Monthly Archives: October 2011

Lying, Stealing, and Cheating; Why People Do It, and Why It Will Never Go Away

by

1

This post was sort of made haphazardly, made out of pure type as you think process. It is the most truthful and honest I can be and will remain un-edited out of spirit. Ignore the bad, and make do with the good. 

This question has plagued us forever. It is the harbinger of human upset while simultaneously the catalyst of “unfair” betterment. Technically speaking, people who can get away with lying, stealing and/or cheating will be better off. People who can successfully lie through job interviews will get better paying jobs. People who steal successfully will have greater resources at no added cost. The same is true for many other species on the planet. When penguins nest, it is not uncommon to witness them stealing rocks from another penguin’s nest when they aren’t looking. If you want to look at it from an evolutionary perspective, those that are successful at stealing, will be more prosperous and more likely to survive… therefore passing on their advanced traits to the next generations.

 

Even if you don’t look at it from an evolutionary standpoint, and just as human behavioral reasoning you will see that the majority of people do it, and everybody has done it at sometime in their life. It is human nature. I will try and explain why it will never go away, but also why it is good for you to avoid the behavior.

Lying exists because people like the feeling they get from the immediate pleasure created by the lie. It might make them look superior, give them things they otherwise wouldn’t get, or take advantage of a situation to sway things in their own direction. The fact of the matter remains true, if you lie, you WILL get increased benefit at that immediate moment and quite possibly the short future. It is almost impossible to refute this unless your lie is worse than the truth. But on the flip-side, nobody, and I mean nobody, can remember everything they say or do… so a liar will slip up eventually. People who tell the truth have nothing to fear, what they remember is what they remember. People who tell the truth are better people to be with (even if liars a rollin’ good) because there is nothing to worry about. A liar walks a fine line where if they slip up, it’s over, his circle of people won’t want anything to do with him because all he can do is take advantage of them. As far as a relationship goes, you need to get away from liars as quick as possible… they can only bring future harm. Though, it’s tempting, because liars won’t appear in broad daylight like you think they might… they will just look like an immensely wonderful person. A fake one at that.

Stealing exists similarly to the above… if you can steal and get away with it, you will be better off. It’s harder for a stealer to “slip-up” because they don’t usually have to remember all the lies a liar tells. But just as before, if a stealer gets caught, it’s over. Others will know that this person is dangerous to be around, and won’t want anything to do with them, for fear of themselves being ripped off.

Finally, cheaters. Why do people cheat? Genetically, it’s because men want to ‘spread the seed’ as much as possible… but I think we’re beyond that natural desire. I think it’s of the issue that if people have the ability to get with more than 1, and get away with it, then why not… more pleasure for themselves. It’s sad, but it’s true. It’s probably one of the most selfish things one can do. I have personally known people who have talked about cheating in almost a glorified manner. It’s pathetic. The only way you can prosper peacefully for the long term is if you rely singly on another person, and they do the same. Any form of wavering this and any and all mutual support is gone.

Why does this happen? Simple, humans are instant pleasure machines. We want what we want now, not later. And if we feel like we can selfishly benefit from it now, then why not take advantage of the situation? The error in this logic is that in the long haul this will prove fatal, because as time passes you will gain a greater and greater reputation of being untrustworthy and selfish absorbed. If you are able to find someone who is capable of removing any and all of these temptations, both of you will be significantly better off together because you will mutually support each other without fear of treachery. It also means that you can’t really trust people until you really get to know them. Too many people take everyone’s words for granted, and all too often fall prey to such deceivery. Be open and honest with people, don’t exclude people from your lives but be sure to keep a tight circle and only allow yourself to fall for people you already can deeply trust and have a great time with. This tight circle will only boost your well being in life and decrease the likelihood of setbacks caused by liars, stealers and cheaters.

This post was sort of made haphazardly, made out of pure type as you think process. It is the most truthful and honest I can be and will remain un-edited out of spirit. Ignore the bad, and make do with the good. 

Related articles

300,000 Babies Stolen From Parents and Sold For Adoption Through Catholic Church in Spain [BBC]

by

5

[BBC]

Up to 300,000 Spanish babies were stolen from their parents and sold for adoption over a period of five decades, a new investigation reveals.

The children were trafficked by a secret network of doctors, nurses, priests and nuns in a widespread practice that began during General Franco’s dictatorship and continued until the early Nineties.

Hundreds of families who had babies taken from Spanish hospitals are now battling for an official government investigation into the scandal.
Several mothers say they were told their first-born children had died during or soon after they gave birth.

Identity crisis: Randy Ryder as a baby being cradled in a Malaga hospital in 1971 by the woman who bought himIdentity crisis: Randy Ryder as a baby being cradled in a Malaga hospital in 1971 by the woman who bought him

But the women, often young and unmarried, were told they could not see the body of the infant or attend their burial.

In reality, the babies were sold to childless couples whose devout beliefs and financial security meant that they were seen as more appropriate parents.

Official documents were forged so the adoptive parents’ names were on the infants’ birth certificates.

In many cases it is believed they were unaware that the child they received had been stolen, as they were usually told the birth mother had given them up.

Journalist Katya Adler, who has investigated the scandal, says: ‘The situation is incredibly sad for thousands of people.

‘There are men and women across Spain whose lives have been turned upside-down by discovering the people they thought were their parents actually bought them for cash. There are also many mothers who have maintained for years that their babies did not die – and were labelled “hysterical” – but are now discovering that their child has probably been alive and brought up by somebody else all this time.’

Reunited: Randy Ryder with Manoli Pagador, who believes she may be his real motherReunited: Randy Ryder with Manoli Pagador, who believes she may be his real mother

Experts believe the cases may account for up to 15 per cent of the total adoptions that took place in Spain between 1960 and 1989.

It began as a system for taking children away from families deemed politically dangerous to the regime of General Franco, which began in 1939. The system continued after the dictator’s death in 1975 as the Catholic church continued to retain a powerful influence on public life, particularly in social services.

It was not until 1987 that the Spanish government, instead of hospitals, began to regulate adoptions.

The scandal came to light after two men, Antonio Barroso and Juan Luis Moreno, discovered they had been stolen as babies.

Mr Moreno’s ‘father’ confessed on his deathbed to having bought him as a baby from a priest in Zaragoza in northern Spain. He told his son he had been accompanied on the trip by Mr Barroso’s parents, who bought Antonio at the same time for 200,000 pesetas – a huge sum at the time.

‘That was the price of an apartment back then,’ Mr Barroso said. ‘My parents paid it in instalments over the course of ten years because they did not have enough money.’

Bought for cash: Journalist Katya Adler with Juan Luis Moreno, who was sold as a babyBought for cash: Journalist Katya Adler with Juan Luis Moreno, who was sold as a baby

DNA tests have proved that the couple who brought up Mr Barroso were not his biological parents and the nun who sold him has admitted to doing so.

When the pair made their case public, it prompted mothers all over the country to come forward with their own experiences of being told their babies had died, but never believing it. One such woman was Manoli Pagador, who has begun searching for her son.

A BBC documentary, This World: Spain’s Stolen Babies, follows her efforts to discover if he is Randy Ryder, a stolen baby who was brought up in Texas and is now aged 40.

In some cases, babies’ graves have been exhumed, revealing bones that belong to adults or animals. Some of the graves contained nothing at all.

The BBC documentary features an interview with an 89-year-old woman named Ines Perez, who admitted that a priest encouraged her to fake a pregnancy so she could be given a baby girl due to be born at Madrid’s San Ramon clinic in 1969. ‘The priest gave me padding to wear on my stomach,’ she says.

It is claimed that the San Ramon clinic was one of the major centres for the practice.

Many mothers who gave birth there claim that when they asked to see their child after being told it had died, they were shown a baby’s corpse that appeared to be freezing cold.

The BBC programme shows photographs taken in the Eighties of a dead baby kept in a freezer, allegedly to show grieving mothers.

Despite hundreds of families of babies who disappeared in Spanish hospitals calling on the government to open an investigation into the scandal, no nationally co-ordinated probe has taken place.

As a result of amnesty laws passed after Franco’s death, crimes that took place during his regime are usually not examined. Instead, regional prosecutors across the country are investigating each story on a case-by-case basis, with 900 currently under review.

But Ms Adler says: ‘There is very little political will to get to the bottom of the situation.’

There are believed to be thousands more cases that will never come to light because the stolen children fear their adoptive parents will be seen as criminals.

Many of the families of stolen babies have taken DNA tests in the hope of eventually being matched with their children. Some matches have already been made but, without a nationally co-ordinated database, reuniting lost relatives will be a very difficult process.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2049647/BBC-documentary-exposes-50-year-scandal-baby-trafficking-Catholic-church-Spain.html#ixzz1bBiKGvHi

 

 

 

Related articles

25+1 Words of Advice: From a Realist

by

4

Here are some words of advice, most by me, some by profound people… remember, take everything with a grain of salt. You, are you.

 

1. What you don’t want is just as important as what you do want. 

Sometimes distinguishing what you don’t want or need in your life is what vectors you towards what you do want. Removing the bad makes room for the good. Once you can make this identification you will no longer feel like you’re being pulled in multiple directions and instead you will be pushed in the one direction you desire most.

2. Knowing what you don’t know is better than knowing what you know.

Because knowing what you don’t know means you know what is left to be explored, as well as improved. At the same time, it’s not all about what you don’t know… it’s about what you know that others don’t. Essentially it means you are aware of your potential and you can emanate that potential onto others.

3. The best revenge of all is happiness… no better way to stick it to someone.

There’s no need to fuss over someone who has harmed you. It’s not good physically or emotionally and only makes you feel like you’re always dragging a sack of bricks. The best way to spite someone is to move on and be happy, because in the end you will be in a better place than that person and they will know it.

4. If life were easy, then what would be challenging? If nothing were challenging, then what would be fun?

No brainer, if you don’t challenge yourself… how will you grow? It’s human nature to grow and improve which is why life always seems so dang hard. An easy life is a boring one.

5. It is because we die that makes life unimaginably worth living.

Death is the most important thing in life, which sounds morbid. But it’s because you have a limited time on Earth that you create value on yourself and loved ones. Once you understand this, the whole world will open up to you like never before. Here is an in-depth article on this topic alone.

6. If it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter. 

This coincides with a couple of the others on the list, don’t fret over the things in life that aren’t worth fretting about.

7. Life may be unfair, but the alternative is unacceptable.

No matter how down you get, no matter how lonely you feel, no matter where you find yourself in life, you will ALWAYS have your place and time on Earth. Don’t take away the single most important gift you’ve been given. Even though it may seem like the hole you’re in is as slick as silicone, there is always that something or someone just around the corner that will help you out… you just don’t know it yet.

8. If you want to look into your future, you must look into your past. If you don’t like your past, you must change your present.

Kicking and stomping over previous times does no good. The book thus far has been written and all you can do is write it, so write it.

9. …at the same time, if you keep hoping towards the future, eventually, all you will see is an undesirable past.

Waiting for your life to turn around is like waiting for a plane at a train station, the plane just won’t come. You must go to the plane to get on it. If you wait too long, all you will see is no plane.

10. People are interested in interest, exude interest. 

People like it when others are interested, we are naturally curious. If you exude interest into many facets of your life people will flock to you and give their support.

11. Time is the currency of life, it is the one thing that everyone has equally.

It doesn’t matter where you live, how much money you have, what your religion is, what school you went to, how many “friends” you have, how authoritative you are, every single person that is born on this planet has the time they are given… do something with it, because in the end it’s all you’ve got.

12. Just because you have already “ante’d up”, doesn’t mean you have to play the hand. 

This might be a little harder to understand. Some people feel like they need to pursue something simply because that’s what they’ve been doing. Just because you have chips on the table doesn’t mean you should put more chips on the table because you already have chips on the table. Know when to leave something behind.

13. Live simply and follow your own path. 

Simplicity is efficiency. No need to create complexity in your life, all that does is create stress. The first step in living simply is to only make decisions based off what YOU want to do, not what you think others want you to do.

14. Get in touch with your wild side, yielding is only for the weak. 

Every time you yield it’s because you doubted yourself. What does it mean to doubt yourself? Insecurity. Be deliberate and confident and liberate yourself from what other people think.

15. Live saintly… be a leader in simultaneity to a follower. 

You can’t be a good leader without being a good follower. You must learn as well as lead. If you can master this you will be among the few humble and wise.

16. Many fear failure, and then they don’t commit… trial by fire is the only way to find and perfect what you desire. Always jump head first.

The quickest way to learn is to throw yourself in the flames. Failure is the only way humans can learn… sooner or later enough failure leads you to your ideal, but you will never reach your ideal if you never commit and are afraid of failure.

17. Love is NOT all you need, but it sure is a hell of a lot of what you do need.

There are many things important in life, and not all of them are about love… but love is what fuels us to do great things, and without it you seriously are handicapping yourself. Don’t rotate your whole world around love because it will eventually find you unexpectedly.

18. The instant a new experience arises, take it at all costs. 

All you have are your experiences. It’s how we learn and how we create memories. In our final days all we will have is our memories and our ability to pass on what we’ve learned. A missed opportunity is a missed memory as well a lost place you would otherwise grow.

19. The two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why.

Not every single person is united with the same purpose, everybody has their own purpose. Once you know your purpose, you’ll know who you are, and once you know who you are, nothing else in the world matters. The gift of life is beyond measure speechless, use it to give yourself a purpose… yourself.

20. Question the world around you, ask “why” whenever possible. 

The more you question the world, the more you learn about it and the more you understand what is important. It also allows you to filter out the good and the bad, the correct and the incorrect as well as the ignorant vs the logical. The smartest people in the world were “why” thinkers. Don’t stop doubting and asking.

21. If you don’t have enemies in the world, it means you have never stood up for anything worth while. 

There is a reason a utopian society is impossible, too many people have a different idea of what an ideal world might be… this is why we never will have peace (read more about it here). You can’t always agree with everyone, so if you have enemies, it means you are unique. Uniqueness is important, it shows you’re not boring and that you believe in very specific things… things that are responsible for shifting the ebb and flow of society.

22. Every year go somewhere and do something you have never done before. 

This goes along with #18, experience. Your world will open up to a whole new level for ever new place you go. Don’t worry about the costs, or what you have to sacrifice to do it, it’s your life, live it the way you want to.

23. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. 

Life always has a funny way of working out. If something doesn’t work out the way you wanted it to, it means that it didn’t work for you… even if you were predisposed to think otherwise. Closing the doors of lost causes allows other doors to open, usually unexpectedly and for the better.

24. Don’t be a little bitch. 

Seriously, nobody likes that. Quit your whining, develop a tough shell that doesn’t give a rat’s ass about what other people think. You are above the people who try to pull you down, stay above them.

25. Breath

If life blindsided you in the throat, take a step back, sit down and breath! Relax. Give yourself some space and time to make proper, rational, decisions. Don’t choke yourself.

Bonus. Take everything with a grain of salt. 

What do pretty much all 25 of these things have in common? They all have to do with living your life the way you want to live it. What other people say or do isn’t the be-all-end-all of the world, forge your own sword. And yes, this includes everything I have written.

Drop a comment or share below if you like.

Related articles

Coffee Shop Dating: What You’re Doing Wrong

by

0

You and your bud sign up for a co-ed softball league in your local town. At the same time, his girlfriend and her best friend sign up for the same team. All of you show up to your first practice ready to get down-n’-dirty when you meet her for the first time. She’s wearing shorts and a 3/4 sleeve baseball tee with a baseball cap. You play 3rd base and she plays 2nd base and for the entire hour and a half both of you share glances and smiles with one another… until, you get hit a grounder and it goes right through your legs while you’re caught looking over at your buddy’s girlfriend’s best friend. Now what? You can either (a), make a fool of yourself even more and make an excuse like, “the sun was in my eyes”. Or (b), say that you were… “distracted”. At the end of practice you both exchange glances and finally you say with a big grin, “Hi, I’m (insert name)”. She smiles and says, “Hey, I’m (insert name), are you always bad at 3rd base?” You talk a little while longer as you walk towards your cars and then you finally close off with, “I’ll see you at the game tomorrow, it was nice meeting you.”

The next day at your first co-ed softball game both of you show up. You talk throughout the game when you can, not really paying attention to the score. She has everything you desire. She’s intelligent, witty, has a beautiful smile, funny, as well as charming. After the game you pack up your things and walk her to her car and then the make or break moment happens. You say, “I’m really beginning to like you, can I take you out for coffee sometime?” And with that, comes the biggest shotgun blast to the foot if I ever heard one.

 

Asking somebody out for coffee or to a local cafe is oh so cliché it makes my stomach turn. Why is it the generic approach to asking somebody out? Is it a cop-out because you’re too afraid to do anything else? Or is it because you’re too boring to think of anything better? This is what happens when you ask somebody out… usually, more often than not, you have already been “shootin’ the breeze” with somebody before you actually get to asking somebody out. If you then [backtrack] to a coffee shop, what will you talk about? Most of the small talk and getting to know each other has been taken care of. Unless both of you are really open to expressing your deeper selves on your first official date, there is potential for a lot of awkward silence.

Aside from that factor, what is so exciting about going out to a cafe anyway? What makes this first date memorable? You’ll be just another person who went on a date to a coffee shop. Why not a stroll through the park? Especially if you own a dog. Or a walk through a local museum. Skiing, if it’s the winter months. An introductory pottery class. But please, please, please don’t be another joe schmo and ask a date out for coffee (out for a movie is just as bad). If you’re caught up and can’t think of anything on the spot, just say that you’ll find something special and let them know what it is at a later time. It’ll at least give you time to think about a proper first date idea.

I hope this advice was helpful. If it was, spread the word with the sharing buttons below.

Related:

http://iantimberlake.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/what-is-your-personality-type-i-can-tell-you/

http://iantimberlake.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/the-1-to-10-scale-for-women-explained-in-detail/

Does Your Lack of Experience Limit Your Understanding and Knowledge?

by

0

If I were to ask you to describe the color red to somebody who only sees in black and white, how might you do that? Lets say this person, from the time they were born, only saw the world on a gray-scale and had never experienced true color. Could you say red is the color of a rose? Or could you say that red is of a such-n-such wavelength in the light spectrum? Give me something in the comment box if you can think of a method and I’ll give you some serious props. I’ll make it a little easier. What if you had a person who viewed everything as gray-scale, but, they saw anything that was blue. This would give them perception of what the possibilities of “color” are… but do you still think that you could explain to them what red is? Even if they have the perception of what color is?

Humans only learn and understand by comparing their experiences with other worldly observations. How would you explain “hot” to someone who has never felt temperature difference? It’s impossible. If you want to know where I’m going with this, trust me, it’s going somewhere. Not only do I find the above highly intriguing but it’s also meaningful in our lives to understand this.

Your understanding is limited to your experiences.

 

Now. What if I were to ask you about time… or more specifically your perception of it. To you, and everyone else in this world, everything has a beginning and an ending. Everything. Time dictates this. A pepper shaker has a beginning and an ending, a vehicle has a beginning and ending, an earthly creature has a beginning and an ending. From the time you are born, to the time you die (beginning and ending), all your experiences are based around this. Einstein has provided mathematical representations of how time can fluctuate… and it has been proven. Two atomic clocks were monitored, one on the space shuttle and one on Earth. Atomic clocks are accurate to the second in no less than 138 million years. After only a short while in space, the space clock slowed down considerably… proving Einsteins calculations of time fluctuation as you increase your speed.

If time can fluctuate, then what is to say that it can’t be infinite all together? Who says the universe has to have a beginning? The “big bang” as creationists have coined it, did in fact happen, guaranteed… what we don’t know is what was before the explosion. My theory (as well as many other physicists) is that the universe is in a timeless state of expansion and contraction, and in-fact there were many “big bangs”… infinitely many.

Why is this hard to accept? It’s because all we know is time that has a beginning and an ending. We have nothing in our lives to relate timelessness to. How do you explain timelessness? It is literally beyond understanding. You know what it entails, but you can’t explain it. This means that the theory can’t be taken as absurd because there is nothing to say it is not possible, not even improbable. I actually argue it is the most likely. The “big bang” explains the creation of our universe but it doesn’t explain what was before the beginning. It is the eternal question of humanity, one we will probably never answer. But logically, it’s impossible to have nothing before something. So when a creationist argues that the “big bang” states you must have nothing before something… they don’t know what they are arguing. Actually, the same thing could be said about creation. Who created the creator? The only feasible way for a god to exist and “create” the universe is if the universe is timeless, otherwise something had to create him (or her). This argument, in my opinion, would be perfectly valid.

 

This brings me to my next question about understanding and experience. Why in the world would a [timeless] creator wait an infinite amount of time to create a single creature of trillions, on a single planet of infinitely many, and make us so insignificant and futile among the vastness of the universe?  Seems rather dull and anti-climactic… where are the fireworks and streamers?

Like I said throughout this entire post, our knowledge is limited by our experiences. Humans have always had a tendency to fill the unknown with something supernatural that might have the ability to answer all the questions. I find the utmost beauty in the unknown because it is what leaves room for exploration and knowledge. Knowing I am actually a breathing, insignificant creature in this universe without a purpose other than one that I create for myself allows me to break free and open my mind to all possibilities of thought. I can only hope to increase the limit of my experience such that an understanding of the universe we live in is more readily grasped… even if it is only a minute increase. Everyone should strive to experience as much as possible because once it’s over, it’s probably over.

On another note, here I explain why death is vital to living a happy and successful life: http://iantimberlake.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/where-do-humans-get-their-life-value-life-and-death-i-can-tell-you/

Related articles

True Manliness vs. False Manliness: How True Are You?

by

2

The following is an essay I found written by James Freeman Clarke, in 1886, two years before his death. He writes about how it might be difficult to tell the difference between a real man and a fake man. With different times (125 years) comes a vast difference in colloquialisms and inference to the differences of man and woman, parent and child, as well as race… don’t read this as if this was written today, read it as if you are living in 1886 and you will see much can be taken from this essay about general ‘good’ behavior and what it means to be a gentleman. At the bottom feel free to spread the word about the essay, and/or leave a comment. Enjoy. 

James Freeman Clarke

–

True and False Manliness

MANLINESS means perfect manhood, as womanliness implies perfect womanhood. Manliness is the character of a man as he ought to be, as he was meant to be. It expresses the qualities which go to make a perfect man, — truth, courage, conscience, freedom, energy, self-possession, self-control. But it does not exclude gentleness, tenderness, compassion, modesty. A man is not less manly, but more so, because he is gentle. In fact, our word ” gentleman ” shows that a typical man must also be a gentle man.

By manly qualities the world is carried forward. The manly spirit shows itself in enterprise, the love of meeting difficulties and overcoming them, — the resolution which will not yield, which patiently perseveres, and does not admit the possibility of defeat. It enjoys hard toil, rejoices in stern labor, is ready to make sacrifices, to suffer and bear disaster patiently. It is generous, giving itself to a good cause not its own ; it is public-spirited, devoting itself to the general good with no expectation of reward. It is ready to defend unpopular truth, to stand by those who are wronged, to uphold the weak. Having resolved, it does not go back, but holds on, through good report and evil, sure that the right must win at last. And so it causes truth to prevail, and keeps up the standard of a noble purpose in the world.

But as most good things have their counterfeits, so there is false manliness which imitates these great qualities, though at heart it is without them. Instead of strength of will, it is only willful; in place of courage, it has audacity. True manliness does what it believes right; false manliness, does what it chooses to do. Freedom, to one, means following his own convictions of truth; to the other it means thinking as he pleases, and doing as he likes. The one is reverent, the other rude; one is courteous, the other overbearing ; one is brave, the other foolhardy; one is modest, the other self-asserting. False manliness is cynical, contemptuous, and tyrannical to inferiors. The true man has respect for all men, is tender to the sufferer, is modest and kind. The good type uses its strength to maintain good customs, to improve the social condition, to defend order. The other imagines it to be manly to defy law, to be independent of the opinions of the wise, to sneer at moral obligation, to consider itself superior to the established principles of mankind.

A false notion of manliness leads boys astray.

All boys wish to be manly; but they often try to become so by copying the vices of men rather than their virtues. They see men drinking, smoking, swearing; so these poor little fellows sedulously imitate such bad habits, thinking they are making themselves more like men. They mistake rudeness for strength, disrespect to parents for independence. They read wretched stories about boy brigands and boy detectives, and fancy themselves heroes when they break the laws, and become troublesome and mischievous. Out of such false influences the criminal classes are recruited. Many a little boy who only wishes to be manly, becomes corrupted and debased by the bad examples around him and the bad literature which he reads. The cure for this is to give him good books that show him truly noble examples from life and history, and make him understand how infinitely above this mock-manliness is the true courage which ennobles human nature.

In a recent awful disaster, amid the blackness and darkness and tempest, the implacable sea and the pitiless storm, — when men’s hearts were failing them from terror, and women and children had no support but faith in a Divine Providence and a coming immortality, — the dreadful scene was illuminated by the courage and manly devotion of those who risked their own lives to save the lives of others. Such heroism is like a sunbeam breaking through the tempest. It shows us the real worth there is in man.

No matter how selfish mankind may seem, whenever hours like these come, which try men’s souls, they show that the age of chivalry has not gone; that though

” The knights are dust, and their good swords rust,”

there are as high-hearted heroes now as ever. Firemen rush into a flaming house to save women and children. Sailors take their lives in their hands to rescue their fellow-men from a wreck. They save them at this great risk, not because they are friends or relatives, but because they are fellow-men.

Courage is an element of manliness. It is more than readiness to encounter danger and death, for we are not often called to meet such perils. It is every-day courage which is most needed,—that which shrinks from no duty because it is difficult; which makes one ready to say what he believes, when his opinions are unpopular; which does not allow him to postpone a duty, but makes him ready to encounter it at once; a courage which is not afraid of ridicule when one believes himself right; which is not the slave of custom, the fool of fashion. Such courage as this, in man or woman or child, is true manliness. It is infinitely becoming in all persons. It does not seek display, it is often the courage of silence no less than speech; it is modest courage, unpretending though resolute. It holds fast to its convictions and principles, whether men hear or whether they forbear.

Truthfulness is another element of true manliness.

Lies usually come from cowardice, because men are afraid of standing by their flag, because they shrink from opposition, or because they are conscious of something wrong which they cannot defend, and so conceal. Secret faults, secret purposes, habits of conduct of which we are ashamed, lead to falsehood, and falsehood is cowardice. And thus the sinner is almost necessarily a coward. He shrinks from the light; he hides himself in darkness. Therefore if we wish to be manly, we must not do anything of which we are ashamed. He who lives by firm principles of truth and right, who deceives no one, injures no one, who therefore has nothing to hide, he alone is manly. The bad man may be audacious, but he has no true courage. His manliness is only a pretence, an empty shell, a bold demeanor, with no real firmness behind it.

True manliness is humane. It says, “We who are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak.” Its work is to protect those who cannot defend themselves; to stand between the tyrant and the slave, the oppressor and his victim. It is identical in all times with the spirit of chivalry which led the good knights to wander in search of robbers, giants, and tyrannical lords, those who oppressed the poor and robbed helpless women and orphans of their rights. There are no tyrant barons now, but the spirit of tyranny and cruelty is still to be found. The good knight to-day is he who provides help for the blind, the deaf and dumb,the insane; who defends animals from being cruelly treated, rescues little children from bad usage, and seeks to give working men and women their rights. He protects all these sufferers from that false manliness which is brutal and tyrannical to the weak, abusing its power over women and children and domestic animals. The true knights to-day are those who organize and carry on the societies to prevent cruelty, or to enforce the laws against those who for a little gain make men drunkards. The giants and dragons to-day are those cruelties and brutalities which use their power to ill-treat those who are at their mercy.

True manliness is tender and loving; false manliness, cold and hard, cynical and contemptuous. The bravest and most heroic souls are usually the most loving. Garibaldi, Kossuth, Mazzini, the heroes of our times; Luther, who never feared the face of man; Gustavus -Adolphus and William of Orange, are examples of this union of courage and tenderness. Bold as lions in the defense of the right, such men in their homes and their private life have a womanly gentleness. False manliness is unfeeling, with no kindly sympathies, rude and rough and overbearing. True manliness is temperate; it is moderate, it exercises self-control, it is capable of self-denial and renunciation. False manliness is self-willed and self-indulgent…….

True manliness differs also from the false in its attitude to woman. Its knightly feeling makes it wish to defend her rights, to maintain her claims, to be her protector and advocate. False manliness wishes to show its superiority by treating women as inferiors. It flatters them, but it does not respect them. It fears their competition on equal levels, and wishes to keep them confined, not within walls, as in the Mohammedan regions, but behind the more subtle barriers of opinion, prejudice, and supposed feminine aptitudes. True manliness holds out the hand to woman, and says, ” Do whatever you are able to do; whatever God meant you to do. Neither you nor I can tell what that is till all artificial barriers are removed, and you have full opportunity to try.” Manly strength respects womanly purity, sympathy, and grace of heart. And this is the real chivalry of the present hour.

Related articles

Cutting Down On Prison Cost and Placing Money Where It Matters, School Education.

by

0

As of 27 August 2011, there are 198,500 [sentenced] inmates in the federal prison system in the United States of America. 102,500 of those people are incarcerated for drug related charges… that is over HALF of all inmates! As of 2010, 1.4 million people were incarcerated into the state prison system. 280,000 of those prisoners are in for drug related crimes, which is one in five prisoners. It is estimated that 1 in 100 adults living in the United States are living incarcerated behind bars. This is absolutely staggering and blows all other nations of the world out of the water. Since 1972 our prison population has grown 708% from 175,000 to 1.4 million.

 

How does money come into play for this? Well, this is what is pathetic. We… America… as a society… spend more money a year to keep a prisoner behind bars than we do to send one of our highschool graduates off to college. It is reported that it costs anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 a year just to keep someone behind bars. Now I ask you, why is this so damn pathetic? Because maybe it is the lack of education in this country that is preventing young adults from escaping a life of a crime. It has been shown time and time again that nations with higher quality education systems that produce a better educated student, are nations that have the lowest crime rates, higher rates of employment and lower obesity percentages.

The fact that we are devoting so much money to the prison system is counter intuitive to the problem. It’s just an immediate solution to a problem and doesn’t look towards the source of the underlying issues. Congress needs to pull their head out of their asses and not solve crime by incarcerating… and instead solve crime by preventing. And the best and most obvious way to do this is to better the education system. Not only is it good for our nation as a whole but it also is good for those who might otherwise enter a life of crime. You might think our education system is top-notch, but you are dead wrong. In fact, among 1st world nations, we’re pretty low on the list. One British study has South Korea at the very top of the list, with US at 14th and the UK at 20th.

Now, you might ask, how in the world do you plan on decreasing the cost of the prison system enough to increase the quality of education in America? Easy, you release all minor drug offenders from prison. When I say minor, I’m talking about people who are in just on the count of possession as well as minor distribution. Any major dealer should remain incarcerated. I would also like to add that the majority of those incarcerated for drug charges, are in on marijuana related issues (over 1/4 of all US inmates)… for a drug that has ZERO recorded deaths in history for THC use. The only possible way to harm your body from marijuana is from inhaling smoke over many years, and cigarettes are significantly worse in that respect. This would cut billions of dollars from the Department of Corrections. Am I a pot smoker, no. Do I have a problem with it, no. Alcohol is far and gone worse than marijuana use and it’s readily available on every street corner. Even if you keep marijuana illegal, it is still pointless to incarcerate someone because the people smoking it aren’t doing harm to other people. It is their decision, one that doesn’t affect anyone but themselves. You might not like a friends decision to smoke it, but is that your problem? No.

 

The point of this article is NOT advocating marijuana legalization (which is a stance I am actually for), the point of this article is to show you that by removing a single inmate from prison, you can send another child to college. Which is unbelievable because if you give someone the opportunity to go to college, whom otherwise might not have that opportunity, they would be significantly less likely to enter a life of crime… not to mention they would be a positive influence on society and only help improve the economy. What if you did this for 50,000 kids each year? Yes, you would have minor drug offenders on the streets… but in the long run, the percentage of minor drug offenders would decrease so long as education increases. That’s just how it works, no matter what nation you look at.

UPDATE: I found this letter that a School District Superintendent wrote to the Governor of Michigan when he voted to cut school budget by $300 per student and place it towards the prison system…

Dear Governor Snyder,

In these tough economic times, schools are hurting. And yes, everyone in Michigan is hurting right now financially, but why aren’t we protecting schools? Schools are the one place on Earth that people look to to “fix” what is wrong with society by educating our youth and preparing them to take on the issues that society has created.

One solution I believe we must do is take a look at our corrections system in Michigan. We rank nationally at the top in the number of people we incarcerate. We also spend the most money per prisoner annually than any other state in the union. Now, I like to be at the top of lists, but this is one ranking that I don’t believe Michigan wants to be on top of.

Consider the life of a Michigan prisoner. They get three square meals a day. Access to free health care. Internet. Cable television. Access to a library. A weight room. Computer lab. They can earn a degree. A roof over their heads. Clothing. Everything we just listed we DO NOT provide to our school children.

This is why I’m proposing to make my school a prison. The State of Michigan spends annually somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000 per prisoner, yet we are struggling to provide schools with $7,000 per student. I guess we need to treat our students like they are prisoners, with equal funding. Please give my students three meals a day. Please give my children access to free health care. Please provide my school district Internet access and computers. Please put books in my library. Please give my students a weight room so we can be big and strong. We provide all of these things to prisoners because they have constitutional rights. What about the rights of youth, our future?!

Please provide for my students in my school district the same way we provide for a prisoner. It’s the least we can do to prepare our students for the future…by giving our schools the resources necessary to keep our students OUT of prison.

Respectfully submitted,

Nathan Bootz
Superintendent
Ithaca Public Schools

As far as how we structure our education, that is a whole different story that I plan on talking about at a later time. In America, it could definitely use a renovation. If you want an advanced look into it, check out ‘the studio school’ on Ted.com

I appreciate you reading through, if you agree or disagree, leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Sources:

http://www.bop.gov/news/quick.jsp#1

http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/Prison_Count_2010.pdf?n=880

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading

Related articles