Jan/100
Passion and Love: Ingredients for the revolutionary
I have begun writing a book about the evolution of Communist thought. I am not a Communist, but I have always been intrigued on how Marxist thought has developed and how Marxism-Leninism has grown. I may have only had the chance to read a few readings and two biographies on Che Guevara and Mao Tse-tung, but I have gained a simple conclusion.
Che Guevara can be quoted as saying: “At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality.” Che Gueva’s idealism generated out of passion and love. He built his idealism on the thought of being a sort of socialist doctor. Che toured South America and witnessed the plights and disease faced by the poor and oppressed. His revolutionary impulse seeked to solve these ailments. He mixed his love with the doctrine of Marxism-Leninism and borrowed the revolutionary tact of Mao Tse-tung. Fidel Castro, however, was not a man of ideal, however, not until long cooperation with Che. Fidel did not have passion or love, instead he thought in terms of self-empowerment and nationalistic pride.
In the Chinese revolution, Mao Tse-tung squashed opponents that had passion in their ideals. Mao rather forwarded himself for personal gain, never reflecting compassion towards others or a deep love that intertwined with his ideals. Any time that Mao’s adversaries (his own political circle) expressed compassion or love, Mao punished them with ridicule.
Political doctrine in the world of revolutionaries often is seen as a black and white set of conduct which must be rigorously followed, with strict discipline. This is not the approach that revolutionaries must take. Revolutionaries must be passionate about their beliefs, they must adapt these political doctrines to their passion and love. If not, these revolutionaries create the societies we know today that proclaim to be Communist or Leftist. They are run by dictators that rely on hardened doctrines, they are full of paranoia and silence the public, they destroy society in hopes of preserving their perverted ideals.
Without passion and love a revolution loses sight, it becomes manipulated and corrupt, forming more so a means for personal gain – not for that of the people or true idealism. When I mention the word revolutionaries, I mean each individual in this world. We are all revolutionaries. We each think and act in this world, we each make changes to our society. If you find yourself holding a belief and do not know why, that there is no passion or love behind it – then why hold on so dear? Think about what you do and how you act, try to live passionately.
Jan/100
2009, a year in retrospect.
So its now a little over two weeks into 2010; and in months following there is so much wedding planning, house work, and other things coming. It’s weird to think back that it has only been a year since last January. Since then I’ve moved out of my own apartment, then moved into my (then girlfriend) fiancée’s apartment, went back to school, became close to my soon-to-be mother and father in-law, went camping, went to Las Vegas, celebrated my first ever year anniversary, actually spent Valentines day with someone, proposed to have the love of my life marry me, turned twenty-one, spent Christmas day without my parents, with my fiancée’s help bought and moved into a house, moved out of our first place together, and grew so much. Hell, I am pretty sure I spent about two and a half months just on vacation.
2009 started with flying back from California after having the pleasure of meeting Amanda’s mom and her step-dad, Bob. It was also the close to an era of living alone and some ridiculous times in that apartment. It was also the start of a new life with the girl I loved so much. By spring we were back in California again, and soon it was April. I started school because I knew I was going to be with Amanda for a good long while, and I needed to make good of myself. By this time next year I will have my Associates Degree…and hopefully starting my career.
On May 1st I decided I wanted to propose, and my mom gave me her great-grandmothers engagement ring to propose with. On May 5th I proposed, and had one of the happiest days of my life. I also made a pretty big mistake by not calling her own mom. I spent a good two hours of the next day apologizing for not asking for her blessing…and thankfully she has forgiven me.
We spent July 4th in Las Vegas, on a ten-day trip to the West to visit her mom and step-dad. And then on top of that we were off on a camping trip once we got back. It was perhaps the best camping trip out of the three we’ve organized.
The rest of the year was filled with wedding planning and hopes for the future. By middle of October we found a house we wanted, and put in an offer. By the end of October we had officially purchased our first house. In between going to California again for Thanksgiving, continuing wedding plans, we managed to move in our home by mid-December before we left again to go to California for Christmas. It’s weird, too, it was probably the first time I have ever felt home sick. Whether it was because it was my first Christmas without my parents, or perhaps because I was so happy with where my home finally was.
So much has happened, so many things changed. I can only imagine what this new year holds.
Dec/090
How a Revolution Could Happen
This post is to ponder one question: how could a revolution happen in the United States?
Our founding fathers were astounded that our country could succesfully go throw a ‘revolution’ every four years. However, it seems that radical changes from term to term seem less and less. How do you believe a revolution could appear in our country, beyond our conventional election means?
Nov/090
An essay in work: “What is Anarchism”
I found some notes from my last plane ride to California. My friend Mark and I have agreed to collaborate and write some essays together, I just pitched this to him, but here’s a basic run down from my notebook.
Anarchism (by Webster definition) means lack of government; and government is in return an authority that is coercive. Anarchism is the removal of all coercive forces put on an individual. Government is an unnatural law, and is therefore a coercive manifestation. Individuals are governed by gravity, and laws of physics, but these are natural manifestation equal to all entities, therefore none of these are coercive.
Anarchism, in turn, then seeks to establish only natural law, a system of raw social instinct; a removal of coercive force and dubious material pleasures.
[Mikhail Bakunin's Stateless Socialism used as references in preceding areas.]
Humans are social creatures, and history has proven this time and time again. Killing is not innate, as killing prevents a species from succeeding. All entities have a will to procreate and seek the success of their own species. Government does not mean justice and discipline; nor does Anarchism mean the lack of justice of discipline.
[Parts of Peter Kropotkin's Anarchism Morality would be discussed, explain the preceeding statement.]
My notes go on about how urbanization removes primal need for cooperation in a capitalist society. Cities are able to survive by individual segregation, versus social cooperation. Individuals can live fine without directly cooperating with one and another. Then how Anarchism seeks cooperative collective communities. Why beneficial to have individual cooperation. Should make for a decent writing.
Nov/090
Facebook Engineering Puzzles
So I may be a little bit slow, but I figured other programmers like myself may find this interesting if they have not found it. On the Careers section of Facebook there are a series of puzzles that are to be completed in *NIX environments, so no .NET or Windows orientated languages. A few of them are pretty easy, some difficult. I often start projects then find myself bored, or just want a tease and test. Looks like I’m going to have some fun the next few days.
Again, link is here: http://www.facebook.com/#/careers/puzzles.php
Oct/090
Island View Hideaway
October 25th marked one year of my fianceé and I being together; so, we did like most do and went on vacation. We stayed at the Island View Hideaway on Lake Wisconsin. Just like at Water’s Edge Retreat, check-in was at four in the afternoon, and check-out at eleven in the morning. So we arrived Friday, and left Tuesday. We didn’t want to have a nice day Sunday and ruin it by packing and running around early the next morning. The pricing was not bad for the stay, and the accommodations were great. It made for a perfect stay for just two people; it would be just as comfy for four people, also. Beware, though, if you’re tall like me. I am about six-foot four-inches and had to watch out a few times. In the main room there are two beams that run along the ceiling, my hair skimmed them each time. Also, the shower might be a head duck for those who are taller than me. But, most people in that height area are probably used to bending over a bit.
When we arrived, we came in to hear music playing and a bottle of Vitiano’s Cabernet-Sauvignon-Sangiovese-Merlot. The cottage was well cleaned and had plenty of linens. The kitchen had plenty of utensils, pans, and the such. We had no problem cooking. Actually, we hardly used the stove and mostly used the grill.
We enjoyed most of our time lounging on the couch, looking at the wonderful view out of the sliding glass doors; or in the hot tub.
I’d recommend the Island View Hideaway for a nice little two-person getaway.
Oct/090
Fedora 11 vs. Intel Extreme Graphics 2
Ever since I salvaged my HP Pavilion dv1000, I have used Fedora for my OS. However, there was a major disappointment. Flash videos, or nearly any video, would cause my screen to whack out and show strips of what should be the video all over the place. I searched this problem for over the past year, off and on, not really looking into it that bad. This is my backup laptop that I use for school.
However, yesterday I finally discovered the solution. It is listed as a Common F11 bug, but I never saw it on the list before; or I was looking in the wrong area. Point being, I searched this buggy ass problem for too damn long before a straight forward answer came up.
I followed the instructions, created my xorg.conf using the system-config-display –noui command, edited the xorg.conf as specified. Rebooted up my machine and headed over to YouTube. It worked! Aside from the fact this computers memory is a bit shot and needs an upgrade, the video played fine.
Hopefully this is a straight forward answer for anyone with the same problem.
Oct/091
84.80
So this morning I woke up the best way possible, discovering a random charge of $84.80 to my credit account through charges from my web host, JustHost. Turns out at roughly 1AM this morning someone managed to register two domains, a $50 domain advertising package, and domain privacy. So I spent this morning half awake, trying to communicate with a very helpful support technician. Not, seriously, she was very helpful, just the whole British versus American accent thing was not as enjoyable as a cup of coffee for waking up.
I logged into my JustHost account and noticed a different IP address, which obviously shows my account was breached. Odd thing is, I chose a random password generator, this password was so queer that I had to keep a copy of the password stored in my BlackBerry password keeper.
The IP address (74.115.160.20, if anyone wants to try some fun) came from a company WiTopia. Some VPN leasing company. Go figure, someone is using their service as a proxy for malicious purposes.
Sep/090
Nihilism is such a trip
Some time in high school I decided to wipe the slate clean and rebuild my fundamental foundation. Ideologies of the anarcho-syndicalist brewed together with the no-meaningness of nihilism. As time has gone on I’ve built such a complex equation on what is morally right and wrong; equations to decide if something is meaningful; equations to decide if my action has any value. I’ve laid awake so many nights wondering why, contemplating the problems in my soul and the problems of the world.
Each day and each new reading, every discovery opens a new sense of clarity to my understanding of the world. I knew I did not having everything figured out; but, I thought I had almost everything accounted for. I found my motivations and reasons, and things were understandable.
Yet, it is so mind blowing that one person can shake such fundamental foundations and rewrite all those methodical equations to figuring out life. When you no longer catch yourself pondering why, but instead knowing you need to. How there are new motivations that cause you to do things with a new vigor.
I guess I always missed one thing when contemplating life. And that one thing is love, a force not understood.
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