Moved to Tumblr

Greetings, my curious reader. I would just like to note that this will be the last post on bomepsilon.wordpress.com, the current domain. You will find any further updates of Said Michael on http://saidmichael.tumblr.com.

Being Nice

When Mr. Lee gave us this project, I felt as if the prompt given has been answered a million times, that I can not answer this question any more than people already have. It is because this question has been answered so many times that we see so many “Diversity Days” and “Cultural Weeks”.

But I thought about it some more, and came to this conclusion: I was right. Absolutely, totally, 100 percent right. No disrespect to you, Mr. Lee, but this project just doesn’t eliminate much intolerance or disrespect, even if many of the projects try to. Nevertheless, in the hopes I can get a good grade, I still would like to answer the same question that has already been answered.

Society, in a nutshell, is an agreement of its members that they will abide by the laws that are created, and, if they break those laws, they will be subjected to the consequences. While most members of society live by this fairly well, we still have a few anomalies, and these anomalies easily stand out. In an attempt to make sure other individuals do not become as lowly, socially active members of society create programs the rest of us support that try to eliminate the common factors: racism, bigotry, gangs, and just general intolerance. Why is it these programs do not seem to give the intended results?

So often, I see people philosophizing on how we can solve society’s problems: on why there’s war, hate, ignorance, or anything of the sort. Has it ever occurred to anyone that no one affected the rule breakers in society enough that they could be good people? Holding “Crush Evil Luncheons” or something of that variety has been done before, and the fact it doesn’t affect any of the people who are troublemakers (since they never want to show up) makes these programs very ineffective. But how about we try something else instead: leading by example? If enough people be good, and find ways to pass that goodness onto others, such as friends, family, or even strangers, then with time, you could really see some results.

I know that some programs of that nature can do real good, but if you really want a perfect society, you need to perfect all of its members, and you do not do that by holding meetings amongst those who do not need the help. So please, do not fill my mind with essays on why the world is in such a terrible state, or oversaturate the planet with “Intolerance Awareness Months”, but carry out that which you preach, get the good members of society to do more than just throw money at a cause and hope it solves the problem, and, most importantly, persevere.

Manifesto

Today, a girl, a fairly friendly one, was talking about the fact she was going to drink alcohol over the weekend at a party. I don’t usually get involved with these things, but today was an exception. A person she was speaking to said to her, “Drinking is bad. You’re not even twenty-one. It is bad, right Michael?”

Generally speaking, I think people in this class see me as a person with sound morals. I don’t know what this person in particular meant when they addressed me, whether it was an attempt to mock me or a request to me to give an endorsement of this opinion. He’s quite respectful, but still…

The fact I see myself as a person who has good judgment is why I somewhat regret what I replied. “Drinking at all is her decision. A stupid one, yes, but still hers.” And then continued, “Honestly, I wouldn’t be comfortable putting anything in my body that has the potential to impair my ability to think.”

Looking back, I probably should have pressed the issue further. I know the kid who addressed me knows others who take illegal substances, which is what makes the whole situation so funny–my whole environment, school, is filled with friends whose actions would normally make them enemies. I should have said my philosophy on alcohol: why would you want to put something in your body for the purpose of impairing your judgment, possibly harming you in the long term? I do not only believe it is her decision, but that she is doing this not because she enjoys it or appreciates being passed out, but because she and everyone like her looks cool for breaking a social taboo.

The whole mob mentality, a need to impress others, is present in them at such a young age, my curious reader. But then, what adult would willingly give up being their own person?

In my last entry, I know I said I would stop writing about my environment, but I feel now, as I type this, that I can write more about my life and the meaning I can find in it than I can in technology. My environment made me, and the purpose of this blog should be a glimpse into that environment, how I became what I am.

I know I am at risk of boring some of my audience, but at the same time, my curious reader, I think that this is something I can write about best. If you do decide to continue reading if this interests you, please, try to understand what goes on and what makes it so important–everything that I write in here is written with you in mind.

Fitting In

My curious reader, it’s been a week since we last spoke, but it feels like so much longer to me. The new semester of school has rolled in, and the work has intensified with the new classes I have been placed in: AP American History has given more new projects, and science has forced me to pay for a specific brand of graphing paper (it looks just like most other kinds, only branded with the school’s name). I suspect the pace will quicken as time passes and I am able to adjust to everything, but we’ll see.

If you, curious reader, took note of the entry I wrote last week, “Advice on Teenagers“, it was probably because it sounded as if I was motivated by personal experience to write it. It was, in part, just what I observe on a daily basis: terribly impolite people who make fun of others, do drugs, sometimes with the explicit intent of hurting others. What went wrong? Why do I come across so many who want to improve society but only seem to hurt it?

I know, my curious reader, that there are many social programs out there that really do help people out of personal problems, and I wholeheartedly thank them for their efforts, but what good is a society that is competitive nearly to the point of ruthlessness?

Just as I typed that sentence, the word “peer pressure” drifted through my brain. I learned it first from D.A.R.E., an anti-drug program for young children. Peer pressure:

Peer pressure is a term describing the pressure exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change their attitude, behavior and/or morals, to conform to, for example, the group’s actions, fashion sense, taste in music and television, or outlook on life. #

And then it occurs to me: so many of the people whose character I dislike are making the jokes, doing drugs, to fit in. So many of the comments at the expense of others that I overhear seem to be almost an attempt to get attention, a desire for laughs from others. Don’t we often, after all, laugh at the plight of individuals, be it on TV or real life? Even if we don’t mean it?

It really is a shame, because it seems like so much of what I’ve written lately is almost pessimistic of others. Honestly, my curious reader, I believe in the good of humankind, it is just their bad deeds that makes me concerned for them. But society can make a comeback in that respect–I can feel it.

My curious reader, I expect you are probably getting tired of the fact I am still on this subject. I promise you, next Friday, I will write on a technology-related subject. Maybe the Macbook Air? Time will tell.

Advice on Teenagers

Thank goodness the youth of America is so responsible, my curious reader. Just look at them–their mind is open, but they can differentiate what is right and wrong extremely well, processing an unethical offer or deal and knowing when to say no. There is a smart brain on their shoulders.

Well, except for the times that they drink or do drugs, taking substances that may hurt them later in life, impair their ability to think, ruin friendships, families, the children themselves, giving them events that they will regret for years, even decades, down the road. Very few will see positive effects associated with their mistakes, things that could have been learned so much more easily.

But we see them in our schools so often, getting along, incredibly tight-knit, sensible, rational–you are so pleased that these people will take control of your country some day. Any problem they see, it will be tackled by their collective voice of reason.

Unless you consider, of course, the ever-present childish behavior, the spreading of rumors, the gossip, the stupid high school politics that only exist because the children are hungry for power that simply does not exist. But they must have it, they need it, they feel so terrible about themselves that they must look at others and say, “They suck compared to me!” no matter how sensational the tiny little rumor that slithered into their ear is.

Thank goodness, my curious reader, that our peers are so sensible at least some of the time. We see them in school every day, we know that they can give all of the right answers, make the great jokes, impress the teachers, but just how much of our youth do you see outside of class? My curious reader, if there’s one incredible thing about all of this, it’s that the little children around you have managed to dodge all of the immediate consequences society is supposed to enforce for so long.

Teenagers…such good people.

Del.icio.us

Hello, my curious reader. I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to write to you as often as I’d like. It’s just been so hard to find things to write about and actually put these things to a keyboard, in part because of work, because of friends, maybe enemies. But I have found some things, and I will get to these soon.

In the meantime, if you haven’t noticed by now, you will find that my del.icio.us account is now posting the links I bookmark to this blog daily. It’s a neat little feature that I think makes a compromise of me finding things on the internet I would like to share here and a short opinion on them. If you don’t like them, by all means, my curious reader, tell me.

In fact, who are you, curious reader? I can’t say I know much about who I’m writing to.

LG Chocolate

My phone was a Nextel from about 2003. It wasn’t really bad–I used it for calling people, which wasn’t very often. It was pretty low-maintenance. Lately, though, I found the battery life was dying within minutes of charging, giving me an unpleasant surprise when I tried to call someone and discovered the phone had shut itself off. My worst fears had been realized: My phone was going kaput.

Well, battery problems no more. I’ve gotten an LG Chocolate.

The phone itself was pretty easy to buy, though I was a bit worried by the high price of the individual plan (the rest of my family is on Sprint). But not all hope was lost: it turns out that if you bundle your Verizon DSL and Wireless bills, you can get $10 off, bringing the price down to what I was paying on Sprint.

I do have a few problems with the phone that I’m not too fond of:

1. The phone sports a 2.5mm headphone jack. I have no headphones of this size!
2. There is no memory card included. The memory is expandable up to 4GB, but until I actually buy the card (which will cost a lot), I can play no music. Or add no pictures. Or…do any interaction with my computer at all. This sucks.
3. The USB connector for the phone is sold separately. Seriously, Verizon, what is this? Do you just hate me?

So maybe it isn’t all that good. But at least the faults can be made up for, and once they are, I should be set.

A Fresh Start

Why do you want to hear me speak? What value is there in my words? Why is it, when I am just found minding my own business, I am expected to speak of it? Do people just do this naturally?

Fine, my curious friend–I will speak, but only for you.

Blogging is something I have been doing for some time now–nothing incredibly serious, just writing personal thoughts, or things I found on the Internet, or even memories of my life. I am not pleased with any of this. My blog, if it did exist, would be where I stand on what. I look at my previous writings now and I can’t help but think, How in the world could I have written this? It’s random, it’s spontaneous, without purpose. It’s done as if I wanted to let others only know about it, a short one-liner and…nothing. Why would someone bother to read that?

So, let’s fix our writing style by examining a sample post. It seems pretty straightforward–I had a Pownce account, I wanted people to know about it by linking to it on my blog. But couldn’t I have expanded on this with what I think of it, how useful it is (or isn’t), or how it measures up to other social networking websites? I should have. Unless you’re a stalker and secretly track which websites I browse, my curious reader, why would you be even remotely interested whether I’m on Pownce or not? Exactly!

There’s so much I want to write about, my curious reader, but I have so many reasons not to…We’ll save that for another blog post, but only if I choose my words carefully. After all, if my words are so valuable to you, we wouldn’t want them to be wasted, now would we?