What Do You Stand For?

Hey watsup people? For this post I have a lot of questions, because I can only see this topic through my personal viewpoint so feel free to comment, as always. And though this post won't be as radical as others, at least I don't think once I get goin who knows lol, I still would ask if you have something to say say it and if you read it take it in and question yourself and your life. 

So the thing that sparked this post is an interview I watched with Sean Parker. If you don't know who Sean Parker is, he founded Napster, was on the Facebook board of directors (Justin Timberlake in the movie haha), and now is on some board for Spotify. Why is he important? Good question. I think his story is interesting because he went from a young kid, mad millions by founding Napster, lost it all in court cases for breaching copyrights, then was homeless and bounced back. Now he's worth approximately $2.4 Billion I think. Oh, and he's done all of this and he's only 34 years old. -That's crazy to me, digress.

Anyways, I was watching this interview, right? And it was hosted by Jimmy Fallon or something, and they were talking about how he got started computer programming and his early struggles (he founded Napster when he was still a teenager) and just his journey to where he is now. The one part of the interview that stuck the most to me was a certain part when the interviewer asked if Parker was happy to have regained his capital after being homeless and on the run. And what did he say? "Oh, it was never about the money..." Then he starts talking about how he just loved programming, and then he really loved music, so he put the two together and kept following that passion. 

And I mean of course when you're legally a billionaire you can act like money isn't that important to you. But there was something about the way he answered that you could tell that when he started everything, it wasn't about the money. He really just wanted to give people the opportunity to stream the music they wanted when they wanted to.

And when watching interviews from other billionaires, they all said the same thing. At the origin it was never about the money. Bill Gates said he just wanted to learn as much as he could and connect people. Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffet, etc. all of them said from their beginnings it wasn't about the money. Do I believe every single one of them? Hell no, but it's just crazy the uniform answer that they all gave. Digress.

Of course this sparked my thoughts, right? And I started thinking about the way that society is set up now. It's the complete opposite! If you're from a family who isn't extremely wealthy, which most of these men are, you are placed on the path to mediocrity. You are taught to go through the system, get a degree and a decent paying job that you can live on. 

And this belief isn't always placed by parents, it's everywhere! By schools, after school programs, churches, etc. I think that's disgusting. This could go hand in hand with my problems with the educational system in America but I won't do that right now.

The main thing I took out of it is, what would people do if they actually achieved what they wanted to do instead of having their dreams capped off? And how many people do what they do just for the money? And on top of that why would a society ever promote a system in which people are placed on a path to this mediocre system which doesn't allow people to reach their maximum potential. 

Even at my job right now, I hear people talk about how much they despise being at work, but I work at one of the most favored employers in the area. So my logic is it can only get worse right? So I've decided to step off of this path in my future.

I'll probably make a lot less than I was estimated to make with the current degree I will receive, but this is the way I see it. The thing that you do most in your time here on this planet is work. You begin to work at 22-23 if you graduate from college and you retire, eh with how the governments going, around 60-70. That's 40+ years of work, after which you have that same 20ish years to live if you're lucky and your heart hasn't been compromised from waking up earlier than your body is supposed to function, making you drink coffee and other energy drinks which slowly deteriorate your body, but I digress. 

My point is that in America you can either take a step out on faith and chase your own dream, or you can be complacent and chase someone else's; (i.e. working for any company where you work 40+ hours a week just for your work to maybe be recognized in an minescule employee award, digress) so why would you not chase your own? It's easier to follow the path that's laid before you, but it's more admirable to create your own. 

So back to the point of this post, what do you stand for? Are you just out here with no passion at all trying to get a check every week, or are you chasing a dream? And don't get it wrong, you can have jobs that you don't completely love if you have to set yourself up for a future movement, but are you rich and depressed or getting by and joyous?

You only get one chance on the earth, do you want people to remember you as the person who did what they were told or what they wanted and could not be stopped by obstacles? Idk man, I'll probably stop before I preach too much, but the only way for this pre-established system run by big name brands and corrupt CEO's to tumble is by more people taking the path less traveled. 

**First, why would you want to support these people's dreams? Second, why would you make yourself suffer through your entire life like this?**

So whether you want to create a clothing line that people can wear worldwide, or you want to become a doctor and start your own physicians office, or you want to invent something that effects everyone you interact with don't let this system of mediocrity mess you up man. It's clearly the reason our nation continues to lose its supremacy and I feel like it'll soon be debunked (hopefully within our lifetime) but until then, be the person to make that change. Don't keep going down this same road man, because if you chase somebody else's dream you'll never know what true happiness is. That's not your spiritual calling. You'll always have a void in you because you're not doing what you were placed on this earth to do if you have to force your heart to be behind it. Digress.  

I say, while you're still  young and have limited responsibilities (i.e. no kids/one kid, limited insurance, rent instead of a mortgage, etc.) and you have a passion, or are finding your passion, let it shine. Take whatever it is that you're passionate about (if you're not sure watch the news or have a debate with people about real world things, it'll find you before you find it) and find a way to change the world with it. After all, the worst that could happen is that you end up back in the system they tried to place you in anyways, right? But at least you can say you tried. And that passion will keep growing and burning and there's no doubt that you'll be successful, whatever your definition of success is. Promise you that. But I'll end this rant now.

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." -Oscar Wilde

Just my thoughts.

-Marcus J.

Who are you?

Stop for this post I chose to go with a more conservative title but the post content is, as I would like to think it is always, thought provoking. And I already know many people well try to denounce this immediately and not give it any thought but for those of you that for some reason read what I have to say on here just think about what I'm saying.

So the topic of this post is religion.If you're dead set on your religion and think there's nothing I can tell you you most likely won't care what I have to say but this is more for you than anyone. And I'll ask a lot of questions so if you have any answers please feel free to provide feedback because I'm just trying to be enlightened.

So the post title "Who are you?" is basically to these people who completely regard other religions as fictional. No matter what the religion it is that you count out, whether it be polytheism of the ancient Egyptian societies or it be Islam, this post is for you and the people who think like you.

Growing up in my Christian home, Methodist church, and Christian school during developing years in my life I was always very inquisitive. One question that I would always find myself asking is how can someone tell me that Jesus is the only way to heaven. Like no matter what, if you lived after Jesus died for our sins and didn't accept him you go to hell. Never bought into that whole thing whole heartedly, and I'll tell you all of my reasoning as to why.

When I was in 7th grade I did a project on Mohandas Gandhi. I studied how he held peaceful rebellions against the imperialist British government and how he sacrificed so much of himself for the peace of his nation, his homeland and his people. I admired the stories of him and all he did. Mind you this time I was in a Christian school, so one day I asked my teacher "Do you believe people such as Gandhi go to hell if they don't believe in Jesus?"

My teacher not ready for such a question at first would not answer. She was a sweet older lady, I won't expose her name but if you went to EDCS it was in history haha. Anyways after she didn't answer I asked her again. This time she replied, "Why yes. If he did not accept the Lord Jesus into his heart it unfortunately means he did."

If course this bothered me, right? Because how was he supposed to do such a thing when the people who were harassing his land had originally came in the name of Jesus? I'll digress on this point for the time being.

So this lead me to think, what about all off the people worldwide who had not even heard of Jesus? I mean after all Gutenberg didn't even make the printing press until the 1400's and by then I'm sure the Bible was not worldwide. So for these millions of people who died in this timeframe did they all go to hell too?

When I was in high school I was never allowed to get such questions out and always kept things like this under wraps, but in college I have relearned to question so this thinking emerged again. And now my question is who was the idiot that made religion an all or nothing thing? Yeah I said idiot.

Who became so blinded by this loosely translated Bible that we have today and said there's no other way. And I'm no master on Islam but who said that their religion is the only one which will get you to heaven? So to the point of the title I am saying "who are you?" To count out someone's religion as wrong, because these type of things are clearly for the gods and the passed spirits so how can anyone on this earth discount anything?

It is well known that many religions in today's society have very similar origins, and Islam even credits Jesus as a great profit if I'm not mistaken, so why did we ever turn to just discrediting a whole religion? Or was it a choice of the people? Digress.

Next question is what do you think about people in ancient societies thought about their religion off the time? Ancient Egypt, Greece, Babylon... what about them? The people whose spirit was of great purity and only believed in the religion of the time because it was what was spoon feed to them from birth, much like people's religion is now. Are all of these people burning in hell now because they were never reached by the God of Judah which had reached us all?

Who are we to count out their religions as well? And you might say but what about the dark ages and how their religions allowed kilos and stuff but just think about all the people that say they're Christians and do terrible things. We might be half way in a dark she right now foreal, but I'll save that for another day.

**Note: I'm writing this at midnight knowing I have to be up in six hours for work. I couldn't sleep and this has been on my mind for some time. Just laying here listening to classical music vibing and venting. So if this is a little different than my other posts know I'm in a more comfortable setting, digress.**

Lately I've been studying Hinduism, Buddhism, and other things of that nature and with comparing them to what I was taught growing in the Christian church I believe there is space for every religion. Above that I think religion is made to help teach morals to the masses. Even some more radical translations of the Bible place Yeshua, sometimes known as modern Jesus, as a man sent from God who was given to the earth to show people the way to live righteous. Whether he said he is the only way to heaven, that's debatable.

Idk man. I could go on for days about this so I'll probably wrap this up soon, but if you take anything from this just know there's many things about religion that many people will never know. You can study any of the holy texts that are in this world, but at the end of the day religion should never be used to tear people of the Almighty's creation away from each other. It should be to make us more aware of our neighbor and to make the Almighty pleased by bringing positive energy to this world while we inherit it and reaching those that come after us the same things. Not fuckin arguing about who's right like some stupid ass toddlers.

I just pray that everyone realizes what's at stake for the world if things continue this way and can start to change things from this cookie cutter process that's been outgrown.

No matter who you pray through, make sure it's with a whole heart and Godly intentions. And before you start to automatically disregard someone's view of the Almighty power in the universe, make sure you ask yourself "who am I to judge this?" or you might be what's actually wrong with the world today, not their beliefs.

It's late now, I've ranted enough, and I'll probably have to drink coffee at work tomorrow just to stay awake so I'm done.

As always, just conveying my thoughts to who cares to read them.

-Marcus J.

If Not Now Then When?

Ok so for this post it's somewhat radical but whatever, if you don't like where I'm going with it feel free to stop reading. Might go on a couple tangents on this one but just follow what I'm saying.

So to start I'm going to show my true nerd side. A couple weeks ago I bought a tablet for myself. Nothing too fancy, just a nice little tablet to use for school work and stuff. Before I got the tablet, I did multiple tech reviews of the specs and different comparisons of tablets and how performance vs. price is among a wide range of tablets. While I was doing this you know what I realized? That damn near every tablet had the same technical specifications... Like from the iPad to the Galaxy Tab 3. Every got damn one had the same RAM, same differences in storage capacity, same pixels per inch, etc. The only major difference was the different company and maybe a slight change in UI, but that's it. So first off let me say don't fall for corporations cheap ass marketing schemes. If you buy a hoodie, it doesn't matter if it's Nike or Reebok the shit will keep you warm in the same weather and will fail to keep you warm at a certain point. Digress.

Anyways, as I was doing these technical researches I also stumbled upon some patents that Samsung and Apple are applying for (which are all freakin crazy and the future is going to be insane by like 2020 when all of this stuff begins to come out, digress) and as I read these patents I couldn't help to think about how quickly technology is advancing. I mean, does anyone truly comprehend that in our short lifetime we have seen the transition from AOL dial up being standard to everyone having data plans for cell phones? Don't even mention how our parents started out with computers that took up actual rooms and now they're trying to SnapChat us on their new iPhone! I digress, just know technology is fuckin cool.

Anyways, I began to think, as I do, about all of the revolutions and things that have happened in the world and thought about how the most significant ones were done with no technology at all. I mean even Paul Revere would've enjoyed sending a text instead of riding that horse, we've seen that Geico commercial. Then I just went on to think, well damn our grandparents generation stood up for what they believed in during the civil rights movement and they didn't have shit but house phones and postcards.

This lead me to think about our generation. All of the stupid shit that's actually going on and how we're just content with sitting to the side and watching everything that's being done to the actual majority by the fictional majority in Capitol Hill.

-I mean just look at the government shut down. You see when they speak about it they have to say "partial shutdown" because they know damn well federal prisons still lockin innocent people up, the army still over seas looking for new lands to invade, and all them dirty ass conniving politicians are still making their 6 figure salaries. Once again I digress. I will say that whole thing is about to come back up in January so please be ready for it.-

Anyways, I thought to myself, "What is it going to take to get people to wake up and see what's actually going on?" Then I just began to think about how easy it would be to actually make a change if people actually weren't so complacent and stood together.

The internet is a powerful thing man! Technology can mess some stuff up. Shit, even the Anonymous group of vigilantes does whatever they want and the FBI knows they can't even begin to put an end to that.

So then with all of this thinking, as I clearly put in the title of this post, I began to realize that right now is the perfect time. We're at a pivotal time in history that no other generation will see. We are at a point where the ways of the past are being proven wrong daily. All of these fake teachings that were concreted in America's system are being dispelled everyday.

"If you ever want to make good money and have a great job you have to go to college!" Wrong. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg, Sean Parker all have a couple billion to shut that up.

"Hard work is the only way to make it in this country." Oh really? This is why my parents can work hours on end and I can get on CNN and see an article about #RichKidsonInstagram and how these millionaires children are spending $30,000 dollars at a bar with their friends? Have they ever had jobs? Doubt it. Will they inherit their parents money? NO QUESTIONS ABOUT IT.

I could go on and on, and I'm sure that everyone else has their own examples, but the point is this man. We are at a rift between the Industrial Age of the past and the Information Age, which will be followed by the Technology Age. Yet somehow we're still doing things the exact way they were before all of these technological advances, for the most part. (Google and Facebook and companies of the sort figured it out, but eveeryone else is a bit behind.)

So when is our generation actually going to take a stand? When are we going to gain our own voice and begin to ask questions and demand answers? Clearly this system in America is once again becoming outdated, but our generation is scared to take a stand because the person who goes against the grain is criticized. What is it going to take for people to realize that RIGHT NOW is the ideal time to have a social reform (not all out revolution, but that's not out of the question, though) especially among the black community. Power doesn't come through these fake ass legislators just going along with things because it's the way things have been done and it's working. CLEARLY IT'S NOT FUCKING WORKING! More and more people on poverty, major cities filing for bankruptcy, the nation keeps becoming weaker mentally but strengthening the military, etc. I mean foreal man...

All of this technology and knowledge is at our fingertips and the biggest concern on most peoples minds is trending topics on Twitter and how many likes they get on their Instagram pictures. How about we stop living for/through other people with this technology and start using it to better the world. After all, I'm not trying to be a part of the generation where people look back and think, damn what did they even  do in their lifetime?

All it takes is to get people moving in the right direction, the power is in numbers. And with the technology we have, it's easier now more than ever to spread word to the masses. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogs, Radio, Television, Newspapers, Text Messages, Phone Calls, I mean got dammit we have everything that everyone's ever had in the past and more and we still won't do a damn thing...

All I'm saying is, we all see the problems that are going on in the neighborhoods, country, world and it is up to us to take a stand and fix things before it is too late. And if we don't think that now is the optimal time to do that, then when will we? Or will we ever?

Idk man, hopefully some of y'all feel me on this, but regardless leave some comments. I'm trying to see where other people stand.

As always, just my thoughts...

-Marcus J