Contrasting Speeches

I was watching CSPAN, which I am now getting a bit more comfortable with, and saw first John McCain address the town hall in Albuquerque, NM followed by Barrack Obama in Washington D.C.

One of the major themes in John McCain’s speech was for energy independence. He talked about it, but didn’t really say anything. It was more of him simply reiterating his positions without explaining any specifics. I remember him talking about his support for nuclear energy and how France has 85% of its energy coming from nuclear power and basically saying “look they’re still around, so its safe.” This comes six days after a nuclear waste was leaked from a processing site in Bollène, France. First, I am undecided on my opinion on nuclear energy, so I’ll avoid arguing for or against it. Instead, I’ll make two ulterior observations.

First question I have is “did McCain know about this incident?” If the answer is “no,” then he isn’t globally aware, which is of major concern for a presidential candidate. Keep in mind this is directly related to what he discussed at the town hall meeting and isn’t something obscure, but international news. If McCain was aware of this, he decidingly left it out of his speech. Why? The first and most obvious reason is that it doesn’t support his position. Second, he felt that it wasn’t a substantial enough concern to be worth mentioning. I won’t go on with all of the other things he says and doesn’t say because I don’t feel like writing a 20 page essay. Instead I’ll end with this: John McCain doesn’t bother to explain the whole issue, which should be alarming given the past 8 years of concealment and propaganda.

Directly after the McCain’s speech, CSPAN showed Obama giving a speech. Watching the two candidates give speeches back-to-back was very revealing of the contrasts that exists between these two candidates. I’m not going to summarize, just watch a video of it. It made me a little more hopeful for our bleak future. If you are voting for McCain or are undecided I suggest you watch first McCain’s speech, followed by Obama’s speech. If you are an Obama supporter, watch his speech and understand a little better his positions. Below are links to the different speeches.

McCains Speech

Obama’s Speech

 

Consumeroticism

Today I’ve realized that I haven’t directed my life accordingly. 22 years, I’ve done the next logical step to secure a prosperous future, monetarily anyway, albeit in a field I enjoy. Design isn’t the problem. I love architecture and all most all forms of design. Rather, it is the realization that my life has been compromised. An invisible force has taken reign of me and millions of others to strive toward fiscal certainty, before “considering life.”* In order to prevent reaching the plateau of financial security and thus the realization of its worthlessness, we are bombarded by comsumeroticism; images, videos, audio, and other forms of media are continually instructing us what the next “logical” step is. It lays out a blueprint of how we are intended to live, and expects no deviation from it. For most, to achieve all that is laid before them is never going to happen, and thus they will never realize its worthlessness. Perpetual motion is achieved.

The blueprint

America, home of the home. We are sold a “dream” that is not our own. It is a dream of separation as a means of individualism and freedom.

Quickly an abridged overview of the steps that we are intended to follow.

First: Learn the Rule

we must be conditioned. As children we quickly learn the rules of consumerism. We are told what we want and then we regurgitate it to others. We are told we are special multiple times of the year through products. Birthdays, Christmas and Easter remind us that we are individuals that deserve consumables. Consumables that of course quickly become outdated. (incomplete in thought)

Second: Implementation

Now that we know that we are to consume in order to be individuals, we must earn a “living” to achieve this individualism. Remaining in consistency with this, as one becomes wealthier; one can afford to be more of an individual. This introduces the variability of wealth: classism, a social hierarchy.

At this point there seems to be a severe flaw in this logic. If wealth leads to “individualism”, then why do social cliques of the wealthy form, in which everyone follows similar expensive trends. I struggled with this for a brief moment before realizing that association with one group provides a greater visibility of separation of another, namely the lower classes. This area still leaves confusion, and has to be further explored. But my primary rebuttal is that separation is more important than association, therefore if one associates to create a separation, they in the flawed logic of consumerism are more of an individual. (incomplete in thought)

Third: Progression

This is the final stage, since it virtually never is reached. Wealth is freedom; there is actually some truth behind this. To gain the basic necessities quickly and easily, affords us with time. Time is freedom given the proper environment. But the notion that more wealth leads to more freedom, which is what we have been conditioned to believe, is entirely false. Buying a speed boat, does allow you an opportunity, in this case, the opportunity to drive upon a body of water at a quick speed, but that is not freedom. The antithesis of freedom is restriction. So, many believe that to not be able to do something is an infringement upon our “inalienable freedoms.” We have forgotten that it is not a right, and confused what freedom truly is. So we continually pursue getting what we don’t need to gain greater separation, freedom, and individualism.

Status is separation, even if it means association. Proxy is pertinent here. If you are lower class, you will strive to emulate the middle class, and thus within your locality, which is presumably lower class, you will be seen as separate.

Back to me

So where do I go from here? Answer, Travel. I don’t abandon my education, which has consequentially led to this, instead of its contemporary capitalist intentions of monetary prosperity. On the contrary, I embrace it more than ever. Learn as much as possible, experience as much as possible, and implement it as much as possible. Grow and help others grow. An educated man can learn from an “uncultured” man just as much as he can teach. The only difference is that the “uncultured” man embodies much more significant information. It is not what he says in its content, but its context that we learn a great deal.