How to never pay taxes again:

http://vitw.org/archives/922

A surprise visitor came to talk to our American Studies class today- a nonviolence activist- Kathy Kelly, from Voices for Creative Nonviolence. She came here to tell us her stories of engaging in civil disobedience and her philosophy on life and government, or at least that's what she ended up discussing with us.

She is pictured above at the "Fast For Economic Justice For Iraq", one of the many demonstrations she has been a part of.

Kelly's views were not unlike many others that I had heard, and I'm sure many students in our class agreed with her on many issues. What set her apart, however, is that she took her philosophy to heart and lived it every day.

In his essay "Civil Disobedience", Thoreau states, "...when a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law, I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize."

Kelly seems to have taken this to heart- she refuses to pay taxes as they directly fund the war, she has been arrested multiple times for displays of civil disobedience, and continues to work as an activist for nonviolent change.

In the way that Thoreau took Emmerson's ideals to heart when he went to live in the woods near Walden pond, Kelly has taken Thoreaus ideals to heart in her pursuit of change and nonviolence.

As I view my blog from my iPhone...

I start to realize that I'm never apart from the internet. I'm never disconnected. Do you know the last time my iPhone was off? When it was in its box. During the day it's on me, and at night it's on my nightstand, charging and serving as my alarm clock. With all the new ways to stay connected, be it the internet, television, cell phone, etc.

Henry David Thoreau expressed the necessity of solitude in Walden, saying, "I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers."

If being alone, at least every once in a while, is as beneficial as Thoreau makes it out to be- can this ever occur in modern life? While possible, it is certainly more difficult. Between the internet, television, cell phones and the like, we are almost always connected, and this is viewed as technological progress.

There are even new rules and standards for this modern communication that occurs, as detailed in an article on The Feature.com. It lists the "Top 10 List of SMS etiquette". Is it not backwards that we have even more impersonal ways to communicate?

More so, Thoreau argues that this type of conversation is meaningless, asserting, "Certainly less frequency would suffice for all important and hearty communications."

What I'm suggesting is that we should all take some time during the week to simply be alone. Get heavily involved in a project or your work, or just take some time to read and turn off all of your devices that keep you connected.

Yes, your iPhone does have an off-switch, perhaps that's its most useful function.

Progressive Rock?

As I sat down here in my blogging-den (I at times refer to this as my bed, as well) to ponder things which are generally considered progress, before I got the computer booted up I put on a record and turned on my speakers. As my mind raced from topic to topic, the fact that I am playing a record is going against the grain of what is considered "progress" currently in the music industry.

The Economist published an article early in 2008 detailing the change of the music industry's power and influence coming into the 21st century. an analyst at JupiterResearch said, "In 2007 it became clear that the recorded-music industry is contracting and that it will be a very different beast from what it was in the 20th century."

The method of playing music has changed, as well. CD's are rarely purchased compared to ten years ago, cassette tapes have become novelties, and vinyl pressings are kept around solely for collectors or very dedicated fans. What is becoming increasingly popular and may soon be the only way to get music, however, is digitally. In Steve Jobs' (Apple C.E.O) Keynote address in June of 2008 it was revealed that their iTunes music store had reached over 5 billion song sales.

Where does the artist come into this equation? Artists are now moving away from album sales, which was traditionally their main source of income, and now depend on live shows to support themselves. Nine Inch Nails, along with Radiohead (and supposedly U2) have dropped their record labels altogether and released records on their own through the internet.

Is this progress? Does the stealing of music from artists cripple them, or does this allow them to be more creative and focus more on their art? In the instance of both Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, their records released with no record label were recieved very well by fans and critics alike.

If you are in the situation of either of these bands, I think the pressure to sell records prohibited creative growth to an extent, and this new found creative freedom has helped them. If you are a band starting out however, you aren't completely left out of this new record industry. Bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Cold War Kids have gained support through MP3 blogs without having any following beforehand.

President Bush's Campaign for Listeners

Both on NPR and in the news, I have been hearing a lot about President Bush's proposed plans for the economy, and it makes me realize what a strange place he is in as president.

There are three men proposing different policies to deal with the economy, yet only President Bush is in a position where he must actually try and apply his policies. He is being forced to make pragmatic decisions; even though the nation is listening to either McCain or Obama- yet neither of the two must put their plans into action until they have actually been elected. Because of this, one could argue their plans compared to President Bush's are more idealistic, since their proposals do not have to gain the approval of Congress before they promote it in a campaign speech.

It almost seems as though Bush himself is campaigning- not for the election, but for the attention of the nation. The article stresses how frequently he has been touring, discussing the financial crisis. Somewhere between the idealism of the candidates and President Bush's current pragmatic approach, hopefully we will, as a country, overcome this crisis.

Not Captain, but...

Congressman Mark Kirk came to talk to my consumer class out of the blue today. I wish I had some record of this to share with you all out there, but I have only what I remember, so bear with me.

Congressman Kirk made it a point to separate himself from his party, first and foremost. He outlined for us the various groups (Planned Parenthood, various environmental groups, etc.) that backed him, despite being a member of the Republican Party. Answering one student's question, he also outlined what measures he voted on to limit governmental power over individual citizens.

Finally, after about twenty minutes of questions, someone finally asked a question about his thoughts on the recession and the bail-out. He said he voted in favor of the bail out, for fear that, and I quote directly, "I feared we might be facing another depression." These are strong words from a congressman, even if he was speaking to a high school class. It seems in perilous times even the authority can get caught up in the crisis and become atypically scared. It was the only time during his discussion with us that he seemed to be unsure of himself, and it was telling of how much the financial crisis affected him as a congressman.

The Fear Market?

While watching an episode of the Colbert Report, there was an interview with a woman named Naomi Klein, who has written a book called The Shock Doctorine: The Rise of Disaster Capitolism.

The idea behind her book in a nutshell was that our government exploits disasters, or in some cases creates them, to further their power and control. This episode mainly focused on the recession, and it was obvious that both Klein and Colbert felt as though this novel rang true during this time, especially.

Perilous times, she argues, make societies more submissive- she listed Katrina, the invasion of Iraq, and the current recession among others as moments in time when the government used this oppurtunity of a crisis to give themselves more power. The Salem witch trials could have easily made the same list as the aforementioned examples, as the judges and the girl's who gave their testimony soon became the deciders of who lived and who died in their community. What I wish she had mentioned, and it seemed she was cut short, was what she suggested we as American citizens should do to try and stop this from happening in the future. Hopefully, like in Salem, the government's reach will eventually catch enough attention that it has to stop itself.

The American Dream and It's Effect on the Election

While out driving today, something caught my attention on NPR. It was an interview with a young woman, a sophomore in college, who was speaking about voting for the first time and why she decided to vote in the first place.

She began the interview by discussing how before she had went into college and studied the economy more, she was apathetic towards elections, and said she "didn't realize how much the economy and politics in Washington effected [her]." Thus far in the interview, I was seeing connections to my own thoughts on voting and my knowledge of the economy, but had yet to connect it back to class. She continued on, however, to mention how the current economy is effecting the lives of American's every day and is threatening to the "American Dream", as she put it.

That term, specifically, caught my attention.

Not only could the connection be made to our class's discussion of what it means to be an American, she specifically mentions how the current perilous time we are in is making a difference in what it means to be American. Americans are currently reacting in some ways as the class did that fateful day our blogging privileges were nearly stripped from us. Most notably we are looking to our leaders, and in this case choosing the right one has become more important to this young woman because of the times.

Reservation Blues

In searching for more reading on Reservation Blues, I came across a CD that was made of the lyrics that opened every chapter adapted into songs.

Only the previews are available, but it was interesting to hear someone's interpretation of what Coyote Springs would sound like. Sherman Alexie was involved with the production of these pieces, as well.

Test post

Blognificent

(this picture has everything to do with American Studies)