Systemic failure.

How can we expect positive change if we continue to view problems as outside of our own? It's one thing to express compassion, feel sorry for those going through crisis, but unless it involves a loved one, or is directly connected to us, we seldom say more than, "Well, that's really too bad the people of Katrina are suffering?" Or, "The inner cities and the struggle those children face is really a sad thing." Why is it that we as Americans, often have a self v. others mentality? It's generally their problem, until Grandma Mary or Uncle Larry is suffering a similar Katrina fate. Or until a friend is jobless, homeless and in need of assistance. Only then, when it's connected to the self, does it become our problem.

The report from the Pew Center on the States found that one in 100 adult Americans are in prison, one in 9 of those are adult black men. How can we expect many in the black community to rise from historical systemic failures, if they're never given the proper education their counterpart privileged white kids receive? The numbers are staggering and tell a very real story; it goes without saying, school drop-out rates directly reflect the likelihood of prison time served.

When do we begin to say, this really is my problem? When do we say, all children deserve a good start to life? Better yet, when will we start believing it. Sadly, and a true reality, there are children who have yet to be born who will suffer a historical fate they never had any control over to begin with. Is this their problem too?

Tolerance of such discrimination, along with sheer ignorance, whilst sitting in our self-indulgent privileged world is no excuse for a poor "that's too bad" response. Save your breath, authentically connect and lend out your hand. They need us.

Outside noisy, inside empty.

Ponder this for a second...

Live, evolve, die.

People who stand for nothing, desperately attempt to grab hold of the tangible, only to fall short at death. It's hard to be heard, even standing on rooftops, with these claims of nothing. In my book, being mute is one and the same. But just for a second, let's take the time to hear the words of nothing. "Shh, listen." What do you hear? I don't know about you, but other than the fine mist of rain tapping on my window, still, nothing. "Wait, look closer." Darwin bumper sticker staring at your morning coffee on your car ride commute to work. "See it? Hear it?" Newsflash: you're seeing and hearing a whole lot of nothin'.

Evolution is arguably a natural part of our existence. But a cause? A foundation? A purpose? Hardly a principle worth a fight. To even rally for or against creation v. evolution is a losing battle, as they're far from opposites. Apart from something and nothing that is. One has a stance. One does not. But this doesn't stop the Nothing Crew from fighting for their purpose, their maker, their motivator. Oddly enough, we can all agree on this: Death is a part of life.

Maybe we can all agree on this too: Ironically, the Something Crew may have the clear advantageous trait when it comes to the final natural selection process. The nothing, well, perhaps they'll end up on a Dante version of the Galapagos Islands with thousands of like-minded peppered moth friends in their after life? Sounds like good times ahead...


“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” (Some insignificant guy said this. Albert Einstein something or other.)