Joshua

So I wasted almost two hours of my day trying to come up with the perfect summation of my life, inspirations, and ideals. Then, I deleted it all and it took be about 30 minutes to come up with this:Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be a lawyer. My family said I’d be good at anything I put my mind too; and most of them still tell me that today. The truth is; I can spend hours arguing with a fence post, (and hopefully win!) so I had to find a profession that would let me do that! I know, I know, arguing is a trait most people deem annoying and unattractive, let alone America’s popular consensus on lawyers. Nevertheless, since my childhood I have been greatly inspired by the how the power of words, not guns, people, not armies, could bring down tyranny and spark arguably the greatest nation in history.I understand if you don’t like lawyers. Truth be told, you probably shouldn’t. They’re the ones truly responsible for a lot of the problems we face today (add two tbsp. of corrupt politicians and 1 cup multi-billion dollar corporations, stir frequently.) But mostly, I blame us, the everyday people.At the beginning we believe our framers were on the right track, and somewhere along the lines we strayed. Or, was it inevitable to begin with? I quote a memorable session between a woman and Ben Frank at the American Constitutional Convention: Woman- “What sort of government have we, Mr. Franklin?” BF- “A Republic, madam, if you can keep it”Today, these statements are lost to laypersons. Thomas Jefferson (an idealist) thought we as a nation would live up to our duties of a self governing institution. I believe Ben Frank knew better. In the land of the free, we have been allowed to reap and sew our crops, build our dreams, and preach for equality and democracy. In the process of building our individual educations, jobs, families and dream homes, what time did we possibly have to govern our great nation? So, naturally we did the most logical thing. Let someone else worry about it… And this is where we ended up.Now, I am gay, and that goes almost hand in hand with being an advocate of the equal protection clauses granted by the Fourteenth Amendment. But I believe we as Americans have changed (maybe rightly so) the very definition of Rights in our country. The Bill of Rights used to serve as a protection from the government. In Jefferson’s and Frank’s time this meant the protection from the atrocities of an evil King. There ideal was a “freedom from” rather than a “right to.” This difference maybe confusing so let me elaborate.In today’s society we see ridiculous labels all the time. For example: I changed my ink cartridge today, and on the label it said: DO NOT EAT. Are you kidding me? Well, I guess someone with a low I.Q. could think it was food coloring. But ultimately the underlying fact is that label is a response to some tedious litigation where you know someone ate it, and sued. Likewise, tax dollars spend, lawyers got rich, etc…I remember in school learning about the Valdez oil spill. Huge impact! Economically, environmentally, socially, and while it’s worthy to say that the oil business closed out with nearly $40 billion dollars profit last year and some litigants still haven’t received compensation. The real tragedy is that the drunken man was not fired, due to EEOC regulations against alcohol discrimination.In order to assert our RIGHTS, we as a nation, have set standards for equality in an attempt to all but destroy discrimination. But really what are we thinking? Should that man (who was drunk on the job) really be allowed to get behind the wheel of an oil tanker again? What if next time, it’s the Coast of California, or the Vineyards? Then what would happen?I recently read a case where a man was suing his employer because he was relieved from his job duties due to a medical heart condition that caused him to lose consciousness frequently. This man was a Metro Link operator. His lawyer argued that, “Consciousness wasn’t listed in the required job functions.” I GUESS THIS EXPLAINS A LOT ABOUT TODAYS PROBLEMS! People are you kidding me?Personal Litigations aside, did you know that there are doctors out there with problems like alcoholism, ADHD (Hopefully, they were paying attention during the neurosurgery class) that have sued Universities for discrimination and WON! They were granted tutors, computers, and assistance while taking tests.The litigation phenomenon has even affected our educational system. With the plethora of rules and regulations teachers are not allowed to discriminate. Yes, all men in the eyes of a creator are equal, but, you can hardly argue they remain so. If so, why are some doctors and other working as retail clerks? 1/3 of our education budget in 2005 was allotted to mentally disabled children who compose approx. 15% of our nation’s students. Is that fair? Are we discriminating against the A or B average students who take Ritalin, just to stay awake long enough to study in order to pass exams and write the necessary X amount of scholarships needed to stay in school?Teachers in order to NOT DISCRIMINATE have lowered standards to accommodate every student. That’s great, eventually if we lower the standard enough! Everyone will be an A student, the U.S. will produce flourishing reports of how smarts our youth is!! Problem solved! In fact, most teachers now-a-days grade on a curve, or will bump a students grade up/down to accommodate them. Is this really fair? Or just another type of discrimination?I didn’t intend for this to be a political essay, I just hope that in a site like MYSPACE, this message may reach someone to at least stimulate their own opinion. These are my beliefs and are not necessarily correct, but give you insight to who I am, and how I think.Accompanied with picture in my profile, and random quotes, information here and there, you’ll get a bigger picture;) Cheers!