Category: Political

Ego, the self and some random thoughts.

Detail of The School of Athens by Raffaello Sa...

Ego, the self and the center of our consciousness is both the root to selfishness and to compassion. We are individuals and can not deny that part of our existence, but we are also apart of the group. Usually we interact with a small group that in turn interacts with other groups. in the end the collection of groups create a larger group such as a community. It continues on until we reach the collection of states, nations and in the end we are one big group called the human race.  It all starts from the individual and works its way up to the whole species. One individual can change the consciousness of the whole world, though sometimes it takes generations for a thought of one to reach the masses, nowadays with the internet any one person can get their voice heard across the world and do so in less than a few minutes. This is the era of information and the freedom of ideas and as long as governments do not censor the internet and the voices of the people this world will change dramatically in the next decade or so.

So in this era there should be more focus on individuality and the responsibility of each persons actions and words. What you put out on the internet is available for anyone to see from young to old and from one corner of the world to the other. This is the time for visionaries, dreamers, teachers and free thinkers to come out and voice their ideas and or opinions to help change our world into a more peaceful and happier world to live in. Where are the Plato’s, Socrates‘s of our time and when will they share their philosophies for all to see? It is a time for change, a change that starts with the people not the governments. The governments will change along with us the people in time. But we must start with ourselves before we can enact change in the political systems of the world.

Change must start within ourselves before it can manifest in the world around us.
Ray Barbier

Related articles

Just another Sunday Rant from a working man.

040 So many distractions from the important things of life, too many people trying to tell you what is wrong or right. Too many get rich quick programs being pushed on the poor and the only ones getting rich are the ones pushing the programs. Good food is more expensive than the unhealthy prepackaged foods. The wealthy are the only ones now days who can afford to keep healthy. Insurance rates still climb and the coverage keeps getting less and less. Polar bears and many other animals are facing extinction due to the warming of our planet. A few species of animals are actually coming back due to the climate change as well. Politics fill the air waves more than any other news because of the upcoming elections.

063 Our governments are loosing sight of the important issues at hand and can not seem to break away from their partisan political agendas. The governments of the world need to focus on the ecology, economy and alternative renewable energy sources. They need to cut spending but not put all of the burden on the less fortunate and elderly. Far as governmental regulation of businesses, it wouldn’t be necessary if the big businesses would worry more about making affordable quality products than about their profit margins. If the big corporations would actually play fair and by the rules then there wouldn’t be anything to regulate. A fair tax system along with the removal of all the fringe benefits of being a federal government employee would help save a lot of money. Maybe the congress needs to work for minimum wage and pay the same for insurance and face the same tax rate as an average person, then maybe they might be able to relate to the working class.

049As I have said many times before, I find it very funny how quick our congress jumps at cutting social security, Medicaid and Medicare  and they never even think about cutting their benefits and retirement from the congress. They seem to forget where all the money comes from, how the working class along with the retired workers are the ones who have and still do foot the bill  for everything.

Just another Sunday Rant from a working man.
Raymond Barbier

Related articles

To make the changes needed in time to save our beautiful home called Earth.

editforlogo1b Toxic wastes being dumped and pumped into our precious world. Greed outweighs common sense and our sensibility. Our beloved planet and our beautiful home called earth is becoming our garbage can and eventually our graveyard. We only have one Earth and we should be responsible stewards of our beautiful home. Progress, greed and the lust for power seem to be in control as well as convenience instead of responsibility and compassion. The greedy keep the green technology too expensive for the average person to afford so that we will keep relying on their oil, coal and the utility companies to live our convenient and comfortable lives. Eventually the price for our comfort and conveniences will cost the future of our species and most if not all other living creatures on our precious world.

There is no easy answer in converting our carbon based world into a more green world, there will be winners and losers alike and for the greedy there is profit to be made. It is up to us the common folk to get the message out and to start the change to a greener lifestyle. Our future generations are counting on us and if we fail there may be a high price to pay for those who come after us. As we can see we can not count on the governments of the world or the big businesses to take the ecological problems seriously or to make the changes needed in time to save our beautiful home called Earth.

God gave us this beautiful planet and made us the stewards of it all. We should do what is right and not what is easier or more profitable.
Raymond Barbier.

Related articles

How The Web Killed SOPA and PIPA | TPM Idea Lab

English: www,domain,internet,web,net

 

 

 

How The Web Killed SOPA and PIPA | TPM Idea Lab

 
 
 
 
Related articles

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Related articles

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love

1 Corinthians 8 – 13

 

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is

English: the beginning of the 1. Epistle to th...

knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Choices, Consequences, free will and Indecision.

IMG_1078fbIn this life we can either be a force for good or a force for evil. Most of us walk a thin line between the two, but eventually one side or the other we shall fall to. It is better to choose your path and stick with it than to waver between two, this is an easy way to become lost as well as confused. Though we all have to go through the middle of the road syndrome in order to make a choice of which path to follow, but to stay in the middle of a road for too long one may be ran over. Even in the bible there is a reference to  this idea .

“Revelation 3:15-16: ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. “

Of course being lukewarm in this verse is referring to being a part-time Christian or one does not love god and worship him full heartedly. The bible teaches this and the fact one can only serve one master as well as a house divided upon itself shall fall. One should be one minded and walk one path as well as choose which side he will be a force for. Doubt, Fear, Indecisiveness are the enemies of us all, for they only confuse and distract one from truly living life and serving the forces they choose. For I am a firm believer in free will and believe the spiritual / religious path one walks is solely a personal decision and they have the right to believe in the way they desire. But with free will comes both a price to pay and the responsibility of who and what may have been influenced or effected by the choices made.  So always think and ponder on both  the choices before you and the consequences that surely will follow. Choose your path wisely and walk in faith, if you choose wisely then in the end you can pass away thinking or speaking the verse “2 Timothy 4:7 – I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. “ .

Until that day comes I pray that we all can walk in faith.

Matthew 7:7 – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Related articles

To Govern or to play Political Games?

IMG_1077 Too much politics and not enough creative thinking in congress, they rather focus on the differences between their political parties and the upcoming elections than on finding solutions to the problems at hand. The lack of the ability to compromise for the common good in congress wastes both the taxpayers money and time. The longer they play these political games the worse our nations problems will grow.  The congress seems too focused on the upcoming elections and their parties agendas that they can not find any true solutions to our national debt or the declining economy. Maybe if they would put as much effort into fixing the problems at hand as they do the propaganda and political spin they spew out to the media they might be able to work together to find a solution.

The immaturity the congress is displaying along with their inability to co-operate will not only allow our nation to slip into ruin but it also will tarnish this great nations global reputation. We are supposed to be a guiding light and the shining example for the world to follow, but how our government is in chaos due to the political games being played we will not be able to be such a guiding light. For a house that is divided upon itself surely will fall, so we need to get our house in order before it falls.

So congress, you can either keep playing your political games and bring this nation to its knees or work together and fix the problems at hand. The choice is solely yours to either govern or to play political games. Either way you will be responsible for the choices made as well as the results. For We the People have given you the power through the elections and now we place the responsibility upon your shoulders.

God Grant them the wisdom to see the error of their ways.
Raymond Barbier

Related articles

To be stuck in such a vicious cycle

p10303 I have noticed a lot of people who go through life stuck in a vicious cycle of buying , using and wanting something more. It seems nobody can be satisfied with what they have, they want the newest and best of everything there is. Even when the newest isn’t necessarily better than what they already have. It doesn’t seem to stay just in the materialistic end of the spectrum, it is in every part of the modern psyche. From your house to your soul mate, nothing is ever good enough or there is greener grass on the other side of the fence. To be stuck in such a vicious cycle consumes your finances, energy and your happiness. The temporary gratification from the new wears off quickly leaving you wanting more. It seems modern society is addicted to consumerism and needs to reevaluate its priorities as well as its habits.

We need to revisit the ways of our grandparents and great grandparents, they lived their life in simplicity and only bought mostly only what they needed. They would buy a few luxuries but they knew happiness came from the people around them not trinkets or toys they can buy. There is nothing wrong with buying a few things you want but you should not be consumed with having every new version that comes out. Seems this generation and the generation growing up are stuck with the mentality that everything is disposable and replaceable. Shame is that this is not just limited to possessions, it also includes people in their lives. If a lover isn’t perfect just dump them and get a new one, if grandma is becoming a burden dump her into a rest home. If a friend becomes boring or disagrees with you toss them aside like a used tissue. This kind of mentality is corroding the core of society and eventually there will be nothing sacred or valuable in our world.

Family, friends and community should be the first priority for each one of us, keeping up with the Joneses or having the biggest and newest shouldn’t be a concern. For what makes lasting happiness is in the social groups we form and not in the trinkets we gather along the way. Since life is but a temporary state for all of us, we should live life in peace and loving one another instead of satisfying our selfish wants. I look at it in this way, I am not the only person or living creature on this planet. Thus I am not the center of the universe or even this planet. I share this world with so many and should enjoy the fact I have some great company here on earth. I will not always agree with them all, but I will always accept them as fellow travelers of this path called life.

Wrong or right, This is my 2 cents worth.

Raymond Barbier

Related articles

To them I ask to remember the children.

p10061  Extreme weather from one season to the next, tornadoes and hurricanes hitting us left and right. Earthquakes all across the globe, and record heat waves across America are signs that something is up with our world. Call it global warming, climate change or just solar flares, but face the fact that there is something going on that defiantly needs our attention. Governments and scientists need to stop living in denial of the fact that our world’s ecosystem is going to change and possibly not for the good . Call me an alarmist or a paranoid middle-aged man if you wish, but I rather look at the evidence before me than to live in denial of possibilities that are before us all. As the old saying goes, better safe than sorry and I believe that more than ever a change in how we humans impact this world we live in should be changed.

Relying on carbon based fuels that are not plentiful enough to sustain the needs of a growing world population. Toxic gases and chemicals that are being pumped into the atmosphere are destroying the ozone layer as well as contaminating the soil and drinking water.What kind of world are we leaving for our children and the children of the future? The shortage of oil, drinking water and food are setting the stage for a possible world war three. As a species we have proven that we can achieve miraculous feats when we work together on a common goal. We are quickly approaching a crossroad where we will have to choose to either continue down the road of denial and blindness or a path of awakening and global co-operation. Will greed and lust of power be the way of man or will the path be one of goodwill and  global unity. The global unity I am referring to is not one world government, it is the achievement of a collective effort between all nations to better our world and the tolerance if not acceptance of each others differences.

I believe we require the different nations as well as the different religions or philosophies to keep mankind diverse as well as strong. Diversity is what allowed mankind to survive and thrive up to this point. Without our diversity we would have been a drone like society that probably would not have survived this long. The crossroads are growing closer and soon we must set our priorities and face the costs of our choices. The children of today are the ones that will be the ones to face the results of our choices both good and bad. So I leave it in the hands of those who can make the choices and to them I ask to remember the children when they do.

Just my 2 cents worth, Right or wrong it is here for you to see
Raymond Barbier

Related articles