A Year in Washington

Saturday was my birthday. It marks, however, a more significant milestone than simply my birth back in the musical dark ages of 1983—rather, it signifies a year of my existence in the Washington, DC metro area, when I made that fateful journey by myself to begin a new life in a new civilization...to boldly go were no man in a '92 Dodge Dakota with 156,000 miles on it and a crammed U-Haul trailer had gone before. As I sit here with the fresh 67-degree air from outside breezing in, and the bright, cloudless sky waking the East Coast, I am assured that the future is bright.

After all, this past year has been monumental. I have new priorities in life, largely at the expense of other priorities, but overall the new ones are what I believe to be the correct ones. I have learned a great deal about myself and who I want to become (as well as who I have become since college). And finally, I am at a point where I can truly decide where I want my working life, personal life and academic life to take me. Naturally, all these components will blur into one, but if the cake is the outcome of ingredients, I am the chef, and how it will turn out (smelling?) depends upon the ingredients and how they are combined. Yes, an odd metaphor, but an odd metaphor from an odd man!

The new priorities stem largely from the eventual replacement of time spent with friends with time spent with girlfriends. This is my case. But as far as I know, a career (and for that matter, a life) is nothing without relationships, especially one with a girl =]. And playing Halo! At any rate, if I was ever eager for time to speed up so I could get out of college and high school, and basically not be broke all the time, I am now ready for life to slow down—nowadays, I have become tied to the clock more than ever. Some of this time-obsessiveness is a part of me that I was born with (something having to do with being American I suppose), but the pace of the city and Northern Virginia in general is very swift, and attempting to find peace amongst the interstates, highways, trains, buses, airplanes (and cyclists who appear to believe that civil society's laws do not apply to them) is daunting. Indeed, only on Wednesday did I notice a place where I could truly enjoy near absolute silence, and that was in my law firm's fire-proof file storage room, where we keep crucial estate planning documents from catching fire, in the event someone pulls an Office Space. I enjoyed the silence for a moment, and moved on. Not much oxygen in their anyway. But truly, it is near impossible not to let the ebb and flow of the daily life-exercise sweep one away to retirement. I do not plan to let that happen; indeed, I am convinced that my true calling remains in the written word, however profitable—but fulfilling—that may be.

But the faster pace of time isn't altogether negative. At this point, I have one full year of work experience, albeit in the dubious capacity as a legal assistant, and this provides firm footing to make a jump into something else. Hopefully this jump will be sooner rather than later, but I must wait to report on that positive scenario. Nevertheless, I can continually count my blessings that I do not remain stuck working in retail—namely, Starbucks. Although, my affinity for the company has not completely dissolved over the years. Some of the most fun I've had at work was while working at Starbucks in Austin. The ones here in DC don't quite have the same "flavor" of staff, sadly. Nevertheless, the Washington area's obsession with productivity teaches some good lessons on time management, and has broadened my perspective considerably—here, like in many big cities, you can really become who you want. The education and jobs are here, if you have the patience and resolve to obtain them.

So what are my plans after a year in the DC metro area? To get another job, that's for sure! But this time, in a position in which I will be interested and excel, and, most importantly, be treated more as a person who is taken seriously. There are many, many possibilities in this area of the country, as I previously noted, but my principle interests generally remain from when I graduated in May of 2006: 1) government (intelligence) 2) becoming a professor with a specialty in Asian Affairs 3) general writing, and screenwriting. The third item has always been more of a hobby than anything else (probably because it doesn't cost much money!), but I intend to expand it in the coming months. Even now, Travis and I have ramped up "production" of our screenplay. Jessica has apologized for keeping me from it by spending so much time with her, but even if I have reallocate time for her, there is always time to write—I just have to make myself get to it. I also vow to eat more chocolate. Anyhow, this brings me to Jessica.

Jessica and I have dated for 8 months now. Wow. The longest I have dated anyone is 3 months (twice), and this is quite the record. At this point I can only anticipate things getting even better. How many guys have had a girlfriend throw them a big party? I don't know many--but my girlfriend is! Indeed, I am excited about where we are and where we are going. I am also grateful for the friends I have made up here, in general, and all the ones from Texas and/or Baylor who have kept in contact with me over the past year—it's been indispensable as I've started a new life in this part of the country.

Well, these are some thoughts after a year in DC. I am 24 years old, and ready to launch another year of success, struggles and learning. I am ready. Now, if I could get some friends from Baylor and Texas to come visit....

-Jonathan

P.S. Halo 3 comes out in 3 weeks. In the wise words of Howard Dean: YEAARGGGHH!

Taking on the Don

I’ve never even heard of Don Imus, but as most of you probably have heard, he’s a radio-show shock-jock that is irrelevant to most people; unless, of course, he makes an idiotic, racist statement about black people (the Rutgers University women's basketball team to be more exact).

First of all, any white person who makes any negative comment about black people, especially one over the air-waves, should know that the sh*t will probably hit the fan, and create quite a mess. Just ask Michael Richards. If for no other reason, it’s just plain stupid to make a racist comment like that at all—on the air or off, because you know that a combination of “civil rights activists,” as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton like to refer to themselves, and the media will swarm and crucify you.

But the real reason nobody should say deprecating comments about black people is because it is morally repugnant and wrong. From my earliest days, my parents instilled in me an overarching respect for people of all races, ethnicities and colors, a respect that, by its nature, prohibits malicious comments about other ethnicities. At the same time, I will not pretend, of course, that I have neither heard nor laughed at jokes about other races or ethnicities—whether they are about white, black, brown, yellow or green people. While I will admit that laughing at any one else's expense, for whatever the reason, is basically wrong, I can say with authority that my fellow Americans—whatever racial or ethnic background they may be—also make jokes about other people(s).

While this is no excuse for racist comments, an example of this is provided herein: A local hip-hop radio show host was joking yesterday that "it was just so hard to find good white help these days." Even if a white host couldn't get away with a joke about finding "good black help," it remains non-malicious. The show itself that day was actually centered around Don Imus' comments, and quite a few callers to the show who said they were African-American said that Imus simply was repeating what is normal speech in "black culture," however one might want to define that. I'm not going to get in to what is and what isn't "black culture," but suffice it to say the host and all the callers thought that Imus' remarks were aweful and deplorable. Even if Imus was repeating what is considered common speech routinely found in rap music, there is no excuse whatsover in repeating it.

Here is a good example: my mother always told me (yes, in the Forest Gump voice) that if a certain ethnic group wants to use certain terms for themselves, then so be it, so long as I don't use that term for them. I think we know what term could be applied in this context. I think it is aweful that any race refers to other members of its race in a condensending and deprecating manner—case in point—the term "white trash." A friend of mine a couple of years ago was visiting me in Waco, and, while we were at HEB, an obviously underprivilaged (one might say "poor"), obese white couple walked in to the store near us in the vegetable section. We could hear them talking in thick accents, and noted that their clothes were rather ragged, old and dirty. The friend said to me in a low voice, "hmm, looks like we've got some white trash here". I quickly turned to him and angrily told him how offensive that term was to me—who are we to judge these people, who probably started out with very little, had rough times and are barely making it? How can we, as so-called "enlightened" and "educated", people, look down our noses at these people? This is just as wrong as what Don Imus did. Not only is it wrong to use demeaning, ethno-specific terms for one's own race, it is wrong to use them for ANY race.

I'm not sure Don Imus deserves to lose his entire career (and I use the word "lose" very loosely here) over the comments, but he certainly deserves to feel the heat from his sponsors and his employer, which, in my humble opinion, would be a suspension that is much longer than just two weeks, because of the potential damage he has done to race relations. If any good comes out of it, it's that people realize how demeaning certain terms are to women, regardless of race, and how it ruptures what could narrowing divide in race relations.

Jonathanics

Politics never changes—only the politicians. Since high school, my overarching view of politics and society has shifted, matured and become more pragmatic; at the same time, it has become better rooted. This sounds a little ostentatious (consider the source), but I feel like I need to convey in words the process by which I arrive at my beliefs—specifically, the paradigm I use when it comes to analyzing political machinations and socioeconomic issues. Naturally, it confuses me sometimes when people do not understand why I say what I say, or believe what I believe, and so here I am to better explain myself—the logic and mind, if you will, behind those muses.

Most importantly, I consider my political leanings to be more than simply left or right-wing. This is true for everyone else as well. As illustrated in, one’s beliefs can be considered by way of a top-down and left-right continuum. These two axes, which measure both one’s political leanings as well as how much he or she really “cares” about issues, cover two broad elements of a person’s political make-up. Of course, you could throw in religion, wealth and myriad other subjects as factors as well, but for the sake of this conversation, we’ll leave it at two.

Now, as you can see, I reside in the lower-right quadrant, somewhat near “0” on the x-axis. I am politically active in the conversational way, stay abreast of political issues and usually vote if I am able. I also consider my political activeness to be higher because I write about political topics in order to persuade—or, at least, to encourage the logic and consideration of alternative views and facts (do you think this is an accurate or should I be in a different quadrant?). Now, how did I arrive at the denoted location? See below.

Before I can plot myself on the graph, I have to consider where I stand on issues. When an issue comes up either in conversation or by reading, it is filtered through a number of layers in my mind before I make a final statement, which causes a series of judgments to occur before I respond or make a "final" judgment call. This is typical I think of most people. These layers include 1) what background I have about the subject (which greatly effects how I will respond), 2) how often the issue is misunderstood based on what I perceive to be another person’s political leanings and/or background and 3) if the issue evokes a response from another that is highly charged and/or exudes pomposity.

Background information about any subject is important if one is to make sound judgments and recite opinions. Before I speak or write about something, I acknowledge that I can virtually never quite know everything about a subject—I retain only a collection of information that should be consist of both depth and breadth. This means there always remains a possibility I could be wrong, a central theme in my thoughts (that I could be “jus plain ignant”, according to Chris Rock). So, from the get-go, I throw up a red flag that says, “You might know a lot about this, but remember that you’re 23 years old, and, despite whatever education you may have received, you probably aren’t qualified to make a truly expert statement on most issues.” By reducing my own personal bias of thinking I’m right about something from the start, I am more likely to really discover the truth about an issue.

I apply this screening to sociopolitical statements everyone makes, especially young people who think they know everything because they have bachelor or graduate degrees. Even if they are educated, many people do not have the willingness to put in the time to consider all of the facts about a subject they appear to care deeply about (Note: older people do this too, but with a few more strings attached). Indeed, it’s easy to misunderstand issues. An excellent example of this phenomenon is the subject of environmentalism.

Popular environmentalism has captured many a mind in the western world. Nothing says “I care about the planet” more than driving a Toyota Prius hybrid car, buying organic food and purchasing “fair trade” coffee, which pays coffee growers a price above the (lower) market rate. All of this sounds good on and off paper. Mainly off paper.


Dig just a little deeper, however, and every single one of these “responsible” habits will raise your eyebrows. Hybrid cars, for example, require a significant (“slight”, according to Toyota) increase in energy costs for their manufacture. High-end technology like nickel-metal hybrid (NiMH) batteries produced for these vehicles require more processing and more transportation (fuel, pollution) that add to the overall environmental toll caused by its production. But this occurs before we even see the car, so it's almost like it never happened—but it did. In the end, it is debatable whether or not hybrid vehicles really end up costing the environment more or less. Everyone agrees, however, that the cost to the environment is much smaller just by buying a used car. That way, you’re not using any new resources at all (all the plastic in your car comes from oil) that are used in the lengthy manufacturing process.

Organic food also sounds nice. It supposedly tastes better and should be better for you. Unfortunately, no studies have conclusively shown it to be any healthier than regularly-grown food. Additionally, this method requires crop-rotation style farming, which uses three times the amount of land to produce the same yield, all the while feeding the same number of people. This uses more land (which is a negative effect for the environment) and the the potential benefits to the environment are complex and debatable. And even in the bigger picture, how responsible is it for rich to eat food that wastes resources while millions around the world go hungry? Shouldn’t we be using our land in the most efficient way, to feed more people with less land?

And “fair trade” coffee isn’t very fair. When farmers in poor countries produce a crop that fetches a low price, they typically will transition to new crops that will fetch a higher price—utilizing the market system. If we buy “fair trade” coffee, however, which gives coffee-growers a little more money than they otherwise would make, there is no reason for the farmer to switch to a crop that actually will improve improve their lives long-term. We are in effect subsidizing and reducing the incentive for farmers to grow something that makes it worth their while. Thus, areas that produce coffee efficiently will achieve that higher price without needing to switch products. Like organic food and hybrid cars, the subject just isn't as straight forward as one might surmise.

But how can anyone possibly know everything about every subject? They can’t, which is my point. But simply acknowledging one’s own tendency for this is a step in the right direction. I find that many people will not admit that they don’t know enough about a subject when making even mild judgment calls. For me, I will make judgment calls, but rarely do I make them without 1) admitting that I do not have all the facts, 2) knowing that I know enough about the different sides of an issue or 3) knowing for certain that someone is plain wrong. I think this method is fair, balanced and realistic.

The consequences of not operating according to this process, to me, is the inevitable support for causes that don’t make sense. Recently in Washington there was a peace rally. While most may not agree with the Iraq war, peace, as it has been said, is not a foreign policy—it is an objective of foreign policy; anyone who argues otherwise doesn’t firmly grasp how the world operates. Indeed, once people begin ignoring all information except that which justifies their cause(s), any belief is possible. And that is scary.

I believe there is a balance in all things, no matter what the issue, and this should be the objective of many government policies. That said, where the balance actually lies is up for debate. For me, at this point in my life, it lies in quadrant three.

Where do you stand, and how did you get there?

Winter

I suppose such is life, but one of the reasons I moved to Virginia was to experience winter. Thus far, I have to say I feel somewhat cheated, as most of Texas last night and today are experiencing snow/ice while the DC-MD-VA area continues to remain cool but not cold enough to cause snow. Even Waco is finally getting some daytime snow! I expect Virginia to make up for lost snow.

The New Year (and other ramblings)

The Road Ahead

A new year has commenced, and with it, a new Jonathan. Well, not exactly "new" per se, but I believe a lot of aspects of my life will continue to evolve and change as I become more settled in my new home here in the Washington, D.C.-area. Although I continue to work for a law firm, and plan to put in my time here, I remain committed to defining and pursuing what it is exactly I want to do career-wise.

As some of you know, I have spoken briefly recently about accepting my previous offer for enrollment at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. The beginning of the semester would coincide with my one-year anniversary where I work, which was determined to be the minimum commitment to my current employer. However, as much as I love writing and enjoy the creativity and freedom of thought it provides, I have become more and more doubtful of the merits of a Master's degree in a skill rather than in education towards a particular profession or career. You see, although the Professional Writing program both improves my skills and produces legitimacy to those skills, I would still be forced to choose some type of career path within writing, which I have been careful to avoid. This caution remains.

With the new year already rolling, I have become steadily more interested in the intelligence field. My skills tend to be in the areas of analysis and cross-referencing, as well as writing in general. My knowledge base tends to be in the areas of political and international affairs, which would, I think, be helpful in that particular field. Currently, I'm studying the field to see if it would be appropriate for me. Certainly the pay doesn't seem to shabby!

Escapades in Film

Film continues to really interest me. Travis and I continue our work on the screenplay IJ, which we hope is destined for production by a reputable studio. Our plan is to have it completed in roughly a year. Something about visuallizing funny scenes is really fun, and I think if we can learn the necessary skills to produce a good screenplay and, perhaps more importantly, get it into the right hands, it'll be gold. We shall see.