Two Short Videos—The Creative And The Practical Are One In The Same And Draw Meaning And Substance From One Another

1. While politics and democracy are sometimes called the “art of the possible”, I feel these things are at core acts of creativity and imagination.

2. In political life, and in the larger sphere of our democratic freedoms and responsibilities, something is imagined as a desirable outcome and steps are planned to reach that goal.

3. Thought comes before action.

4. Also, in my view of politics and democracy, all people have the ability to understand complex things. People have more ability than they realize.

5. It is, of course, not a given that people will make the effort to try and understand complex things or that outcomes in a democracy will be positive outcomes. Believing in democracy can require a measure of nihilism.

6. What you can do about possible bad outcomes in society is do your best to be a part of society and the democracy.

7. With our minds, with effort and self-discipline, and with technology that is accessible to many, we can convey our beliefs in both a creative and practical manner. There is no contradiction between the creative and the practical.

8. There are few contradiction of any kind. Though to say this does not imply that we cannot hold strong beliefs.

9. At the top of this post are two short videos that I filmed in Houston. In each video I list a few points I’ve observed about democracy. It would not take you more than two minutes total watch both videos.

10. I made the videos with my little Flip Camera and have posted them on my blog that I get for free from WordPress.

The things we need are around us and they are accessible with effort and self-discipline. Every time is the right time to talk about freedom and democracy. All people can understand complex things and all places have value and meaning.  Good outcomes are never a given and people are often brutal. The creative and the practical are one in the same and draw meaning and substance from one another.

In This Video I Stand In Front Of Fishing Pier Smashed By Hurricane Ike And Ask You To Be Flexible Of Mind

Here is a video in which I ask you to be flexible of mind, and to see many meanings at once in whatever it is you may be looking at in life. 

At the same time, I ask you to see no conflict between something having many meanings and one specific meaning all at the same time.  

This video will take but 48 seconds of your time.

Behind me is a smashed fishing pier from Hurricane Ike. I am in Galveston, Texas in this video. I am standing in front of the wave-swept pier and in front of the Gulf of Mexico.   

The book I reference in the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols.

Style And Substance As One

Above is a video of me using a specific verbal style in an effort to convey deeper meaning.

The video is 39 seconds long. Please give it a play.

Relevant to this post is a post I made in April of 2008 about Sojourner Truth.

Why I Don’t Follow Hockey And Basketball

I know the world is in the midst of financial collapse and a flu pandemic, but I’d like to write here about hockey and basketball.

( Above—Women playing ice hockey 120 years ago.) 

I saw in my morning paper—which remains the most civilized and reflective way to get the news—that the Anaheim Ducks had eliminated the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the National Hockey League Playoffs.

This happened despite the fact that the Sharks had gained the best record in the NHL for the past season and that the Ducks were only the 8th best team in their conference.  Here are the final NHL standings for this season.

Hockey has something like 30 teams. 16 of them make the playoffs. Why even bother to play the regular season? Anybody who can muster just a halfway decent record makes the playoffs and then the best team can be knocked out in the first round. These same circumstances exist in pro basketball.  

The only sport I follow is baseball. In baseball 8 of the 30 teams make the playoffs. That’s better. The games mean something and fewer teams can coast knowing they have a playoff spot locked up.

In hockey and basketball, the games lack context and meaning. It’s a muddle. They just skate around or run up and down the court for six months waiting for the real action to start. Who would pay money to see all that meaningless mess?  

Our time and what we do with our time should have meaning and context.     

(Here is a history of hockey.)