Idealism.

I'm an idealist.

This hit me midway through college, and now that I'm working in a job tailormade for us idealists, its always on my mind. I make nearly all my decisions based on what I think is right. I'm not trying to sound like some self-righteous young guy.  I'm more interested in trying to figure out why I am the way I am.

Granted, I was raised with two pastors in the house and as you might imagine, I had a certain moral code drilled into me as a kid, but now that I'm older and out on my own, I still feel that pull to 'do what is right'. 

One of my coworkers mentioned to me today that I seem to be focused entirely on my work and that I need to chill.  For those of you who know me, have I ever come across as a crusader or sorts?  Anyway, it hit me as odd and I'm just curious what you all think.

Be Real.

I've had some free time in the office in the past few days just to think about how our online interactions affect both ourselves and others.  If you're familiar with this blog, then you know that I wrote a paper regarding online societies.  If you haven't read that, I certainly encourage you to check it out.

Anyway,  I have come to the idea that no matter who we are are what we think of ourselves, we are all schizophrenic. When we are at home, we act differently than at work or at church. When we're online, we have the freedom to be as nasty and rude as we want, hiding behind a screen name or an avatar image.

Is it any wonder that 50% of marriages fail and that people seem less close when we are all living behind a web of false truths?  We create a character and take on that persona every day depending on the situation.  In essence, are we showing people who we really are, or are we merely pretending that we're one way when in reality we are not?

A Sarcastic Heartfelt Apology

Well folks,

I'm still here.

It has been far too many weeks since I posted on this blog, and as I have committed to two full years of blogging, I feel that I could legitimately be called a failure up to this point.  The lack of regular posts is not for a loss of interest, however.  I am moving and starting a new job!

In just over a week, I will be flying to Chicago for a few days and then out to Des Moines, Iowa for a year of service with Americorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America).  This is a huge change for me, but one that is honestly for the best.  I have quit my two part-time jobs that I hated and am replacing them with a full-time job that I will hopefully love!

I will be working as a Community Relations Liaison for Central Iowa Shelter and Services as a part of their Veterans Outreach Project. This project works with homeless veterans in Iowa to get back on their feet and into school or jobs and with the ultimate goal of making them self-sufficient again.  My part in this will be to act as the public face of the program as well as work to create a brand new coalition of hopefully 40 nonprofit groups in Iowa as well as the state government.  This is a great gateway job for me to get into the type of work that I can see myself doing long term, and it gives me the chance to change some lives as well.

That said, I don't imagine that my posting will have such a large lapse again, and you can certainly expect to see some postings regarding my job here over the next year as well as the random sociological ramblings that you've come to know and love.

InSoc is here to stay!

I(squared)WP - Abortion

(Ignore the fact that it has been a while and let's get into it.)

Tis the season of Presidential elections, and with debates happening on stages with candidates and with average Joes on the street, I think we all have some small part of us that likes to imagine what we would do if we ever made to the highest office in the land.  The one that's an oval.

In this spirit of lofty dreams, I submit to you how I (as President), would address the hot button issue of abortion.  This series will be sporadic, but I've labeled it 'I(squared)WP'.  Translation: If I Were President.

And we're off!
(I will be writing this as a Presidential candidate explaining my position and my plan)

ABORTION

Abortion is a big issue.  Should we allow it, should we ban it? Under what circumstances is abortion okay or not okay?  It is a moral and political wasteland that divides our nation and fuels the fires of political radicalism all across America.  I think that instead of arguing on a federal level whether or not abortion is acceptable, we as a nation should go to a smaller level of debate: the states.

I am a Christian.  I live my life following the ideals and tenets set down by God in the Scriptures.  My faith informs and guides me every day, and I can't ignore my beliefs when it comes to the issue of abortion.  It is my personal belief as follower of Christ that abortion is wrong.  Listen to that again: I believe that abortion is wrong.  However, as the leader of a nation of many faiths, it would be inappropriate of me to force the ideals of one religion on the followers of another.

It seems strange to me that sitting in my office in Washington, I have the power to determine whether people in Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, New York, and thousands of other places can or cannot have abortions.  Why do my beliefs find themselves in power over so many?

I believe that the ultimate decision over the legality of abortion should rest with the states.  Every state should have the chance to decide for itself whether abortion is acceptable or whether it is not.  Do you want your state to outlaw abortion? Write to your state representative. Write to your state senator. Write to your governor.  Tell them how you feel.  Then, when it comes to a vote, make sure that your voice is heard.  If your state decides to outlaw abortion, then it is outlawed.  If your state decides to uphold a woman's right to choose to have an abortion, the abortion is legal. The ruling of your state will reflect the opinion of the majority of the population.  However, if you are on the other side, you won't be pushed under the rug.

-----
Let me give an example:

If Pennsylvania votes to outlaw abortion under any circumstance and you live in PA, then you won't be able to have an abortion in Pennsylvania. However, if you still want to have the procedure, feel free to cross the border into a pro-choice state.  If New York legalizes abortions by popular vote, then have your abortion there and come back home to PA with a clear conscience that you broke no laws.  If you receive any form of retribution from the state or your employer for having an abortion, the federal Justice Department and the President of the United States will support you.

If you live in Pennsylvania and discover that a doctor is performing abortions, alert the legal authorities.  That doctor will face legal action for performing illegal medical procedures, and again, the federal Justice Department and the President of the United States will uphold the anti-abortion laws of the state.
-----

A state should have the right to govern its people, but only at the permission of the people to do so.  However, the federal government will still be there to ensure that every American's individual rights are upheld, whatever they may believe.

I want to be the President of all Americans, not just those who voted for me.  A good leader cannot lower his head and charge forward with his agenda without considering the other points of view.  America is your country and mine.  Live according to your beliefs, be they liberal or conservative, and the federal government will protect your right to do so.

Personal Update and Thoughts on Tyler Durden

I've committed myself to a life of service.  This isn't a new commitment, and if you know me at all, you know that I have a passion for many things, including politics, international diplomacy, and living my life as close as I can to Jesus' example.

That said, there's a good chance that I'll be moving in the next month or so in order to follow an amazing opportunity in Iowa.  Lord willing, this won't have any impact on this blog (fingers crossed).  There have been some good chats here, and I don't want that to stop.  If I end up moving, you can expect to see my posts lean towards issues of poverty and homelessness in America, as that will be taking up a good portion of my time.

Now, to this week's thought:

It wouldn't be unreasonable to accuse me of following in the footsteps of Tyler Durden, but what do you think would happen if we simply got rid of everything we owned?  With the exception of my computer and a few items of clothing, I may end up doing just that in the event that I move.  Honestly, while I know that materialism isn't the best thing in the world, I find myself slightly anxious that I'll have to leave so much behind. So many memories, so many investments, so much time spent collecting.  Maybe Durden was right; it isn't until you lose everything that you are free to do anything.

So, while I'm working on this idea about corporate states, I'm also thinking a lot about politics.  Since I'm very interested in politics, and like most people, I'm tired of the polarized thinking in Washington and throughout the States.  What if someone ran for office who was a sort of 'antipolitician'.

Here's the ticket he would run on:

 I will make no promises. I will do what I and my advisers believe is best for the nation. If that means sacrificing the comfort of the few for the good of the many, then so be it.  I'm not perfect, and there are mistakes that I have made and will make.  I'm here to do work for everyone. To the people who vote for me, thanks. You've made it possible for me to try to set the nation back on track. To those who don't vote for me, I hope that you'll still work with me to do the right thing.

I am who I am and I won't apologize for my convictions nor change them in order to secure more votes.

Starting the Discussion

This post is a quick announcement post letting you all know that I'm doing some research before I start up the next little series of posts.  To get your mind juices flowing, I'll give you a brief 'teaser' paragraph. Think of it as a movie trailer for the next few weeks of posts.

What if companies acted as governments?  I'm not talking about lobbying or bribing, I mean direct control.  Sierra Leone's operating budget is somewhere around 340 million USD. Walmart's is well over 25 billion USD, according to their sales report last year.  What would happen if Walmart took over control of the governance of Sierra Leone, moving all manufacturing there instead of to China and India?  I posit that if Walmart was given this opportunity, Sierra Leone would become the richest nation in the region within 50 years, if not sooner.

Let the discussion begin! 

How One Generation Destroys the Next

This post might will be a bit different than what you've been reading thus far.  Unlike the recent series about online societies which was an objective academic paper, this is going to be....what some might call a rant.

I work at an elementary school for an organization that runs afterschool programs for kids.  It's a great way to meet kids and to be a friend to those who might have few others.  On Friday, the school put on a dance for the kids after the school day.  There was dancing, food, games, etc. The music, however, is what really irked me.  The first song they played was "Like a G6" by Far East Movement. If you aren't familiar with the song, the basic theme is that going to the club, getting drunk, and finding a hookup is a great way to spend your time.

Remember, this is an elementary school dance.

The songs continued with the following:

Blow Me by P!NK
Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen
Teenage Dream by Katy Perry
Tik Tok by Ke$ha
...and the list goes on....

Now, I realize that I come from a fairly conservative background and my morality is pretty grounded in my faith, but the question should still stand....HOW IS THIS OKAY?

Every one of these songs has a set of common themes. They all glorify sex, alcohol, partying, and "getting wild".  If you're an adult and want to listen to this stuff when you go out, then that's fine. It's your life.  But DO NOT allow elementary school kids do the same, especially not at a school function!  People talk all the time about the rate of teenage pregnancy and underage drinking and how today's youth have lost any kind of moral center.  Why are we surprised that these things happen after we expose them to music and the parts of culture that say that those kid of things are what makes you socially acceptable?!

In essence, don't blame your daughter for having regular sex with her boyfriend at age 13 if you let her listen to songs that constantly bring up sex and alcohol. You may not think kids understand,  but I work with them; believe me, they no exactly what those songs are about.  If your daughter gets pregnant because of living a promiscuous lifestyle, don't wonder where she got the idea, and don't blame it on anyone but yourself.

 Yes, the music is out there.
 No, you shouldn't let your kid listen to it.

 Yes, it is your fault.

The Effect of Online Societies IRL, Part Five (and Bibliography)

Entertainment

            We’ve already touched on the issue of online societies that revolve around internet gaming, but because of its popularity, it deserves its own section in this paper.  Online gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry that caters to almost every demographic in some respect.  For the sake of this paper, I will be examining the more addictive and more societal MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game) and other “hardcore” gaming societies rather than the millions of casual players who tend not to be as involved in their games.       

            To start, the MMORPG is arguably the most prevalent and most societal genre of game in existence today.  This genre is defined by games with high production value, hundreds of hours of gameplay, and massive player bases.  One of the most popular MMORPGs is Blizzard Entertainment’s World Of Warcraft, which at its peak had over 12 million players (forbes.com). This game sparked controversy due to reports that many players were becoming addicted to the game and were sacrificing their real lives to spend time win the game. More on that later.

            As a former player of World of Warcraft, I can attest to the fact that the online society of the game is extremely prevalent.  WoW players have their own language, customs, social norms, rules, and hierarchy.  Because of the hundreds or sometimes thousands of hours that players spend in the game world, the umbrella society of WoW is also paired with dozens and dozens of sub societies that have their own rules and systems of interaction.  Within the game, there are three major types of player societies; Player versus Player (PvP), Player versus Environment (PvE), and Roleplayers (RP).  Once a player has chosen which of these three groups they want to be a part of, they then have to decide what class to play.  Each class is different and determines how one can play the game.  After this, players split up into guilds that are groups of players who bond together to achieve common goals and spend a lot of time together in game.  There are further sub societies within guilds as well.  Do you get the point?  Online games like this create extremely complex societies within them. Without these societies, the game world would likely crumble and descend into anarchy, but because players arrange themselves into these online societies, order is maintained. 

            Now, if you’ve never played a game like this before, you may be unfamiliar with how in-depth the life of a guild member is.  For this example, I’ll be using my current experience in a guild for the upcoming MMORPG entitled Guild Wars 2.  Yes, I said upcoming.  The game hasn’t even released yet and I am already well embedded in my guild.  We have weekly meetings to discuss new members, most of who have to endure a rigorous interview process.  There is a forum in which we are expected to post at least twice a day and there are regular times that we are strongly encouraged to take place in guild activates in other games and occasionally offline events as well.  Once the game launches, I’ll be responsible for numerous in-game duties such as gathering materials for my guild, participating in scheduled events, and of course keeping up with everything that I currently do on our website.  This is why many people can easily become addicted to these games.  They are so involved that many people find more satisfaction in these online societies than they do in their offline ones.  These games can eventually completely change someone.  They become confused about which “reality” is more important and that leads to addiction. 

The Future of Society

            The rise of online societies has been extremely fast and seemingly has occurred under most peoples’ nose.  Without knowing it, many of us have become dependent on one or more online societies to augment our offline lives.  This is not always harmful, but it is very necessary to understand the effect that our two types of societies have on one another.  The goal of course, is to balance the influence of each so that we don’t lose ourselves in our onlie activates and forget that it is all virtual. This is becoming more and more difficult as online societies slowly become tangible offline as well.

            Will we eventually reach a point where the line between the virtual and the physical is gone?  Is there a point when our Facebook friends, our gaming habits, and our shopping trends merge with our education, our family, and our careers?  I think is isn’t unreasonable to say that in many ways we have already reached that point.  We like to think that the lives we live offline and the lives we live online are completely separate things, but have we deluded ourselves into thinking this?  Is it possible that we don’t want to accept the truth that we are at a point where one cannot live without the other?  These online societies formed because we couldn’t find something like them offline.  If they were to stripped away suddenly, would we be able to endure?  How would we live without our Facebook profiles? Our Amazon wishlists? Our guilds?  I don’t think we could.

           

Works Cited

"About the USA E-Commerce." About the USA. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <http://usa.usembassy.de/economy-ecommerce.htm>.

"Ben Huh." 301 Moved Permanently. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <http://blog.seattlepi.com/benhuh/2012/01/18/why-did-the-anti-sopapipa-movement-go-viral-so-quickly/>.

Chiang, Oliver. "Blizzard On World Of Warcraft's 12 Million Subscribers, And Its Upcoming MMO Successor." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 08 Oct. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverchiang/2010/10/08/blizzard-on-world-of-warcrafts-12-million-subscribers-and-its-upcoming-mmo-successor/>.

The Economist. The Economist Newspaper. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/02/daily-chart-0>.

"Featured in Social Media." Mashable. Web. <http://mashable.com/2010/07/21/facebook-500-million-2/>.

"Fowl Play." The Angry Birds Videogame Makes Digital History. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/fowl-play-132086>.

Phillips, Sarah. "A Brief History of Facebook." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 24 July 2007. Web. 22 Apr. 2012.   <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/jul/25/media.newmedia>.

"Society." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/society>.

Web. <http://go.channeladvisor.com/rs/channeladvisor/images/us-wp-consumer-survey-2010.pdf>.

Web. <https://www.facebook.com/about/ads/#click>.

Web. <http://www.yelp.com/>.

"World Internet Usage Statistics News and World PopulationStats." Internet World Stats. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm>.

The Effect of Online Societies IRL, Part Four

The benefit isn’t one-sided.  With the rise of E-commerce, there have also been major strides in customer service which has led to a new type of online society.  In today’s online market, the customer review is incredibly important, with a product’s success sometimes directly tied to the star rating it receives from customers online.  In the 2010 Christmas Customer Survey, Channeladvisor.com found that 92% of consumers consult customer reviews of a product before they buy, and 46% said that they bought a product based on the ratings and reviews of that product (http://go.channeladvisor.com).  This new society of online consumers goes even farther, with sites like Yelp.com is a site that allows users to log in and find businesses that other users like or dislike and base their actions on those reviews (yelp.com).  This is a direct example of how the web intermingles with our real lives.  My choice of dinner reservation or dry cleaner or dog groomer can actually be affected by a few lines of text on a screen.  Wouldn’t it be a strange feeling to know that by typing a paragraph about slow service and bad fish that you directly changed how someone else acted?  Mindboggling! 

            One of the best examples of how an online business and customer reviews have offline ramifications is the wildly popular game Angry Birds.  In 2009, Finland-based game company Rovio Moblie Ltd. was heading into bankruptcy.  With over 51 games that never took flight, the developer needed a hit.  They took that flightlessness and formed a game around it that has been downloaded over 200 million times, making it the most popular paid application in the United States.  Rovio didn’t end the Angry Birds brand there.  A slew of non-digital merchandise has hit the market, including plush toys, apparel, bags, and even board games!  Rovio took their digital game and has turned it into an offline brand with merchandise now even available in Walmart (adweek.com).  This would not have happened without the existence of an online society of mobile gamers who support the game and clamor for more.

            It’s not really a surprise to see companies taking full advantage of these immensely populous online societies and shaping them to fir their own needs.  In fact, it is very common to see various online societies working together for common purposes.  For example, much of Facebook.com’s revenue is geneterated through selling advertising space on their site.  In fact, Facebook uses complex algorithms to match up their user with advertisements of products that they are likely to be interested in.  If I post a status update about going with my family to see a hockey game, it’s very likely that within 24 hours, there will be at least a half dozen advertisements for tickets and merchandise to show up on my homepage (facebook.com).  This cooperation between these groups indicates not only the existence and influence of online societies; it also suggests that these societies work collectively to accomplish goals that benefit them all.  In this way, online societies are somewhat like individuals with ambitions and intentions.

The Effect of Online Societies IRL, Part Three

Facebook has morphed into a virtual journal for many, with the addition of a pool of people who can each act as your personal therapist.  In this way, Facebook is changing the way that we live our lives.  We share more, express more, and communicate more frequently with people than we would otherwise.  Facebook has helped shape our offline society into a more open one, and perhaps one that is thoroughly dependent on the Internet in order to function.

            I know what you’re thinking.  You have this idea in your head that the way our offline society functions is barely affected by the web.  If the Internet were to shut down today, nothing much would change.  I disagree.  As I’ve already mentioned, users of social networking sites like Facebook use these sites to express their emotions to others.  This isn’t only on an individual basis, though.  When individuals share a belief or an idea and express it over social networks, change is almost certainly on the way.  Take the “STOP SOPA” movement of earlier this year.  When it was announced that legislation was being considered that would significantly limit the freedom of Internet users, millions of people mobilized on social networks and demanded that the legislation be shelved (blog.seattlepi.com).  The world heard the uproar, and dozens of websites blacked out on a single day to protest, and the legislation was shelved.  Social networks aren’t simply a cool place to connect with friends online; they are increasingly becoming the hubs for our collective consciousness.

E-commerce

            Now that we’ve briefly covered social networks, let us examine one of the biggest online societies in existence today; consumers.  Once people realized that the Internet was going to be around for a while and could reach millions of people, entrepreneurs began to set up virtual businesses that could maximize their reach into the global market while minimizing their need to do anything else than sitting in a chair behind a computer.  Eventually, this “dot com bubble” burst, but e-commerce has never faded entirely, and in today’s market, internet retailers account for hundreds of billions of dollars of sales globally (usa.usembassy.de).  Before the rise of e-commerce sites like Amazon.com, if you couldn’t get to a brick and mortar store, it was almost impossible for you to buy certain products.  Once these sites became widely known, however, even the most rural areas could order just about any product they desired, giving companies new markets in which to advertise. This new use of the Internet for commerce also gave rise to companies like eBay.com that makes the majority of its profit from sales between customers.  These online auction houses are hugely popular for collectors, people who want to maximize their market for garage sales, and consumers looking for inexpensive goods. E-commerce has been a huge advantage for indie artists and very small companies as well.  Thanks to millions of like-minded individuals, creative society sites have popped up everywhere to give artists with small budgets a place to market their wares.  Etsy.com gives craft makers an outlet to advertise and sell their handmade items, Society6.com is a massive outlet for painters, graphic designers, and photographers, and Threadless.com puts user-made art on t-shirts and sells them on their online store.  These do-it-yourself artists have come together to form immeasurably rich societies around what they create and the people who buy it.

The Effect of Online Societies IRL, Part Two

I believe that the creation and population of online societies was an inevitable consequence of the modern era.  David Bell argues that three processes greatly helped to pave the way for this phenomenon (Bell 95).  These processes are detraditionalization, disembedding, and globalization.  Essentially, because of our push for a “post-traditionalist” society in which we have very few ties to the past, we disembed ourselves from our parents and relatives on an intellectual basis in favor of the pursuit of our own brand of truth and personality.  When this is paired with globalization that has “made the world smaller”, the result is that there is a huge population of people looking for something.  The Internet gave them a place to do that, and online societies were born.

Social Networks

            Now that we’ve taken a brief look at how online societies got their start, it’s time to examine the various forms of online societies and then try to understand how they are affecting us even when we aren’t logged on.      I will be taking a close look at four different categories of online societies.  These are social networks, e-commerce sites, and entertainment.  Every category has a number of popular sites within it that I will briefly cover examine how they have contributed to offline change in major ways.

            The first social network that we are going to take a look at is arguably the most prevalent and certainly the most popular site, Facebook.  In 2004, 19-year old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook, a virtual network intended to help students at Harvard get to know each other.  By late 2005, all US universities and high schools were able to register their students for the site.  A year later, the site opened its virtual doors to anyone with an email address, turning Facebook into a completely open network of individuals (guardian.co.uk).  Today, Facebook has well over 500 million daily users and is a billion-dollar company (mashable.com).  It isn’t just for individuals anymore, either.  Pages have been created for businesses and charities, and new companies have been formed that market almost exclusively to Facebook users through content like games and applications of all sorts.

            Facebook is a shining example of how a virtual society can heavily impact life offline.  Mark Zuckerberg is the ultimate example of this.  He took a simple idea and made it into a billion-dollar company in less than a decade.  Economist.com reports that the site has nearly 3,000 employees, each with an average income of 1.2 million dollars annually (economist.com).  Facebook.com is churning out millionaires through purely virtual networking.  For those of us who aren’t employees, however, the impact on our real lives is still extremely deep.  Millions of users log on to the site daily, and when they’re logged on, they regularly post content that describes their feelings about goings-on in their lives and about new relationships and so on.  For a nosy person, Facebook is like paradise.  If I am having a bad day, there is a good chance that I will post a status update about it on the site, allowing my entire list of friends to weigh in on my feelings.  I like to say that Facebook is often used as a sort of crowd sourced therapy session.  Journaling is a tool used by people all over the world as a way to relieve stress and help them work through problems.