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.