Tuesday, September 21, 2010

I Got My Hitchens Tickets!!


My tickets to see the Hitchens/Ramadan debate just arrived in the mail today and I'm so excited!

Plus there is another video of Hitchens kicking Dr. David Berlinski's ass in a debate entitled, "Does Atheism Poison Everything?" In it Hitchens appears a bit weak from the chemotherapy, but he still has his signature articulate atheistic audacity, which appears to be stronger than ever. This will make his debate over Islam all the more interesting.

Watch here:


http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/232872

Saturday, September 18, 2010

The "Infidel's" Guide to Islam Coming Soon


I got an idea recently, to write a short pamphlet addressing the question "Is Islam a religion of peace?" After researching into Islam, and the Qur'an, I can tell you for a fact that Islam is no religion of peace. I'm writing the pamphlet to expose to a non-believing audience, the true horrors contained in Islam's doctrines. Its purpose will be to educate the reader on what Islam actually says of "infidels", and what Islam says of the treatment of women, as well as its views on slavery. There will also be a section detailing contradictions in the Qur'an, which we are told is the "perfect" word of the creator of the universe.

The "Infidel's" Guide to Islam will be designed to shock the reader, with sarcasm and humor, but will be fair in portraying the various sides to Islam, including its messages of peace. I also include a disclaimer urging the reader not to discriminate or commit violence of any sort towards Muslims, just in case, because words can be fatal after all.

I've gotten extremely excited over this, even though there is already a book full called The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran. My pamphlet however, will be my personal critique of Islam and is designed as a light read to quickly educate the reader on what I think is a very immoral philosophy. I'd like to pass them out to young people, in many different languages, so that they become educated enough about Islam to see past the lies told about it, and not convert to it.

I will post the entire guide as soon as it's done.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Economic Darwinism


I've been struggling to find an economic policy that I can agree with. I was flirting with socialism recently but I don't think I can ever call myself a socialist. I've been a capitalist but I have issues with the problems that cut throat capitalism brings, like monopolies. Essentially, I'm a capitalist, but a liberal capitalist. I'm a populist. I believe there's nothing wrong with someone profiting from a clever idea, and hard work. The issue I have is what happens when that business becomes too powerful and starts crushing the ideas and opportunities of others. It becomes a monopoly, or part of a duopoly, and then eventually we're living in a Corporatocracy, like we are now.

My friend is a die hard capitalist. He follows the more conservative line of capitalism, traditionally held by Republicans. He's all for globalization, outsourcing, tax cuts for the rich, and the cut throat tactics used by many corporations. He justifies all of this by the idea of economic Darwinism. Survival of the fittest, or the cruelest. He seems to acknowledge that many of these tactics are somehow immoral, or have negative consequences, but he feels they are necessary in order to succeed. It's very Machiavellian. It's very Wall Street.

I'm a big fan of Darwinism. I regard Darwin as a genius. He made some mistakes in his original theory, and as a result, Darwinism, has been improved upon with modern evolution. Regardless, Darwinism's essential principal is the same however, and that is of course, survival of the fittest. This plays out pretty evidently in the animal kingdom: The strong and cunning survive, and the weak, the slow and foolish die. I'm very weary of applying Darwinism to other areas of the world, such as economics. Survival of the fittest in economics means the strong will dominate the weak because they can, and the weak will have no choice than to submit to the will of the strong, or die. The strong will make it so that the weak cannot get into power and become strong like them, but they will dangle an illusion of opportunity just far enough in front of the weak so that they'll chase it, but can never reach it. There are always going to be those who do not make it in capitalism, and what about them? I've argued with my friend for hours about the fact that our current economic policies create more of the losers who won't make it in this system. He says they can always get another job that will pay more and I respond by asking where that job is going to come from. Is it going to be created out of thin air, like most of our money is?

Economic Darwinism scares me. Do we have to apply Darwinism to everything? I understand it existing in nature, in that it's not necessarily how I want things to be, but I'm willing to accept its existence based on the evidence derived. I don't expect every species of animal to care for the weak, although some actually do. But we are human beings. We have the ability to reason and apply logic to the toughest problems that face us. We created our economy, it's man-made and not natural. The forces of greed have taken over as I feel they inevitably would under capitalism. Can't we have a free market with some protection mechanisms placed in that ensure the poor and middle class aren't exploited by the rich? Can't we have some common sense policies that undermine or prevent tactics that increase short term gains for some, but will punish and create losses for the many in the long run?

I say no to economic Darwinism. I am not that strong financially and I've pretty much accepted the fact that I'm most likely never going to be rich. My friend is positive that he will one day join the upper crust in the top percentile of money makers. That's why he supports economic policies that favor the rich and powerful: he thinks he'll be one of them someday. That's the illusion the rich have dangling in front of our eyes just out of reach, while they do everything they can to make it harder for the poor and middle class to grow economically.

So I ask, what's wrong with just being middle class? Is the whole purpose of life to be rich? Is being middle class as embarrassing as begging for money on the street nowadays? Should one be ashamed to only have one car, or only two computers? Our goals in life have been warped by the hood of economic Darwinism pulled over our heads, blinding our sight with meaningless consumption that leads to debt, and the destruction of our natural world, all to make the rich a little more of what they already are.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Short Days, Long Nights


It's that time of the year, the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer. I can see the sun setting lower in the sky. This is the time of the year where one has to take full advantage of every pleasant day if you live in northern latitudes. In my beloved New York that is especially true. For a long cold winter is almost certainly ahead. Maybe this winter won't be so bad. I hope not. It was a decent summer. I'm not sure what my best summer was. Maybe the summer of '99. I partied a lot that summer and had my first sexual experience. It was a hot one. I always want to show off my body that I've sculpted all winter long in the summer, but this past winter I did no such thing. Consequently, my summer body this year was just as scrawny as it was for many past summers.

I didn't go shopping this summer to show off any new looks. I had the same old same old wardrobe. There have been clothes that I've fantasized about having, and that having it will make me happier. I too am not immune to materialistic pleasure. I usually never get that item of clothing, but in fantasy I wear it and rock that look I so desperately want. I constantly evolve and so does my look. Now that I'm getting older I've changed and matured my look a bit. I no longer dress like some 20 year old pot head. I want to fashion myself as an intellectual. It doesn't always go with my company or environment. I don't want to dress too square. I want to be stylish yet sophisticated. To do this I need to be creative since buying a new wardrobe is a little out of the question.

No summer love this year. I think I already mentioned that in a previous post. My friend keeps convincing me to go to this local bar that I can't stand. I hate the girls that go there and the general atmosphere. I only ever go there because it's closest to me. I barely went out "bitch hunting" as we used to say, this summer. I went to the South Street Sea Port several times where I did meet one pretty young European girl that I briefly dated that quickly went nowhere. I didn't really hit my usual stomping grounds or the bars most favorable for meeting single ladies. Come to think of it I barely went bar hopping this summer. I guess on the account of how expensive it is.

I'm noticing that I'm writing too much about my personal life here. This blog is not suppose to be a personal blog. I guess the fact that I'm writing period is a good sign of productivity, since I can on occasion, go long periods without writing.

I'm reading C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity now. He is a writer most know probably for writing The Chronicles of Narnia. He is a Christian often cited in religious debates and he is credited with bringing a slightly more modern interpretation of his faith to the masses with his book. Even though I see through his arguments in favor of his faith and god like a fishnet bra on a hooker. I guess that if I wasn't educated in the new atheist's philosophies that have made my atheism stronger and unbreakable, I might possibly fall for some of Lewis' arguments. Perhaps if I was younger.

Lay Bored Day


Today is Labor Day. Last year I was camping upstate, it what was I think the only camping expedition that went with any incident of some sort. I sit home alone today, on the internet. The weather has cooled down quite a bit from our last heat wave just a few days ago. A slight chill is in the air indicating the inevitability of fall just around the corner. But it is nice and sunny out.

I am excited about going to see Hitchens even though I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch. I'm scared he could have a medical emergency in the meantime that could cancel the event. I hope not.

Other than my addiction to making 3D building models for Google Earth, I am still addicted to my philosophical atheism. I'm constantly pondering theistic, deistic, and atheistic concepts of life and the universe all the time. It's still a huge obsession of mine. I ought to read a great deal more about it. I've been extremely lazy for the past two days. Saturday night I went out drinking but I didn't get that drunk. I still however, felt like I woke up from a nasty hangover on Sunday morning as if I had really gotten hammered the night before.

Today I'm equally lazy. I could roll over and take a nap right now if I want. Sometimes what really helps me get out of this sloth-like mood is stepping out on my porch and breathing is some cool fresh air. I really should work out too. I can feel my muscles shrinking. I never get where I want physically. All I ever wanted was to build was 15 pounds of muscle, just to bulk up a little. But even that was too hard for me, for laziness took over and I embraced apathy as my solution.

Friday, September 3, 2010

I'm Going to See Hitchens!!


A random web search for "hitchens" (which I rarely do), led me to hitchensweb.com, a site that keeps tracks of all his writings and news. There, I saw an advertisement for an upcoming debate starring Hitchens and Tariq Ramadan entitled "Is Islam a religion of peace?" I couldn't believe it, it was upcoming and I now had the chance to see Hitchens live! So I quickly got my tickets. I can't wait to see Hitchens live in action. I really thought that after he got diagnosed with cancer that I would never get the chance to see him. Now I'm excited and relieved knowing I'll get a chance to see my hero before he dies. I just hope he doesn't die before the debate.

I'm excited about the topic of the debate too. "Is Islam a religion of peace?" is an interesting question. I'm already convinced that it's not. I have long discussions with friends about the utter disgust that the Qur'an has for Jews, Christians, and most importantly, non-believers. It's no wonders there is so much fanaticism among Muslims. I hope that chemotherapy has not dulled Hitchens' intellect and wit and I hope that he brings it to this debate. I wonder if he'll be signing autographs afterward, I have two of Hitchens' books that can be signed, but I'm nervous because he has a tough criteria for signing books. He wants a receipt present as proof that you bought the book. Also I don't have his new memoir and I wonder if he'll only want to sign that. Anyhow I'm really excited that I'm actually going to be seeing my hero Christopher Hitchens! This is like seeing your favorite band or celebrity level satisfaction.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Summer's almost gone.


While studying and sharpening up my IT skills I've burned out a little bit and need to take a writing break. There's a heat wave blanketing the city. Temps are in the mid-90s. I've been stuck home for the past several days. There really is no reason to go out in this oppressive heat. Why would I want to swelter outside in the heat and humidity? The only reason I can think of would be to rejoice in what will probably be the last time temperatures are in the 90s until next summer. Heat waves always make it feel like summer. I've always liked the way summer felt. Some of my greatest memories have been during the summer. I like warm weather. I have a new appreciation for the fall but it's never an easy transition from hot to cold for me. I always want summer to last a little longer.

Don't go away summer! Last until October please!

I used to think really hot summers meant really cold winters followed. I hate especially cold winters. A little snow is OK. I don't have to drive and I don't live in a house so I don't have to shovel anything. We want it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. NY in the winter appears more urban. There aren't any green patches to contradict the concrete. The concrete wins. I'm in so much debt that I might not even be able to go shopping this fall to get new clothes. I'll have to come up with new ways to recycle my old looks. I kind of gotten out of the whole fashion thing recently anyway, but the urge does pop up from time to time.

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