Guest Post - Jordan Powell

Do What You Want to Be

My mom saw the picture of Emma Stone on my computer background. “Who is it?” she asked.

            “Emma Stone,” I said.

            “That's just a name, but who is it?”

            “An actress.” I replied.  Satisfied with this answer, my mom went back to what she was doing.

            Have you ever wondered why literally everyone resorts to the question, “What do you do?” It is the most universal small talk question there is (right next to, “Are you a student?” But that really only goes for people of a certain age). It doesn't matter if it is a social gathering or a business networking event, everybody has asked someone what he or she does.

            There is a reason people resort to this question. You might think they do it because it is easy and they can't think of anything else to say. Well, they probably do, but I think there is another reason.

            Will Durant, in summarizing words from Aristotle, said, “We are what we repeatedly do.” If you consistently program web applications, day in and day out, then you are a programmer. Thus, when people ask you what you do, they aren't just being trite. They're trying to figure out who you are.

            You do exist apart from your actions, don't get me wrong. Each person has an inner life, a soul, thoughts and dreams and character that is so much more than merely an inner concomitant of exterior activity. What you do is not the final word on who you are ontologically.

            But your actions can and do sculpt your inner character. In many of today's modern church services, anything smacking of ritual is downplayed or tossed aside; but maybe there is something to rituals. Perhaps posture in worship affects the attitude more than we know. Perhaps kneeling during prayer can help to mold an inner reality. I like to think of everything God has given us as tools that can be used for good or ill. Ritual is a tool that may certainly be abused, but I'm not sure I'm ready to remove it from my toolbox just yet.

            Here is another way externals can be internalized: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Cor. 15:33)

            The people you surround yourself with influence the actions you take on a regular basis, and you are what you consistently do. You may have great character at first, but as friends and acquaintances exert peer pressure on you, external actions – whether actually yours or yours by proxy – bleed into your internal life.

            This is why the old strategy of “fake it until you make it” works. The inner life rises to the challenge spelled out by your actions, however empty those actions may feel at first.

            If you act like a writer, eventually you will think like a writer. The daily discipline of putting words on paper will begin to erode away your lack of confidence. The mental routine of wracking your brain for the best way to say what you want to say will begin to organize your mind around potential stories, blog posts, or scripts as you encounter life.

            Every now and then I play back a certain kind of situation in my mind like a movie, just to keep myself scared. Not really scared, just ready – ready for the day some hotshot bigwig says to me, “So, you're a writer.” Actually, the scenario is mostly just that: a hotshot bigwig being interested in my writing, in my computer programming, or whatever I happen to be concerned about at the moment. The hotshot bigwig asks me: “What have you written?” I feel like I should have a prepared response or some backlog of stupendous work to whip out proudly and show him – this is my mental movie and I make the calls, so I really should be able to pull out a showstopper – but that's not how the movie plays out. Instead of wowing the guy, I choke. I realize with a sudden panic that, despite billing myself as a writer, I don't have much to show someone who asks.

            That usually scares me enough to do a little writing.

            Who do you want to be? Are you taking the steps to become that person? If you walk the walk, the talk will take care of itself later. Keep a careful eye on the situations you put yourself into and the company you keep.

            You may need more education or specialized training to fully take on the mantle of who you want to be, but if I had to guess, I would say you probably have enough information to take the next step. You problem isn't lack of information. It's lack of consistent action.

            Go ahead and do what you want to be.

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Jordan Powell is not just found as a guest blogger here - you can access and enjoy his personal blog here.  His blend of casual an philosophical will make you think about the things you often do, but never question.  

Government

These are stand-alone ideas about government and society.  These may not be popular or even accurate.  If I am wrong, show me how.   

Capitalism can only be effective when there is adequate education in society – a well-informed public.  The model of capitalism is to arrange itself around whatever the people want through how the money is spent.  If people want cheaper things, then the model of how that society will be geared towards providing what the people want.  But if that cheapness compromises human rights – for example, in a sweat shop in China – then morally, the value should move from “cheapest” to “cheapest, without compromising human rights.”  The reason human rights are compromised is because people are either ignorant of the true cost of their cheap products, or they value their convenience over someone else’s life.  Ignorance is curable.  So is evil, but it’s a harder battle.

If the people want self-destructive things then capitalism must necessarily provide it.  But a society which values freedom – even when that freedom is poorly executed – will stand a better chance of survival than a society which values well-intentioned control.  When one person’s freedom to make poor decisions affects another person’s freedom to make good decisions, then control must be exercised by the government.

No government should engage in a practice that is unsustainable to the environment.  This is not sentiment or morality speaking – it is simple economics.  You take care of the cow that you get milk from. 

No government should mistreat their poor.  The French Revolution should teach us this.  Even the French found reason to riot in the streets.  Do not underestimate the power of the people – even, and especially when, those people are poor, uneducated, and have nothing to lose. 

Even though our country was founded on a principal of separation of church and state, it seems that at some point, there will be a value system which will pervade the government.  This value system might intersect with a religion or faith.  The point is to not restrict people from the freedom to practice the faith they choose, and to not force people to practice a faith they would not have otherwise chosen. 

For a government to thrive, power must not grow to be too central or controlled by too few – even if those few are elected by the people.  Those few will naturally, due to human nature, create an environment that protects their own interests.  If few must lead, let it be for a limited duration for limited times.  Career politicians will destroy us.  The people must be in power, but no one for too long.  The common person is not jaded and has the passion to evoke real change.  Some will say that common people are too inexperienced to affect change in our complex system of government – to this, I say, make your government simple enough for the common man to rule, or you have already signed your own government’s death sentence.

Those in power must be constantly filtered to avoid the stagnant, putrid portion of our society to become corrupt by the intoxicating taste of power.  These position must be seen as duty – not a career.  This will destroy the separation between “the people” and “the people who rule the people.” 

We have become everything we once rebelled against.  Our country is fat and slow – quick to anger and provocation – proud without cause.