Stop the Senseless Loss

The "freedom" to own guns in this country ought to be a point of shame. Our lax gun laws and availability of firearms to the general public is something that other nations find amusing, if not alarming.

And despite numerous armed murders, assaults, and robberies, the laws have not changed. People argue, "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." We glorify violence and weaponry in our media and entertainment. We allow people to entertain ideas of owning guns for purposes of hunting, protection, or simple novel interest. And because of these "freedoms," we allow the senseless loss of life on our streets and in our schools and public spaces. We all have blood on our hands. 

The New Yorker posted a piece on Saturday, "One More Massacre," by Adam Gopnik, that says it far better than I can, so I will keep this post brief. 

Essentially, these massacres will keep happening in our public spaces should we not do something. The second amendment protects people's rights to own guns; it also takes away people's rights to live in safety and free from fear. The sad thing we all know is that this is not new. This has happened, and it will happen again. People die by gunfire near nightly on the DC streets I walk by day. 

"How does one argue with someone convinced that the routine massacre of our children is the price we must pay for our freedom to have guns, or rather to have guns that make us feel free?" Gopnik asks. (Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/07/aurora-movie-shooting-one-more-massacre.html#ixzz21q5i6Ay1)

Guns were created with the purpose of killing. Why is it so surprising when they do just that? What good would it have done if someone in the crowd at the movie theater had a gun with them? As Krystal said to me, we can't just go back to the days of the Wild, Wild, West, and just shoot who shoots us. Being vengeful and letting every man serve justice is not the answer to this dilemma--this would lead to anarchy and demise. 

Let's celebrate freedom with clean and safe streets and long and prosperous lives for all. Let's celebrate the freedom to go to a movie "just for fun." Let's find freedom in knowing that schools and work places are safe. We must act now, we cannot sit back and watch this senseless injustice continue. When we fight for the rights to own guns, we are fighting for the rights of the crazy, deranged, and blood-thirsty. We are giving a God-like power to men who cannot be trusted to use it well. When we create movies and TV shows where it looks cool and exciting to use weapons and when violence is approved for general audiences, it becomes ingrained in our culture. When we show mass killings in our entertainment, we devalue human life. Even in The Dark Knight Rises, many, many people were killed throughout the movie. And yet the movie went on, and justice was served, the lost lives just part of it. We have devalued our neighbors life and put ourselves at the center (but that's another post).
When we fight for bans on weaponry and fire arms, we are giving power to the people to live in the very definition of freedom. Imagine this country if there were no guns: less bag searches and privacy violations, less fear after dark, less random and calculated violence and tragedy. When we restrict access to guns, we open access to a rich and satisfying life for all. 

--Megan

Calling Terrorism Terrorism, Regardless of Race

When you think of the words "terrorism" and "terrorist," what comes to mind? In general, we have been taught to associate terrorism with foreigners, and people from outside the US threatening those inside the US.
Terrorism, simply put, is an act to cause extreme terror or fear in individuals and communities. So why does the media and law enforcement keep telling us that the Aurora, Colorado, incident does not seem to be a terrorist act?
What happened early Friday morning was indeed an act of terrorism. It struck fear into the hearts of the nation, it killed some and left even more wounded; it will haunt all who were there and all who helplessly watched it unfold. People doing ordinary things on an ordinary day in an ordinary and supposedly safe place were shaken up with this violent act--they were terrorized, they were forced to feel fear in a normal, civilian situation.
The perpetrator is a terrorist, despite being a college-educated, middle class white American. His demographic information does not exclude him from terrorism; his deadly and unspeakable act is what gives him this status.

In addition, officials and the media are now focused on a reason for the violence. They want to know "why" a person like Holmes would do this. This, again, is a place where race comes into play. Middle-class white men are more likely to commit despicable acts of mass murder. Hugo Schwyzer makes some excellent points about why in his article, "Why Most Mass Murders are Privileged White Men". Simply put, white men are more likely to feel "entitled" to public spaces like university campuses and movie theaters. They are more likely to feel frustrated or enraged when they don't feel a sense of belonging or ownership, or when their problems are not addressed and their voices not heard. "But while men from all backgrounds kill their spouses, affluent white men are disproportionately represented in the ranks of our most infamous mass murderers. In other words, the less privileged you are, the less likely you are to take your violence outside of your family and your community," Schwyzer writes. 
When a person of a minority background commits a heinous crime, we attribute it to something in their culture or religion. Perhaps they are a religious extremist or were not taught an appropriate way to deal with mental illness or emotion. When it is a white person, we do not attribute their crime to their being white, or to their religion, we search for some hidden motive. "What went wrong?" As Peggy McIntosh wrote, a white persons morality reflects their individual will (Schwyzer article). A non-white person's morality might reflect their will, but will also factor in their background and upbringing and community beliefs. 


Terrorism is not determined by race or citizenship. Terrorism is determined by any deed that strikes fear into innocent people's hearts, shatters lives, and leaves a lot of questions and uncertainties in it's wake. A terrorist is not a Muslim person or a black person on that definition alone. Holmes is a terrorist and his act in Aurora a  terrorist act. This country has come to define and associate "terror" with "other" when "terror" ought to be associated immediately with the fear and destruction and heartbreak that has entered our nation this week. This terror came from within our country by a privileged person of our society; all can terrorize.


--Megan

Happiness v. Security

45 percent of Americans are satisfied with their work

I recently saw this stat on a survey of working Americans. I find that myself and many of those around me are constantly contemplating what we want out of our lives and a big part of our lives is where we work. So I wanted to do some more research on being satisfied with work especially as I read through the Happiness Project. 

When you're growing up everything seems so easy. You graduate from high school, go to college, choose a major that includes subjects that interest you and then graduate from college and begin your dream job in your career field. This is so easy in theory and so incredibly difficult and uncommon in practice. Many of us are working in fields that have little or nothing to do with our acquired degrees. 

According to USAtoday, college graduates who majored in zoology, anthropology, philosophy, art history and humanities were among the least likely to find jobs appropriate to their education level; those with nursing, teaching, accounting or computer science degrees were among the most likely. Because of this information I wanted to find out what are the most popular majors selected in colleges today. Below is a list of the top ten majors. Some of them would be considered jobs in a growing industry.

Knowing that it will be difficult to find a job available within your major does it make you more or less likely to select a degree in humanities or similar subject? Is it more important to be satisfied at work or to secure an open job? Which is more important to you?

Top 10 College Majors

1. Business Administration and Management/Commerce

2. Psychology

3. Nursing

4. Biology/Biological Sciences

5. Education

6. English Language and Literature

7. Economics

8. Communications Studies/Speech Communication and Rhetoric

9. Political Science and Government

10. Computer and Information Sciences

--Krystal

Exploring Freedom

Freedom is highly valued in this nation; it is one of the central themes this country was founded on. In the past year or so, I have also been exploring the word freedom and its many meanings.
Ultimately, freedom can be defined differently by different people. It is ignorant to assume that people who celebrate different ideas of freedom are not "free" just because they do not celebrate the individual freedoms that the USA is founded on.
For example, many people are in an uproar about the full body scanners at the US airports; they believe it is a violation of their freedom and privacy. I believe, however, that the TSA searches help ensure and safeguard freedom in this country. Because of those full-body scanners, I can feel reasonably safe on airplanes, and air travel is not restricted. While an individual might feel violated, an entire community can feel safe and free to travel about because of these air travel restrictions.

As another example, I recently had the good fortune to travel to Burlington, Vermont, for pleasure. In learning a little about this small, beautiful city, I learned that the city has come along way from it's more industrial, polluted, and shabby days. In the 70's the beautiful Lake Champlain water front was all bought up by wealthy home-owners and businesses. Burlington elected mayor Bernie Sanders, who campaigned on the slogan, "The waterfront is not for sale," and won. Today, the waterfront is public space, with public beaches, public parks, and small, local, businesses dotting the waterfront. A 12-mile recreation trail traces the edge of the lake to the causeway. Residents and visitors of Burlington alike are invited to appreciate the lake's beauty and pleasant waters. While there must be regulations in place in order for people to buy up land (thus, taking away the freedom to buy), the entire community is free to enjoy the waterfront as they please.

There is often a lot of talk of our country progressing towards socialism; there is often talk of the personal liberties our country was founded on being taken back. Freedom is a challenge to understand. If individuals are concerned only with their own personal rights, they will surely violate their neighbor's freedoms while exercising their own. Freedom must be looked at in the context of the community or the entire population. Freedom is found in the space where everyone has equal access to amenities and quality of life. Certain rules, policies, and ethical guidelines are put in effect not to limit us but to help us experience our freedoms without concern and to ensure equal distribution of freedoms and liberties.

The rules will set you free.
--Megan

Big Business Intrusion

I just read an article in the latest National Geographic Traveler titled "Lessons from the Grand Canyon." While the article is mainly about the importance of national parks and how to successfully maintain and run a beautiful park, the article brushes on the idea that popular American culture and big business are a threat to national parks (and therefore other civic, cultural, non-profit, or public organizations, spaces, and ideas).
Big businesses and others of political or economic power often have a behind-the-scenes hand in decisions and regulations having to do with national parks. For example, the Grand Canyon National Park researched the main cause of pollution in the park and discovered that the leading cause was plastic water bottles. They decided to put a plastic water bottle ban in place, effective January 1, 2011, and steer visitors toward refilling stations and reusable water bottles instead. Coca-cola, who is a major donor to the Grand Canyon National Park, got wind of this intended ban and was very displeased (Coca-cola owns Dasani water). After conversations with Coca-cola, the Grand Canyon National Park decided to halt the ban, presumably fearing a huge loss in funding from Coca-cola. It took another year for the park's superintendent to push back and put the ban into effect, questioning the influence of big business over the needs and health of the wildlife in the park and it's visitors.
Costas Christ, the author of this piece, also sited other decisions that Grand Canyon has made throughout it's history in order to assimilate with American societal norms and pressures. When the park was built, Grand Canyon village, an array of parking lots, shops, accommodations, and tourist attractions was built among the park's natural beauty. Cars were incessantly driving through out the park, attributing to pollution, unsightly long lines and traffic, and distracting from the natural beauty and serenity. These amenities were created in order to serve the American population, with no regard for preservation. Now, the park is backtracking, encouraging visitors to use the public transportation system put in place in the park, and attempting to reuse old facilities instead of build new ones on the precious land.
In the past, parks have catered to the popular culture of the time, including luxuries and allowances that did not benefit the health of the park. Big business has stepped in and made even sacred, wild places places that are full of marketing and human extravagance.
The Grand Canyon is learning it's lesson and is slowly looking in other places for "friends"--non-profits, foundations, and local community groups--to help support it's mission and look out for the preservation of the park as it is. These groups and donors in place that are interested in benefiting the park, and not interested in advertising and making profits off the park.
This article was a good reminder to me about the influence of large companies. Advertising and corporations literally control and own much of this country; it is challenging to make ethical decisions without factoring in these giants in charge of our economic system. Things such as the plastic water bottle ban, which benefits the park, were a threat to Coca-cola and other bottled water producers. Because money equals influence in this country, they were able to sway this decision to meet their needs, all while contributing to the pollution of the park.
The Grand Canyon is a great example of fighting back against the intrusion of big business. Let us all be cautious of the hand that big business plays in many political decisions in this country and speak out against it.

--Megan

Act the Way You Want to Feel

As I stated in an earlier post I have just started reading the New York Times Bestseller "The Happiness Project". One of Gretchen Rubin's, author of the book, twelve commandments is to "act the way I want to feel." Gretchen goes on to say that this commandement summed up on of the most helpful insights that she had learned throughout her research for this book: although people presume that we act because of the way we feel, in fact we often feel because of the way we act.

I read that and just had to sit back and think about it for a minute. It seems like I very simple thing, but when you really think about if you were to consider this and put it into practice perhaps you could have more control of your feelings and how you are perceived by others. I think this is really important to think about especially when you may be feeling like you are in a funk and unable to climb your way out of an emotional hole.

In the book Gretchen goes on to say that studies show that people who use Botox are less prone to anger, because they can't make angry faces. To think that maybe something as simple as smiling more can put you in a good mood seems like a quick and easy fix to some problems. Smiling makes a difference.

So lets all see if we can try that. If you fee like you haven't been happy in awhile then try acting happy. Smile more. Be friendly. Be nice to people. Who knows it might just make a difference.

Lets all try to act the way we want to feel for a month. Just one month. See how your feelings change over the month and let us know.


--Krystal

Get your Natitude on!

Have you been to a Nats game recently? If not you should definitely take the opportunity to do so.

Teddy always falls short during the race.

I wrote about the fun of the American Past time around this time last year and I must readdress that topic tonight. Although the Nationals lost tonight they really have been an exciting team to watch this year. After finishing up strong last season and with the addition of some exciting players such as tBryce Harper, Nats games are a can't miss event in the DC Metro Area.

Not only is the team exciting to watch with one of the best records in the MLB, but the stadium is definitely built to be an entertaining environment with the, open table eating areas, bars, free wifi, and of course the event of the night the President's race.



I really think going to baseball games is one of the true treasured events of the summer. One thing about the Nats being such a hot commodity lately is that the prices of tickets have increased, but if you do some searching that is no problem either. For tonight's game I was able to get 4 tickets for $65 8 rows up from the field. Great seats. Here is the site we used to snag those awesome tickets.

So take my advice and be sure to check out an upcoming Nats game and you may even catch Megan or myself at the game as well.

--Krystal