Come on, America - Come on, World!

"I mean has anybody been watching the debates lately? You've got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change...You've got audiences cheering at the prospect of somebody dying because they don't have healthcare. And booing a service member in Iraq because they're gay. That's not reflective of who we are..." - President Obama

Living in this country right now makes me a little angry, a little frustrated, a little depressed at the state of our nation. We live on the brink of wonderment. Discoveries and insight are shared daily from researcher to researcher - country to country, equality and justice are being demanded by the voices of the world! Yet, sadly, throughout this country, and in non-industrialized societies throughout the world (which, right there, should tell you we're doing something wrong) deny this insight and disregard these discoveries, they shake their holier-than-thou fists at equality and spit in the face of true justice.

We, the generation on the brink of power, are watching a travesty of humanity. We have the distinct honor of watching amazing change taking place all around us - voices lifted in unison towards a common goal - towards a universal truth, and the true apocalypse (an unveiling of knowledge), and the sad distinction of being the generation to watch all that humans have grown to learn be rejected; denied. As an industrialized country, we are slipping back into the dark ages; denying science, hating those whom are different from ourselves, torturing and killing, allowing madness and chaos to run amuck. 

Here's the thing, the moral of the story: we do have power, our generation has power right now. We are on the verge of a serious election where more crazies are running than not; where the insane baby-boomers are threatening our freedom. From Michelle Bachmann - the end-of-days-anti-gay-religious-nutter is threatening to eliminate the Department of Education and  the Environmental Protection Agency, not to mention take us back a few hundred years by running the country out of her favorite work of fiction: The Bible. Way to be progressive Mrs. Bachmann, I'm sure you're complete submission to your husband won't affect your governing style. All the way to a similar nutter Rick Perry who actually instituted a statewide rain-dance to pray for rain...I'm sure any governmental problems he runs into he can just pray away...or something...

We, as a generation of available voters cannot allow these horrific candidates to take office. We must take a stand for rights, equality, justice, discovery, insight and we must deny those willing to stand against those things. In 2012 we must take a stand.

A Generation of Fail

Generation Me, born anywhere from 1982 until the present, the toxic mold that has taken over the planet. We are known for feeling like we are special and achieving, we are the children of Baby Boomers who pushed for the increase in childhood self-esteem. We were told we could be anything we wanted to be when we grew up, we were encouraged to reach for the stars. Our schools implemented programs that emphasized self-centeredness and narcissism and that felt that creating positive atmospheres for children were more important that correcting mistakes. We are the generation without manners, we don't use phrases like please, thank you, or excuse me. We are demanding and impatient. We have been raised by technology and become abhorrently dependent on it, we lack self-control, we are dishonest, and we lack a full grasp on reality.

Now I use the term "we" very loosely, technically I am a member of this generation, to date it is my greatest shame. I don't really feel like I belong in this generation, at least not wholly. If this is the one time I hope it, I hope that being raised where and how I was saved me from these disgraceful generational traits. But here I am, online, writing in my blog, to bitch about my issues with this generation...so perhaps, in part I must take some of their character traits on myself, but still mainly feel proudly apart from this sad culture of fail. 

My question is: who the hell thought this was a good idea?? I mean did one day in high school some of the Boomers just get together and decided that what went epically wrong with their generation was a lack of imposed (versus earned) self-esteem? They just all decided that raising children who believed that they were so inherently awesome that simply by existing they had succeeded. I mean, where, and on what planet, does that even kind of seem like a good idea? I read somewhere that low self-esteem was your way of knowing you could be doing better, and I can't help but applaud whomever spoke (or wrote) those words. Many that I have met through out my travels through schools, states, and jobs, seem to believe that they do not to work for their fulfillment, they are inherently fulfilled, which, when boiled down, just means they are fucking lazy and arrogant (studies have supported this...).

Now, I grew up in a household where you earned any and all esteem. If you wanted to feel good about yourself you'd better work your ass off and do well. I wasn't told I could be anything, I was told that many of my dreams were unrealistic, and yes, it hurt, but it was the truth and I learned from it. I shudder to think that more children are being brought up with this feel-good-bullshit and thus will only further the ineptness and lackadaisical attitudes of generations to come.

I apologize to any of my 5 readers that are, by birth year, a member of this shitastic generation, but have managed to maintain a work ethic and sense of reality, I know there are some of us out there! We just need to start beating the fail out of the rest of them.

Ah, Academia...

We're back to another warm and welcoming new school year, not that the last one really, ever ended as I was in class all summer...but that's neither here nor there...FALL 2011! My second to last semester as a good ol' average college student. THANK THE TINY TOM CRUISE! 

I realized while sitting in my first class of the semester that I no longer gave even the tiniest fuck about my major anymore. I mean, don't get me wrong, I still find the generality of psychology very interesting, but by it's individual parts, by it's career options, by it's singular sections it is sooo incredibly dry and mundane! 

My problem is that I find humans, on a case by case basis, very interesting. Each human has a learning history, has a story, has different emotional triggers and expressions of those emotions - that is interesting. The individual, the social group, the culture, the work place, the damage is fascinating...but psychology wants to fix it. I just want to talk to people and study them (yes, just like little tiny lab rats!). I don't want to fix people, and that's mainly because I don't think many people want to be fixed - we acclimate to our psychological states, we become comfortable in those states; our adaptations are our shields, and by fixing those psychological defects that have become our defaults, we feel our shields are weakened. 

I find, much like studying history, one can only affect change if they can understand the underlying triggers, the basic building blocks of disruptive, destructive psychology behind the behaviors can we learn how to change them by eliminating them altogether. Learn what creates the destruction and stop that initial trigger. That's the type of psychology I'm interested in, that's what I enjoy. But that field doesn't so much exist. 

So, for now, I will continue on my merry little way towards that silly piece of paper that says I'm worth a decent salaried job, and then, maybe, completely change my path and do something absolutely different.