As the Iranian elections inch closer, try tomorrow, the rhetoric seems to imply that Ahmadinejad is going to lose. Iran wants change, as popularized by the United States during the last election of Obama. That change is Mr. Moussavi, led by none other than mr. fantastic himself, mr. Rafsanjani, who Ahmadinejad beat in the last election. So who is this man Rafsanjani?
Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani is an aristocrat who, seemingly controls more of Iran than most people would think. First, a little background on the man. He was born on February 15, 1934, the son of a poor family of pistachio farmers, mmm, pistachios! He entered the seminary at 14 years of age where he picked up the do's and don'ts of stonings, beating your wife and other fantastic theological notions. Then he went on to start the Ismalic Republic Party after the Iranian revolution in late 1979. Eventually he was elected president of Iran in 1989 where he served until 1997. He now heads the Assembly of Experts, a panel of 86 Islamic scholars who elect and supervise the "Supreme Leader of Iran", think about that. More recently he ran in 2005 against the now world famous President Ahmadinejad, where he lost.
So whats this great guy up to these days? Well he's running the campaign for the oppostition to Mr. Ahmadinejad which is shaping up to be an extremely controversial event for the Iranian people where on the one side you have those interested in change rooting for the man backed by a member who helped put the Iranian theocracy together, and on the other hand you have a mad man who is literally trying to change history and realize an Iran that stands as a country to strike fear in the hearts of little boys and girls around the world.
As a war weary American, or a general pacifist, with less interest in creating another parking lot and wasting more money on another mindless war in the middle east, I suggest we all root for an Iran backed by a theocrat than by an insane extremist, don't we already have enough of those? So call all your friends in Iran and tell them the choice is clear. Vote Moussavi! Moussavi! Moussavi!! Although, maybe he's just a puppet for some other pretty terrible things. Hmmm...
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Evolution of Society
I recently took my first English class at the local community college (about time!). In doing so I wrote a research paper on the effects of product obsolescence introduced in the 1930's and on. My paper covered the pro's and con's of the topic and continually touched on the issue of mass pollution and the detrimental effects on the world, it turns out we're poisoning everything. I've since come to the conclusion that what we've done can be explained easily as social evolution.
Social evolution is simply evolution of ideas in population centers to make the people in your social group "fitter", this idea transcends the micro scale to the macro scale. Some really good obvious examples of macro social evolution are those of economic systems like capitalism, socialism, communism, anarchism, etc. Those systems all derived from more primitive systems beginning in Mesopotamia. Some have grown in complexity and others are withering or dying out while yet others are simply unchanged and functioning as well as they have since thier implementation. While these systems seem complex today they all share their roots in the fundamental principles that started civilization. They have adapted and evolved since that time and should continue to evolve in the future. The stronger more popular systems are constantly in a struggle with each other and people are constantly pushing their boundaries in an attempt to better them.
With this very fundamental example of social evolution, it's clear that a ball has been set in motion now for about 7,000 years, if not more. We started off by assembling in tribes as pack hunters, then agriculture helped form the first civilizations then those civilizations formed into nation states and and eventually we'd mapped out the planet. With each phase the interactions between people became more and more complex and led to more interesting ideas. Generally the ideas have moved the quality of living, for the advanced cultures, forward.
Think about math. The earliest math was simply keeping track of quantities, eventually arithmetic came about for shop keepers, then multiplication which logically was followed by division and algebra and geometry for land irrigation and ownership boundaries, then probabilities and calculus and so on. Today math is ubiquitous throughout our daily lives, some extremely complex, and we are still working towards new proofs that can open up more doors that might one day help solve our most pressing issues. Thats not to say that the discovery of math is evolutionary, but the implementation of it has had evolutionary impacts.
I can go on with more examples, but I'll just get to the point, which is that our pollution and planet toxification is a result of our social evolution. The key method for human learning, and possibly other biological learning, is to make assumptions, test them and then store the results. Which is what the last 100 years has been, a period of trial and now error. Clearly some elements of humanity realized the waste and pollution issues earlier than the masses, but thats a whole different problem all together. The issue is no more an issue of evil agendas than it is of evolution and progress. To this end, I say that human kind is simply on a path of exploration and learning, clearly we don't want to kill ourselves and destroy the planet, en mass.
What is interesting is that we are now in uncharted territory. With the advent of atomic weapons, we learned that we were capable of self annihilation. Now with the advent of mass production and consumerism, we are now capable of destroying all life on the planet along with ourselves. The notion of complete and utter destruction is beginning to have a serious impact on our social conscience and will undoubtedly affect our next steps. Being creatures largely driven by reason and logic, we should inevitably find a solution to this problem and continue on our path of trial and error, becoming more intelligent with each step because of our past errors.
Social evolution is simply evolution of ideas in population centers to make the people in your social group "fitter", this idea transcends the micro scale to the macro scale. Some really good obvious examples of macro social evolution are those of economic systems like capitalism, socialism, communism, anarchism, etc. Those systems all derived from more primitive systems beginning in Mesopotamia. Some have grown in complexity and others are withering or dying out while yet others are simply unchanged and functioning as well as they have since thier implementation. While these systems seem complex today they all share their roots in the fundamental principles that started civilization. They have adapted and evolved since that time and should continue to evolve in the future. The stronger more popular systems are constantly in a struggle with each other and people are constantly pushing their boundaries in an attempt to better them.
With this very fundamental example of social evolution, it's clear that a ball has been set in motion now for about 7,000 years, if not more. We started off by assembling in tribes as pack hunters, then agriculture helped form the first civilizations then those civilizations formed into nation states and and eventually we'd mapped out the planet. With each phase the interactions between people became more and more complex and led to more interesting ideas. Generally the ideas have moved the quality of living, for the advanced cultures, forward.
Think about math. The earliest math was simply keeping track of quantities, eventually arithmetic came about for shop keepers, then multiplication which logically was followed by division and algebra and geometry for land irrigation and ownership boundaries, then probabilities and calculus and so on. Today math is ubiquitous throughout our daily lives, some extremely complex, and we are still working towards new proofs that can open up more doors that might one day help solve our most pressing issues. Thats not to say that the discovery of math is evolutionary, but the implementation of it has had evolutionary impacts.
I can go on with more examples, but I'll just get to the point, which is that our pollution and planet toxification is a result of our social evolution. The key method for human learning, and possibly other biological learning, is to make assumptions, test them and then store the results. Which is what the last 100 years has been, a period of trial and now error. Clearly some elements of humanity realized the waste and pollution issues earlier than the masses, but thats a whole different problem all together. The issue is no more an issue of evil agendas than it is of evolution and progress. To this end, I say that human kind is simply on a path of exploration and learning, clearly we don't want to kill ourselves and destroy the planet, en mass.
What is interesting is that we are now in uncharted territory. With the advent of atomic weapons, we learned that we were capable of self annihilation. Now with the advent of mass production and consumerism, we are now capable of destroying all life on the planet along with ourselves. The notion of complete and utter destruction is beginning to have a serious impact on our social conscience and will undoubtedly affect our next steps. Being creatures largely driven by reason and logic, we should inevitably find a solution to this problem and continue on our path of trial and error, becoming more intelligent with each step because of our past errors.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Engaging Our Enemies
I heard a disturbing comment this morning on the C-Span Washington Journal, big surprise. The topic was Obamas engagement of foreign leaders who oppose the United States. A caller made the comment that we should engage in dialog with the countries which we bare any form of reliance upon. Namely countries which export oil. The inference that got me was that we should only engage in our so called "enemies" only when it's in our best interest, especially in the short term. This idea does not consider the future of mankind.
While I agree that we should enter into dialog, with opposing states, and persistently make attempts to come to terms with our differences, even if that entails concessions on both sides, I find the underlying message to be somewhat appalling. The message underscores the idea that we have the right to disengage and return to our strong armed tactics or simply disengage completely when we no longer need a countries resources. To disengage with those whom we consider rogue nations would be a return to a high tension political climate with no real hope for change.
Though there has been proof that standoffs and high tension situations can be resolved without violence or engagement, the cold war being the most prominent example, the truth of the matter is that isolation and intimidation more invariably lead to oppression, poverty, and in many cases war. One can point to Afghanistan as a good example of a country isolated from the world and left to its own devices without any real incorporation into the global economy. Those who paid any attention to the country after the miserable attempted occupation by the U.S.S.R. were radicals who's agendas incorporated the disruption of the global economy and the western values of modernization and progress. They flourished in this long forgotten country.
Further examination into countries like North Korea and Iran lead one to the conclusion that seclusion does not work. North Korea had only agreed to dismantling their nuclear programs upon engagement and investment by the western world. Notable policy shifts, like those of the Bush administration led North Korea to restart it's programs and continue further developing their weapons capabilities, as noted with the recent missile test among others during the Bush administration. Over the past 8 years the rhetoric from Iran has increased and as far as most military accounts, has encouraged rebellions and uprisings in the United States endeavours into Iraq, Iran's neighbor.
In my opinion our path to global peace and prosperity comes in the form of positive engagement and inclusion of all voices on earth. If the Iranians wish to express their opinions on Israel then let them. Public opinion can judge them for their words. As long as they're not committing criminal atrocities, we have nothing to fear in the opinions of those who oppose us other than greater understanding and possibly a more clear path to reconciliation and better relations.
While I agree that we should enter into dialog, with opposing states, and persistently make attempts to come to terms with our differences, even if that entails concessions on both sides, I find the underlying message to be somewhat appalling. The message underscores the idea that we have the right to disengage and return to our strong armed tactics or simply disengage completely when we no longer need a countries resources. To disengage with those whom we consider rogue nations would be a return to a high tension political climate with no real hope for change.
Though there has been proof that standoffs and high tension situations can be resolved without violence or engagement, the cold war being the most prominent example, the truth of the matter is that isolation and intimidation more invariably lead to oppression, poverty, and in many cases war. One can point to Afghanistan as a good example of a country isolated from the world and left to its own devices without any real incorporation into the global economy. Those who paid any attention to the country after the miserable attempted occupation by the U.S.S.R. were radicals who's agendas incorporated the disruption of the global economy and the western values of modernization and progress. They flourished in this long forgotten country.
Further examination into countries like North Korea and Iran lead one to the conclusion that seclusion does not work. North Korea had only agreed to dismantling their nuclear programs upon engagement and investment by the western world. Notable policy shifts, like those of the Bush administration led North Korea to restart it's programs and continue further developing their weapons capabilities, as noted with the recent missile test among others during the Bush administration. Over the past 8 years the rhetoric from Iran has increased and as far as most military accounts, has encouraged rebellions and uprisings in the United States endeavours into Iraq, Iran's neighbor.
In my opinion our path to global peace and prosperity comes in the form of positive engagement and inclusion of all voices on earth. If the Iranians wish to express their opinions on Israel then let them. Public opinion can judge them for their words. As long as they're not committing criminal atrocities, we have nothing to fear in the opinions of those who oppose us other than greater understanding and possibly a more clear path to reconciliation and better relations.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The President needs to be told!
Every pundit out there seems to know what Obama should and shouldn't do, and he's doing it all wrong. If the world were run by pundits, you'd have a constant reminder that you're wrong and they're right on every contentious issue. You're choices are going to lead to utter catastrophe and the world will soon end. At least thats how the pundits are painting the picture now with each choice Obamas makes.
William J. Holstein, a NY Times op-ed columnist, said today that Obamas decision to oust the current GM CEO in favor of the GM President was a disasterous choice. His intervention will jeopardize the company and the industry that relies on it. Accordinlg to Holstein, the government, who has financed GM among other American mega-corporations in order to keep them out of bankruptcy, should keep it's nose out of the giant coporations inner dealings. This business is nothing like the dime-a-dozen financial coporations that the government is qualified to interfere with, like A.I.G. for example. GM is perfectly capable of correcting its problems and was well on the road to financial independence. They just need more of our money and time. Only a tens of billions of dollars more and who knows how much longer.
Bartle Bull of Prospect Magazine accuses Obama of making promises he can't keep. Bull claims the wheels of the administration have already come off. The administration is spiraling out of control and the economy is headed for utter collapse under Obama. From his empty cabinet positions to the collapse of the stock markets world wide, Obama is already to blame after his 60 days of office. Apparently Hamas doesn't like America now, I wonder what they thought when Bush was in power. As Obama entered office, job losses began to soar, Bush had nothing to do with it, apparently. Energy, education, health care and any other necessary domestic issue should be set aside immediately to satiate the unemployed, Obama shouldn't focus on anything else, he claims. If I were to take his rant seriously, I'd think he was encouraging impeachment.
During the Bush administration I heard war chant and the beating of the drums from many punidts. They all seemed to revere Bush as if he were John Wayne, the cowboy who would save the day. As far as I can tell, Bush had a heavy hand in our current situation, he was the fox dressed in sheep skin, only he wasn't dressed in sheep skin, he just told you he was. You believed him.
Obama has been working positively towards resolution to a lot of unattended issues. Villifying the man who just started working to save you from the percieved collapse and destruction of the world you love so much, makes little sense. Though I do enjoy reading the thoughts of the opposition, no matter how fanatical or irrational they seem to me, it's always good to have a lively debate. What will they say tomorrow? I can't wait!
William J. Holstein, a NY Times op-ed columnist, said today that Obamas decision to oust the current GM CEO in favor of the GM President was a disasterous choice. His intervention will jeopardize the company and the industry that relies on it. Accordinlg to Holstein, the government, who has financed GM among other American mega-corporations in order to keep them out of bankruptcy, should keep it's nose out of the giant coporations inner dealings. This business is nothing like the dime-a-dozen financial coporations that the government is qualified to interfere with, like A.I.G. for example. GM is perfectly capable of correcting its problems and was well on the road to financial independence. They just need more of our money and time. Only a tens of billions of dollars more and who knows how much longer.
Bartle Bull of Prospect Magazine accuses Obama of making promises he can't keep. Bull claims the wheels of the administration have already come off. The administration is spiraling out of control and the economy is headed for utter collapse under Obama. From his empty cabinet positions to the collapse of the stock markets world wide, Obama is already to blame after his 60 days of office. Apparently Hamas doesn't like America now, I wonder what they thought when Bush was in power. As Obama entered office, job losses began to soar, Bush had nothing to do with it, apparently. Energy, education, health care and any other necessary domestic issue should be set aside immediately to satiate the unemployed, Obama shouldn't focus on anything else, he claims. If I were to take his rant seriously, I'd think he was encouraging impeachment.
During the Bush administration I heard war chant and the beating of the drums from many punidts. They all seemed to revere Bush as if he were John Wayne, the cowboy who would save the day. As far as I can tell, Bush had a heavy hand in our current situation, he was the fox dressed in sheep skin, only he wasn't dressed in sheep skin, he just told you he was. You believed him.
Obama has been working positively towards resolution to a lot of unattended issues. Villifying the man who just started working to save you from the percieved collapse and destruction of the world you love so much, makes little sense. Though I do enjoy reading the thoughts of the opposition, no matter how fanatical or irrational they seem to me, it's always good to have a lively debate. What will they say tomorrow? I can't wait!
I think therefore I am, awake
Descartes was born march 31st 1596, only 413 years ago today. He once told Blaise Pascal the only way to do good mathematics was never to allow anyone to make him get up in the morning before he felt like it.
It's still dark out. The shower is pouring with low pressure warm water. It feels good. I just went to sleep, now I'm up. I'm putting on my socks, now my shoes. The streets seem eerily empty until I get to the GW parkway. It's 6:34am, I see bridges with armed guards standing at the entrance. Lights everywhere. I'm passing the pentagon. More traffic, must be because I'm getting close to the 495 intersection with 66, heading west. There's the metro, though I don't see any trains passing, must not be in service yet? Is my mind functioning yet? Does it ever? I can't tell.
NPR is on the radio. Today in the writers almanac Descartes abridged biography is explained. Never wake up until you feel like it. This man is considered to be one of the greatest mathematicians in history and "The Father of Modern Philosophy". Yet we still haven't learned one of his principle tennents. The man, allegedly, died of pnuemonia in 1650 after taking up a job to teach Queen Christina of Sweden, who forced him to work every morning at 5am. This obviously didn't suite Descartes so he died. Thanks Queen Christina.
We might as well thank all employers who force their employees up at the earliest of hours in order to be the proverbial 'early bird'. Who eats worms anyways?
It's still dark out. The shower is pouring with low pressure warm water. It feels good. I just went to sleep, now I'm up. I'm putting on my socks, now my shoes. The streets seem eerily empty until I get to the GW parkway. It's 6:34am, I see bridges with armed guards standing at the entrance. Lights everywhere. I'm passing the pentagon. More traffic, must be because I'm getting close to the 495 intersection with 66, heading west. There's the metro, though I don't see any trains passing, must not be in service yet? Is my mind functioning yet? Does it ever? I can't tell.
NPR is on the radio. Today in the writers almanac Descartes abridged biography is explained. Never wake up until you feel like it. This man is considered to be one of the greatest mathematicians in history and "The Father of Modern Philosophy". Yet we still haven't learned one of his principle tennents. The man, allegedly, died of pnuemonia in 1650 after taking up a job to teach Queen Christina of Sweden, who forced him to work every morning at 5am. This obviously didn't suite Descartes so he died. Thanks Queen Christina.
We might as well thank all employers who force their employees up at the earliest of hours in order to be the proverbial 'early bird'. Who eats worms anyways?
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