manalive: January 2009

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Broken Despair

Nobody knows what hope is anymore. We think we do but really we just settle for the watered-down, easy way out version. So often we go through life not even caring. "I can never achieve joy so why even try? I'll pursue happiness because at least that is attainable." I've always hated that part in the Declaration of Independence. "...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Why are we settling for something cheap? Something that is worth far less than what we're meant to have? I love The Lord of the Rings because even though when all hope is lost, they fight on without it. The world is coming to an end and instead of giving in they continue to fight until they are dead. We aren't even in situations like that and we do the opposite, we abandon all hope and the worst part of all is that we don't even realize we're doing it. It's so easily cured too. Despair can be broken by something as simple as a sunrise, or a glance at the night's sky, or dare i say it...a child. How many children do we see just trying to get by in life? How many children have no hope? Even in the worst situations a child is never without hope. Why can't we be like that?

How?

How do you you start a fire in a world that refuses to be lit?

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Education President

Due to my lack of things to do in the last few weeks, I have started watching The West Wing again (not that I'm complaining). In light of a recent discussion that I've had with a friend and also considering that in a few days a new president will be taking charge I thought that now would be a appropriate time to talk about my views on politics and what a president should be. If you know me well enough you know that I hate politics so actually writing something that has to do with it is a risky move for me. I truly believe that the perfect form of government is a monarchy however, that would also require the perfect King and to my knowledge we don't let Him rule a whole lot. However in this country, if you haven't heard, we make due with a president which is not nearly the same as a king. Putting aside what I think a government should be, I would like to address what I think a president should be (or at least part of what I think they should be). A president should be...dare I say it...smarter than me (which I know is a stretch). In 8 years of Bush's presidency I have yet to be impressed with anything he has said. To be fair Obama isn't very "impressive" either. They both seem like average guys, which is the problem. I don't want a president who is an average guy. I want a genius. I want somebody like Churchill or President Bartlet. I don't get why the people of the united states of america want a president who will "dumb down" his words for people like you and me to understand. Bartlet says in season three "It's not our job to appeal to the lowest common denominator. It's our job to raise it. If you're going to be the 'Education President,' it'd be nice not to hide that you have an education."