Wall Street

It's been a while, so I guess it is time to write another post. Might as well jump right into the fray, and comment on the Occupy Wall Street protests. Up to today, I haven't really cared about the protests. While I generally agree that our current political and economic climate is unsustainable, I find that most of the noise coming out of the protests is just noise. The original organizers may have had some good ideas and good intentions, but at this point the main points coming from the masses are crazy. Just search Google for "OWS Demands" and you'll find plenty of sites that will detail them.

However, none of this is what really sparked this post. The reason behind this post is far more selfish and petty. The protest hit me personally today when it stood between me and home after a long day of work. I work for a large investment bank in the Financial District of Manhattan, so I spend a lot of time in the vicinity of the protests (I don't work on Wall St. itself, so up to this point I had not personally seen the protests). Today as I was walking to the subway station to get my train home I ran into a march by the protesters. They were heading down one of the main streets between me and my subway stop. Not only was there the march, but because this is NYC there were also plenty of police officers and the portable barriers that they put up to control large crowds at event. All of this blocking my way to the station. I walked up to the next crossing to see if the police had left an opening for people to cross, but alas they did not. I walked a bit further and found a break in the march. I pushed my way to the barrier and caught the attention of one of the police officers and asked how I could get to the station. His response was excellent, and I greatly appreciated it. He simply said "come over here" and walked up a few sections of barrier, swung it open, and let me through. So, to him I offer a big thank you.

As for the rest of the protesters and the movement. I too am one of the 99%. I am, however, starting a career and working hard to make my way in this difficult economy. I worked hard my entire school, and I'm continuing to do so now. So, please, stop interrupting my trip home after a long day of working to make sure that I can support myself.

~Alex

Texas and Last Meals for Murderers

I have to make a startling admission: I listen to NPR on the way to and from work and occasionally other times when I'm in the car.  I'm not proud of it but it is one of the few sources of interesting news stories on the radio.  I like to have my mind stimulated and am more than happy to draw different conclusions from the facts than the commentators, but that's the topic for another post...

... what really caught my attention today was a story about Texas and the death penalty.  The story was about the practice of giving inmates on the way to execution a chance to request food for their last meal.  Lawrence Russell Brewer, a white supremacist sentenced to death for a hate killing, requested a preposterous final meal.  Now the state of Texas wants to stop the tradition of a final meal request.  A cook who had been preparing the final meals had offered to continue the practice, even to the point of offering to pay for them himself and the state of Texas refused, saying that it wasn't about the money, they just wanted to stop doing it. The cook even pointed out that the inmates on death-row rarely get anything resembling the food they requested, as the food has to already be available to the prison.

This got me thinking about whether I think that this practice should continue.  One argument against the final meal request is that the criminals had no such consideration for their victims but like the cook, I dismiss this by pointing out that society shouldn't take the position of treating murderers like their victims: we're better than that.  I would also point out that as a society we have gone to great pains to make execution as painless as possible which I would point out is an effort that most murderers don't make.

Instead, the cook says that society should continue to show compassion as a "civilized society and Christian nation".  Although I don't think it will probably make much of an impression on the majority of the killers who have committed crimes heinous enough to warrant the death penalty, I so think that it is the right thing to do to show kindness to ones enemies, even in this relatively small way.  Nietzsche wrote, "Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you" and the best way to avoid becoming like those on death-row is to remind ourselves of our humanity by showing compassion.


-Lane

PETA

If you haven't heard, the internet has just discovered that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) actually end up "saving" but ultimately killing lots and lots of pets.  PETA absolutely LOVES controversy, but I haven't heard a whole lot from them about this.  Essentially, they rescue abused pets and then determine if they are "adoptable".  The pets deemed un-adoptable are then euthanized, to the tune of 85%.

The reason that PETA is so quiet on the issue is that they believe that they have a moral position that is superior to any that could possibly be held by anyone else.  From this perspective, their decisions are beyond question because they care more about animals than anyone else.  This is a dangerous position to take (for anyone).  Even if there were tons of demonstrations and protests against PETA but I am sure they would not change their behavior.  Once a person/group of people think that they're above being questioned they start to go a little crazy and I think that's one reason that PETA is falling more and more out of the mainstream.

Anyways, I agree (to an extent) with their message that we shouldn't be unnecessarily cruel to animals but it's not what is said, it's how it's said.

Lane Thornton is Burning (Part 1 of 535)

I am luckier than most people.  Most people are sad about how much money they make until pay-day, when they are happy.  I am happy about how much money I make most days until pay-day, when I get incredibly angry about how much taxes I pay.  I have decided that instead of accepting this as inevitable, I will continue to be angry every time I pay taxes and to help remedy the situation, I will write a letter to a congressional representative.  This time, I wrote to Senator Bernie Sanders (I, VT) for two reasons: I am originally from Vermont and I have written to him before.  The text of my letter is below:


"Dear Senator Sanders:

A bit over four years ago, I wrote a letter to your office over concerns that money was being spent on helping Vermont students attend college that wasn't available to me because I dreamed of studying something not offered by any institution in Vermont.  Instead of addressing my concern, I received a form letter pointing me to a website with some scholarship applications on it.

Despite the lack of assistance, I decided to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute where I studied aerospace engineering and graduated with a GPA of 3.89.  Not only did I study hard, but I also worked a job and ran cross-country and indoor and outdoor track and field.  I interviewed for and was offered a very good job at a large aerospace company that I believe I earned through the years of hard work that I put into my education.

Here I am, writing to your more than four years later because again I feel like I am being failed by my government.  I have more than $50,000 in student debt and I now pay between a quarter and a third of my salary to the government in taxes.  I hear a lot about "the rich" paying "their fair share" but it seems like I'm paying a bit more than my fair share and I'm not sure the solution is to tax other people more, no matter how much money they have.  What upsets me is not how much money I have or don't have, but what percentage of the money I earn by my own hard work the government takes from me.

I have recently moved to Connecticut from Vermont and although you no longer directly represent me, in my heart I am still a Vermonter and I would like to know that someone hears my voice.

Thank you and I look forward to your reply.

Lane Thornton"

I don't expect any action from Senator Sanders, but it is a start.  I also don't expect to reach every senator and representative as they will continue to change and it would take over 20 years to contact each one at the rate of one every two weeks.  It does, however, make me feel like I'm more engaged in the political process.

-Lane