Saturday, March 19, 2011

Victorious

No, I am not rich
I haven't been to the finest schools
Nor do I have expensive cars, boats or other toys
Plus I've eaten more crap than anyone should ever have to
And I have failed more times than three

But from my failures, lessons were taught
Plus my losses have made me stronger
Like warriors sharpen their swords, I hone my resolve
And through living righteously, I can walk with my head held high
Now from my blood, sweat, and tears, I emerge...
VICTORIOUS

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

$Free Speech$

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Read the above words carefully and after you reread them, give them a minute to let them soak in. This one run-on sentence is the First Amendment in all of its glory. This one sentence protects every American's right to say whatever is on their mind to say, but sometimes, there are certain misconceptions that come in interpreting this sentence.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The simple fact is that while I am a practicing Christian, I shouldn't have to worry about a Catholic, a Muslim, or even an atheist imposing on my right to practice my beliefs at my church, I must also show the same tolerance to a person of another religion as well. Free speech and tolerance are two way streets and are not meant just for the "popular" or for the "most easily tolerated".

"...the right of the people to peaceably assemble." Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. said that, "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." We all have the freedom of speech, but we are also all bound to peaceably use that freedom of speech. You and I are safe to say whatever we please unless a war of words becomes a physical war.

There's one final detail, but this is the most important one...everyone's speech is free, but there is a cost for us to use that freedom. While we are justified under the laws of the government to speak our minds, the words that come out of our mouths all come with a consequence or a reward. When you tell your boss how you really feel about them, you can either get a raise or you can get fired. Whether you tell your significant other the truth or lies, what happens to your relationship is a direct result of your "free" speech.

The bottom line is that it's always easier to censor yourself instead of having to apologize for your words after the fact. Keep this in mind while you're exercising your "free" speech.

Friday, March 4, 2011

What you cry is oppression, I call laziness

By now, most of you have probably heard rumblings of this CNN article, and it inspired me to write this blog. The first thing I thought about after reading this is the history of the United States. This country was founded by European settlers who drove out Native Americans from their land and into reservations, and the land was worked by African slaves. I'm not mentioning this in hopes of inciting racial hatred; I say this to point out one simple fact that a friend on Twitter mentioned, "The U.S. was built for white people to succeed."

White people have long been afforded the opportunity to be as successful as they wanted to be, and have had the luxury of getting that success largely by the color of their skin if so chose to attain success that way. Now we live in a time where the race truly does go to the swift and not to one with the certain skin color. I remember a time when some of my own brothers and sisters would cry about "the man holding us down" or "we can't get a break because of the system".

The truth is that although racism still overtly and covertly exists, the oppression behind that racism has long been defeated. Just as assuredly that there's a white person somewhere still calling black people niggers, there's a black person somewhere still calling white people devils. The fact is that we all have the ability to rise above any racial hatred and ignorance simply by the work we are willing to do. For anyone who feels "racially oppressed" in this day and age, you are only being lazy and rather than work to rise above your current status, you choose to cry in the hopes of being given what you should be working for.

The bottom line is that in these United States, racism still exists, but there is no more oppression, so get over yourself, and get on with the work you need to do in order to achieve success...or get passed by.