SavageDem

"I don't belong to an organized political party – I'm a Democrat." – Will Rogers

Month: April 2011

  • What Lucky People Do Different

    This article gets at something that I’ve observed personally multiple times in life: it seems to take a crisis for most people to crystallize what’s really important in their existence, and that state of mind only lasts a short while. If we can learn how to open our minds, follow our intuition, and “tap in” to that feeling more regularly, we may find our true calling and more joy in life.

    Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool that I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

  • The End of Education

    Chris Hedges knocks it out of the park again in writing about the increasing pressure to turn our schools and teachers into mindless cogs existing only to churn out homogeneous parts for the corporate machine.

    To truly teach is to instill the values and knowledge which promote the common good and protect a society from the folly of historical amnesia. The utilitarian, corporate ideology embraced by the system of standardized tests and leadership academies has no time for the nuances and moral ambiguities inherent in a liberal arts education. Corporatism is about the cult of the self. It is about personal enrichment and profit as the sole aim of human existence. And those who do not conform are pushed aside.