Traditions

All throughout world history, mankind has been known to practice traditions. Traditions can be a great thing, because they can help people to remember their heritage. They can remind people where they came from, which will lead people to better know who they are. However, there are many instances in history when tradition has not been so beneficial to mankind. 

For a very long time (about 900 A.D. – 1930 A.D.) in China, upper-class Chinese women used to carry out a practice called “foot-binding.” Basically, when a girl was still young, her toes were folded underneath her feet and bound there, then squeezed into very small shoes. A woman’s feet would stay bound that way for the rest of her life. It was very hard for a woman to put pressure on her feet after they were bound, so a woman with bound feet had a really hard time walking, moving around, and really doing any labor that required standing up or moving. It caused a lot of pain for the woman throughout her life, and often a lot of bleeding from her feet. Chinese peasant women didn’t practice feet binding because they had to work standing on their feet with their families to earn a living. Feet-binding was only practiced in families that were wealthy enough to live off of the income of only men. Over time, this tradition largely became a status symbol. If a woman had bound feet, then people knew that there was wealth attached to her name.

X-Ray comparison of a regular foot and a bound foot

As you can observe, there are a lot of pointless elements to this tradition. Nobody really knows how it was started; some people think that women began doing it because it was attractive to men. One legend goes that there was a ballerina who bound her feet to dance in front of the emperor, and many other women began binding their feet because they wanted to be like the ballerina. How the tradition started isn’t really relevant though; the question we should be asking is: why was it continued? Why would Chinese women continue to bind their feet even though it was very painful and restrictive? It may have been a symbol of status, but couldn’t upper-class women just find a different symbol to represent their wealth? The Chinese women were caught in a loop. They continued with foolish traditions only because the generations before them had. They were stuck in a constant state of blindness.

Today in modern American culture, we practice many traditions, and we have many practices that could be recognized as status symbols. A lot of the traditions we have are related to holidays. For example, we light fireworks off on July 4th, we have a feast on Thanksgiving, we give presents on Christmas, we go to stores on Black Friday, we dress up on Halloween, we give valentines on Valentines Day, etc., etc., there are many, many more. Some of these traditions are important to remembering our culture, but some are just really dumb. Take Black Friday, for example. It’s a celebration of material things. People spend hundreds; even thousands of dollars in just one day, all because things are “on sale” or because everybody else is spending their day shopping. It’s embarrassing that we have to have as much law enforcement as we do at the store on Black Friday because people care more about objects than about other people.

Money. Isn’t that what it’s all about in America? Everything we do is for money. It’s like a game: whoever has the most money and can retire the fastest wins the game of life! We have a wide variety of status symbols in our culture. Having a nicer car, or a college degree, or a bigger house shows other people that you are somehow at a higher level than they are, because you have more money than they do. Obviously, poverty is much worse in other parts of the world. But why can’t everybody just treat each other like brothers and sisters? Why do we have to treat other people like lesser beings just because they’re different or because they have less money than us? In my mind, a reputation of integrity is worth more than every paper dollar in America.

What happened to this?

American culture today, though it still possesses significant elements, is foundationally flawed. Therefore, it must be revolutionized. Our traditions do not make us better people. They do not help us to remember our true heritage. Instead, they tear us down and cause us to forget God. True American heritage is Christianity. You can choose to be offended by that statement, but evidence shows that it’s true. I’m not saying that you have to be Christian to be a true American, but I do believe that you have to stand by and live basic Christian principles which are found in ninety-five percent of non-Christian denominations. That is American culture. The Pilgrims sailed the Atlantic Ocean so that they could worship God in the way they believed was right. Our founding fathers called upon God to deliver them from British bondage. They studied and lived by Christian principles and based the systems of our government upon those principles. That is our heritage and the basis of our true culture.

So the question is: why don’t our traditions help us to remember our heritage? Even the traditions that brought people closer to God when they were started are flawed today. For example, Christmas is supposed to be a time to give gifts and show love to other people, and to celebrate what Christ has given to us. Today, we teach the next generation that how much you receive from others is more important than how much you can give. Thanksgiving started out as a day to give thanks to God and to remember all that he has given us, but today it’s just gluttony and NFL worship.

Let us cease to practice foolish traditions of our fathers and instead do things that will help us to remember who we really are and where we came from. That is what traditions should do.

Wake Up America!!!

  Every true American knows that without God, we would be nothing. That may be a very bold statement, but to me, that is the definition of a true American. This nation was founded on principles of Christianity taken straight out of the Bible. The whole reason that the Pilgrims and the Puritans came to America was so that they could worship God. It’s been proven that the number one resource the founders used to create our founding documents, including the Constitution, was the Bible. The very first freedom that is mentioned in the Bill of Rights is the freedom to worship God. There was no way America could have won the Revolutionary War without God, and if you disagree with that statement, you have more studying to do on the Revolutionary War. God’s hand has guided this nation throughout all of our history, and the success that America has had up to this point is proof of that. The role that our nation plays in the world today is proof of that.

            However, I don’t think that very many of us truly realize the entirety of the role that God has played and still does play in American freedom. In Old Testament times, God made a covenant with Israel. It was a national covenant, and it applied to the whole land, not just a certain person. Israel was the Promised Land. The Israelites were God’s chosen people, and God covenanted that He would preserve and prosper them if they would but keep His commandments. The prophets pled and pled with the Israelites all throughout the Bible to keep their side of the covenant. Christ was even sent to the land to bring salvation to all mankind, but in the end, the nation rejected and crucified Him.

America is God's chosen land. This is
the land of the free.

            Today, America carries that covenant. America is the Promised Land, and God has guided it and preserved it because of the faithful people that have turned to Him. The covenant was re-established in America when this nation was being founded and established. This is the land where anyone can worship God in the way that they choose. This is a land of freedom, and freedom has been God’s plan from the beginning. Throughout our history as a nation, we have been faithful to God. However, there have been times in our history when we haven’t kept our side of the covenant.

            In the early/mid nineteenth century, slavery abounded in America. We were denying freedom to groups of God’s children, not only African-Americans, but many religious parties and certain other groups of people. The Constitution didn’t properly protect the freedoms of everyone, because the Bill of Rights didn’t give the Federal Government enough power to properly protect everyone’s freedoms. Action had to be taken to stop this, or God would send his punishments upon the nation.

            Unfortunately, the nation did not decide to change, and the punishments were sent. A very bloody Civil War happened, and so many people suffered. That’s when the nation finally decided to turn to God. Abraham Lincoln went through a conversion process and kept the nation together by turning it to God. By instituting the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments, Lincoln abolished slavery in America and gave the Federal Government the power that it needed to keep freedom in America.

            This nation is in a covenant with God. That covenant still exists today, and we are breaking our side. We are becoming lazy and reliant, and we are putting other Gods before the God who delivered this nation so many times. Our freedoms are being taken away daily, and many of us are doing nothing to stop it. Unless we change quickly, punishment will come upon this nation, and freedom will have to be restored manually. It’s our choice: we can turn to God as a nation, or we will have to endure His wrath.

Most Americans in this country today would agree that they are free, but they are ignorant because they do not see that they are being more and more tightly wrapped in the chains of bondage as each day passes. It is the job of every educated American to wake America up to our awful situation. Join me. Let us wake up America!

The Future of Humanity: An Argument Against Network Discrimination

      I am an avid internet user, and I am convinced that the internet is the future of progress. Since its advent, the internet has steadily plowed through obstacles and ushered in a new age of development. Although the internet has great potential, it is being undermined by the age old problem of discrimination; however, discrimination has plagued far more than just the internet in its day. We have seen discrimination in racial injustice, gender inequality, LGBTQ rights, and religious liberty. Now this plague has infected the very framework of our world--the internet. This “infection” is known as Broadband Discrimination, which is more commonly known as Net Bias. Net Bias is the ability which Internet Service Providers (ISP) have which allows them to discriminate against different types of internet content users. If Net Bias can be removed from the internet system, the internet will be more cost effective, will become a tool for small businesses, and most importantly, equality and freedom will govern the web and our future.

"Internet map" by The Opte Project

     The internet isn't free. The costs associated with it are extensive. For instance, your Facebook wall is built
by a content owner who paid somebody to program the code for the page. That code is then uploaded to a server which cost hundreds of dollars to construct, not to mention the programming which went into it. From there the server attaches itself to the internet. In order to attach to the internet, ISP’s had to provide the internet connection. To create this internet connection, many towers must be built and many miles of cable must be laid. From there, the internet tower connects the server to another tower in a different part of the world, and the process repeats itself until it is routed to your personal computer where you see it in the form of a webpage. The cost of internet is very large to say the least. Net Bias uses the complexities of this system to exploit certain types of traffic and generate unfair revenue. Because of the bias built into the system, everyday content consumers are forced to pay more for a lower quality service. By eliminating Net Bias, we would effectively allow the system to distribute the wealth fairly, and lower the prices for everyone involved.

     One vital factor in internet-based progress is small business. Every major advancement started small. Before exploitation of the internet began, many businesses prospered. Even ISP’s started off small, but now they throttle the very thing which gave them a chance. Net Bias gives priority to those who are successful. An ISP makes such large profits by requiring a higher price for quality service. This limits high-quality service to big businesses with lots of money, restricts growth and innovation, and favors the status-quo. Small business is key to progress. As Nicole Leinback-Reyhle put it, “Small business is--quite frankly--big business”(1). She went on to explain that the majority of successful and progressive businesses are small ones (1). The Small Business Administration also estimates that about half of all small businesses die within 5 years of starting (1). This death is caused primarily by oppressive expenses or large scale competition. Net Bias perpetuates this problem by adding additional expenses and favoring big businesses. In doing this, Net Bias stifles progress and strangles improvement.

     The internet embodies the future of improvement and progress; in reality, it embodies the future of our race. Because of its vast importance for our future, it is essential that we remove dangerous flaws such as Net Bias from the equation. We have discussed many of the problems which pertain to Net Bias in the internet system, but there are several practical avenues for eliminating those problems. The most applicable solution is known as Network Neutrality. The actual definition of Network Neutrality is a subject of debate; however, there is a general principle, “At its simplest, network neutrality is the principle that all Internet traffic should be created equally” (Roebuck 144). Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu, who coined the term Network Neutrality, suggested the most effective application for the aforementioned principle. He suggested that telecommunication laws be implemented to protect the rights of all internet players, manage discrimination, as well as regulate other social goals (16). Wu’s writings have generated a movement, which is pushing for the Federal Communications Commission to implement rules regulating discrimination. It is in these regulations that equality and freedom will come to internet users.

     At the end of the day, we will either have Broadband Discrimination in the internet system, or we won’t; however, the consequences of either will be existential. If we allow Net Bias to remain in the system, then the consequences are inequality, inefficiency, and stagnation. By implementing Network Neutrality and eliminating Net Bias, we will see greater freedom, equality, and societal progress. Network Neutrality is the anti-discrimination movement of today and it will usher in equality and progress for all, no matter your race, gender, or the size of your paycheck.

Works Cited:

Leinback-Reyhle, Nicole. "Why You Need to Support Small Businesses." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 2 Sept. 2014. Web. 12 May 2015.

Roebuck, Kevin. "Network Neutrality." CMTS High-impact Strategies - What You Need to Know: Definitions, Adoptions, Impact, Benefits, Maturity, Vendors. Dayboro: Emereo Pub., 2012. 143-162. Print.

"The Voice of Small Business in Government." Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. Small Business Administration, Mar. 2014. Web. 12 May 2015.

Wu, Tim. "Why Have a Telecommunications Law?: Anti-Discrimination Norms in Communications." Journal on Telecommunications and High Technology Law 5 (2006): 15-46. Social Science Research Network. Social Science Electronic Publishing. Web. 14 May 2015.

The American Dream

John Smith saved Jamestown
through principles of hard work
and individual sovereignty

A struggle for sovereignty has been evident throughout the history of our world, and that struggle is the struggle between authoritarianism and democracy. Some claim the right to reign over others; others claim the right to reign over themselves. As this struggle has occurred throughout world history, our nation has risen up as a cure to the disease of tyranny. America is a nation that was founded upon principles of individuality. This truth has been evident since our humble beginning. For example, of the many first settlements upon this American continent, Jamestown is of the most notable. In 1607, a colony chartered by King James was founded in Virginia. Jamestown was first founded upon socialistic principles; policies full of good intent, yet terrible consequences. All goods in the colony were collected and redistributed equally among the settlers. This created many problems because people realized that they would still get their share of goods without having to work at all. People began to starve because the amount of available food went down dramatically. Amid this crisis, as a rising sun to a darkened city, a man by the name of John Smith arrived to save the starving settlement. Of the principles that Smith enforced to rescue Jamestown, the most effective was that of hard work leading to reward. By letting everyone know that "if you don’t work, you don’t eat," Smith turned the tides of Jamestown by motivating his fellowmen to work and put in effort for reward in the end. These principles literally turned swamps into gardens because they were based upon individual human sovereignty. These are the principles deeply ingrained in the roots of America.

This nation has always been known as a light in this dark world. Individuals under the chains of tyranny and slavery have come here from all over the world for opportunity. Some would give anything to just set foot in this chosen land. What has made this nation so great? What has made this nation the land of opportunity; the land of the free; the home of the brave? What has made this nation the unbelievably successful society that it has become? What has made the United States great is our working class. From the humble beginnings of the thirteen colonies to the Industrial Revolution of the early 19th century to now, the progress that America has made seems almost impossible, and that progress has occurred because here, you get rewarded for your work. 

Our forefathers started the fire by bringing forth a national republic that was based upon individuality. Unfortunately, like many societies of history, we have drifted further and further away from the principles that have made us great as a nation. People are becoming more and more apathetic because our government, through policies full of good intent but terrible consequences, has provided ways for men to be rewarded without being required to work through welfare programs that are encouraging laziness and reliance. Redistribution of wealth is being explicitly practiced through unfair income taxes and federal welfare programs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 35% of Americans received federal welfare in 2012. The federal government’s welfare budget is at nearly a trillion dollars. Because welfare is so accepted and easy, it has in turn created a culture that is turning away from individuality. Much blame can go to parents as generations have passed for not adequately teaching their children that work equals reward. Today, American children are corrupted with the rotten spoils of expensive allowances and overgenerous permissiveness as their parents are spoiled with free cell phones and guaranteed health care. We are creating a generation that is not strong. Take this example as proof that this "new American culture" is infecting the rising generation of young Americans with socialistic idealism.

Real competition is a good thing for society because it
motivates hard work and growth

I’m currently playing basketball with a team in a city league. Our team doesn’t win very many games, and we often find ourselves trailing the other team by a lot of points. However, as our games have gone on, I’ve started to realize that once our opposing team starts to gain a lead, the points on their side of the scoreboard start to stop increasing. So, I asked the scorekeeper about it, and I was informed that there is a rule in place that states that the deficit of points between two teams in a game has to stay at fifteen or under. On top of that, the deficit stays at fifteen until the losing team has actually caught up. So the deficit of points still exists between the two teams, only it’s not shown on the scoreboard. This is outrageous! Not only does this prevent the winning team from enjoying the fruits of their labors, but it eliminates all feeling of competition, even for the losing team, because they don’t know how many points they have to score to get back in the game. It’s socialist and it’s softening the next generation of Americans. I’ve been on teams before where we’ve lost games in deficits as large as seventy points, but it didn’t discourage us or cause us to give up. Seeing the true numbers on the scoreboard motivated us to work harder, and we eventually went on to win games because of it. That is the American dream, and it is fading because we are forgetting the principles of individuality that have made us a nation of success.

The regression of these principles in our society has led to slothfulness in every class of people. The poor are apathetic because they can get whatever they want without having to work for it, and the wealthy lose motivation to create wealth because it is taken away from them and given to those who take no action to create wealth for themselves. In short, the people of America as a whole are becoming reliant upon the government, and frankly, lazy; all because of government policies full of good intent, but terrible consequences. History has shown that the only way lazy people can be motivated to work is through the confiscation of their freedom. We are already deep in the grip of reliance on our own government and we are becoming weaker and weaker as individuals. Without strength; without recognition of our individual responsibility and sovereignty, outward forces threaten the freedom of the people of this nation. 

The strongest hope that we have is the spark of motivation that is inside each of us. In order to save ourselves from the engulfing chains of slavery that codependency has brought us, we must once again become self-reliant. We must abolish our government’s corrupted welfare programs that are only digging us a deeper and deeper pit. These welfare programs are making individuals lazy and reliant upon the tyrants of the government of America, they are getting those tyrants re-elected year after year because of that reliance upon them that has been created by our lethargy, and finally, these programs are getting our nation into trillions and trillions of dollars of debt to other nations, which is making us yet more reliant; even upon external forces. The progress that the world has made in the past two-hundred years when compared to thousands before has been incredible, and it’s because of the American dream. America has forever been known as the land of opportunity, and that is where we must return. Our history is enveloped with the love and charity of brotherhood that has always helped people to help themselves, and that is where we must return. We were once known as a nation of hard workers and dedicated self-masters, and that is what has made us great. That is what has given us progress and prosperity. That is where we must return.

As the spark of hope and freedom has become dimmer and dimmer, many of us have asked ourselves “is the American dream still alive?” I will not deny that it is slipping away from us, but the American dream is not dead. America still is the land of opportunity. America still is the shining city of freedom for the whole world to see. America still is great. However, we must take action to preserve our freedom and our sovereignty. We must throw off the chains of apathy and selfishness that are holding us down as a nation, and we must fight to preserve our individuality, our liberty, and our greatness.

"Free Rainbows"

Walking down the streets of a large city, you look around. What do you see? You see the towering buildings touching the sky. You see the extensive infrastructure and expensive cars stretching on into eternity. Towering above our meager lives, society casts a long shadow across the earth.

Now take a step back. Look a little bit closer. Beneath the shadows of every immense building, and on the corner of every busy street you can find something much smaller, but ever so much more important. Lurking in the shadows there are the people who have been cast aside by this massive society. The poor, sick, needy masses who are left on the corner of a road pleading, pleading for someone to show them the smallest compassion. But day after day, they are tossed aside by people who see a world no deeper than their own selfish desires.

Two years ago, a tiny girl stepped onto a street corner under the shadow of the selfish city. She was not homeless, not in need, not there to beg for compassion. She was there to spread hope  to those who were homeless, in need, and begging for compassion. This little girl sat down, and put up a sign which simply said, “free rainbows, so you can smile.” When people would look at her as they walked by, she would hand them a small picture of a rainbow which she had just colored. This little girl did something no massive building or endless road ever could. She made someone’s life better, “so they could smile.”

The Sign of God's Pure Love for All

This little child did something which very few people do anymore. Unlike little children, the human race has become obsessed with themselves. We look past the pain and heartache and, by thinking only of ourselves, justify our cruelty at the expense of the weak and needy. In doing so we cast shadows of selfishness on those around us. It is this selfishness which must be overcome for the world to become truly great.

Just as in the biblical days of Noah, there are two great forces at work in our world today. The cause of light and goodness in constant combat with the shadowy cause of selfish indulgence. There is no longer a middle ground. We may claim to be good while walking in the twilight of selfishness, but so long as we do not stand directly in the light, we place ourselves in a position where we may be destroyed by our own figurative floods. A flood which, if we do not actively fight, will sweep the glow of compassion from this earth, Leaving nothing but the gloom of apathy in its wake.

People do not love each other; rather, they love themselves. We need to love people, else we may end as those who died in the first flood. We must truly look beyond ourselves and genuinely care about others to make the world better. The dark clouds are forming above us, their shadows ominous, foreboding the rains to come if we do not stand firm against them.

One person cannot save a world of people who aren't willing to join with them in the saving. We are all living in this great society. Each of us are responsible to serve each other, and to be a benefit to that society. I can pull my own weight, but every person here must assist me in order for us to change the world.

We are not blatantly evil or apathetic. However, many people are not actively striving to make the world better. By sitting on a wall between compassion and apathy you are hurting the well being of the entire world. Those sitting on this wall forget a fundamental attribute of that wall; That it is owned by those who do actively do evil. Indeed Edmund Burke said it well, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Some may say that I am seeking glory, honor, or have some ulterior motive for promoting the cause of human goodness through selfless action. To those who may think such things, I say that it is not the case. Rather, I seek for a better world. A world where human beings of every walk of life will turn their eyes from cold, hard ways of selfishness, and will instead look at others in the light of charity and empathy. I seek a world where all people help each other to climb from the pitfalls in which we are all held captive rather than battle and bully their way to the top of the pit, simply by pushing others beneath themselves. I seek only a world in which we, we the citizens of the earth all seek to lift, comfort, and serve each other.

Do you who sit on this wall wish to join us in this great cause of compassion upon which we are embarking, yet find yourselves unwilling to relinquish the pleasures found in selfish living? You are not alone in those desires. I am one of the most grievous sinners of pleasure. But unlike those who sit on the fence, I actively declare war on this carnal self within. It is not a difficult task. Simply in trying to become more compassionate, you step away from the wall and become a benefit to the human family.

We are all part of this family. We have to stick together to become better as a group. Alas, we constantly cast each other aside in our individual quests for greatness, forgetting that a man who stands alone will reach no higher than his single arm can stretch. We cannot expect to become great as a human race by tossing each other from this ship in our selfish desire for comfort and glory, for no vessel can reach its destination without a crew who will all help each other.

As we move into a new period, a period in which our attitudes illuminate the goodness in this world, and lift those weaker than ourselves into the dawn of this new age, let us each resolve to look beyond our selfish desires.

Let us each accept the responsibility we all have to help each other escape the pains of this world.

Let us each determine what things we are willing to sacrifice to aid those who have nothing.

Let us also decide to look into our relationships and search for those who hurt and are afflicted.

Let us all determine that we will make one person smile everyday.

At last, let us each follow the grand admonition to do unto every other person what we would have them do unto us.

Certainly, we will stumble, we cannot be perfect, but we can try. Indeed, to try is to do something. And something is exactly what needs to happen.

Will you good people step into the light? Will you lift the olive branch out of the flood of selfishness with true determination to make a better world? Will you be one who hands out free rainbows?

Will you stand by me? We do not stand against other men, but we do stand against pure selfishness, greed, and pain. It is these tyrants which now oppress us all.

Never before have men shrunk in time of oppression. Men of all ages have risen up in revolution to any hand which crushes them. Will we be counted among them in this grand rebellion against corruption itself?

May we each rise from the dust, cast the chains of fear at our feet, and face our foe! We can become the people this world needs. Let us finally resolve to stand together, for when we do, even the longest, darkest shadows fall beneath us.