it allows me to share my thoughts and odd impulses without ridicule.  But on some days, I’ll catch a glimpse of the world around me through the updates that my many friends and acquaintances share with me.  Over the weekend, hundreds of students moved into the dorms at La Salle University.  A short time ago, I was one of these students.  I was once a new student who was extremely shy and frightened who became a student leader that assisted with the transitions students’ themselves experience.

Church.  It gives me my center.  Growing up, our home focused on our faith as a family.  Because we endured many hardships early on as a family, my mother and father made sure that we understood the place that faith had in our lives.  My brother and I went through the motions of faith for many years.  Yesterday, while walking through our church building, I realized that the burden of faith and its staying power in my life is not due to any action of my parents or any other family member, but of my own.  I have taken on the work of my church and the service we pour into the community and have truly made faith my own.

Lastly, the red and blue striped tie.  To those that know me, they understand I have an unhealthy obsession with Ivy League institutions in general and the University of Pennsylvania in particular.  Well, I found my father’s tie.  He attended Penn.  For quite some time, I believed that I had to carry the family burden of attending his alma mater.  I thought it was the logical thing to do in order to carry on the family tradition.  I didn’t.  I became my own person.

That’s kind of how I knew I became an adult.

Things in life never seem to pan out the way we perceive them at first, but somewhere down the road it all makes sense.

I’m grown up.

Twist on National Pride

Captain America

Anyone who has ever met me and inquired about who my favorite philosophers include, Richard Rorty remains at the top of that list.  Since the Philosophy Capstone Seminar at La Salle my junior year, Richard Rorty finds new ways to perplex, astound, and soothe the many contentions I have with modern philosophy, society, culture, and even poetry.  I picked up one of his books a few weeks ago, Achieving Our Country.  AOC is a compilation of speeches Rorty gave as part o the William E. Massey Lectures in the History of American Civilization.  They are reflections on what he deems leftist thought in 20th century America.

While in University of Pennsylvania’s Bookstore, I was looking for Rorty titles not currently on my stacks and purchased it.  As I do with most new books, I add them to the queue located on my nightstand.  Today, I finally grabbed it and cracked it open.  I was astonished for two reasons.  First, the brevity of the book.  Rorty’s books are normally an astoundingly 150 pages of absolutely dense academic reading.  It’s important to also note that these speeches were delivered to the Harvard University Community.  Knowing that, I anticipated this to be an extremely high academic read.  It was anything but.  I assume this was because those in attendance would understand any subtle reference he was making in regards to philosophers’ and their texts.  Second, Rorty rarely broaches the topic of patriotism.  I’ve read much of his writing and it mostly circles around injustice, policy, and the general progressive moment, but in surveying the left this is the first topic he seeks to discuss.

After reading the first speech, “American National Pride,” I’m left with a sense of bewilderment.  In summary, Rorty begins his discourse tying patriotism to its modern mate: militaristic chauvanism.  Beyond that, one doesn’t think anything of its origins.  Not Rorty.  He goes one step further and equates modern patriotism to religious fanaticism.  He argues that those akin to modern patriotism believe in the ultimate end result of a saving grace much like that of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Pragmatists do not believe this.  They believe in a more utilitarian idea.  Rorty links, without mentioning their names, the Founding Fathers to pragmatism and their idea that democracy and America are synonymous terms not because of their shine and perfection, but because of the opposite.  For the first time in human history, a society has created a system of self-governance outside of the guidance of an eternal being and decided that along the way, the ability to maintain and alter this system of rule must and needs be preserved.

Now.  What would a Rorty piece be without mentioning Dewey or Whitman.  He uses them to show how leftists can have national pride, but it needs to tie in with the Founding Fathers’ idea of activism.  I wish I had time to pull his argument apart, but knowing that few, if any, people will read this I will not waste my time.

All in all, I’m impressed with this speech.  Never before have I heard such power come from the left in the hopes that acknowledgements of failures doesn’t necessarily breed hatred for one’s country but in the hope that we will continue to progress.  It may seem very “blah” to you, but to me it means the world.  For too long, academics have hijacked the left with its idle ideology and retreated to its journals and magazines for banal inactivity and sulking.  In sharing this little nugget of Rorty, I hope you guys will take a look into the book and let me know what you like or don’t like about it.

I’m all about the discussion…

So…

Oops!

Apparently, when I write a blog via email or iPhone application, I must go online and approve them for publication.

Lesson learned.

Enjoy the backlog of posts.

~AMS

Kurt Vonnegut Quote of the Week

Kurt Vonnegut

“1492. As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America. Actually, people had been living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America for hundreds of years before that. 1492 was simply the year sea pirates began to rob, cheat, and kill them.” ~Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions”

As an undergraduate history major, I often wrote about the scope of history and the theories that drove its research.  Many take the facts for what they are and never quite understand that they aren’t always as they seem.  Growing up, I automatically trusted that in 1492 Christopher Columbus, an Italian sailed to America, placed a flag in it, and that was that.  Well, I was lied to.

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue right into the West Indies because he accepted the theory is his day that if you sailed East you would wrapped around the world and land in India.  Upon landing in the West Indies, Columbus stocked up on supplied by ransacking villages and spreading disease.  He returned to Europe having discovered something.  But did he really?

You’re all adults and know that the facts given us as children are false, but I beg you: DON’T FEED YOUR KIDS THE SAME CRAP!  It only turns them into Republicans.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor

Pres. Obama announces Judge Sotomayor as his nominee to replace Justice Souter on the SCOTUS

For the last four days, Judge Sonia Sotomayor sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee and participated in hearings as the first Latina nominee to the Supreme Court.  To many, myself included, have found her personal journey quite moving.  She came from to the Federal bench from the Bronx by way of Princeton University and Yale University Law School.  Sotomayor was tempered along the way by ethnic insensitivity, supposed sexual inferiority, and a student without the same economic means as many of her classmates.  Nevertheless, she endured and stands at the will of the Senate as they decide if she is to be the next SCOTUS Justice.

Like many of my friends, I watched the C-SPAN coverage of the hearings and became obsessed with every little detail.  I became fixated on the details of her life, the questions she fielded bluntly, the questions she recited prepared answers for, and the disposition the senators had toward her.  At the end of the week, many sang her praises.  Republicans were lining up to show support or disdain.  Democrats stood their ground.  Soon, we will find out whether or not she will replace Justice Souter or not.

Sitting here I’m left to wonder one thing: what makes her the most dynamic choice to join the Supreme Court?  Other than being a minority woman with a liberal leaning record, what makes her so amazing?  Most federal judges are from a similar academic pedigree.  There are even some with more tantilizing life stories.  Also, there are other ethnic judges that could have been selected.

Why her?

She is an extraordinary person who has done more in her life than I can imagine doing in mine and I’m not negating that.

I guess that it all depends on the angle at which you attack this question.  Many of you have heard the term “post-racial” in the last year. I don’t think that you can find a clear break in where racism has ended and this country has surrendered its albatross, but there seems to be this idea that no matter what race you are, you must find a way to solve everyone’s problems.  Obama’s election to office shows that Americans in key areas of the country began to see beyong the man’s race as a precursor to his ideas.  Yes, he was black, but he expressed ideas that were progressive and seemed as though they may work.  So I guess the question I really want to ask is does it matter what race Sotomayor is?  I think she’d be great for the job if she were a man from Kansas who served on a Republican controlled school board because she has observed the rule of law and fought injustice using the law as a protector of rights.

Matt Bai, of the NY Times Magazine, sat down with many young, black politicians and tried to figure out if Obama was the end of black politics as we know it (by extension, in my mind, anyone associated with his administration).  In his article, he interviews Philadelphia’s Michael Nutter who faces criticism for carrying out a supposed agenda that supports whites in this predominantly black city.  The Ivy League educated mayor simply responds, “In the context of what I do for a living, I’ve not figured out a black or white way to fill a pothole.”

With that in the back of my brain, I ask the same thing of you in regards to our Supreme Court Justices.  Does it matter the color of their skin so long as they carry out the rule of law in an unbiased, ethical way?

What are your thoughts?  I would like to know.

“Growing up is a process, not an event.” ~Paul B. Jamison

Peter Pan & Tinkerbell

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my future.  Over the course of the last three and a half months, I have travelled through life as a sort of vagabond in search of a solution to the unhappiness I’ve experienced as of late.  I knew where this was stemming from: (1) my job at Drexel had become too business oriented and lost its focus on students; (2) I began to find uncharted paths in my life more appealing; (3) my interest in helping others arose; and (4) I wanted to make a difference in the lives of others on a larger scale.

As all journeys begin, I took that first step and left my job at Drexel to pursue political work.  I was going to be able to cultivate a work environment centered on informing and helping others make good decisions in their lives as citizens, grow a group of young citizens dedicated to the cause of progressives, and ultimately gain the experience I would need to rise through the ranks as a political mastermind.  It sounds a bit zany, but I thought I was going to be able to achieve that.  Well, I was a bit jaded in my understanding of how that was to be accomplished.  The political organization (who will remain nameless) ended up being a group of blood sucking sycophants who wanted to hire men and women who wouldn’t work for fair wages.  Then, they would exploit them to perform menial and insulting tasks.  Needless to say, I left there as fast as I came.  There was only one problem: I had no clue what to do next.

In typical Aaron fashion, I tried to occupy my brain with solutions.  I knew I had options.  I just had to explore them.  First, I was going to take a few weeks vacation and then apply for jobs.  After that, I would seek a job in a legislator’s office/campaign and assist them with their mid-term election/governing duties.  Once settled, I would begin to explore my law school options for next fall and ultimately attend.

Well, that didn’t work out the way I wanted it to.  I got a job in Specter’s campaign office, but decided not to go there because my politics weren’t in line with his even though he was a newly minted Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania.  This sent my on a downward spiral.  I ended up taking my old job back at Penn Transit and working insane hours until another job magically appeared.

As it turns out, the job dropped right into my lap.

The one thing my friends can vouch for is that I am a great researcher; a good project manager and I know how to deal with people.  It just so happens that one of my well-established friends needed someone who could function in all of those capacities for his company as its executive director.  Skeptical, I spoke to him about my responsibilities and salary and it seemed too good to be true.  Needless to say, I took the job.

I recall that stuff because it’s difficult to come to the realization that things (1) aren’t always as they seem, and (2) that you aren’t as grown up and in control as you think you are.  Over the last three and a half months, my mettle has been truly put to the test.  In many ways, I was completely out of my comfort zones.  I soon realized that even though this was so, I didn’t die.  Nothing really hurt, it just tingled for a little bit before I was able to stretch myself the way I was forced.  The quote above really hit me in the head a few days ago and I was trying to find a way to really make them pop.

I knew that I wanted to grow up.  I wanted to get a job that would benefit the world, leave a strong legacy for those who come after me, provide me with all the material comforts I needed/wanted, give me the network of friends and associates that governments would be jealous of, and make me the coolest person around.  It hit me like a ton of bricks that in life, growing up isn’t about the things we plan for.  It isn’t about the checklist of things we do before we die.  It isn’t about altering your personality for anyone else.  It’s about making decisions constantly for ill or for good.

I guess after all, growing up isn’t something we do.  It’s a lifestyle.  It doesn’t involve grown up clothes, or minivans (station wagons when I was growing up), or even climbing the corporate ladder.  It’s about becoming the person you believe you can be, but more importantly, the person you didn’t dream yourself to be.  I never thought that I’d be in a room with wealthy men and women telling them what to do and having them ask for my advice in organizing a particular venture.  But you know what? I’m the better for it.

If nothing more, look at the image above and realize that Peter Pan needed to grow up, as we all do.  But never forget that the ride itself is meant to be informative, enlightening, and at times fun.

“Put it a different way.” ~Pres. Bartlett

Pres. Bartlett and Sam Seaborn play a rousing game of chess.

So, I’m kind of mad with myself for not posting this earlier, but as many of you know: life happens.

When I decided to recreate this blog, I wanted to do something almost profound.  My words were to cause people to pause for a moment and say “Hmm.  By Jove, I think he’s got it!”  This desire probably comes from my father who always said something extremely sagacious at the appropriate time.  How I longed to imitate his greatness.

A few hours ago, a great friend of mine text messaged me and told me that she actually wanted me to post something because she was bored and she was waiting for an inspirational entry that would arouse her intellect.  This sounds great to me!  There’s only one problem: I’m not the guy to write it.

Or so I thought.

Last night, I watched two of my favorite episodes of The West Wing.  For those of you who don’t know me, I watch this show as some religious zealots read a religious text.  I see myself in some of the characters and when I need a nice, square kick in the rear, they give it to me.  Anyway, I watched “Hartsfield’s Landing” and “the Portland Trip.”

“Hartsfield’s Landing” is a wonderful episode not because of the characters or the problems that develop, but simply because of the message it passes down to those who are willing enough to embrace it.  While playing two simultaneous games of chess with Sam and Toby, President Bartlett is struggling with two demons.  The first is the lasting memory of his father and his powers as a politician as he inches toward re-election.  As Bartlett gears up for the voters at Hartsfield’s Landing to place their first votes at 12:01AM, Toby battles with him in this game of chess and shows him that he is an astute politician who should turn the focus of the election to himself.  He should not be folksy.  He should not dumb himself down.   He should show his intelligence and experience as strengths and quit turning them into weaknesses.

Bartlett’s second demon is the Chinese government.  [Disclaimer: The Chinese are a wonderfully rich and awe-inspiring partner of the US.  I am simply basing this opinion off of the episode.]  From the moment he returns from India, Bartlett is confronted with Chinese pledging to engage in war games with 400,000 troops because Taiwan wishes to test a US-Made Patriot Missile and hold free democratic elections.  Luckily, Sam Seaborn gets to play a chess game with a president seeking military reaction and/or show of force with an ally and a protectorate.

You’re probably thinking, just as I am, why I give you a recap of the episode.  That answer is compound.

First, I think of the moral of the episode.  Bartlett struggles with a demon of his past and needs to be schooled by an underling in life even though he is fantastic at chess and being leader of the free world.  Also, Sam is taught a fundamental thing about life. “See the whole board.”

Now, you’re probably always wondering why I invoked “The Portland Trip” without mentioning it once.  Well, I did.  In the title of this entry.  President Bartlett loves to fly at night.  He says, “A long flight across the night. You know why late flights are good? Because we cease to be earthbound and burdened with practicality. Ask the impertinent question. Talk about the idea that nobody has thought about yet. Put it a different way…”

Sam answers: “Be poets.”

With all that said, I think I’m going to promise two things to my readers and to myself.  First, I will always look at the whole board with the eyes that God has given me.  I will not dumb myself down and I will not apologize for being me.  More importantly, I shouldn’t claim to ruminate if I don’t give each idea and opportunity its chance to inspire.  Secondly, and more importantly, I’m going to be a poet.  Those who know me well know I can’t write lyrics or poems to save my life.  But if Sam Seaborn has taught me anything, it’s that words aren’t what give the poet his power.  It’s the inspiration that moves him to write those words without fear of reproach and degradation.

So that I will do.  Stay tuned.  I hope to do something cool with this.

~AMS~

Ruminations v. 3.0

Hello again.

Welcome to the new and improved Ruminations.  For those who remember, this blog has gone through many incarnations.  It started on Blogger out of boredom in January 2007, moved here to WordPress in 2008, and went idle for months through 2009.  For 2 years, this blog had no purpose.  Other than to appease me when I was bored, it never pursued an end.

Recently, I realized that I shared nothing of worth via this blog.  The few posts that had any depth to them were in relation to politics or a project I was working on at the time.  That ends today.

With that said, I am going to be posting a simple mission statement about the role of this blog in my life.  If it makes sense, let me know.  If not, punch me in the head and give me a bit a guidance.  I will post it  by 7pm tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Peace.

AMS