The Planet Earth Experiment.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Racially Influenced Comments Versus the Race Card
Why has racism become such a cliché in America? In the news the other day, I read about Heather Ellis, an African American daughter of a pastor, who cut in line in a Wal-Mart in Missouri. She claims that she merely switched checkout lanes to join her cousin. Whatever the truth may be- is this particular incident honestly worthy of the national exposure it's receiving, or is this just another great example of built-up racial anger that was horrendously unnecessary? I guess we need to face the R-word... racism. It grabs the average person's attention and nothing makes a better crutch to lazy journalism than this softball, dilettantish drivel.
The general public will consume it and the media will force it down our throats like green cough syrup. Many people realize that racism is still a real problem in America, and there still are many injustices committed to minorities even in today's day and age. Yet in this particular case of an African American female, who allegedly cut in front of people at a Wal-Mart checkout line, accused police officers and patrons of racism and inappropriate remarks which caused her outrage. Maybe? Or maybe now this small town in the southern/mid part of the U.S might get a special visit from the ever-opportunistic Reverend Al Sharpton if the people of Kennett, Missouri can scrape together $65,000 for his appearance fees. If she was in the right, then why was she treated like a criminal; because she became angry, because she is angry, or because she is a black woman living in the southern part of the United States? But, if she was completely in the wrong, in the sense of appropriate public behavior as one human being to another, then what? Why can’t facts and logic dictate who’s at fault without blurring the issue with color? Why does there even need to be a discussion about ulterior motives for someone neglecting the existence of another human being two feet away from them? I believe that may say it all, if that was the case.
Here is a genius quote from a sixteen year old ward of the state that I used to mentor in 2001. He said, “Sometimes an inconsiderate jerk is called an inconsiderate jerk for being an inconsiderate jerk.” If she was inconsiderate and cut in line, then she’s an extremely selfish and entitled person who happens to be black, and her action was wrong, period. Yet race is the focus? If racial slurs were thrown at her then it was handled wrong, period. I guess the eye-for-an-eye biblical fallacy or the Machiavellian egocentric idea that the end justifies the means are still popular American misconceptions. Legally, who wins a stalemate?
On a side note, doesn't a racial comment usually begin by looking over your shoulder or something like that? How angry does a "Christian Caucasian American" living below the Mason-Dixon Line have to be to say those things to another human being? Here's the reality of the situation- if a person thinks it (racially charged comment) and doesn't say anything at that moment it's just as bad as saying it. This person isn't any different from the white hooded angry racist who blames minorities for this country's problems and who usually detinates the “N- word” into the air like a pipe bomb for emphasis. Instead, they’re covert like the CIA or PETA for that matter. This person may feel vindicated by showing restraint of their impulses, or on the other hand, they may just verbalize these racial comments when driving in their car with the windows up. Either way, that's where the problem originates in people, with a thought.
The truth is that these words only hold weight because many people allow these words to affect or control their emotions in either direction-as a victim or as an aggressor. Unfortunately, let’s face it, the unconscious result of anger comes from being hurt, and in this case, anger got the best of many involved. Ask yourself this, if someone intentionally says something hurtful to you, deserving or not, and you become angry, do you want to hurt the person responsible or do you hurt the person responsible? Some may retaliate by force, others by words, yet some just don’t care to engage in negativity because of its irrelevance.Which one are you?
Here's a question- What is the easiest insult to come up with about another person? The obvious easiest insult is what you can see. Is it human nature to want to hurt when you are hurt? Maybe for some, but the fact is it shouldn't matter. Today, the punitive ideology of control especially with race has become more subtle, less obvious. Thankfully, the days of drawing the racial line with German Shepherds and fire hoses are long gone, but since when did Newton’s Law of Reciprocal Action, “for every action there is an opposite action or reaction,” develop an exception to the rule because of the race card?
Like the Tawana Brawley incident in 1988, the impact it had on the racism only widen the rift between everyone's view. Will the race card ever be tossed away and replaced by “you know what, I was wrong. I’m sorry.” This crying wolf scenario in the name of racism has been overused to the point that it’s unemotionally numbing and discredited even if there is truth in the matter. It’s disheartening to know that minorities with legitimate complaints may be stereotyped by most, right from the start. And those stereotypes are ramifications to stories like the woman who couldn’t wait in line at Wal-Mart; like the Harvard Professor who broke into his own home and was arrested, or the Columbian Professor who punched a white lady in the face during a heated racial discussion at a local bar. Being a minority isn’t an excuse for acting impulsively. Maybe this insignificant racial tug of war about blame won’t change in my lifetime, or maybe I’m being idealistic, thinking that we can evolve past these petty differences. The discussion needs to be addressed with emotions turned off and the beliefs which initiate them. Here in the United States, we can only begin to achieve this by taking personal responsibility for ourselves, without any internal blame or outside influences. This would undoubtedly eliminate the invisible battle lines and true progress can occur. But if lines of communication fail, so does this experiment called America.
Bad Business
While conversing with an acquaintance the other day about this recession, I couldn’t help but feel sad and ashamed of the way the US financial sector has behaved. Insurance firms, banks, fortune five hundred companies, mortgage brokers, stock brokers scammed or coerced money from the American people all in the name of business & money. For example, there is a mortgage broker from Reading, PA named Wesley Snyder. Mr. Snyder in the defendant in a class action suit that claims a Ponzi scheme was perpetrated by the accused who allegedly misrepresented financial products to borrowers who wanted to refinance their homes, and encouraging them to borrow more than they needed. The problem was that the money from the new loans was used to pay off older accounts, and to conceal company losses, leaving consumers stuck with loans set at higher interest rates than they were lead to believe. The victims owed $36 million more to the lenders than Snyder's accounts indicated. By the time most of these borrowers found out what was happening, they were months or years behind on payment even though they paid every bill on time. I personally know one of these victims and his dilemma is troubling. He and his wife decided to purchase and old barn house with a few acres and renovate it to its original splendor plus a few modern conveniences. The time came when he believed the property was paid in full. To his surprise it wasn’t . Not only did he get swindled for hundreds of thousands but the lender still wants their money or the house or the property will default. On top of that, he doesn’t know if he will be awarded any retribution in court. He will probably work a 9 to 5 until the day he dies.
I understand business is business and money talk but in a time where unemployment is high and many are going out of business, I can’t help but feel concerned. Many companies scrape to stay afloat in times of a recession. Some use mob-like tactics to strong arm payments for made up penalties and taxes, some over-change while some flat out swindle their costumers out of their cash and others use viable business strategies to adapt to a harsh environment. When consumer spending is low and work is scarce, business owners should track their progress on cash, sales, expenses, new projects, customer satisfaction, Internet traffic, ad spending, etc. They need to keep a closer eye on every aspect to make sure revenue isn’t being wasted. And if money is being wasted, these losses can be dealt with quickly. Business should think about what drives their sales or expenses and how they can get early warning about changes that might affect them. For some, it's as simple as street traffic or floor traffic. For others it's Internet traffic or e-mail response rates or deal flow or lead generation. Don't wait for the results to play all the way through your system… look for them early. In time of recessions, the bold make out more when it’s all over but be vigilant. Keep a very close eye on burn rate vs. revenues. Burn rate, in this context, is a lot like fixed costs, but more. Fixed costs are what you'd pay even if your business closed down. Burn rate is what you pay regularly every month to keep your business running, but without the variable costs of sales or direct costs. That includes probably all of your salaries, your rent, your ongoing marketing expenses, your office expenses and all the rest. If your revenue goes down, you can maintain your burn rate for a while, sacrificing profits; but you can't let revenues stay under the burn rate for very long without losing capital and, if the problem continues, going under.
Advertising could be a business’s best friend in a time of low spending. Often, products or services can be forgotten or never seen. Sometimes people have no idea how to search for what they need. Businesses need to make sure all their advertising is geared toward creating prospects, not customers. They must find ways to educate before they sell. Their target market needs to learn how they provide value in a way that makes them want to pay a premium for their services or products. They simply can't do this in a 3-inch-by-4-inch ad. Their ad must get viewers to ask for more information. Then they can proceed to selling. They need to determine all the ways they can get their education-based messages in front of their narrowly defined target market. A new market demands new client service tactics for seizing attention and opportunity. Another useful tactic is to create a referral marketing engine that systematically turns each client and referral network into a kind of unpaid sales pro. You must instill a referral marketing mind-set into your business's culture. Do this by making every customer a marketing and referral contact.. Map every contact and build processes that focus on referrals. Building a competitive edge into the fabric of a business is crucially important to long-term success.
Competitive edge is what drives businesses into excellence. It is the American way to find a better way to produce a product, a better way to perform a service or to create new products or services that have genuine purpose. When companies just sit around thinking of the easiest way to empty their “costumer’s” pockets instead providing a legitimate service or product, it is time for a change. I have no disillusions of what a capitalistic is. I just believe that money can be made without bamboozling the next guy. Money can be made without ruining lives. It just takes gut, ingenuity and some perseverance and hard time will be behind you.
Expectable Endowment
If you’re anything like me, you are probably in the top percentage of “Awesome Gift Givers”. There isn’t a friend that can resist our charming and unique gifts. Recipients of our bequests open their packages as blubbering tears of joy trickle off their enthused faces as we pose in statuesque fashion. We are the makers of creative memories and perpetual elation. We are so great… no wait… I’m none of that. As far as women go, I am horrendous at finding a decent present. To me, gift giving easily becomes a prolonged over-analytical quest for unusual gift ideas which usually end up back firing and make me seem as if I have not given any thought to it at all. And I refuse to accept gift cards as valid birthday gift ideas. Besides, can you think of any other reason why the gift card business is still afloat besides being last minute gift ideas. Nothing screams “Here take this and shut up” more than a gift card. It is awfully impersonal and restricting. Why not just stick a crisp bill in a card and call it the day. Sure, you may come off as unoriginal but at least you won’t be cursed by the heir of your dreadful offering because there is still $2.17 in change on the card after being use and you can’t use it anywhere else. “Man, I can really use a cool refreshing beverage right now but this vending machine doesn’t take a Barnes & Noble card”. Buying a gift for women is tough but I suppose it works both ways.
I was ease dropping on my girlfriend the other day and I over heard her friend talking about the perfect boyfriend gift. Her friend said something along the lines of “I want to buy the perfect present for him but I don’t know what to get”. That’s when I shouted “get him a new girlfriend”. Men are generally easy to buy gifts for, minus the occasional prima-donna.. Get him tickets to see his favorite band or sports team, get him a phone upgrade, take him out to dinner and drinks at his favorite restaurant, subscription to Sports-Illustrated, National Geographic, GQ or whatever he is into. (Maybe Playboy… Roahrrr). The point is put a little effort in knowing your man and it should be a no-brainer. And clothes should be avoided at every cost. People like what they like and usually do not submit well to the taste of others place on them. Trust me… 90% chances your sweater gift won’t be a hit. You’re better off giving a gift card and we are all aware how fantastic gift cards are.
This past December was my girlfriend’s birthday and I bought her a women’s dream gift… a vacuum. It didn’t go as well as I thought it would. No, I didn’t do that… that would be silly. I took her out and let her pick out the gift of her choice and then I just paid for it. It was definitely a win-win situation but I can’t help but feel like I cheated her in some way. Should I have put the extra effort in finding personalized gifts? I would have to say yes but there’s no need to fret because there’s always next year and Christmas… and Valentine’s Day… and Groundhog’s Day, Columbus Day, etc. The way I see it, I have plenty of chances to make it up.
Horoscope Smoroscope
I was chatting with a stranger the other day while standing in line waiting for a quadruple shot mocha latte. The subject of age came into the discussion which always leads to birthdays. After I disclosed my date of birth, she proceeded to squeal “me too… well actually it’s next week but that so cool, I usually don’t meet many Scorpios, etc.!” That’s usually the point where I drift off into a day dream of choking this person out or of another place I’d rather be but she kept my attention with her stunning good looks. Anyway, I was handed my liquid crack and moseyed on out of there. While sipping my hot beverage, I tried to understand the fascination to zodiac signs. I can understand the connection between two people about their shared sign if it meant that they now have a common day to celebrate their birthdays and can do it together. That seems to have a somewhat tangible meaning. But when this woman at the coffee shop started spouting out Scorpio characteristics, I couldn’t help but think “wow this girl is sexy”… then… “I have to escape this conversation before I inevitably insult her beliefs”. Yeah we’re possessive, secretive, stubborn… alright already; I get it… the stars made me this way.
Astrology is just an attempt to achieve a predictive mechanism to human behavior. Since the early times of recorded history, man strives to find meaning in everything including within himself. Many hypotheses fell to the way side do to lack of merit. These can be explored through pseudosciences. Astrology is a pseudoscience like alchemy and Quackery. It holds equal validity to a placebo, a sugar pill. Granted, open-mindedness is needed to ascertain many of life’s mysteries but there’s a fine line between the open mind and the gullible mind. Zodiac signs tend to mirror generalizations about normal human behavior. And more times then not, every characteristic from all the twelve signs can pertain to you. A Taurus can be a good arguer, witty and flirtatious even though those are Gemini characteristics. And despite being Aquarius characteristics… being optimistic, enthusiastic and intelligent can pertain to a Sagittarius. Many people latch on to particular traits that they’re fond of and run with it. People aren’t born with psychological predispositions to any trait because of their astrological location at the time of birth. It was just one way for the uneducated mind to make sense of the stars and themselves. It’s like the creation of Zeus because lightning had to come from somewhere. Zeus tosses them down to earth… duhhhh. As you know, some beliefs vanished while others still linger.
Horoscopes are an even bigger sham. A horoscope is an astrological forecast. I’m wary of anything with forecast attached to the end of it. Weather forecast, economic forecast, sales forecast, etc… Their accuracy rating isn’t the best but there’s enough data to come to an educated guess. This does not exist in astrology. Mercury is in retrograde and Uranus is joined by Jupiter in your sign which means surprisingly good things are going to happen but don’t sign any… Shut Up! It’s all nonsense. Notice how many of them will have a general statement that will, most likely, apply to your individual situation. Another thing that bugs me is that astrology operates on the principle that a person’s conduct is base on how they were born instead of who they are. This sounds like the same theorem racist follow to sum up an ethnicity. It’s flawed, inaccurate and easily inter-changeable. Sure, once in a while they might be right on the mark but it’s like that saying of the broken watch, it is right twice a day. There was a psychologist named Betram R. Forer who came up with an observation that individuals will give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically for them, but are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people. This is called the Forer effect. Betram created and gave a personality test to his students. He told his students they were each receiving a unique personality analysis that was based on the test's results and to rate their analysis on a scale of 0 (very poor) to 5 (excellent) on how well it applied to themselves. In reality, each received the same analysis:
“You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage.. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker; and do not accept others' statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.”
On average, the rating was 4.26, but only after the ratings were turned in was it revealed that each student had received identical copies assembled by Forer from various horoscopes. Coincidence?... of coarse not. I’m open to any FACTS supporting Astrology… but I won’t hold my breath.
Price your Name
What’s the deal with names now days? I’ve recently seen names such as “Forever”, “Blanket”, “Chastity”, Banjo” and I’ve even read about a baby named “Adolf Hitler” in New Jersey. The baker wouldn’t put poor little Adolf’s name on his birthday cake because it was offensive. Obviously both the kid’s parents AND the baker are all attention seeking nothings for calling the kid that imprudent name and for not putting his name on the stupid cake. Does a kid need a name that’s going to bring him more angst into his childhood? Children are cruel little cave people as it is… why give them a club to hit you. Joking and teasing can make children self-conscious about their names and reluctant to have any contact with other children out of fear of being ridiculed. This can transition into greater psychological problems later in life.
In this fine country of ours, we can name our offspring any idiotic sound we want. I can name my kid “Pffffffrrnt” if I choose. The name of my child can sound similar to the sound of passing gas. “Hey Pffffffrrnt, clean your room.” I guess there might be a point where a soon to be parent thinks “what does my name say about my personality?” My child will have a great name… a name I wish I could have for myself. Names like Samuel and Robert or Elizabeth and Rebecca are way too common to pass on to the next generation. The only way names of that same ilk continue to exist is through juniors, thirds and so on. I suppose the idea of being original does appeal to me but if you call your child Banjo… you should be hit over the head with a banjo. I’m not much for name meanings but how does being called a string instrument associated with rural America help your little boy. What if Lil’ Banjo has no musical talent, then what?
When I asked myself what does my name mean, I came to the realization that it doesn’t matter what it means as much as it matters what I think it means and how people perceive me for it. The most crucial aspect of personality affected by names is self-concept. Self-concept develops as children develop, and it is learned from messages important people in children's lives send them. Parents are the most important message senders until children mature and become more and more independent. It’s then that the messages of teachers, classmates, and other people begin to contribute to their developing concepts of self. In a way, self-concept works as a kind of script for the way people act. If a boy has an image of himself as bad or as not capable of doing well in school, his behavior will probably reflect that image. He will tend to behave the way he thinks a "bad boy" is supposed to behave, or he will fail to learn as he should even though he might be quite intelligent. A name like Adolf Hitler would undoubtedly bring thoughts of hatred. So every time that name is said, there is a negative association to the name that causes a person to act unfairly or even harshly to the individual in spite of the child being a sweetheart.
Women have it a little easier on this subject. Girls are given unusual names much more often than boys are. So their names don’t attract as much attention and are less likely to cause embarrassment for the girls who have them. Because of this, unusual female names do less damage to the self-concepts of the girls as they develop during childhood and adolescence. Unless a girl’s name is Brunhilda or Jezebel, she less likely to be badgered. This greater toleration may be a kind of deep-seated, unconscious sexism that says, in effect, men need serious, traditional names to suit their serious concerns, but women, who won't be engaged in serious pursuits, don't… Who knows these things?
