April 22, 2014 at 5:00 pm
It’s funny how life works. The daily interactions and experiences we have seem trivial at the time but can have profound ramification on our futures. Here I sit, trying to strategize how best to proceed with the writing of this post, the future of this site, my reading list, my son’s education, financial planning, dinner tonight… It’s an unceasing string of seemingly random thoughts that are all interconnected, at least for me. Everything fits into a web and has varying degrees of influence on the other nodes of the web. It was this web that brought me to the political opinions I hold now, which in turn changed my views, or at the least enlightened my views on many other topics. My political journey so far is what I’d like to talk about in this post. I was brought up in a conservative, Republican household. I don’t recall the issue-specific positions my parents took on most things. It was the typical Republican platform, patriotic, lower taxes, anti-gay marriage, pro-life… While I took on many of those view as a child and teenager something about them – something I can’t pinpoint – didn’t agree with me. I missed the age cutoff […]
October 14, 2011 at 3:23 pm
The United States – often recognized as a beacon of freedom to the world, though perhaps more so in the past than in the present. The original colonists came here seeking a fresh start, a land of unrivaled opportunity, and a reprieve from the oppression of the British Crown. Immigrants in more recent times come for similar reasons. They come to escape oppression, to pursue new opportunity, to endeavor to better themselves and their families by taking advantage of the freedoms we here take for granted. The ultimate reason is the freedom to determine one’s own destiny. At one time, this was the single most appealing feature of the land of Lady Liberty to others around the world. Slowly, the United States is slipping from its previous grandeur. As the citizens sit back and allow themselves to be lulled into oblivion by mind-melting television shows and the latest in fashion, football or celebrity gossip the freedom and liberty that we take for granted is being stripped away. Like an onion, each layer is slowly removed and eventually, it will be gone entirely. With each layer compromised come the stinging tears of those who witness the degradation. We are not yet past […]