The joy of thought

"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who perpetrates it." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The above thought was too meaningful to pass up, so when it appeared on my desktop I knew I needed to preserve it on this blog. Lately life has kept me pretty busy, but even though I've been away from my blog I've not been away from agitating, speaking out and generally rabblerousing. I've had a good time.

My philosophy class is truly fertile ground for all of the activities mentioned above, and there are so many young minds that need to be exposed to the joy of free thought! So far my message of thinking, of looking at society to see what's broken, and of finding ways to fix it is finding fertile ground. A discussion held by a group of well-read and well-spoken individuals who are not afraid to speak their minds has to be one of the great pleasures in life. I think Robert Heinlein called this sort of discussion something like "the most fun you can have with your clothes on." Must go back and re-read my Heinlein, it's time for me to ground and center again. I hope I'll be able to work more Philosophy classes into my plan, they're so much fun!

In the past two weeks we've had very lively discussions on the Protestant/Calvinist work ethic, and the impact of race/gender on the current Presidential race. Such wonderful arguments! So many of the ills of our society (stress, workaholism, overconsumption, crushing debt levels, environmental pollution, destruction of natural habitats and open space, overscheduled children with ADHD, depression, et cetera ad nauseum) can be traced back to the notion that working ever harder and denying oneself the simple pleasures in life can buy a spot in heaven. Sick, sick, sick. Remember the 1980's saying "He who dies with the most toys, wins"? The 21st century version of the Protestant/Calvinist Work Ethic pretty much reads "He who dies with the most toys, wins a place in heaven." If that's what it takes, count me out. And if that's the sort of people who will inhabit Heaven, it sounds more like Hell to me. This would certainly prove Sartre right when he said "Hell is other people".

School has been keeping me busy, but I'm still having a wonderful time at it! Each semester Hubby has expressed concern that I'm piling on too much at once and tells me "If I see you're starting to get overwhelmed I'm going to make you cut back on something." He's so sweet, but so far he hasn't had reason to worry. Okay, that one semester when I was still full-time at the casino and took a full-time course load was pretty rough, but I only needed to do that once to graduate when I did, and besides, my feeling is that you can do anything for sixteen weeks if you want it badly enough. Yes, I carry a full-time course load as a matter of routine now, but working only part-time makes that a whole lot easier. I may have a semester of hell coming up - if I try to graduate in May 2009 I'll have to take 15 hours for one semester. My alternative is to stick with my current course load and graduate in August 2009. Decisions, decisions. Either way I can start grad school in Fall 2009 (I think).

It's hard to believe we're starting to wrap things up for the semester, but it is getting to be about that time. So far this semester has gone pretty well, I think my grades are going to be solid. For the first couple of months I was sure that I was doing something wrong in all of my classes, certain that I had missed some crucial element, because they were too easy. I expected to work even harder once I started taking upper-division university level classes in my major. I finally said something about it to a group of colleagues, and they told me that's just the way it is. Apparently mastering the concepts and vocabulary of each subject is the really hard part, and that's the part you do in your lower division or core classes. Upper division classes are mostly devoted to utilizing those concepts. If that's truly the case (and I guess I can't truly relax until my grades this semester are final) then apparently the preparation I received at Red Rocks CC was even better than I thought it was!

I'll admit that I've had my nose so firmly against the grindstone that I've largely ignored the news, and therefore have had little to get pissed off about lately. Hubby is certainly helping to pick up my slack though. The other night we were watching TV and there was a news blurb on BBCAmerica which featured Our Fearless Leader claiming that war in Iraq had led to peace. Hubby turned to me and said "He picked the wrong 'P'. War didn't lead to 'peace', it led to 'profits'." See why I love this guy?!?

I did manage some downtime this week, and had a wonderful time with my friends M and S over wonderful food and cheap Box-O-Wine (my contribution to the party and it was quite well received, thank you). That evening took me right back to the discussion of the Protestant/Calvinist work ethic because that was just the sort of life-enriching experience that a good Protestant/Calvinist was supposed to forgo in his/her quest for salvation. Salvation from what? A life void of fun and friendship is already hell. We didn't solve all the problems of the world in one evening though - we had to leave some for the next gathering. This also takes me to the Margaret Wheatley book, because one section of this book says that (I'm paraphrasing here) overstressed, overscheduled people are likely to resort to strongly entrenched beliefs and behaviors simply because they don't have time or take time to think. They fail to consider their options or engage in dialogue. Instead they resort to reflexive, knee-jerk reactions programmed into them by schools, churches, families and society. This results in support for the status quo and the powers-that-be. What we need is for more and more people to stop, breathe and think. Such a simple action, when done by many, can change the world. Maybe we need to set aside a day for thought, meditation and reflection. Hmmm, something to propose at our next gathering!

Peace,
AuntieM