William Blake

I by no means consider myself a religious person. I feel that organized religion too often teaches people to not think for themselves. That being said, I know many religious people who, quite brilliantly, can maintain their faith while being open to new ideas and other possibilities.

That being said, I ascribe to the belief that William Blake was a prophet. His works show a depth of understanding and thinking that are far beyond my own meager abilities. Occasionally my thought processes will brush on ideas that are of a similar vein of Blake's powers, but rarely does this happen.

Specifically, his Marriage of Heaven and Hell is amazing. His portrayal of Hell, and the words of The Devil show how deeply he understood and balanced the teachings of Christianity with his own perceptions of the True nature of the world. The idea of the conflict between Energy and Reason is the perhaps the core struggle that human beings deal with. The conflict between the desires and inspirations that surge forth from our instincts and natural urges, and the immense reasoning power that we as a species solely possess.

I hope every person in their lifetime, religious or not, reads many of his works. They can be difficult to wrestle with at time, and require patience and study to glean the most valuable points from. I myself have spent several years reading them at various points and still discover something new with each additional session. I imagine that this is the type of experience that many people have when reading the Bible or Koran or the Tanakh. Blake's visions ring out to me, and he approaches the world with a view that I myself often hold.

Over the years my lack of religious inspiration and faith has shifted. I feel as though it is wrong to deprive your mind of any idea, no matter how contrary it may be to your overall philosophy, you never know when a small point may be taken and incorporated into your pre-existing viewpoints.

That being said, I do not see myself reading the Bible anytime soon, but the fact that I entertain the possibility of that act shows me my willingness to grow and change. Just as every life experience changes and tests your character, so does every written word read change and challenge your psyche.

Every thing possible to be believ'd is an image of truth. -William Blake,"The Proverbs of Hell," The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

The Failed Auto Bailout

I will preface this post with the following statement: I was against the bailout for the automobile industry when I first heard about it.

American Cars are, generally speaking, not very good. Poorly designed, unreliable, and inefficient. However, once it became apparent that a bailout was in the works, they have an obligation to do it well.

Then I read this article. It seems as if the reason the bailout didn't get past the Senate is because of partisan bickering. Republicans refused to sign the bill unless there were steep pay cuts for the United Auto Workers Union.

So the Republicans, who put forth a ticket in this past Presidential Election that ran on a platform of protecting small town America, people like Alan the Autoworker. Now they want to cut the pay and benefits for these workers. These are people who are already experiencing the biggest brunt of the shitty economy, and who are in need of the most help.

The hypocrisy that exists in this country is mind-blowing.

“We of the sinking middle class may sink without further struggles into the working class where we belong, and probably when we get there it will not be so dreadful as we feared, for, after all, we have nothing to lose.” -George Orwell

Breaking My Cherry

Maybe it's not the best time to start...right in the middle of 1st year law exams. But things have pooled up inside for too long, and they demand an exit point. This won't be a blog on anything specific, though it could be fashioned as such. No, this will be what it will be. Not a place of sagely wisdom, or useful advice. It will be merely, humbly, the thoughts of a man from North Florida, a Yankee at heart, living on the West Coast. Locked into law school for 3 years...searching for his call.

Ever since I have heard about the idea of a blog, or an online journal, I have viewed the idea(s) with mixed feelings. I tinkered around with a site called Missing A Piece(M.A.P.) back in high school. It was designed by a classmate and everyone at our school used it. It was a neat new thing. But now it seems that blogs have been shaped into a monster of sort. The Blogosphere is viewed as an interconnected community, where what people write is reported on by the Infotainment channels. I don't want that, nor am I so filled with hubris to think that anything I write here in this corner of the internet will be worthy of broadcast to the masses.

I intend only to put to virtual paper whatever joke, rant, or story comes to mind. Emotions will range far and wide, and I do not intend to curb them in any way. We'll see how things go. I do plan on integrating music and Ultimate into the general path of this, but I'm not sure how to do that. At no point do I want this to become a diary, and I will have no hesitancy ceasing if I find that is what it has become.

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. -Buddha