Creativity vs. Stress

Oh creativity, where have you gone? 

Oh creativity, it's been way too long 

Stress tried to kill you, and brought you down for awhile

But youre surging back up, and youre coming in style 

Now you're equipped with the tools that you need

To fight back against stress that is caused by greed

Please fight him off for good, his presence kills joy

It feeds on the mind; it's game is a ploy 

Oh creativity, please fight til the end

Oh creativity, don't ever give in 

You've shown you have fight, now shine your light bright 

And get rid of the darkness stress causes at night 

Oh creativity, you have the power 

To bring happiness in every hour 

Oh creativity, you're stronger than stress 

Show him you're in control and accept nothing less 

Alone

With friends, but alone

With family, but alone 

Through day and night alone

Through fire and ice alone

For even when I glow

And the light begins to show 

I feel alone alone alone

When I've no place to go 

And no place to call home

I feel alone alone alone 

I alone understand 

I alone can withstand 

I alone will find my way

I alone will paint the grey

Ill fix myself 

Alone 

Ill walk through dark 

Alone

Ill find myself 

Alone 

Ill change this world 

Alone

Smaller and Less Important Things

Death surrounds us and suffering neighbors us

But we have smaller and less important things to worry about

Young children are sold into sexual slavery

But we have smaller and less important things to worry about

Car crashes, massacres, poverty, starvation

Debt beyond our power and a divided nation

But we have smaller and less important things to worry about

Racism, hatred, and ignorance towards difference

Will anything ever change? Or will it all just stay the same?

Cause we have smaller and less important things to worry about

And they consume are thought train

My issues with public schooling

All they want is to control you. Go to school at this time every day, all year, except these months. Say the pledge, than go study these same seven subjects for the next ten years. They say they are preparing us for the real world, but everything they teach has no application. The years are filled with subtle pro United States viewpoints that will create a nice army of patriots when we graduate. If we don't go, our parents can face criminal charges and jail time. But don't worry, they'll send the big yellow bus to come get us every morning, and take us home in the afternoon.

Don't you see they want us all to all look the same? To all think the same? "We don't need no thought control" - Pink Floyd says in their song "Another Brick in the Wall", and they are quite right. We certainly don't need to be told what to think. But much of what comes out of government led education is opinionated and biased. In school the kids pledge their allegiance to the country EVERY SINGLE DAY. Do kids even know what it really means to pledge allegiance to something? Of course they don't! But hell no one is even curious as to why we need to pledge allegiance every day to our country, why kids need to do that.

They want us to get through school and then go to the university, then work forty hours a week til we're dead. Whats the best way to get everyone to do that? Send them to school all day everyday as a kid. Tell them college is the only way, and school needs to be a priority. It's all about control.

I have other problems with school besides government control however. School creates an atmosphere of competition. Kids are graded on everything they do, and told they have to make good grades to essentially ever succeed in life. Is that really appropriate for the children of our country? Do we want the kids who can't handle school at the same pace as others to feel like failures? Do we want the smart kids to feel superior to everyone else? These are the kinds of feelings the current schooling system encourages.

My biggest issue with public schooling lies in the core curriculum. Many students can't get it, won't get it, and won't even ever need it. Many people go on to live lives where calculus and chemistry are never needed! Actually I would argue most people go on to live those lives. So why do they need to be judged on how they preform in those classes? However my main problem with the curriculum is there is nothing involving humanity. We don't learn anything about how to treat other people, or how to deal with our emotions. It might be expected for us to learn that at home, but many children never get that from their parents. If we as humans knew how to interact with each other better the world would be a better place.

One day I hope to start my own private school system. One that would teach about human interaction and emotion management. Until then I can only spread ideas, and hope they catch like a wildfire.

Euthanasia

            Britannica defines euthanasia as the “practice of painlessly putting to death persons suffering from painful and incurable disease or incapacitating physical disorder or allowing them to die by withholding treatment or withdrawing artificial life-support measures” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Some describe it as “mercy killing”. Euthanasia is illegal in most of the world, and in forty-seven out of fifty U.S. states. Why is it illegal? One may say that every person has their own right to die, especially when their life has been overcome by pain. Perhaps this is true, but is it immoral to give doctors power over life and death? It is wrong to ask a person who was trained to save lives to end one, and horrible to give sick people the power to end their own lives. For these reasons euthanasia should remain illegal and become illegal where it is lawful.

            Proponents of legalizing euthanasia argue that certain terminally ill people who do not have a chance of recovery have a right to “die with dignity” (DREDF). They forget to realize many other factors play into the decision to end one’s life. Financial pressures and depression will cloud the minds of those faced with the choice of assisted suicide. Occasionally, people who are told they have months to live make a full recovery. Some of these people live for at least a few more years and are even happy for parts of that time. What if those people ended their chance for a future by deciding to be euthanized?  In a perfect world those who truly were terminally ill would be able to make a decision based only on their sickness and the amount of pain they are in. However our world is far from perfect.

If euthanasia was legalized, it would become unclear when it is acceptable to use it. Keeping it as a last resort for people with no hope sounds like a good idea, but it would lead to euthanasia becoming more acceptable for people who have other options. When in a period of pain and suffering, a person may say or want irrational things. If not in their right mind, one may lose the will to live. Even in situations where hope of survival and recovery is not lost, some people would ask for euthanasia. Maybe when first legalized, they would be declined their request. Eventually though someone who had other options would be given the go ahead. One doctor would make a mistake based off his sympathy. This would give other people a case to point to and use as an argument for their own euthanasia requests. Ending one’s life should not be seen as a solution. If euthanasia were legalized, that’s exactly what it would become for some sick people.

            Another major issue with euthanasia legality is giving one man the power over life and death. There are many dilemmas we face when deciding who should administer the dose of death. One is giving men power they might abuse. Jack Kevorkian was a proponent of assisted suicide who took many people’s lives. He claimed to be doing it to help them; however it was more to gain publicity for the issue of Euthanasia. A New York Times article on Jack reads “When the Detroit Free Press investigated his ‘practice’ in 1997, it found that 60 percent of those he assisted weren’t actually terminally ill” ( Douthat).  Human corruption is too widespread to legalize this kind of death (Bio.com).

Giving men this type of power creates another issue. Whoever ends up taking the life will have to deal with the guilt. They will have to deal with the family members who perhaps did not want their mother, father or sibling to end their own life. This person may even face legal problems and lawsuits, especially if they make a mistake. Now we must ask, should it be the doctor? The doctor has spent all of his or her life learning and perfecting the art of preventing sickness and saving lives. It is immoral to even consider asking doctors to have to take a person’s life. A person could specialize in the field of euthanasia, although I do not imagine many people aspire to become executioners. Then there is the mess of dealing with the mixed emotions that may or may not afflict the person who administers the dose. What if after a few years, or maybe over a lifetime, the person’s philosophies change? They may no longer agree with taking lives, and become unable to live with themselves because of what they have done. This kind of guilt can become overwhelming, and no one should have to deal with it.

            The doctors who put people to death will not be the only people facing guilt issues. If euthanasia were a legal option, many terminally ill patients would feel guilty not choosing death. They may feel as if they are a burden to their family, or maybe they do not want to leave behind huge medical bills. This is no choice sick people need to be making. No human should be made to feel guilty for wanting to live. Other people may feel forced by their own healthcare plans. In Oregon (where assisted suicide has been legalized), some patient’s healthcare plans cover euthanasia, but do not cover their own treatment plans! This ridiculous obscenity can easily push people towards euthanasia so as not to leave their family with tremendous debt. Healthcare plans in Oregon are inadvertently pushing patients toward assisted suicide, and this would also happen if euthanasia became legal elsewhere. If a terminally ill and depressed person decides to be put to death instead of becoming a “burden” to their families, their choice should not be considered voluntary.  That person would have been forced into deciding to lose their own life by financial and personal relationship issues. (DREDF)

            Ultimately, the many moral issues with euthanasia are clearly good reason to keep it illegal. Too much guilt and depression would come from taking the power of life and death into our own hands. Death for the terminally ill would become a gateway to death for any who choose. The power of life and death should not be given to doctors. Euthanasia should remain illegal indefinitely.

           

           

Works Cited

1.      The Legal Aspects of Medical Euthanasia David W. Meyers Bioscience Vol. 23, No. 8, The Dilemmas of Euthanasia (Aug., 1973), pp. 467-470  Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1296606

2.      "Key Objections to the Legalization of Assisted Suicide." DREDF.org. DREDF. Web. <http://www.dredf.org/assisted_suicide/Key-Objections-to-the-Legalization-of-Assisted-Suicide.pdf>.

3.      Hillyard, Daniel, and John Dombrink. Dying Right: The Death with Dignity Movement. New York: Routledge, 2001. Print.

4.      Zanskas, Steve, and Wendy Coduti. "Eugenics, Euthanasia, And Physician Assisted Suicide: An Overview For Rehabilitation Professionals." Journal Of Rehabilitation 72.1 (2006): 27-34. Consumer Health Complete - EBSCOhost. Web. 11 Sept. 2012

5.      Cassel, Christine K. "Physician-Assisted Suicide: Are We Asking The Right Question?." Second Opinion 18.2 (1992): 95. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 11 Sept. 2012.

6.      Douthat, Ross. "Dr. Kevorkian's Victims." Editorial. The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 June 2011. Web. 13 Sept. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/06/opinion/06douthat.html?_r=0>.

7.      "Euthansia: The Wider Social Context." British Journal Of Nursing 6.17 (1997): 1015. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File. Web. 10 Sept. 2012.

8.      "Jack Kevorkian Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 18 Sept. 2012. <http://www.biography.com/people/jack-kevorkian-9364141?page=5>.

9.      "Euthanasia (law)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 10 Sept. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/196711/euthanasia>.

On Having Bipolar

Some days I fucking hate everything. The world is a cold hard placed, designed to make me miserable. There is no purpose. There is no reason. Everything just is. Nothing we accomplish matters, nothing we do will go with us to the grave. All I want is for that day to come, the day I die, because then and only then will I be at peace. No more bullshit. No more misery.

Some days I fucking love everything. The world is a bright and beautiful place, and my purpose is clear. I will be a writer and I will succeed. I will change the bad parts of this world, or at least live to see them change. Everything I do betters me as a person and will help me in future incarnations. Dying is so far in the future its not even something I think about. I enjoy seeing my friends and living life to the fullest. Nature, car rides, loud metal, cigarettes, drugs, hell everything is fun.

There is no in between. I'm miserable or filled with ecstasy. I want to die or I want to live it up. I'm manic or I'm depressed.

Writer's Block

I'm currently suffering from sever writer's block. But I'm going to type whatever comes to mind. So here it goes. I just paused for ten seconds. I apologize. I am trying to type as fast as possible whatever comes to my mind. It's not working as I planned.

Writers block. As a writer, I experience this quite often. But why does it occur? I have so many things I want to talk about, and often I can generate pages about these topics quickly. But every once and awhile this thing called writer's block pops up.

When I am dealing with writer's block, I find I have to get myself past a certain point, and then I will be good. I have to force out a tiny bit, and then it will start to flow naturally again. Its the forcing out material that is the hard part (obviously).

But hey, I've had a good day so far, and maybe sometime soon I'll get my writer's juices flowing.