A short piece on the future of America
Almost everything in modern America is politicized—both banal discussions or complex social issues are broken down into tribalistic red or blue leanings. The political climate in the United States has driven divisions between even friends and families, not merely adversaries. In our fast-paced cyberworld of flashy news headlines, misinformation campaigns, and highly-opinionated socialites; it is unusual to find an individual who does not believe that their beliefs are the end-all, be-all. While perhaps the social environment we reside in is not particularly healthy, we are all of course guaranteed the right to such opinions by our forefathers. …
I stand by the tall, expansive window of my Toronto apartment—entranced by the gently falling snow visible in the glowy haze of the street lamp merely within reach of my balcony. The orange light of the bulb reaches for the distant darkness but instead compromises on sinking downwards to the glistening, smooth roads. As I shift my gaze rather from the city lights but instead to the opaque nighttime winter sky, a subtle whisper teases my senses.
Standing alone in my living room, I quickly realize this provocative murmur isn’t from any person, nor is it seemingly from the gentle…
“Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”
— Horace Mann
While enduring the adversities of daily life and reading the constant media onslaught of horrid worldly events, I often find the above quote resurfacing on my mind from time to time. Perhaps an inane paranoia (especially for my age), but pondering the uncertainties of eventual death many times seeps its way into my conscious. Whether it’s becoming stricken with a fatal disease, being seriously injured in a freak accident, or even just eventually passing from natural causes like old age—a catch of being sentient is…
Criminal organization or house of god?
For centuries Catholicism has supposedly stood a refuge for the forgotten; large cathedrals capped with sharp Gothic pinnacles or lined with Byzantine columns represented beacons of hope as they towered over medieval city blocks. Even I can admit that aside from the long list of their blemishing sins, worldly religions have indeed constructed a myriad of beautiful architectural icons. Though the Catholic Church was ideally and originally designed by man as an institution of moral purity, the recurrence of controversies throughout its history has undoubtedly stained its reputation. Organized religion (including those besides Catholicism)…
May 28th, 2016 was a normal day. The school year was inching towards its close, and today was a Saturday—the day of the school’s senior ball dance. I was a junior in high school at the time, so that didn’t affect me much at all. It was, invariably, nothing short of an ordinary weekend day for me. At the time, I was working at Men’s Wearhouse, and Saturday’s were generally one of my main work days—and one of the more hectic days at that. Regardless of how busy the store got, I customarily stepped into the back room for a…
It’s important that I preface this text with one of my favorite quotes from Carl Sagan’s The Demon Haunted World, which unfortunately has strong parallels with current events seen in media, culture, and politics:
“I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the…
Growing up in and around the small towns of Pennsylvania, you’d be hard-pressed to not see an abundance of American flags waving atop the porches of rural homes, homemade political billboards nailed onto trees besides highways, or flashy car magnets on vehicle trunks. Though perhaps sporting college pride with magnets is rather benign, there is still much to be said about the portrayal of patriotism in general American culture. While it’s not unusual to find national flags posted outside homes in countries outside the United States as well, American patriotism often digs far deeper, in a sometimes malevolent manner.
Patriotism…
On May 24, 1844, Samuel Morse transmitted the first ever electronic message via telegraph—words that strike an eery chord in the world of today, nearly 174 years later.
“What hath God wrought?”
The biblical excerpt originates from the 23rd chapter of the book of Numbers, verse 23 (Numbers 23:23). The context of Morse’s and the Bible’s use of these words is similar: to proclaim the greatness of God and all “His” doings. Morse was a man of great faith, so it is to be assumed that he believed his invention was a culmination of the workings of God himself. It’s…
