Societal Clarity

Let's Celebrate the Unemployment Rate!

2011-12-01T17:22:00.000-08:00

I have an issue with the media, and the train of thought that our unemployment rate is a reflection of a troubled economy.

The truth is this: Technological innovation and advances in engineering and application of new technologies is what is driving the unemployment rate more than anything.

If you think this is a bad thing, think again. The use of machines to free up humans from repetitive and mindless labor is the greatest thing to ever happen to civilization as we know it. From the use of a shovel to a cow-pulled tractor, to a gas-powered tractor, to today's automated tractors that can be programmed using GPS, we are moving further and further away from the labor that used to define us.
We are becoming truly free. It is the system that must change accordingly if we are to maximize that freedom.

The simple fact that companies are looking at their costs vs. profits means that as the economy worsens, automation will only progress, and not slow. Companies will be slashing jobs at a more aggressive rate as the cost of automation drops, and the cost of labor rises. Even the recent trend of sending jobs "overseas" will be transformed by automation. If you doubt this, look at FoxConn.
They are a Chinese company that manufactures a good deal of things, and employs 1.2 million workers. Perhaps some believe that this kind of company is the root of the problem, for they pay their workers quite cheaply to make the goods, at a rate with which the US or other countries could not compete. But look at what's happening even there- automation will replace their workers too. They reportedly have ordered 1 MILLION robots to replace 80-90% of their workers in the next 3 years　①． And this is in China!

So the trend is obvious, not to mention the reason for why this is happening. It is humane, in my opinion, and one must look only at what has been happening at that plant recently to understand why it is humane to replace the workers with robots.
Suicides, and accidents have plagued this plant, and so clearing up the work force will undoubtedly help the conditions in which workers are employed there.

So, what to do with all the displaced workers, not only in China, but those displaced by the initial move to China, and around the world from similiar shifts in production, manufacturing, design, etc. ?
We can either try to create new jobs that are similar, mindless jobs that a robot could do, or we could leave the labor to machines, and free up humans to do what they really want to do: think, live, create, enjoy life, learn, communicate, innovate, and enrich the environment in which they live.

I am an English teacher, in Japan, and my job is not safe either. Koreans are already using robots as English assistants in class to help students practice their pronunciation ②, and online programs "bots" are now offering English conversation lessons in Japan　③．

We can fight the technological advances, and slow the inevitable, or we can embrace change, and the opportunities it allows us as a species to move on to bigger and better things.
The system will change, it is changing, and we must accept it if we are to flourish.

The monetary effects of these trends are troubling in the short-term, but if you look at the long-term benefits of such automation, why would we want to slow or stop it? I will expound on the financial ramifications in my next post, but for now, let me leave it at this:
What needs to change is how we view the ideas of labor, jobs, employment, and reward. As we enter a completely new era of possibility, we must also reevaluate what exists and why, and adapt according to what makes sense, and do away with those things which have been outdated.

Society is moving forward, thanks to technology, how we move as people, as countries, as a world, is up to us.

References:
①　　http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/01/us-foxconn-robots-idUSTRE77016B20110801
②　 http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/South-Korean-Students-Learn-English-from-Robot-Teacher-117640783.html
③　http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8759635/Japan-creates-online-chat-robots-to-converse-with-language-students.html

Self-Promoting on the Internet

2011-11-15T17:09:00.000-08:00

I am new to blogs, but I have a bit of experience on YouTube, where I used to post videos on a variety of topics, ranging from poker, to Ron Paul, to a resource-based economy.

One thing that struck me on YouTube was the vast amount of self-promotion- people making comments, sending personal messages, making videos to trick people to watch etc. all for one purpose- to promote their site, their videos, or whatever link they have on their sites.
After I noticed my first comment on this blog, it would seem that self-promotion is not limited to Youtube.

The first comment I got, I was pleasantly surprised, to get some feedback, but then I noticed them.
The links.
Below the comment were two links to his/her websites...obviously I can no longer be certain the person even read my blog. Most likely he/she is scouring the blogs, and dropping terd comments so people will look him/her up, to get more revenue through higher traffic to the sites in question. How genuine is that?
It happened on Youtube as well...I log on, to find I have 3 personal messages. I get excited, only to be disappointed when it's a bot mail that says "great vids! I think I can help you get more views on your videos. Visit http;/??>KJ :F blah blah blah.
What a joke.

The amount of self promotion is really depressing if you think about it. It is not a bad group of people, it is simply the result of our system. Why wouldn't people do the same as advertisers are doing, turning people into numbers, consumers, and potential visitors (and clickers) on their site, so as to make them more money?

It's obvious that we need to change the system. When people are viewing others as a commodity, as a potential solely for their own financial gain, there is a big problem with our system.

If you cannot see that, then you have a problem as well.

I used to not see it, just blindly going about my way. I even became an affiliate for some websites, and actually committed the same offenses that I am talking about. I guess deep down there was a sense of guilt about it all...but the sense of greed, and potential financial gain seemed to override those feelings of uncertainty. After all, it is what the system rewards, so why not get my piece...

I now will never do anything of the sort again, no advertising for some other company trying to make money.
No more self-promoting, leaving comments on people's pages just so they will check out mine.
No more reducing people to their lowest role, a consumer or an object.

I believe that removing the money in the system will take care of the problem on its own. Why would people self-promote if their is no financial gain? They would only promote their ideas, and I have no problem with that. If you think I am a dreamer, then you can write me off like that if you want. But the reality is that money is an unnecessary evil, and we can do away with it, to the betterment of our species, our planet, our lives.

We need to regain the respect that we have for all people, not just those we face every day, but those around the world, online or off, and treat them all with the respect they deserve.

I hope I am not alone in this.

Money in the News...my rant of the day

2011-11-13T17:25:00.000-08:00

nba labor talks....college football super-conferences....national and global debt crises...

The headlines go on and on, news that is fundamentally about money, and the problems money creates.
As of late, halfway through the column of whatever money-related issue is out there, I realize, "hey, this is just a monetary issue. Why waste my time worrying about someone else's money? It doesn't impact me one bit, so why should I spend my free time reading about it?"

If any of you haven't felt this way when reading the news lately, then you should consider the fact that our system is out of control, and the only way to progress as a society, is to get the money out of the equation.
That may seem controversial, it may seem impossible, but realistically, keeping things how they are is not only impossible, but ridiculous if you look at it though my lens.

Here is why:
-the rich keep getting richer, and the poor poorer, and the divide between them keeps growing.
-the greater the disparity between rich and poor in any given community or society, the greater the crime, the violence, and general desperation.
-the trend is continuing to widen the gap between social classes, and that means more crime, more violence, and more desperation than we've ever seen.

I have always assumed that money was a necessary evil, a presence that must be accepted despite its numerous harmful influences in daily life.
Now I am not convinced.

The society we live in currently accepts money as permanent, and does not seem to be looking for alternatives, despite the horrors that have and taken place as a result of its corruptive and greed-inducing influence.

Perhaps you can imagine a future where technology, scientific understanding, and engineering advances have progressed to the point where farmers are not required to touch a shovel, where secretaries are not required to answer the phone, where workers are not required to assemble parts or sew linens.
In that state of technology, there would be a decline in the necessity for money, for compensation for labor, for constant consumption. Therefore, money would become unnecessary. If you follow my reasoning, you will notice that we are already entering that phase of technology, if not already in it.

My point is that we need to consider alternatives to a money-based system. In my readings, the most sound and realistic long-term system would be a resource-based economy, one that focuses on the resources available, rather than an subjective price model that gives value to scarcity. We want a society that has abundance, in all things, and a system that runs on efficiency, not on waste.

I have digressed from my original point that among all the corruption that money has caused, even the daily news is corrupt with the idea of money, and the influence it has is truly disturbing. One has only to look at the constant squabbling in congress over monetary issues rather than real problems like hunger, crime, poverty, and war that we could deal with, to the corporations and the influence they hold in making laws and tax codes, to the banks and the horrors they have spawned, just to name a few.
We need to get away from money, the monetary system, and all the negative elements that arise accordingly.

If you are tired of reading the "news" about other people's money, then I suggest a few things you can do:
1. Stop reading those articles that glorify the top 1 % and all the garbage economic news that reports nothing of value to you personally.
2. Research the Resource-Based Economy, and how it works. (I will post an explanation shortly on this blog.)
3. Make your own news, and share it with the world.
4. Read ZeitNews, a science and technology news source, that gathers informative and real advances that are being made everyday, and not necessarily covered by the mainstream media.
5. Realize that money will not be around forever, so we can accept it and deal with it for as long as possible, or make efforts to rid ourselves of it as quickly as possible. Which would you prefer?

Is Politics the Means to Improve our World?

2011-09-11T06:14:00.000-07:00

I have been interested in politics since college, those days when you become seriously interested in society and your place in it. My first inspired interest though came at a young age. I can recall Ross Perot, when I was in elementary, inspiring me to think about the future, and what we can change about it. For that kind of inspiration, I am forever grateful to politics. It got me going.

Apart from that, I can't think of anything productive that has come out of the hours and hours reading and watching political news, election coverage, debates, and so on. It is quite possible that even that initial "spark" that I experienced when in elementary school was there anyway, and is just used by politicians time and time again to get people's support. I could name numerous politicians who inspired me only to be disappointed, frustrated, and turned off to the whole process: Ross Perot, John McCain (2000), John Edwards (2004), Ron Paul (2008)...and here's why:

Ross Perot: had the ambitious goal of ELIMINATING our debt.

John McCain: had the ambitious goal of eliminating "pork", or regional projects that benefit a particular district or state. Now I recognize he was simply trying to give aspirin to a cancer patient, as he was not looking at the cause of the problem, just the symptom.

John Edwards: for his "2 Americas" concept, and how true it really is.Unfortunately for him, he also had "2 lives", in the bedroom, but that is for another conversation. It seems clear enough now that his call to help the poor was just a ploy to garner support for his attempt to continue the climb up the ladder of America's "dream", that is to get to the top, so you can live off the work of others.(perhaps overstated...) But how is he for the epitome politician, who will say anything, and appeal to any cause that will inspire people (Republicans are notorious for this: gay marriage, abortion, prayer in school, the list goes on and on....) and abuse people's conscience for their personal gain, oh yeah, and that of the party.

Ron Paul: for his foreign policy, or lack thereof. His attempt to limit the abuse of our currency system by the federal reserve, but mostly for his realism that the US cannot occupy the world as we are currently doing indefinitely, nor should we.
His view or idea of freedom is something imbedded in all of us Americans, yet we can't quite achieve it, it's always like the carrot just far enough away that we keep peddling forward trying to get it.

Ron Paul perhaps is the only one who continues to inspire me.I think what really impressed me about him was he was the first politician that seemed more interested in calling out the elephant in the room than in getting his standard sound byte and 2-bit media endorsement. He says it as it is, and he actually looks to find the real causes for the problems in our society, not simply proposing more band-aids as most candidates do.

In any case, the others simply let me, and numerous others, down. Even Barrack Obama's election was inspiring, yet at that point I wasn't naive enough to expect any real change anyway...

The point of this post is to question if politics is the way to improve our society and the world we live in.
Most people interested in social change are encouraged to affect the system from within, and do one of the following:
run for local office,
vote,
or support a candidate you "believe in".

I suppose all of those things are really just walking in circles, if you look at it through my lens, and here's why:

1. run for local office: first you have to have $$, and you have to basically get good at manipulating people, and/or your image, become a pleasant figure that says nothing wrong, and tries to get as many in the wagon as possible. But basically you have to get your name out there, that means....making signs, and lots of signs, and put them anywhere people might look one day so they recognize your name in the polling booth. As for most local elections, and even most state elections go, name recognition and party affiliation are the only things that seem to matter. Selling yourself to a broader platform (republican or democrat) doesn't make things prettier either. I don't see anything honest or intellectually appealing about that process.

2. vote. I am trying to keep a straight face as I type that...really? most kids scratch their heads at the thought that their informed or uninformed vote will make any difference at all amongst millions, or thousands- at the local level. Most adults teach them that it does, but how many of them actually believe it? I am from Oklahoma, where everyone knows the republican is gonna win, except maybe in the Tulsa area...red states...blue states...no wonder no one votes...they are the smart ones!
What a waste of time and effort to drive down to the local school or wherever to make the volunteers feel like they are contributing anything remotely of value to society for thier time spent at the polling places. It certainly won't change anything, not to mention really nothing will change regardless of who wins the election, as both parties are now owned (I can name the exceptions on one hand).

3. Support a candidate. If running yourself and voting are a waste of time, supporting someone else is even more of a tragic waste of life, I don't think I even need to go there.If you didn't agree with points 1 and 2, and you're still reading...then you won't get it anyway.

As I mentioned in my first post, politics does a lot of lip service, and in fact sometimes robs us of our desire or motivation to change society. We leave it to them to change the system, but they can't. They are the system, and the system is what is wrong. Don't misunderstand me, politicians are not the problem. The culture and society that we live in is the problem. Our culture rewards what today's politicians do. And until that changes, the system will not change. I actually read in my political science textbook, as horrendous as the textbook was, that politicians are those who are attracted to power, wealth, and control. It was an unabashed look at politics, but strangely enough, it seemed to be a necessary evil of our political system. Is that ok with anyone reading this? But, that is what we have.

Why else would a particular potential presidential candidate host a "prayer meeting" the day before his announcement to join the race, except to appeal to the spirituality of millions of potential voters. Nothing else.
The fact that this goes on and isn't called for what it is saddens me.

But I am getting away from the point of this post, to address the real way forward. How do we affect change amidst this system that protects those in power, and does little to improve the conditions of all.

Is politics the way to change our society for the better? As history would seem to show, the answer is a resounding NO. Most of the large changes happened outside the political sphere, particularly those that resulted in a positive change for everyone, such as the end to overtaxation, underrepresentation, freedom from a monarchical deity, etc.
So why do we spend so much time talking, thinking, supporting politics as the way to improve our society?
Because that is the best way to prevent us from changing it.
I am interested in your thoughts, so please let me know where my thoughts err.

I am not suggesting anything radical, or violent, simply that to get what we want in our lives, we mustn't rely on others to do it for us; we are responsible for our conditions, and anyone that tells you otherwise is lying to you. Let's get to work improving our world so that politics never has to disappoint us ever again!

Having Faith

2011-09-10T16:47:00.000-07:00

Faith is a powerful element in many people's lives. From faith in religion to faith in human progress to faith in our political system or its leaders, there is much that we hand over from our circle of influence to others or to institutions that shapes who we are, and what we accomplish or don't accomplish in life.

    So let's look at what faith is. Faith is perhaps easily described as a belief in something bigger than ourselves or a person or group that requires trust and a potential of disappointment. It is no "sure thing", as there would be no risk, and thus nothing that requires trust. People don't have faith in the sun's shining, for we can expect the sun to shine for a few billion more years to come. According to many people who have faith in certain things, the less proof, or evidence of something, the more valuable that belief is. For to believe something so strongly in the absence of proof requires a risk of being wrong, and thus strengthens the power and perhaps importance of that belief for that individual or group.

    Faith has its place in society, but it also does not belong in many other places in society. I can have faith in my wife, or in my fellow man, or in the strength of the lock on my door.
I can have faith that the sun will continue to burn as long as I live, but the sun doesn't require it, and is not affected by that faith. There is very little that I nor anyone can do to ensure the sun's survival. Perhaps someday we will have mastered fusion, and will be able to extend the sun's life, but until then, we are at its mercy, and there is nothing we can do about it, thus the "faith" I have in it is a moot point.

   I can have faith in my political leaders, or my President, but I cannot control, persuade, or influence that President in any way, (except to help symbolically choose who that President is through our complicated electoral process), so I must trust and have faith that this government will act in my best wishes, and in the best wishes of our society.
Is there a difference between my faith in the sun's shining, and faith in our government? Will that faith change anything? Is either necessary? I think not.

I believe that we need to get away from having faith in areas that we can make a difference. Putting your faith in someone or something in some ways relieves you of your responsibility for action. Having faith in the government is giving them the responsibility to take care of the society, to manage the progress or lack thereof that we make as a civilization, and to prevent or instigate change as they see fit. However, this is faith misplaced. It is up to us members of society to do all those things. If we simply have faith in politics, a leader, or government, and leave it to others, then we will have given up our very identity as members of society.

I believe that many people's faith in something, albeit a genuine faith in something they cannot control, expands into the dangerous realm of things that they can actually control. That is my issue with faith. It is easy to slip into the passive role in life when you are passive in even one role. My suggestion is that we need to clarify that which we can control, and that which we cannot. We must not stoop to having faith when dealing with the former, and minimize expending energies for the latter.

We the living people of this Earth are the inheritors of its past, and we are the ones who will determine its future. There is no denying this. To simply have faith in the future, or in human progress, or in something even more intangible is not only a waste of time, but it restricts you from actively affecting the present, future, and progress of our species, and well-being of our planet and its inhabitants.

I pity those who see the future as determined.
I pity those who wait for some great deliverance, or rapture to take them away from this place.
I pity those who don't try and improve their surroundings due to waiting for the end of the world.
I pity those who rely on a politician to make their lives better.
I pity those who use faith as a means of wiping their hands of their responsibility to our planet, and to those around them.

We must not have faith in things that do not deserve it. When people feel they must have faith in certain things, they should not let that faith wipe out their motivation or desire to actually affect any change or improvement in life. We must deal in our circle of influence, as an individual, as a society, and as a species. Our circle of concern is large and filled with things beyond our control. We must deal actively with those things we can affect, and not waste time having faith (and thus giving up our active role) in people, institutions, or governments whose priorities differ from the interests and necessities of those they propose to represent.
Have faith in yourself, and in your ability to improve yourself, and your surroundings, and you will not have misplaced that faith.