Passion

I thrive off of the passion of others. I really think that I could listen to a person talk about something they are truly passionate about for hours regardless of how inconsequential the subject may actually be for me. Passion lends excitement to what would otherwise be a tedious, autopilot sort of existence. This passion-for living, for doing, for learning, for playing, for anything-is so exciting and fulfilling to be immersed in and inspires me to exploit my own passions as well.
John Stuart Mill theorized about a marketplace of ideas and how significanlty open discourse through freedom of speech and the like influence politics, culture, society, and the future formulation of ideas in general. This open discourse is no longer merely an abstract philosophy that may or may not truly be a real phenomenon. I learn more from my daily conversations than I do in most of my classes, but it is a different type of knowlege. I don't like everything I've learned, but I love that I've learned it.

15 cents a minute

It costs approximately 15 cents a minute to go to school here- meaning that I need to sign off line and get to work!

Stuart Little

Last night my friend Angela and I went to WaWa for a late dinner to take back to her room to eat. About an hour after eating, some friends invited us to hang out in their room across the Quad. I left my bag containing an empty fruit cup and the remnants of a delicious meatball hoagie in Angela's room and we left. Several hours later we returned, and I decided to go to bed. Having gotten into my pajamas hours earlier, I simply went to my room, shut the door, put my bags on the floor, and immediately jumped into my warm and inviting bed. Little did I know that I would not be there for long.
Within seconds I became a aware of an incessant rustling coming from inside of the bag I had just placed on the floor. I optimistically determined that the bag was simply settling until it began moving across my floor. I sprung out of bed, leaped across the floor, flung open the door, and stood aghast in the hallway, looking into my room at the bag, daring it to move. After standing stupidly in the hallway for some time, I finally decided to take action and swiped the bag off of the floor with the hook of a clothes hanger. I proceeded to run out the door with the bag dangling in front of me.
During my frantic race down the hallway, I could feel the creature trying to escape. I shook the bag in horror-I was not prepared to meet my tormentor face to face. Without thinking (I truly regretted this in the morning), I flung the bag off of the end of the hanger when I felt I had travelled sufficiently far from my room, barely pausing to witness its landing. I was terrified that this creature, which I assumed to be a mouse, would surely chase me back down the hallway and back into my room. Thankfully, I think he was more interested in his newfound WaWa feast to bother with me any longer.

Party Identification

In talking to people from various backgrounds and political beliefs (or professed political beliefs), I have noticed that people do not typically identify with their party to the degree that they assume to be the case. For example, it seems to be a fairly popular choice to declare oneself a liberal while in college, but most of these self-professed liberals are not as overly fond of the big government interventionism that typifies Washington liberals, and this is not merely a backlash against the Republican-controlled government. This disenchantment with regard to the federal government's ability to solve all of the woes of society appears to run much deeper than the support or lack thereof of the current people in charge. Conversely, many self-professed Conservatives, while believing in fiscal responsibility, also favor a strict separation of church and state and the expansion of civil rights and liberties that have become taboo subjects for the actual Republican party as of late.
Do these transformations indicate the next great shift in political parties or is the two-party system simply no longer sufficient to adequately represent the will of an immensely diverse populace? My hunch is that the real reason lies somewhere in the middle.

Reporting v. Reality

My best friend Sarah is participating in a foreign exchange program in the Czech Republic, so whenever I read an article that mentions the political deadlock in the region I think of her. Because reporting is so often sensationalized, I was curious how the people of the Czech Republic viewed this inability to produce a definitive government. Therefore I asked her how the elections had impacted the actual people in the area where she lives (outside of Prague). Interestingly enough, she informed me that the people are generally indifferent, and it is something that is rarely discussed. The Czech Republic suffered so much through Communist oppression that this lack of government legitimacy is a negligible aspect of their daily lives. I wonder if the citizens of all struggling democracies are this indifferent toward government failure or if this is simply a quirk of the Czech's in particular. It certainly makes sense for a people so desensitized to unsound and corrupt governments to feel this way, but if this is the case, then why is the electoral failure reported in America as an enormous tragedy for the Czech Republic when its own people do not even care?

Contentment

As I looked at my reflection in the mirror my eyes were drawn to something that had never before been a part of my face--laugh lines. Although I have never worked this hard before in my life, I do not think that I have ever laughed quite so hard and certainly not as often as I do now either. This is contentment. I feel as though I am finally where I belong, doing what I am meant to do, fostering enriching relationships, and laughing all along.

Political discrepancies

There is a fundamental discrepancy in the ideologies of the Democrat and Republican parties. Republicans, and more specifically, Conservatives, claim to stand behind the principle of limited government; whereas Democrats, and more specifically, Liberals, tend to believe that a more intrusive, paternalistic government can and should solve the ills of society. The discrepancy? Issues of morality. Conservatives believe in individual liberties until it comes to the government protecting the rights that they do not agree with on a moral or spiritual level. However, the very idea of individual rights becomes meaningless if the limit is changed from infringing upon the rights of another to adhering to the beliefs of a moral majority. Rights are meant to protect the individual, something that the Republican party once held as sacred. Conversely, most big government Democrats ardently believe in removing the government from such matters as the definition of marriage and abortion. Although I believe they are correct in this evaluation of the government's role in the lives of its citizens, it does not rectify the irreconcilable contradiction found within this party that will not hesitate to infringe upon the property rights of individuals for the benefit of some vaguely defined society via eminent domain, for example. This discrepancy found at the core of America's two major parties is an issue that has been too often ignored amidst all of the partisan squabbling of the past several years.

What's a libertarian to do?

While perusing The Cato Institute's webpage today, a heading advertising a new research series concerning the voting habits of Libertarians caught my eye. Libertarians, although formally independent from both prominent American political parties, are at least informally associated with the conservative wing of the Republican party during election season for the sheer practicality of casting a vote for someone with a chance for victory. This, apparently, is changing.

Many Libertarians who voted for George Bush in 2000 have since become disenchanted by his fiscal irresponsibility and disregard for individual rights, civil liberties, and privacy. During his term in office, George Bush has greatly enhanced executive powers in the name of security and despite the unconstitutional nature of this unprecedented expansion (i.e. He and his lawyers declared the entire country a battle field to legitimize the more intrusive powers touted by the administration). His supporters defend such policies with the argument that he is essentially a good man who would never abuse such power, but even if this is the case, such unsound policies set dangerous precedents for all presidents of unknown discretion from this point forward.

Although I can completely relate to the frustration felt by Libertarians in regard to the obscene magnitude of government spending along with the trampling of individual rights, I do not necessarily agree that realigning with the disjointed Democrat party is a wonderful solution. Instead of attempting to support the lesser of two evils during each election season, the Libertarian party should exert a greater effort to make its own ideals more accessible (realistic) for the American public and begin finding and supporting promising leaders of its own. A party cannot thrive while piggybacking on the shoulders of other faltering parties. As the Republicans alienate their core base and as Democrats are struggling through an identity crisis, independent parties should jump at the opportunity to separate themselves from the mess in Washington and appeal to those individuals who want a real change.

The Bus Award

This is a descriptive paragraph that I had to write for my writing seminar that I thought some people might find amusing.

“The recipient of the first ever Ohio County Schools bus award is…” A hush fell over my eighth grade class that screamed in anguish and desperation, “Please, do not let this be me!” But alas, after an imperceptible pause that seemed to last a lifetime in the time warp within my head, my principle announced with great gusto that I, Michelle Potter, would receive the award for “Impeccable conduct on Bus 95-26 for the 2000-2001 school year. I sat frozen, impervious to this surreal reality, and unwilling to remove myself from my uncomfortable chair that bore the scars of years of misspelled profanity. My best friend nudged me out of my seat onto my unsteady feet, and I began my journey to the stage. My consciousness could perceive only three things- the podium that was to be my sacrificial alter, the sounds of snickering mingled with the fierce reprimands of teachers informing my classmates of what an honor this was, and the sounds of my heels clicking in steady rhythm as I traversed the stage that had never before seemed so vast and formidable. However, I eventually made it to the podium, arm outstretched and palms sweaty, to exchange a handshake for a certificate mounted in a cheap frame that still exhibited an orange “SALE $2.99” sticker along with a coupon for a free small Domino’s pizza (in-store pickup only, of course). I felt weightless as the stares of my classmates guided me back to my seat, award in hand, and I was consumed with an insatiable desire to laugh and to cry, but above all, to escape.