HOW I PLAN TO SAVE THE WORLD WITHIN 17520 DAYS

The Development Project

2010-04-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

To many people today, ‘development’ is thought as a sort of charitable economic and social aid from one nation to another, an altruistic desire to lend a hand to the less fortunate of the world so that they may enjoy the same comforts as the most privileged. However, Phillip McMichael, author of “Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective” has a somewhat different point of view concerning the enterprise that is development. He sees development as more of a project, one that has been guided in the past by motives that are not necessarily humanitarian and entirely selfless in nature. In his perspective, though development the 19th century was understood in theory as the improvement of mankind, it emerged in practice as the social engineering and economic shaping of fledgling independent nations. This so-called ‘development project’ has gradually evolved in meaning and character into the enterprise it has become today.

In colonial times, the development project begun to take shape, as a full-fledged undertaking, by defining the relationship between the self-proclaimed core nations and so-called periphery nations of that era. While its underlying philosophical motive was the humanitarian assistance from European empires to economically and technologically inferior nations, the prevailing political and economic influences of the times guided the development project in a quite different direction. With the advent of industrialization, the dawn of capitalism and its increased demands for labor and natural resources, the momentum that fueled the mission to stimulate development in peripheral nations was intertwined with a slightly imperialistic ambition bent on extending the economic and militaristic power of Europe onto the rest of the continents in the world. Thus, as expressed by McMicheal, development had become a power relationship where the predominant objective was to “either adapt or marginalize colonial subjects to the European presence. Incidentally, the colonized nations had marginally benefited from the presence and development initiatives of their colonizers who built ports, roads, railways, schools and other social and economic infrastructures. It is however essential to note that these developments were intended to support and maintain the European occupation of their colonies.

During the twentieth century the development project began to take an interesting turn. European colonialism was collapsing as World War II had drained its military and economic power. A global movement of decolonization was reaching its peak, as Asian, Latin and African colonies began to demand their independence. The growing educated masses within the colonies began to shed light on the inherent immorality of colonization and thus psychologically broke its link to the implied benevolence of the development project. In consequence, development began to take on a new meaning, one that linked the birth of sovereign nations and their pursuit of economic development with that of social justice.
A new power, the United States of America, had emerged following the economic setbacks in Europe caused by the Second World War. It had become the most powerful nation in the world, surpassing all other powers economically, militaristically, and ideologically. Its image as the prime model of a developed nation warranted its position as an unofficial world leader. A new development paradigm emerged within this new world order that was to be led by the United States of America. The World was now virtually divided into developed and undeveloped regions. This division facilitated the defining of the new relationship between the two regions, where one side would pursue national economic growth while the other would provide assistance and guidance in the wealthier region’s endeavor. However, the existence of a rival economic power, the Soviet Union, and its competing communistic ideology proved to be a significant obstacle to nations with capitalistic politico-economic goals. The advent of this clashing economic ideology provided the motivation for America and its economic allies to assign to the development project a second agenda. This agenda was to secure the economic loyalty and resources of the developing world towards capitalistic ideals and values. This second motive is what prompted McMicheal to use the epithet ‘project’ so as to emphasize “the political content of development, as an organizing principle rather than an end in itself”. The development project therefore doubled as a scheme to promote the adoption of the First World’s concept of civilization and respectable standards of living in the rest the world. The development project was composed of two components to achieve its ends: A political framework and an economic framework.
The political framework of the development project was intended to emulate the politico-geographic structure of the First World where “Nation States were territorially defined political systems based on the government-citizen relationship that emerged in nineteenth century Europe.” Although the relative homogeneity of this political model within today’s world has created the impression that it is the only viable system of rule that has ever existed. The current division of, for instance, the African continent into pseudo-states with no respect to the natural ancestral boundaries, and its adoption of European style political systems were orchestrated in London and Paris by the ex-colonial powers, despite the African elites wishes. Indeed, the new paradigm of the development project facilitated the dependence of the so-called underdeveloped nations of the world on the aid of developed nations in this era while stripping them of their power to shape their own political systems and economies.
The other facet of the development project was its economic framework. While the economic growth of the underdeveloped nations was a principal concern of developed nations, their guidance in the manner in which it was to be pursued was implicitly a condition of their economic aid. Capitalism being the ideology that provided the impetus for economic growth in the First World, underdeveloped countries cultural practices that involved the sharing of wealth and cooperative labor were viewed as traditional obstacles to economic growth regardless of whether they sustained the community. However, the underdeveloped countries’ late start within this economic system based on free-enterprise and competition put them in a position of economic vulnerability in the face of the most seasoned capitalistic nations as they lacked the latter’s competitive technological and economic base. Just as the underdeveloped countries were receiving aid from their developed neighbors, they were also being economically dominated and exploited through their vulnerabilities within a capitalistic system where the survival of the fittest economy legitimately rules. The resulting outcome for the third world countries would be an endless cycle of economic dependence. This new relationship between the core and the periphery would latter on be branded as “Neo-colonialism”.

As newly independent nations were being created based on the western politico-economic model, they assumed their role in the new developed nation – underdeveloped nation relationship. Underdeveloped nations provided the raw materials, unskilled and marginally skilled labor, as they purchased First World technology and industrialized goods. However the technology and goods were mostly paid for with loans received from First World nation led international organizations which had been ostensibly set up to aid Third World countries in their economic development. With the goal of organizing international development cooperation and to foster a joint effort in reshaping the development project and its strategies, two Bretton Woods initiatives, the World Bank and The International Monetary Fund were created. In Addition to the United Nations, these organizations have taken the goals of the development project and now serve as its vehicle. They have thus received much criticism throughout the years, but they are slowly receiving pressure to define what authentic development entails and to gradually shift their missions to match the genuine needs of developing countries today.

Spirituality is the path of the heart.

2009-12-08T21:28:00.000-08:00

Religion is a consensus between human leaders of an organized group that claims to hold the truth. The nature of this truth is subject to these leaders often varying interpretations of their respective books which they all consider to be the absolute source of truth. These truths are then presented to their adherents, who based on their upbringing, use of intellect, degree of morality, type of background, geography, or any combination of these, will choose to embrace the interpretations or not.
Spirituality is the search of a direct connection with life through one’s innate sense of morality and earnest adherence to one's own conscience when unadulterated by one’s own personal biases and selfish desires. Spirituality is independent of geography, culture and time. Spirituality is the essence of religion and is all inclusive in its application to humanity. It has many paths, some of which are religious, other which or not. Yet it would be foolish to believe that spirituality could be achieved without the knowledge which comes from religion. For religion has long been the main distributer of spiritual knowledge; That is the knowledge of the spiritual dimensions of man and the various rituals, practices and philosophies that promote the expansion of man’s moral outlook and hence his spiritual growth. In fact, religion could be credited for keeping the level of true spirituality that exists today alive.
Yet it also has a dark side. How has religion become the basis upon which rested the fervor in men to commit atrocities towards humanity such as that of, slavery, colonization, misguided jihads, the crusades, religious terrorisms and other religiously motivated acts of violence? The answer lies in the motivation of the leaders of these violent religious movements, whether the movements describe themselves as religious or not.
The books upon which the religious groups which commit these acts are based could scarcely be blamed for their interpretations, because they mostly all promote a message of peace and brotherhood within humanity. But it is easy for man to silence their own conscience when atrocities are being committed in the name of what they believe to be the divine. All the while authorities, which hold the power of shaping the moral code of their followers, do so in a manner which guaranties their survival as a religion and maintains their power over mankind along with the exalted position they find themselves in.
At the same time, people who have risen to denounce the inhumanities of the world are often ignored, silenced or killed. These people are listened to and respected based on their virtue and the human quality of their message. These particular teachers may have different religious backgrounds or non-religious approaches to spiritual growth, yet they all agree upon the value of human life and the necessity for peace within humanity. They all understand the connection each one of us has with the rest of humanity and even the rest of existence. Based on this connection they can see that what we do affects the rest of humanity through a complex series of reverberations which thus cause a domino effect of positivity or negativity which then ripples throughout the consciousness of men. Spirituality and science are at agreement that nothing is destroyed only transformed. Therefore by condoning negative actions such as retaliation instead of understanding we transform the positive inclinations of the men whom we consider enemies, sometimes along with that of their friends and family who are potentially young and innocent, into a negative focus which eventually surfaces as another atrocity that we often immediately accept as a validation of our own vile acts. This is why the world needs spirituality as the uniting web that connects us all regardless of our religions or allegiances. All should be free to follow their own paths to spiritual growth and fulfillment in this life, without the self-righteousness of those who believe that they hold the absolute truth to the extent of validating the taking of the lives and the sustenance of their so called enemies.
Is it not possible to stand up for what we believe in and yet do so peacefully?
Has our heart not helped us distinguish right from wrong throughout our lifetime?
The most important affliction on humanity is nothing else but the pollution of the heart through the conditioning of the mind. It is this conditioning which allows us to view that which is obviously contrary to love and respect of humanity as acceptable. While deep within our heart we all know our individual responsibility towards peace and when the effects of our actions contradict our natural sense of morality as human beings.

Spirituality isn't a religion, it is our earnest search for the truth and our belief that this truth must accord the same opportunity for joy and dignity to all of humanity regardless of our distinct natural human characteristics and backgrounds. It is identified in man by his genuineness and wealth in true virtue. It is the voice within our own heart that guides us towards peace and harmony.

Powers that be.

2008-10-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

Essay Question: Some observers have said that the state has become increasingly irrelevant in the face of transnational corporations and international governing bodies such as the World Trade Organization and international financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Others have argued the centrality of the state.
Based on our readings to this point, do you believe that the state is still a relevant actor in determining the course of development within that state’s border? What examples from our readings support your view that the state either is relevant or otherwise?

Introduction:

Whether it has emerged by chance or vision, the establishment of institutions which hold power and influence over the masses has long been a strategy for leading societies to greater social and economic prosperity. These institutions have come about in the form of monarchies and later on governments which possess relative control over the natural resources and organization of the population’s activities and livelihood. The very prevalence in our world of this social construct’s existence and its purpose in maintaining a relatively stable society could be an argument for its necessity. As Hobbes states “Since each person sought power over others, a highly destructive process ensued in which extreme social and economic uncertainty were the norm: the ‘life of man’ under these conditions could only be solitary, poor, nasty brutish and short…to avoid such fate, rational individuals would recognize the need for a state to impose order on the people”However, the world’s political and economic dynamics have become more complex today and it has become increasingly difficult to determine where the real powers influencing the direction of a society’s development lies. As the reality of globalization has made its presence more conspicuous in the world, geographical borders have become increasingly blurry as far as the influences from the various powers that determine a society’s development are concerned. In our times, a government’s power is subject to various competing influences, such as those of transnational corporations, the lingering role of religious institutions, international governing bodies, governments of neighboring nations, and other local political or military organizations within the nation’s borders. A state’s relevance as an actor in ultimately deciding the course of development within its borders is contingent upon its relative strength and its ability to suppress the multitude of competing powers with which it coexists.

Competing Powers from within the State’s Borders

Religious Institutions:

Even within the countries which possess a stable and influential government there are other powers that influence the populace in a significant yet sometimes subtle manner. As a government’s strength weakens these powers’ presence makes itself more manifest within the society. Religious institutions are one of these types of powers. This is what makes them a force to be reckoned with and governments will usually collaborate with them mainly out of necessity. A good example that demonstrates the power of religious institutions is evident in the case of the current situation in Iraq. After the fall of Saddam Hussein and hence the dismantling of the Iraqi government, two influential radical Islamic groups emerged to fill in the political void. Sunni and Shiites were already significant powers that made their presence felt in the political arena. However, in the absence of a secular government, they perceived the opportunity to take control over the entire country. The American occupation, which is a power in its own right, has attempted to bolster a democratic government in Iraq, thus making themselves an obstacle in the way of these religious forces. The resulting magnitude of the conflict taking place in Iraq and the obstinate resistance of these religious sects is testimony to the extent of power that religious institutions may hold within a state’s borders. Moreover, the support from neighboring countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia based on religious affinity demonstrates religious institutions’ power to influence the political dynamics in a country, even from outside of its borders.

Non-Government Political and Military Powers inside the State:

Some organizations or institutions emerge and grow in power within the nation when it is in a state of anarchy. This state of anarchy typically begins with a crisis of some sort; one which leads to social unrest and eventually political upheaval. All events, whether natural or human, that bring about conditions of social disruption and disorder are likely to become breeding grounds for criminal organizations, rebel groups, as well as radical and fundamentalist groups. The people’s trust in the legitimate government, especially in these times, and its ability to sustain peace and order is crucial to its maintenance of power within the state. Once this trust is broken or significantly shaken, the masses tend to turn to other powers which may sometimes rely on violence and tyranny to maintain a corrupted kind of order. The government’s relevance is therefore tightly connected with its success in preventing or effectively obviating the type of factors which weaken its political strength, and in suppressing illegitimate and unruly powers from within, and occasionally from outside, its borders. Many real world examples illustrate this type of situation where the government loses its power due to the dire environmental and social conditions that prevail within its state borders. For instance, in Sierra Leone a 27 year old army captain, Valentine Strasser, has taken control of most of the rural interior of the country, making the government powerless within this territory. This critical political disturbance was made possible by, among other things, the state of environmental degradation of the rural area which robbed the locals of their livelihood and the disaffection it engendered within the various village leaders of the region. In this case the government became irrelevant following its inability to mend the socio-economic conditions which drove a number of its citizens to join the rebel army. Strasser’s access to military grade weapons as well as the significantly sized rebel army under control also played a role in the rebel leader’s ability to secure for himself and his cronies a sort of illegitimate rule over the region, and hence his establishment of a criminal military government.

Competing Powers from outside the State’s Borders

Foreign States

Governments understand the scope of influence that they may wield with aggressive trade, military might and propaganda. This influence is often used deliberately to shape foreign countries into states that can eventually provide economic, political and military benefits from the hegemonic nation. This manner of acquiring power within another states borders acts as some form of imperialism or modern colonialism where the hijacking of power is more subtle and often covert. The United States of America is a prime example of a nation which resorts to such forms of power acquisition, although many other nations such as China use their influence in this manner as well. A government’s democratic control within its state’s borders is dependent on both its legitimacy in the eyes of the people but also on the masses’ sense of nationalism. Diplomatic tactics such as propaganda which aims to gain some kind of loyalty from foreign states’ civilians serve to facilitate the acting nation’s efforts to spread their influence beyond their borders. Though the power gained from such actions isn’t always remarkable it certainly can be a game changer in the political dynamics between the propagandist nation and the receiving one. In Addition, the use of intelligence agencies, transparent or otherwise military occupations and the exercise of economic leverage (which we shall elucidate further in the following section), all serve to weaken part of foreign states’ governments for exploitative purposes.

International Institutions

Though many of the international institutions contain the word “international”, “world” or some synonym of those words in their title, in actuality they are mostly dominated by a few individual nations. When the individualistic interests of these nations are in conflict with the all-inclusive goals of the organization, often these nations’ ambitions are the ones that prevail. International institutions can sometimes be used as an extension of an economically powerful nation’s political arm to effectively push its own pet ideologies upon other less powerful nations. This trend is exemplified by the core nations’ use of the World Bank and the IMF to impose neo-liberal and capitalist economic solutions to nations seeking international aid. Countries that resist these ideologies or worse resort to opposing ideologies such as communism are either alienated from all aid or sanctioned economically. The kind leverage that nations which contribute substantial financial support to international organizations enjoy provides them with a means of hijacking some of the decision power of developing countries as far as determining the course of development within their own borders is concerned.

Transnational Corporations

Facilitated by the spread of capitalism and globalization, transnational corporations are playing an increasingly important role in the course of development of a country. Oftentimes the state will welcome these corporations presence in their country as a strategy to increase employment and further their economic growth. However, transnational institutions will sometimes play a negative role in the development of a country and foster a trend of corruption from within the state’s government. Transnational companies that intend to use inhumane and environmentally damaging methods of production, for instance, find that corrupted governments create a favorable environment for their endeavors. Additionally, mass advertizing could be viewed as some commercial sort of propaganda, as the population is lured into the consumption of international products at the expense of their own local goods. A developing state will lose its power to make effective policies that benefit its people, when its government officials are consistently being tempted to accept bribes from transnational companies. Especially the ones seeking profit with the fewest government restrictions to the manner in which they are legally allowed to acquire it.

Conclusion:

The quick answer to the question of whether “the state is still a relevant actor in determining the course of development within its border?” is “It depends…” However, current trends lend credibility to the notion that the state is becoming increasingly irrelevant due to internal and external influences. The state is constantly struggling for its survival as the ultimate ruling power and its failure is always a potentiality looming ahead, especially for the ineffective and the disaster-prone state. Any event within the state which is liable to cause a state of anarchy, and therefore state failure, needs to be promptly obviated for the state to remain relevant within its borders. The main focus should be keeping the nation socially stable, whether it is by satisfying the citizens’ needs in order to stay elected in a democratic regime or by preventing the population from reaching its threshold of dissatisfaction in a dictator regime. Once the population is lacking its basic needs such as food, water, and a descent livelihood, state failure becomes immanent and the competing powers from within and outside the state begin to seep at the states power and compromise its relevance. Other factors that determine state failure and hence its relevance in directing the course of development are its control of the physical territory within the state borders, its monopoly on the legitimate use of force its ability to maintain the functioning of public services, and to represent the nation as a full member of the international community.

Lets not just make art, lets become art!

2008-09-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

Anybody else notice how the music has become adulterated. There are so many horrible musicians today who dont produce anything of real substance. The substance I speak of is soul. You dont need to be black to "have soul" or be "soulful", even though the term has long been reserved for the African American style of singing. Having soul is the quality of singing or playing from the heart or well... from the soul. When artists are motivated by greed their music is bland and lacks that true substance that finds itself touching our very being. Some greedy artists make great music, dont get me wrong. But I'm willing to bet that when they are actually creating music, they do so out of a genuine love for music and the creative process. There is something spiritual and even healing about playing music this way. My mom used to say that she worships God through creating art. This makes lots of sense to me, because a true artist lets a higher part of themselves do the creating. The mind or ego is only involved as a tool for the soul, which is the true self.
I think that art is powerful because of this. It transcends our false selves that we have learned to associate with through experience and social indoctrination. It reveals the ego for what it is, a tool.
Michelangelo is known to have said that "The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection"
The true work of Art is perfection in a way. The process is characterized by a dissociation with one's ego and a oneness with the true self. This is why we become so absorbed when performing from the soul. It almost feels like it is not coming from us. But what if... What if just as we were all caught up in the fallacy of a flat earth in the past, today we are lost in mistaking our ego for our true self. What if we are lost to the extent that only from time to time does our real self surface from within to do something unexpected and often extraordinary. Inspiration and Innovation come from that place we call "the true self". Imagine a life uncontrolled by any exterior forces but this self. This self which is still connected to the divine, and in fact is divine itself. We would be true art ourselves. You would be a living work of art!
The more one gets to know one's true self the more they seem to be different. They emanate something powerful from their personality, something attractive that you just cant put your finger on. We all hate the thought of being controlled by others yet when we are controlled by our ego that is exactly what is occurring. After all, the ego is but a combination of memes (any idea or behavior that can pass from one person to another by learning or imitation) that come from without. If we lived the same way that we create true art, putting our souls (our heart) in everything we do to make it come out beautiful, we would truly be ourselves. We would use our experience to guide our life, instead of have our experience, along with fear and pride control our life.

No longer content with making art, let us become Art ourselves!

You are born... once again.

2008-07-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

You are born. The journey thus begins. You see light for the first time and its violent brightness painfully blinds you, announcing the suffering that awaits you in this herein earth. But you keep your eyes open, as if you know, instinctively, that something good lies behind this discomfort. Against the urge to close your eyes pushes a stronger force, the impulse that stems directly from the soul. An intelligence channels through the collective unconscious and on to the mind, delivering a guidance that moves the body and directs its most minute processes with the purpose of ensuring your survival in this new world; just as it has previously done and continues to do for all the flora and fauna in this temporary home called earth. This intelligence instills in you an urge to keep your awareness focused on the light despite the uneasiness of the task. Finally, through the light, forms begin to take shape. You get your first glimpse at beauty and it sets in motion a feeling of curiosity that will hereon drive you towards seeking to appreciate and contemplating the world around you and all its pleasures. Suddenly it occurs to you that these shapes and forms that you see have different properties. For example, some are endowed with movement and others remain still. Similarities and patterns emerge and stimulate your mind. You remember these patterns and use them to understand other patterns. You’ve been introduced to logic and its role in acquiring a certain type of wealth of intuitive importance called knowledge. About the same time that all this visual and psychological phenomena is taking place, you become aware of another sort of stimuli. At first it is a cacophony of sounds analogical to the visual chaos you experienced earlier. Soon, distinct sounds begin to become apparent. Your mother speaks. The richness and spiritually charged voice of a human being strikes you as being both beautiful and substantial. It is a familiar voice; one you feel a deep and intense emotional connection to. You begin to feel a loving vibe flow through your entire body. The feeling is pure and comforting. Its substance immediately strikes you as divine. You cherish it and search for that feeling for the rest of your life… until you find it in, amongst other sources, a soulmate, a lover of pure intent, a child, a true friend or in life itself.
Yet at one point you get caught up in the mental world which you have created with a little the help from your environment, and through your natural yearning for independence and individuality. Your connection to the intelligence now hangs by a thread. Somewhere along the line you forgot how to maintain your link to its abundance of inspiration and intuitive guidance, and you began to rely on the imperfection of your own mind and sometimes on the mind of other fellow human beings who have lost their connection as well. A second birth thus becomes necessary. A second glimpse into the light of divine knowledge that can only be seen through the eyes of a lover, one who seeks to reunite with its beloved; the intelligence; the source of intuition; the instinct that guides all living beings on this earth towards their true purpose and towards a true individuality which emanates directly from your soul. But the mind fiercely resists losing its exaggerated role in guiding your life, and holds firmly onto the fallacy of its omniscience and of its imagined sense of control. So there is discomfort; there is suffering…
However, you endure; you persist with steadfast patience and faith in the guiding voice of the intelligence. You embrace its call for love. The beauty and comforting feeling of love rekindles its flame and brings you back to the connection to the source which you then strive to solidify and maintain until the new life that is death welcomes you to the next journey that awaits you.

The Emergence of new Economic Paradigms: Specifically Ecological Economics

2008-06-17T14:34:00.000-07:00

Introduction:

Starting from the prehistoric ages of primitive tool-making to our era of complex technology, humanity has used the earth and its resources to ensure its survival and provide itself with a sense of well-being and comfort through material means. However, as our capacity for technological development continues to advance, so does our ability to exploit and harness the planet’s natural resources to satisfy our growing social and economic demands. This trend has been going on for centuries and even millenniums but in the recent years has it begun to jeopardize our livelihood; and if uncontrolled it is likely to threaten our very existence. The environmental and natural sciences have long ago revealed the potential vulnerability of our planet and forewarned us of the dire consequences of the burdens we continue to subject the earth to with our reckless pursuit of economic growth. Today the planet seems to be validating claims of a limit to its resilience and a threshold after which irreversible natural events may come into manifestation. While ignorance of the extent of the burden we subject the planet to has hitherto provided leeway for our actions to persist. The escalation in frequency and magnitude of natural disasters such as tsunamis, hurricanes and earth quakes, as well as the alarming rate at which arctic glaciers are melting, testify to the immediacy of the environmental crisis that looms upon us. Faced with this global exigency, neoclassical economists have been forced to reevaluate their original models representing the economy’s relationship with the ecosystem. Indeed, in light of our realization of the detrimental effects that human activities can have on the environment, a new economic paradigm has also emerged and is gaining an increasing level of popularity amongst scholars in both the economics discipline and the ecology discipline. This philosophy, as it is has occasionally been described, is called ecological economics.
In addition, to dealing with its weaknesses as far as its relationship with the environment is concerned, neoclassical economics may also benefit from clarifying the ultimate goal of its science and redirecting its efforts towards reaching its stated purpose. In this paper, we will begin by:
1. Explaining the generally accepted aims and concepts of neoclassical economics, and discussing its efforts to approach the problem of environmental pollution.
3. We describe the field of ecological economics and contrast it with neoclassical economics
4. We then go on to briefly discuss a few other economic paradigms and illustrate their potential contributions to mainstream economics to aid it in achieving its goals.

Neoclassical Economics:

The discipline of economics itself emerged from a need to deal with the problem of producing goods for the maximum of consumers, given a limited amount of available resources. It concerns itself with providing an optimal standard of living for both our generation and the ones to come. Neoclassical economics has used a plethora of mathematical and statistical tools as well as developed complex models to aid it in this endeavor. Today it finds itself a prisoner of its own tools and assumptions whose role of simplifying complex economic realities into models has reduced the potential of its prediction capabilities. Ironically, Neoclassical Economics was born in light of the lack of educated foresight of its predecessor Classical Economics. Its predecessor’s lack of foresight was epitomized by Thomas Malthus’ dismal theory concerning the fate of the world’s future living standards. He predicted that due to the fact that food supply was subject to an arithmetic rate of growth while the population’s rate of growth was exponential, humans were bound to reach a point where standards of living would be reduced to deplorable conditions. Basing itself on Malthus’ theory, classical economists widely held the view that the environment set a limit to economic growth. The progress of technological advances and its effect on the development of a more productive agriculture dismantled Malthus’ theory and classical economics itself with it. From its ruins emerged a new economics known today as Neo-classical economics; which is considered nowadays as the mainstream economics. Being a social science ostensibly dependent on interdisciplinary knowledge, neoclassical economics has been lead to many sound economic conclusions based on general wisdom born from other disciplines. However, it is clear that its current resistance to the input of the natural sciences, for example, has also resulted in incomplete or erroneous assumptions concerning ecological systems that have and will lead to economic decisions that fail to be optimal in the long run. Indeed neoclassical economics’ theory of the rational “economic man” has been shown to be lacking soundness, for it is frequently the case that man has overexploited the earth’s resources in the search for economic gain to the point of losing his very source of income. Of course this does not make the discipline itself invalid but it does argue for its inevitable imperfection and thus a need for improvement. Fortunately economists are aware of the disciplines’ weaknesses and have given birth to a few sub-disciplines to resolve some of these issues. Environmental Economics and Resource Economics are the offspring that have come about as an academic means to address mainstream economics’ failure to properly deal with the negative externalities that are pollution and a lack of sustainability. However, as subfields of the discipline, they mostly utilize the same tools and rest within the same paradigm as mainstream economics. Consequently their approach to environmental issues remains roughly the same as Neoclassical Economics. As described by (Daly and Farley 2004) “…conventional economics sees the economy, the entire macro-economy as a whole. To the extent that nature or the environment is considered at all, they are thought as parts or sectors of the macro-economy.” Ecological economics, however views the economy with a whole new perspective.

Ecological Economics and its contrasts with Neoclassical Economics:

Departing from the prevailing economic way of viewing the environment, Ecological economics offers a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the relationship between the economy and the environment. Again as put by (Daly and Farley 2004) “ Ecological economics, by contrast, envisions the macro-economy as part of a larger enveloping and sustaining whole—namely, the Earth, its atmosphere, and its ecosystem. The economy is seen as an open subsystem of that larger Ecosystem”. As opposed to Neoclassical Economics, Ecological economics strives to adopt an economic development path that does not lead to an eventual transgression of the earth’s resilience threshold. The discipline utilizes the knowledge that is generated from the natural sciences in its endeavor to reconcile economic growth with ecological sustainability. It acknowledges the uncertainty that is characteristic of the risks involved in our manipulation and transformation of the earth. While Neoclassical Economics naively postulates that future technological advances will have the ability to undo the consequences of our uninformed and environmentally pernicious activities, Ecological economics approaches uncertainty with prudence and astuteness. The latter discipline is aware of the dangerous repercussions of running blindly into the obscurity of unknown possibilities and outcomes that may turn out to be harmful and even irreversible. Therefore it relies on the guidance of the natural sciences whose expertise and understanding of the ecological system give it a better assessment of the possibilities for economic growth that run the least environmental risks possible. Though mainstream economics has begun to work with the concept of sustainability it still lags behind ecological economics’ broad focus on maintaining the integrity of the environment and its resources for the benefit of future generations; this is because it believes that future generation’s quality of life should not be largely discounted in favor of overconsumption in the present generation. Ecological Economics recognizes that there are three elements of sustainability that need to be attained in any community; that is economic sustainability but also social sustainability and ecological sustainability. The Economy, the ecology and society are complex systems that are intertwined and interconnected. When one of these systems is left uncontrolled and does not seek to advance for the benefit of the rest of the systems, it inevitably finds itself affected. In fact, veritable economic efficiency, considers the costs and benefits across all the systems that affect the economy. It seeks to obtain the true costs of such activities that cause a depletion of natural resources. It concerns itself with the effect that certain economic activities may have on society itself and the integrity of social capital. It captures the environmental and health costs of activities that produce large quantities of waste, air pollution, water pollution etc… The realization of all these costs should naturally bring the economy towards efficiency and sustainability. Value is another concept where neoclassical economists and ecological economists diverge in perspective. To the first, value is narrowly defined and totally determined by either the market price or an individual’s stated willingness to pay. The latter suggests that the theory of value should be represented in all its complexity by incorporating the intrinsic value, aesthetic value, intrinsic value, socio-cultural value as well as the economic value of a good or service, whether it be provided by nature of by human labor.

Other Emerging Economic Paradigms:

As mentioned earlier, Neoclassical Economics’ failure to address many of its weaknesses adequately has opened the door for new economic paradigms to emerge through the umbrella of a few disciplines including that of economics itself. In this section of the paper we discuss these new economic approaches and their potential contributions to creating sustainability driven and comprehensive field of economics.

Schumacher’s Economics (Dubbed “Buddhist Economics”):

“Buddhist economics” as it is called today, was made popular in the west by author Ernest Friedrich Schumacher through his book “Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered”. In his book Schumacher argues that conventional economics’ blind pursuit of profit should not be at the expense of the very people’s quality of life that the discipline is intended to preserve and enhance. He not only envisions changing the conventional economic paradigm but also the type of society it is producing. Buddhist economics views the trend of consumerism started by the prevailing economic ideology as phenomena that inevitably ends in the overconsumption and depletion of our finite resources. It seeks to change the sort of economic environment that promotes such behavior. Inspired by spiritual values offered by the Buddhist religion; Buddhist economics goes even deeper than merely attempting to change economic concepts and assumptions. It seeks to change the way of life of the actors that make the economy, thus creating a different economic dynamic from its roots; by changing the people’s approach to fulfilling their individual lives. Buddhist economics aims at the very core of neoclassical economics ultimate goal; which is to increase people’s well being or standards of living. However it does not see material acquisitions as the principal solution to increasing well-being. Though it concedes that material possessions are important it does not abide to the slogan “more is better” but more so “small is beautiful”. Buddhist economists are similar to ecological economists in their belief that the ecosystem, the human species and the rest of the species in the planet are interconnected and their vision of the economy both includes sustainability that transcends continents and generations.

Anthropological Economics:

Anthropological economics, notably its culturalist position, is a nascent field born from the discipline of anthropology. It observes that mainstream economics is does not adequately approach different cultures in its endeavor to promote economic development. It criticizes conventional economics for its universal application of western economic models in culturally different communities around the world. It attributes many of neoclassical economics’ failure to implement sound policies in developing countries to the fact that their models are not indicative of the socio-cultural realities that are inextricably connected to the economy. Anthropological economics believes that every society has its “local model” that must be understood before any economic changes can take place through the making of policies. These local models carry with them assumptions that are sensitive to local psychology and society of a given community. Concepts such as value, exchange property and even profit are occasionally different from that of the west and must be studied if those countries are to benefit for any foreign economic advice.

Conclusion:

This paper is not meant to claim that neoclassical economics is an invalid science, incapable of contributing to the advancement of human affairs in the world. It has definitely played a great role in the great economies that have emerged in our times, such as that of the United States and even China. However, the survival of neoclassical economics depends on its ability to address contemporary issues and accurately predict and obviate future obstacles to economic prosperity. It is undoubtedly paramount that economic growth which hinders the ecology be adequately accounted for within the economic field, especially given the knowledge that we have of the dangers of ignoring human activities harmful effects to the environment and ultimately to ourselves. Ecological economics as well as Buddhist economics and even Anthropological economics have a lot to offer in insight concerning the transformation of mainstream economics into one that is sustainable, efficient and applicable across the globe as diverse as it is.

The Individuation Process (An essay)

2008-06-17T04:10:00.000-07:00

I’m sure psychologists have already come up with an interpretation of the psyche and the self such as the one I am explaining in this essay; probably using all sorts of psycho-lingo. Or maybe they haven’t… However, I felt like sharing my interpretation of some aspects of our psyche and what we call the self and its interactions with the psyche in my own words. “Who am I?” is probably the most popular philosophical question known to mankind, maybe right after “What is the meaning of life?” I’m going to go start by trying to answer the first question, while trying to be the least presumptuous possible. Within the complexity of our psyche and the personality it brings into manifestation for the world to see, is a governing part of ourselves. It could be called “our awareness”, “the observing self”, “The man in the machine” or what I will call here “the self”. The self is influenced by impulses of various strengths springing from a various number of internal and external stimuli. But really, the internal stimuli are the most important and are ultimately the factors that influence us the most. If we use the metaphor of the man in the machine, the psyche would be the operating system and the various software it works with, the brain would be the computer hardware, the body is the machine and the self would be the man in the machine. We go about our business every day, using our minds to tend to our daily activities and occasionally to solve a inner or outer conflict, but all the while I think most of us are aware that there are other forces within our psyche that influence the way we conduct our lives. We may glimpse at these forces if we shed some light on them, that is to say that we observe and pay attention to them. We (the self) are actually very simple in our functions, or what we can do. It helps if you regard the psyche as a psychic body in analogy to our physical (biological) body. Only this body is far more complex and we can actually live the rest of our lives without ever noticing the existence of “organs” and “members” that constitute it. What are the abilities of the self (you)?
1. We can illuminate. That is to say you can pay attention without altering or entertaining a process we are observing. We are therefore aware of the process. Example: You may catch yourself thinking about something and watch your mind engaged into a process of free association. It is important to realize that we are not our thoughts and our mind is a thought generating machine.
2. Or we can alter a process, but first you would illuminate it which is a prerequisite to all conscious actions that we can make. Example: the mind generates thoughts such as “I wonder how I’m going to pay my student loans” But then you decide “I don’t want to think about that right now” and so you consciously decide to think about something else, such as “I love my significant other… I wonder what he or she is doing right now” and hence the free associating machine that is your mind begins its thought generating process in a different direction. Of course it isn’t always this easy and there is a reason for this but explaining that would make my own free associating machine drift in a different direction than the one pertaining to this subject. (Maybe later)
3. We can entertain a process. Or one could say that we can fuel the process. This particular action gives energy to the process in addition to the initial momentum it received from mere awareness when it first started. Example: When we dwell on a thought process. “Why did he act like that with me?” “What a jerk!” “what is his problem anyway” and usually after a few more thought associations the mind runs out of ideas and returns to “Why did he act like that with me?” or it cleverly shifts in another similar direction like “My dad acted like that towards me too, what a jerk he is” then maybe the association about the dad is exhausted and the mind may turn to generalizing “All men are jerks” (now let’s talk about that for a few hours). The trouble here is that once the mind is ordered to fuel a process it gets so carried away and it takes a tremendous amount of willpower to stop it. This willpower is used not by ordering the process to stop which, ironically, will fuel it even more but by refusing to entertain it any further. This means going through the ordeal of being patient as a train of now undesired thoughts pass by and eventually become moribund.
4. We can actually block a process. The mind is the best artificial intelligence ever. When a process is entertained a significant number of times it begins to give rise to this process on its own; if caught early enough the process can be interrupted right away. But one must understand what process they are blocking so as not to avoid one that is painful or uncomfortable yet necessary. (This is another subject that if I commented more on, would distract us from the main topic).
As explained earlier the psyche can be compared to the body and its various organs and members but in a far more complex way. Sometimes the body does its own thing, such as when you scratch your head without being conscious of it. This is more the body organ which is the brain doing its own thing though. The psyche has been well explained by known psychologists such as Freud and Jung; however we must remember that these are but models of the psyche, because the psyche is so complex that we can only explain it through the use of models. A few components of these models include the super-ego, the collective consciousness, the anima, the animus and the persona, which are all aspects of the psyche. Here I don’t really introduce any new components or models, but more so make an interpretation based on these psychologists concepts of the psyche. You (the self) are, metaphorically, are endowed with a torch and supply of energy with which to allocate energy wherever you please. The catch is that few of us, and dare I say none of us, have total control over this energy. Through unconscious processes and habits that we developed since childhood our mind (maybe I can call it the ego) automatically allocates the energy to processes that we have decided to entertain time and again in the past. These automatic processes create tendencies or proclivities and eventually form a great part of our personality. Now I must explain a little about the personality. Many of us, especially those with very intelligent, curious and explorative minds end up having such complex personalities that, inevitably, conflicting processes begin to form and clash against each other. Not only does this cause a tremendous waste of energy but it results in an overwhelming feeling of unease and is the source of many intelligent people’s eventual neurosis. The thing about personalities is that they are not us though they use the ego to try to make us believe this. They become self preserving entities, if you will. (Now you probably think I’m crazy, but just stay with me please). There are not any sentient and independent entities hanging around in the psyche. That is not what I’m saying. But a personality is basically an artificial intelligence programmed by us, through the years. Of course their programming was not entirely our doing but that is especially because at a young age we are not aware of ourselves enough to deliberately shape the direction of our personality. They are mostly shaped by our environment, and biological peculiarities; so by nature and nurture. However when one reaches a certain level of awareness, he is then able to alter and create different parts of the personality, but it requires energy. One must not mistake this to mean that you can be whoever you want. It is practically impossible to completely form a whole new personality. But one can alter and reform a personality that is already programmed. The goal is to have as few clashing aspects of our personality as possible, so as to use our limited amount of psychic energy efficiently. Also I am not saying that we all have multi-personality disorders, although I suspect that this happens when the mind pathologically decides to organize each conflicting aspect of our personality and branch them out into two separate personalities that take their turn at controlling the ego; which I believe is extremely rare (Kind of like Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) . But how does one change their personality to one that works for them instead of against them? Because sometimes we can become prisoners of our personalities and become unable to do things we feel we need or want to, due to its influence on us.
First one must understand, once again, that we are not our personality. We are our “soul”, “the observing self”, or simply “the self”. By identifying ourselves with the personality, which is a major part of our ego, we provide it with too much energy which it uses for self preservation purposes. When in danger of losing energy it uses all the energy it has for its survival and influences the ego’s thought production capability to produce thoughts in that endeavor. This is when thoughts such as “I won’t be myself anymore” which instills the fear of the loss of self arise. But it is untrue that we will no longer be “ourselves” because we cannot completely rid ourselves of a personality anyway, we can only take away the energy it uses to control our actions unconsciously. Besides, we need a personality to function in this world but when its programs have aspects that we find undesirable we should be able to alter them. I am not speaking of “the persona” here, by the way, which is actually a part of our personality that is meant to temporarily suppress the aspects of our personality that are undesirable in specific social settings and also acts like artificial intelligence (acting out the way it has been programmed, but unconsciously as well). Second, when dealing with conflicting aspects of our personalities, we need to make a choice as to which conflicting aspect we want to entertain. Usually our unconscious with its self healing properties takes this task upon itself. Our idea of personalities have come to include likes and dislikes in addition to habits, this is why people begin to become afraid when their strong interests, likes or dislikes change. They feel like they are losing who they are. But a personality is ever changing; it is part of psychological growth. We usually accept this until the change is too dramatic to our liking. Sometimes knowledge that has been organized by the unconscious and is ready for delivery to the conscious mind is halted because it is incompatible with the person’s current personality. In this situation the unconscious which functions using emotions first and then dreams and then neurosis begins to actively attempt to coerce us to change. It uses emotions by making us feel uneasy about the aspects of our personality it seeks to change. If that doesn’t work it sends hints in the form of dreams to point us to the change we should be working towards. And finally it may push us into a neurosis which basically means it has decided to take the changing of the personality in its own hands and hence clashes with the resisting conscious mind. Of course at this point one feels gradually very uncomfortable with themselves until either they give in, or the overcome this desperate move of the unconscious.
The purpose of this is what Jung called “individuation” which is basically our individual path to self-realization, our own version of perfection and ultimate self-fulfillment. It is possible to resist this process and the ego will help in this endeavor. The consequences will be a stunted psyche however; one that has not reached the maturity that it was destined to. The problem is that once one has begun resisting the unconscious’ request for change, giving in becomes just as uncomfortable as resisting. Once the ego has been given a chance to take part in this “battle” It will not easily relinquish its role. It will begin to use various tricks and strategies to remain a factor. One of these strategies is projection. By projection I mean that it will target a person one is close to, usually a parent or authority figure with similar characteristics to the direction of this change in the personality, on which to project this desire for change. One begins to think and feel as if this parent, for example, is coercing them to change and hence reinforce their aversion to the process. Resistance becomes easier if it seems like one is resisting an exterior force as suppose to an inner urge. The ego will, of course, reinforce the fear of change and come up with rationalizations that support this fear. One may then either remains in conflict with oneself, causing all sorts of psychological nuisances, or actually succeed in suppressing the inchoate aspect of the personality that the unconscious seeks to bring about. In this case one is found, as mentioned earlier, stunted in their psyche’s development or at the very least slowed down until this aspect is reactivated somehow. If however one gives in to the unconscious’ signal to change, energy eventually becomes freed up once the personality’s integrity has been reestablished, and one finds himself or herself with more energy left for creative endeavors and other activities. Also the knowledge and the possibilities that were blocked become available and the person finds themselves with an increased level of peace and greater confidence and psychic integrity. All this will however follow the ordeal, which one is better of going through deliberately.

Disclaimer and Acknowledgments: I’m not a psychologist, but I am very interested in the subject. So this essay can simply be seen as an opinion of which some parts are subject to change in the future, given new information. I believe that the discipline is the most important field in academia, because it concerns the minds of people which are the foundation of everything created or that can be potentially created in this world. My ideas are based on my reading of a few of the many great minds of our time; that is Carl Gustav Jung, Sigmund Freud, Victor Franz, Arthur Deikman, Eckhart Tolle, etc…

Thoughts of a Neo-Patriot

2008-06-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

I thought i coined this term, but you know what they say " Nothing is new under the sun"
Here is the definition of a Neo patriot according to someone's post on www.punkbands.com's forum.

"One might ask what a Neo Patriot is. That's easy: someone who is dedicated and committed to the liberation of one's self, society, government, environment and world. They are those who are not blinded behind racist barriers of national pride and superiority, but instead fighting for real change and progress! A Neo Patriot is one who is so deeply concerned with true justice that he or she will never stop to see truth and liberation prevail. Tired of listening to the same fascist fucks speak of "freedom", yet beat your ass for questioning their system? - SO ARE WE!!!"

Wow! I could not have defined it better. Power to the people!

I Wrote this on 7/22/2005. Probably inspired by my disaproval of our foreign policy.

Sometimes when I reflect on the state of the world, I think about how far we have advanced scientifically and technologically. I mean the technology that we have available to us today is amazing! And the magnitude of its possibilities would bewilder our ancestors of only a century away. Some of the knowledge today's common people have in all domains of life, including psychology, medicine and physics among others, eluded even the greatest the geniuses of the past. But what I really wondered and am struggling to figure out is whether we were advancing socially, ethically and morally.For example, I honestly believe that it is every American’s wish is that one day we will attain World Peace. But so many of us are misguided in how we should achieve this dream. We vote for a president who believes war is the solution to achieving peace (though some may argue that we didnt vote for him), who believes that we should sacrifice the environment we live and depend on just so we can get technological and economic benefits that future generations may not even be able to take advantage of. It’s like someone whose house is falling apart but whom instead of investing in its maintenance, insists on investing in new furniture and electronic products that will soon be ruined with the house.Also, our president doesn’t even care about providing aid to the poorest people in continents like Africa. Why would he? After all he ignores the poor in his own country.Instead we whine about the upcoming prosperity of self developed countries such as China and the effect of their affluence on our economy. It’s funny how China’s blooming economy seems to have become “l’Ordre du jour”, an imminent threat to our way of life and financial security. Maybe some wonder how God can bless America and then also bless another country. Is it that our greatness may be diminished by another’s success? "But we are leaders in the world! Maybe our place as leaders will be in jeopardy", some may remark.Leaders of what? Maybe leaders of a nation to whom no rules apply but at the same time to whom the enforcement of rules that are to their advantage is a primary concern. We are providers of aid with strings attached to those in need. Protectors of the weak and oppressed if they happen to have some way to pay us back, or if they provide us with a chance to exercise our secret vendetta against their oppressor. This is a few of the many reasons why sometimes I couldn’t help but to scoff at the futility of praying for world peace.Evidently we are not the only country responsible for the world as a whole, though when convenient we seem to act like we are. But we are indeed that most powerful nation in the world and with power does come responsibility. And sure there are other great nations who are even more insensitive to rest of the world's problems. But personally, those countries' approach to foreign policy is not of any concern to me. I am American and I love my country. And I feel that the best way to express the love you have for your country is to want to make it better, Matter of fact I believe it is my right and duty as a citizen.Today, however, I read an article that revived my optimism. The author stated a few things that sparked in me a realization that we just might be moving forward as a world consciousness. He reminded me that there was a time when the enslavement of another being was viewed as normal, when people felt no remorse in wiping out an entire race of human being just because they liked their land. And diseases were intentionally disseminated in attempt to achieve that goal. When atomic bombs whose incidental damages would expose millions of innocent human beings to radiations and would affect their future generations, were dropped… twice.So I guess there still is hope. But somehow I still feel like a utopian fool when I think about the possibility of World Peace…

"Amazing Grace... I was once blind, now i can see" (with one eye)

2008-06-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

For the past few years, I can’t even recall how many, my vision has been dismally poor. It turns out that I had cataract. How could anyone have guessed? Even the doctors were surprised. They had been accustomed to having patients over the age of 70; I’m not even a third of that age. It was like I was seeing through a cloud or an extremely dirty window. Much of the richness of life’s visual beauty was hidden from me. But even worst, things such as the subtle smile on a person’s face when they enjoy your company, or subtle signs of sadness shown by someone when they feel hurt almost totally went unnoticed by me. It’s sad to think that I may have inadvertently been callous with people around me because I ignored the cues of their discontentment and sorrow. Turns out that facial impressions and the noticing of their cues are crucial to building deeper relationships with people, especially with those who are less vocally expressive than they are with their body language. And then there was the challenge of being able to read and study. Graduate school is challenging enough as it is, notwithstanding the inability to read without enormous strain. Some may ask “Well why didn’t you do anything about it earlier?” Well first of all, a gradual loss of vision can be so subtle that one does not even notice it is happening to them. All of a sudden one just realizes that their life has become extremely difficult and that things they know should be enjoyable or at least easy to do become chores. The psychological repercussions of the ignorance of the extent of a handicap can also take a toll on one’s self-confidence and esteem. A few of my classmates and some professors believed that I was just making excuses and being lazy, but I was resolved not to let it affect me. Additionally, surgery is expensive and scary. I had to get to the point where I felt like I had nothing to lose, in order to go ahead and take the surgery regardless of its potential financial consequence and what I viewed to be its potential risks. My grades were horrible. With the help of what could only be god, as well as some sympathetic professors, I had lifted myself out of academic probation but I could foresee that I would never be able to finish my thesis with my condition. So I went ahead and planned the surgery for my worst eye; the left one. The good news, however, is that I underwent the surgery and not only everything turned out fine but I immediately saw a huge difference as soon as the patch was removed the next day. The nurse’s blouse was so bright and colorful. I was entertained for that whole entire day and the next, re-appreciating everything around me. I must have seemed like a tourist to the other auburn students on campus, the way I was looking around at all the things I hadn’t noticed on campus. Sometimes just for fun, I’ll alternate blinking my left eye then my right just to remember and laugh about how blind I was. Now I can’t wait to get the next eye done in about a month. If anyone has a grandma or grandpa (ha ha…) that has cataract, encourage them to get the surgery done, its relatively painless, it’s as dangerous as crossing the street when the walking sign is on, and will change their life. The only side-effect is that your near sightedness is affected to the advantage of your farsightedness, but that is nothing a good pair of glasses can’t fix ;)

How To Live a Hurt-Free Life

2008-05-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

Warning: Please Do Not Read, if you are stupid

Everybody hates pain, loves pleasure... We are all hedonistic beings to some extent, aren’t we? This is why I came up with a few helpful rules for those who would like to avoid emotional hurt at any cost and by any means. The latter two conditions are however crucial requirements to the applicability of the following rules:

1. Never be genuine or truthful
Your words could be conveniently misinterpreted just so some people’s perception of you may be consistent with their fallacious idea of human nature and the world. Your genuineness may open you to vulnerability against some people’s attacks and this fact alone is validation for being insincere with everyone. Besides, your honesty may cost you friendships, love and other desirable social advantages. Remember that everything revolves around You and what You want.

2. Never make your noblest beliefs transparent.
People will use your beliefs against you. They will associate your ideals with naivety and innocence. You will be judged and sentenced to alienation. Many hold beliefs for selfish and ego-preserving reasons, and if shaken by your own beliefs, you will personally be held responsible for the confusion they feel. Their resentment towards you will therefore be justified.

3. Never take a stand
Taking a stand will make you seem like you have too strong opinions and beliefs, while what you want is to portray yourself as flexible so as to create the illusion of relativity of beliefs in general. More people will accept you this way. Everybody loves a person with no principles. There is nothing you can personally do to change anything worthwhile anyway.

4. Never give in too much to the good within you
Kindness is a sign of weakness to many and they will take advantage of every inch of it you give out to destroy you. If anything, being kind will make others feel bad about their own shadows and you don’t want people to feel bad. This could be your humble way of secretly being kind. Yes, give in to your darkest side. Not only will people feel better about themselves, but they will think twice about attacking you. Unfortunately others may get hurt in the process but it will teach them. You are doing a good thing. They will then learn how to survive in this world and may secretly thank you later.

5. Absolutely do not give in to the feeling of love (or anything “mushy”)
It will soften you. It will make you vulnerable and easy to be taken advantage of. It will disintegrate the hate in you. This hate is crucial to your defense against the enemy. The enemy could be anyone. Your survival depends on it! You may hurt the ones you love in the process, but it’s understandable, even noble. You don’t deserve or want love and you are being noble by admitting it and protecting the poor innocent minds who still believe in it. You are like… an unsung hero!

6. Never write anything of this kind or make it available for all to read.
It will be misunderstood and make you out to be some devil of some sort. Never use the word devil either, it evokes fear in some and that fear becomes directed towards you. Fear becomes anger, anger becomes hate, and hate turns into self-righteousness that sanctions character attacks and, sometimes even harsh verbal confrontation.

7. Lastly, never indulge in genuine introspection
You may just find that you are a human being. You may find out that you are just as screwed up as the very people you blame for your own inner problems. This is a disadvantage! It will make it harder to lie to yourself and parade through life as if you are better than others. You may begin to see how similar you are to other human beings and begin to give in to horrible habits such “understanding” and “empathizing”. You might even start to achieve what is called maturity. You might end up discovering that a hurt-free life is unachievable. But this would dismantle the whole premise behind the note I wrote. And I worked hard on this note! Besides, this sort of introspection requires that you be genuine yourself and we already know why that is undesirable. Finding out who you are, and what your purpose in life is would also require accepting change, and change is way too uncomfortable. So you need to hold on real tight to who you think you are at the moment and resist personal growth as much as you can; equating growth to cancer may help. Remember, that when you die you will finally be totally free of pain, eternally! Well… that is of course, if you believe that life ends

Great Minds (and..Existentialism)

2008-02-16T13:26:00.000-08:00

For those who are unfamiliar with this philosophical movement that began in 1940s, Existentialism asserts that man creates his own world and the meaning that surrounds it. The concept of existentialism is itself ironically subject to one’s own definition of its meaning in the sense that it has many different interpretations dependent on the philosopher whom one’s outlook is the closest to. The prevailing definition of existentialism seems to be, however, that existence precedes essence, which means that we exist initially without any fateful path in life; our existence develops a meaning by our own doing, by our own creation of this meaning. In short, we create our own meaning of reality.
To some philosophers, such as Nietzsche who wrote the famous words “God is dead”, atheism is a premise to existentialism. Yet to others it is merely a part of existentialism. As one is free to create one’s meaning of life, this meaning may incorporate the belief that the world began by chance and existence just manifested itself out from nothingness. One could alternatively believe in an omniscient entity that has already traced our entire destiny and therefore has predetermined in some way the meaning that we are to attribute to life itself. Or one could also believe in an omniscient entity that has left the part of creating meaning to our will. I find myself more in agreement with the latter belief. However there are boundaries to this power to create, and these boundaries are created by humanity itself. This is mainly due to the following phenomenon. Man seems to have a substantial need to be understood and therefore to have their personal meanings validated by others. This need is exactly what prevents us from losing touch with “reality”. We tend to embrace the meanings that we share with others and reject the ones that we find no validation from others; in order to stay within the confines of what is considered sane and rational. However this is merely a safeguard put in place by nature itself to prevent us from straying too far away from the human connections it intends for us to develop. Otherwise there would be an enormous gap between the way one man perceives the world and the way another man does. This would result in an inability for men to communicate with each other because of the radically different paradigms that each human mind would create for their own reality. The consequences of such an event would be simply chaos. In the interest of maintaining order, humanity’s consciousness therefore advances as a whole to become what we call “general wisdom”. This collective wisdom is merely the generally accepted meaning of all things. One is considered sane and/or rational if one’s personal expressed meanings belong to this collective group of meanings.
Occasionally a great mind will emerge from the human lot. This mind will aim to comprehend and be aware of the existence of this collective wisdom however without totally embracing it. It will dare to stray from the beaten path of thinking patterns and indulge itself in ones that are far and beyond the confines of generally accepted human line of thought. Their meaning and understanding of life becomes truly unique and even contagious. For due to the fact that they are still in touch with “reality” as is generally accepted, the average mind is incapable of writing them off as irrational or insane. People are only left to marvel at the novel possibilities that the new meanings brought forth by this great mind have opened up for humanity. Examples of these minds are Gandhi, Einstein, Freud, Carl Jung and many others who have lived our world. The great minds themselves are evolving just as collective unconsciousness is; after all they are a part of the collective unconsciousness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_unconsciousness). This enables great minds to work on the back of others. The powerful thing about great minds is that any human being has the potential to be one. All that is needed is a genuine desire and honest effort to find out what one’s reality means to oneself. This perception of reality needs to be pure however. By pure is meant that it must be unadulterated, by our selfish desires of how we wish it to be, or by others’ coercively expressed beliefs of what reality is or by the greedy desire to use the expanded perception that this greater view of reality provides for selfish or worst destructive ends. Evidently a great degree of self knowledge is necessary for this purity of perception to be possible, because without self knowledge and profound self awareness, one can never be sure that one is not being influenced by his or her environment to accept a meaning or reality that is not the true reality.
One may argue that to agree with existentialism is to deny the existence of a true and absolute reality. Yet this is not the case. Reality happens to be so vast and so complex that we are merely constructing models of infinitesimal aspects of it. And I suppose these models are what I was calling hitherto “our own reality”. These models are essentially the meanings we give to the different parts of this absolute reality that we are part of. They are effective to the degree that they fit within our ever evolving puzzle of life and make reality seem intelligible to us. These models of reality are ours to change and alter in order to synchronize with the absolute reality. Great minds create better and better models of this absolute reality and in turn give a great push to the collective human wisdom.

Faith in Allah

2007-03-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

Faith in Allah.

Allah is the English word for God in Arabic. All Muslims, regardless of their background or native language call God “Allah”. This makes it possible for us to unite as one in praising our Lord. We also pray at the same time and in the same direction, further uniting us as worshippers of the Almighty God. However, true Muslims are conscious of the fact that no matter what a person’s religion is, if he or she believes in one God that has created and is sustaining us, then surely he or she must also believe in the God (or Allah in Arabic). So the title of this blog “Faith in Allah is interchangeable with Faith in God”
Why did I begin this post with some religious discourse? Because I believe that it has become common for down to earth spiritually in touch people to censure their public displays of faith while extremist zealots assertively express their beliefs to the masses, further alienating reasonable people from religion as a whole. Also, due to terrorism and their manipulation of blind religious zeal through the careful brainwashing of ignorant believers, the word Allah has taken on a negative connotation in many western psyches.
I feel it is important for us muslim to help share the true meaning of the word Allah in all its glory, untainted by the violence and lack of compassion that many have come to associate it with.
But today I want to talk about how faith has affected my life thus far. If you read my previous blogs, then you know that i have been trying to get into a graduate program in agricultural economics for the past three years and that I've experienced rejection after rejection until now. This year however, i applied to four universities that offer my program, Cornell, Auburn, Missouri and North Carolina A&T. I got accepted to all four of them! Faith in Allah may not be the reason i got accepted to these colleges but it is definitely the reason that i applied to them in the first place. While many people would have given up a long time ago, my faith in Allah told me that perservance will evetually unfold the result of my prayers regardless of what the odds may seem to be.
In case you are wondering which college i chose; It was Auburn University in Alabama. They offered me a tuition waiver as well as a stipend and possible fellowship. It was a no brainer!

Something to chew on and possibly spit out.

2006-12-28T13:49:00.000-08:00

I know... I know... Everybody thinks they are special, unique and different from everybody else, and in fact they are all right. A few believe no one truly understands them and they also may be right. But this entry just happens to be all about me. And today I feel like talking about what I believe makes me so different. But first of all I would like to clarify a few things. When I say that I am different, I do not mean that I am special and certainly not that I am better or worse than anybody else. I simply believe that me and many other people in this world, due to many factors that I will elucidate further on, ended up growing to be well... a different type of people. For the sake of this entry I will call these people I am trying to describe as "aberrants". Aberrants and the extent of their differences from other people depend on two factors. One is external and the other is internal. First let’s talk about the external factors. Cultural influences on people can sometimes be very subtle. Most of the time it is hard to point out to people what these are, because everybody believes that what they do and how they think is normal or even "the right way" just because everybody around them does it too. Geography has a way of creating its own dynamic through the converging of the majorities' thoughts and actions while excluding that of minority. One finds himself obliged to either conform or be marginalized as someone having aberrant habits and ideas. People who grew up in many different cultures, embraced many different philosophical and religious influences simply have no choice but to either repress or abandon certain cultural habits they picked up in their lifetime, or live with the fact that they may be viewed as odd by their new neighbors. Well at least in America they do. Now I'm not saying that everyone in America is insensitive to people's cultural or ideological differences; After all I am an American (Born and kind of raised). But you gotta admit; too many Americans find it difficult to appreciate a genuine import from another country. Why else do we have to Americanize everything we borrow from other cultures before we can consume them? Foreign merchants are so aware of this that they attempt to Americanize many of their cultural products in order for it to appeal to us. Of course there is the exception of art; which is valued for its exotic and cultural qualities. Anyhow sticking to the subject at hand, my intention here is to shed to light on the fact that as much as the contrary is advertised, we are less apt to accept differences than we like to admit. And by using imports from other countries as an example I hope I have not reduced this tendency of ours to merely applying to that specific case. My concern is that we also approach ideological differences, and worse matters of taste with this attitude. I guess our fragile psyches do not like our fallacy of omniscience to be shaken by the possibility that someone else may be actually doing things “the better way”. Because when we view things as either right or wrong, black or white, we end up worrying whether the alternative is actually better. But isn’t possible that we all are right?

Not quite sure where i was going with this post but I’m posting it anyway.

The New Beginning

2006-12-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

This blog was untitled “How I Plan To Save The World” because it was initially intended as a memoir about how I planned to shape my life, through my endeavors and career moves , in an attempt to positively affect the world. But I’ve come to a period of my life where a lot of reevaluating and reconstructing has taken place. Some self-doubt emanating from my past failure to advance closer to my goals has tempered the zeal with which i used to approach my future. I need to start working on riding myself of doubt because lack of confidence and a pessimistic approach to ones aspiration could mean death to any kind of lofty goals i may entertain within myself.

I am not the type to enjoy sharing my life story, especially the intamacy of my own private thoughts with strangers yet alone friends or relatives. However I find within myself an urge to express my thoughts and feelings. So I guess this is my attempt to do so. I could easily find a way of twisting and stretching the idea of the website to come to be a biography of my life. In gist I would say something like; In order for me to be able to change the world I need to begin with changing myself. It wouldn’t be far from the truth, in fact. But my reason for deciding to focus on an autobiographical type of journal is simply that I feel like it is a healthy and practical thing to do. We all know about psychologists’ reasons for recommending the keeping of a diary: to keep your thoughts organized, to actually know what you are thinking about, and to fulfill your human need to express yourself. But what are the practical reasons that I believe something will also be gained in the process? Well firstly there is the opportunity to practice writing, to experiment with different styles, to experiment with the use of newly learnt vocabulary, basically to improve one’s mastery of the English language. However what I really find as a motivating reason to write is that in the future, me or my future children may be able to look back at my life story and at the things I was thinking about at the moment and maybe learn something from it. Since I find it hard to take on a challenging task when my intentions are not altruistic; I have decided that this journal will, in my own mind, be something that anyone can read, enjoy and maybe gain some insight in another individual’s thoughts, wishes, worries, fears, aspirations and beliefs. I noticed you don’t always get a chance to receive a true reflection of what a person thinks and feels in general though a blog, but when you do just you cant stop reading. Many times you even see yourself in that person, you own their thoughts or a least you empathise. The reason for this is that, we might all come from different paths in life but essentially we are made of the same stuff, body and mind. So I guess this is a new beginning for my blog, where I concentrate on delivering, in its most pristine form, my most initimate thoughts about my life and the world that I live in.

Near Death Experience?

2006-05-16T22:39:00.000-07:00

Well it is May and I did promise to update this blog monthly. So here it goes! Surely you must be wondering what I am doin to save the world today. After all, the title of this blog is How I Plan to Save the World. Well the truth is that at this juncture I am more preoccupied with well… saving myself. Not that I am in danger or anything… but you probably get what I mean especially if you read my previous entry. In a nutshell I’m talking about how one needs to be financially comfortable before he or she can help others. Now enough about that!

Anyways, as you can see I made it safe to East Lansing. Or should I say just barely?
Yea, because I did almost die on the way to Michigan.

The Story: I was driving behind this real slow truck and getting annoyed at all the time I was wasting going 50 miles per hour on a 50 miles per hour highway. Who does that? (scoffs)
I wanted to pass the vehicle but the problem was there was only one lane. So I decided to pass the truck using the lane with potentially incoming traffic. Of course I looked ahead to see if any cars were coming; no cars were coming. So I sped up and merged on my left lane when the yellow dots that allow passing appeared, then sped up even more. But somehow the truck was still aside me. Suddenly this other truck appears racing toward me and wasnt slowing down a bit. I was almost sure I was going to know my God personally. I breathed in deep to maintain my clam then I laid my foot as far down as I could on the accelerator and luckily I was able to pass the truck on my side just on time. The truck ahead was only about 20 feet close before i turned back on my lane!
Did you watch John Q? If you did, remember, in the beginning of the movie, the situation the woman who ended up donating her heart found her self in? Well that is exactly what almost happened to me

Now if you wanna learn from my experience, when you find yourself behind a slow truck on a one-lane road, follow these smart steps.

Reduce your speed and distance yourself from the truck
re-check to see whether there is any incoming traffic
Begin to accelerate to the highest speed you can safely reach
When you feel you gained enough momentum and their still isn’t an incoming truck, proceed to pass the slow truck as soon as you reach it.

Doing this ensures that you are at a high enough speed when you are passing the car.

Hopefully I saved your life by letting read this.

….Because that would make me a step closer to saving the world.

Back to Point Zero

2006-04-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

So I’m going to back to East Lansing... I've changed so much since the last time I was in Michigan. I was living the life back then! I did what I wanted when I wanted with no regard whatsoever as to how it could affect my life in the future. I guess when one lives in such a manner his recklessness either comes to a sudden halt, which is usually caused by a abrupt and emotionally charged glimpse of reality or he just buries himself further in the ditch he is digging himself in. Well... I guess its not all that dramatic, but the fact remains that I have changed. Lets call this change maturity; Not that I claim to be as mature as I can get.

Anyhow, I am looking forward to the reminiscing that will come with returning to East Lansing but also to the challenge that awaits me in my endeavor to get into the Masters International program. Yea it may not sound like such a big deal to you, but to me it is a critical step on the way to becoming the type of person I want to be. It is now evident to me that in order to make a positive change in this world one must first be financially secure themselves. This statement may seem like a platitude, but in my romantic perspective I believed that the love of simplicity and humble lifestyle coupled with a genuine care for humankind was all one needed. Well if that is true anywhere on this planet, it certainly isn’t in America. All Americans really need to travel to understand the social and spiritual aspects that we need to work on developing in this country. Clearly, we need a government that is more sympathetic to the common man than to the mega corporation owner. One that cares more about people and the quality of their lives than an increase in dollar numbers. Sure there are worst countries out there. But this is my country and i dont see how we could be such a superpower, yet the average guy still lives in debt and incertitude of the future. I'm not talking about travelling to some romantic city in Europe or some fake world created for tourists in Africa, but to where the common people dwell. But if you want to make a change, being financially secure is not the only prerequisite. I believe that one needs to possess the adequate understanding of the area in which they desire to make a positive change in, whether it be politics, agriculture, or even technology and health. Also one needs to gain practical experience in using this knowledge, maybe even shed some false concepts learned during ones academic studies, in light of truths that are encountered in the real world. And this is why I believe the Masters International program to be a great beginning path to my goals.
Wish me luck on my 10 to 12 hour drive from D.C to E.L!

The "Rejection"

2006-02-16T15:56:00.000-08:00

Two days ago I received an email. Within this email was potentially devastating news. As I opened it, the first thing I saw was "I am sorry to say...” Right then, I knew. I wasn’t going to grad school in Fall 2006. It was like I had just got punched in the chest. After taking a deep breath, I gathered myself and went on to read the rest of the email.

“I am sorry to say that our Admissions Committee did not approve your application for admission to the M.S. program. This was partly because of your low GPA and partly because you had not taken EC301, Intermediate Microeconomics. You may wish to take EC301 and then request reconsideration of your application for Spring or Fall 2007. I cannot guarantee that we would admit you under those circumstances, but it is an option for you.”

Indeed, it was disappointing news, but it still left me some space for hope. Besides, all dreams have their obstacles and I am not letting this one cripple my plans or take away my optimism. After all optimism is my greatest weapon. It provides me with the fuel and determination that I need to get to my goal. So as of now my plans are to go back to Lansing, excel in that Intermediate Economics class and then request that they reconsider my application for spring 2007. Wish me luck!

The renewed faith

2006-01-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

Just when all looked like it was going bad, i opened an email from the peacecorps that spoke of a program that combines graduate school and the Peace Corps. The program is called Masters International "After completing your initial course work in graduate school and receiving your Peace Corps placement, you will travel to your respective site and begin training. Once overseas, you are given an assignment according to the needs and requests of your host country. Participating faculty recognize that while overseas, your primary responsibility is the project and community to which you have been assigned. Rather than determining a research topic in advance, you will allow your volunteer assignment to shape your academic requirement."
I was initially planning on applying to the program in Denver or Cornell but when i asked my undergraduate college professor at Michigan State for a reccomendation he informed me that the program was going to be implemented at Michigan State University in the Fall.

At this point i took the GRE and am applying to gradschool at MSU. And below is my statement of purpose:

Statement of purpose

I’ve always been confounded by the very idea that there could be so many people living in extreme poverty while others live in affluence and sometimes even overabundance of wealth. As a child, I dreamed of one day becoming a great renowned leader in the eradication of poverty. Though maturity and understanding of the realities of such an endeavor have tempered its romantic appeal, my dream remains quite the same today. In fact I always knew that whatever profession I was going to pursue would have to involve the betterment of human welfare and this became the blueprint for my future career. This blueprint led me to this particular stage of my plans, the completion of a graduate degree in Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University coupled with an assignment overseas through the Peace Corps’ Masters International program. In order to explain how I’ve come to this decision a recap is in order.

In 1984, I left my native city of Brooklyn, New York to travel to Dakar, Senegal in West Africa where I was to receive my entire early education from elementary school to high school. By the time I reached high school, not only was I fluent in French and Wolof but I was also familiar with the realities of growing up in a country striving in the throes of development, a region in the process of gentrification, a city outgrowing its bounds and an agricultural community losing ground as my age-mates left the small towns to look for their futures in the larger cities in urban Senegal and beyond. During my time in Senegal I also grew acquainted with the region of my family’s farmland, in rural Fatick. There I found that I came from a long line of farmers, including from my own father who farmed up to the time he left his home to study abroad. My awareness of my family’s background and occupational heritage instilled in me an empathy with interest in the affairs of farmers. When I finally had earned my French baccalauréat, it was clear to me that my future studies would have to specialize in the betterment of farmers’ lives. My reasoning was, however, especially based on my belief that just as today’s highly developed western nations had done, Senegal would certainly need to go through its own “green revolution” before it could benefit from substantial industrial development. And so I decided to pursue a degree in the agricultural economics field and applied to Michigan State’s agricultural economics department because of its reputation in international - particularly African - rural economic development.

In 1999 I began my higher education at Michigan State University with no particular major at the time but with an open eye for a lead to any specialization in the college of agriculture that could be incorporated effectively with my future plans. I found that lead in my Environmental Economics class. During this class I learned of the relationship that the environment has with the economy of a nation and it dawned upon me that in fact an understanding of this relationship is critical in developing a sustainable economy. Therefore I changed my major to Environmental Economics and Policy which was described by the department as a major that “... prepares you for a career that requires balancing environmental sustainability and economic development goals.”

My time at Michigan State was not free of challenges. I struggled with a learning disability (Attention Deficit Disorder) that I didn’t fully understand at first. Besides, I was constantly vacillating between taking my medications while bearing with the side effects and giving up medication altogether to try alternative methods. Also the transition to an American college from a French based educational system and Senegalese socio-cultural environment proved to be more of a challenge than I had expected. Though I did fairly well in most of my classes, I am confident that my current mastery and understanding of my ADD coupled with my present ease with the English language will enable me to show a truer reflection of my capability to excel academically.

In 2001, I began an internship with Bread for the World, a nonprofit organization ”that seeks justice for the world's hungry people by lobbying decision makers in the United States”. Working for Bread for the World was a pivotal experience for me. It showed me the importance of policy making in our country and how it relates to the development of poor countries. During my internship I assisted in lobbying congressmen to vote for bills that would help developing countries achieve economic sufficiency. Moreover, I had the unique opportunity to attend “The Partnership to Cut Hunger in Africa Final Conference” in Washington, DC. Among the Co-Chairs of this conference were President Peter McPherson and his Excellency Alpha Oumar Konaré, President of the Republic of Mali. The Conference’s purpose was to formulate a strategy that would help attract more public and private investment in Africa as well as increase the efficiency of the United State’s foreign aid towards stimulating African rural and agricultural development. Overall, my internship with Bread for the World permitted me to immerse myself in the world of international development and instilled in me a renewed eagerness to enter it once again but next time as a professional. I wish to be part of the workforce that thrives to put an end to absolute poverty by 2025, because by poverty I think we mean essentially the inability to provide food for one’s self; I believe that agricultural economists are giants in this effort.

In 2004 I graduated from Michigan State with a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Economics and Policy. Initially, I had planned on first joining the Peace Corps and then going to graduate school once my assignment was over. But then I learned of the Masters International program which combines the theoretical knowledge gained from graduate school with the practical experience of the Peace Corps’ overseas assignments. I realized that following this particular path would not only give me the opportunity to use the theories and technical applications of agricultural economics but would also allow me to immerse myself in an environment that will help me nurture these skills.

Meanwhile, I am working in a temporary position at the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C. I am reviewing my macro- and microeconomics by the use of a comprehensive economics textbook by John B. Taylor. I’m also trying to stay up to date with issues concerning the developing world through reading books (such as “the End of Poverty” by Jeffrey Sachs) and following issues of international economies in the news. In my opinion a career is not merely a means for me to satisfy my financial needs, it is something that I want to be part of my life. So I strive to ground myself in my field of study before I am officially working in it. I’m hoping that through your agricultural economics program I will gain knowledge in the subjects I cannot learn on my own such as: the rules of trade as it relates to agricultural goods, the influence of politics on agricultural production, the logistics involved in agriculture, the financing and management of agricultural firms, the study of cultures and behavior prevalent in rural areas, the study of the role of agriculture in economic development, the proper planning of a sustainable economic development, etc. I would also have the opportunity to participate in research that relates to food security.

In the future I plan to earn a Doctorate in Agricultural Economics and then work for an organization dedicated to the reduction global poverty and the improvement of living standards in the world, such as the World Bank, USAID, United Nations, Chemonics. Later on in my life my goal is to return to West Africa and open a consulting agency that designs, evaluates and implements small to large projects in the agriculture business, or to become a professor at some university (possibly Michigan State). It really all depends on the type of experience I would have acquired at that point. I hope that this statement of purpose evinces my ability, my genuine determination and my eagerness to learn the skills that will permit me to accomplish these stated goals.

Plans down the drains :(

2005-10-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

Well for those who don’t know me, as well as those who have not kept in touch with me for a while, I believe a recap is in order. Many events that have occurred in the past few months have unfolded a great number of limitations but also a great variety of new possibilities in my endeavor to save the world.
Upon graduating from Michigan State University I had decided to pursue my adolescent life dream of joining the Peace Corps. To me the Peace Corps meant an opportunity to start making a difference in people’s lives as well as a doorway to the world of international development and emergency aid. I had filled out their long application and was contacted to schedule an interview. It was my belief that the interview had not gone well, however a call from my recruiter congratulating me on my acceptance as a Peace Corps volunteer had an instantaneous effect of wiping out most of the pessimism that I had about my dream. If all went well, I was to leave for an assignment somewhere in West Africa in September 2005. But it was not over yet, first I had to commence my medical and dental evaluations and submit them back to the Peace Corps office as soon as I could. This task proved to be full of obstacles which were mainly financial in nature. But eventually thanks to the help of my parents, grandparents, the benevolent medical services of a friend of the family who happened to be a medical doctor, and the reduced fees of a compassionate dentist, I was relieved of the financial load that came with the medical requirements of joining the Peace Corps.
Unfortunately, after all the trouble I went through, the Peace Corps judged that my allergies and mild asthma would restrict me to a limited number of countries.
I was no longer leaving in September 2005. And to top it all, a negative result on a PPD test revealed that I was infected with latent tuberculosis and was to take a 6 month long treatment to expunge the potentiality of infection with the actual disease before I could be medically cleared as far as the Peace Corps was concerned.
This was a major blow to my plans. I had thought out this elaborate plan where I would join the Peace Corps at the age of 26 come back and go to business school at the age of 29, graduate at the age of 31, end up working for the department of a large organization such as USAID, World Bank or United Nations whose sole purpose is to help developing countries in Africa, and then eventually start a consulting agency that would help businesses in Africa thrive and promote self-sufficiency within the African economy. And all my plans went down the drain after I was told that not only I was restricted to a limited amount of countries but that also I would have to wait until the summer of 2006 to even have a potential Peace Corps assignment. For the next months that followed this news I was almost devastated and had lost much of my optimism; that was until yesterday.

….And in my next blog entry I will let you know what brought back to life my optimism and how I believe my new plan to saving the world will be accomplished

How I Chose My Title

2005-09-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

Now that you read my blog's title "HOW I PLAN TO SAVE THE WORLD WITHIN 17520 DAYS", you must be wondering why 17520 days and of course how I actually plan to save the world. And I plan to answer the first question for you as an introduction to this blog.
Now this may sound silly or even be described as dorky by some, here is the reason why I chose 17520 days:
1) According to Men's Health Magazine a man's average life expectancy is 73.8 years.
2) I am currently 26 years old. So I subtracted 26 from 74 (a rounded number of 73.8)
3) Then I multiplied that number by 365 (the number of days in a year)
4) This left me with the number of 17520!
Now I don’t believe I will only live that amount of years but I do want to succeed in affecting in a major positive way, either the Economic Welfare of my fellow human beings, the Social Order we live in today or both before I leave this earth before this time elapses.
I might use the excess time to retire and continue my endeavor to help humankind through meditation and prayer.
Now after reading the above most of you must think this is joke and will refrain from taking this blog seriously. But I assure you that amidst the humorous quality of my words is a genuine presence of honesty and a serious determination to accomplish the goals I will present within this blog.
Now as to the question of how I plan to save the world… to be honest I haven’t quite decided how exactly I plan to do this. So look out for my subsequent blogs because as everyday goes by my plan will become clearer and clearer until at last it prevails.