If education is truly valued as a necessary element of democracy, then we must defend academic freedom at all costs.

As a thinker, one of my best tools is the ability to freely admit that I do not have the answers to everything. Once I have done that, then I am able to begin looking for the truth without a set of prescribed ideas that would otherwise lead me down a narrow, and often-times illogical path.

It's easy to tell someone whose world is crumbling around them to just pick up the rubble and begin to build something new, but it isn't that easy. When the world is falling before your eyes, you need to dig deep to find the strengh to rebuild. Whether we like it or not, that strength usually begins as anger, and anger is messy. To remake the world we must get ourselves dirty enough to see ourselves as something new when we decide to clean up.

I wonder if certain people are vehemently anti-immigrant because when they look at the faces of those immigrants who come from across the Western Hemisphere, they see remnants of the indigenous populations that the European conquerors destroyed. They see millions of descendants of the original inhabitants of this land. They see people who had their own languages, religions, and customs destroyed. They see the net result of over 500 years of waging a very real war against an enemy who never wanted war. In fact, when the nativist elements of the United States speak against immigration (and have no doubt, they are speaking out against immigrants from the Americas and Africa) they are constantly reminded that the subjugation and slaughter of millions of people has backfired. They see that their forefathers were never granted entry into these continents. They see the transgretions of the past, but instead of working to improve the situation, all they know is fear. But now they are afraid of the consequences of their own actions, so they go kicking and screaming as they slowly come closer to inevitable.

the blues are back

the blues are back the depression is back the thoughts of suicide are back i can see them in my head a razorblade slicing my wrist the images of self-mutilation except that i wont do it i've been working hard the past couple of years to recognize when it shows its ugly face but it is really difficult to fight I never meant for my family to have to deal with this it makes me sad that my wife is afraid to leave me alone with my children but i guess she is right to be concerned because i sometimes snap and it can become pretty ugly  i know it is for me  it makes me tired i'm so tired right now i cannot focus or concentrate i cannot make clear decisions i can do almost nothing right so i won't slash my wrists because i would probably fuck that up, too
i didn't ask to be like this i wish i could be happy but there is no magic pill, at least not for me i tried them and they made it worse
i am just really tired

I have come to realize that I have spent the majority of the past ten years clinging to who I was instead of working to be who I am.

It is difficult for people to accept that we live in a transitory world because we are so drawn to the comforts of familiarity. Because of this, some people actively try to create a static world based on a very narrow perspective. Even worse, others try to dillude themselves into the idea that they can actually turn back the hands of time and subject the present to some set of ideals that are nothing more than a memory; and as is common with memories, they are often ficticious and self-serving. To strike a balance between the lessons learned from past experiences and the necessity of the present is a difficult task, but it is one worth attempting.