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.

Street Corner Democracy—The Things We Need To Communicate Are All Around Us

Here is 72 second video I filmed a few days ago where I list 7 points I feel relevant to the consideration of democracy.

I made this video on a public street corner, with words that I wrote, and with an inexpensive Flip Camera, because the things we need to communicate and to be creative are all around us. They are accessible.

In the background you see a street sign, a stop sign and fire hydrant. We live in a society. For better and for worse, we are one person among many.

This Video, Filmed In Front Of Hurricane Remembrances, Is An Appeal For Us To Understand Our Past

Above is a one minute video I filmed in front of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane memorial statue. At the time I shot this video, there was a temporary display up around the statue marking the one year anniversary of Hurricane Ike.

In this video, I make the point that I am aware of the past.

It is important we be aware of the past. The past provides context for what is taking place at present, and provides clues as to what may happen in the future.

It is easy to dupe the public at-large, or an individual, when they are not aware of the past.

All events, whether in your personal life, or in the wider world, have some context.

Please take some time to consider what aspects of the past are relevant to your present and your future. Please consider what it is you could learn about the past that might help you understand why the world is the way it is today. 

Here is information about the 1900 Galveston Hurricane.

Here is information about Hurricane Ike’s impact on Galveston and the Texas Gulf Coast.  

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.

A Video—Connect Your Relationships To The World Around You

The video above, which runs just over two minutes, was made first for my friends to view. I’ve decided to run it on the blog as well.

The video is about how a friendship that may seem to exist in isolation, is in fact connected to the larger world. It’s about how we can apply creativity to our relationships and see that we are linked to each other in ways we may not always think about.    

In some respects this video is a continuation of the theme I discussed in my first blog video. (Please click here to see that video.) I feel that if you speak to people in an intelligent and plain manner about day-to-day things, that you will find creativity and optimism.

The video above makes specific reference to my friend Tejal. Below is a picture of Tejal. This post is not so much about Tejal as it is about a larger point, but it’s great to be able to get her in the blog.    

Liberalism Thrashes Conservatism In Live Action Video

The video above, which runs just under two minutes, shows in dramatic detail the recent victories of liberalism over conservatism in our politics. It also discusses policy gains that we as liberals can hope to see in the upcoming months and years. These are gains we can hope to see if President Obama and the Democratic Congress follow the correct course.

This video features Franklin D. Roosevelt  and George W. Bush.

Reading Malcolm X In An Old Black Cemetery

The new video on the blog is called Reading Malcolm X In An Old Black Cemetery. It runs just over two minutes and 30 seconds.  

I filmed this in Houston’s College Memorial Park Cemetery. This cemetery, now in some disrepair, began in 1896. It was a cemetery for the burial of black people. There are 6000 people laid to rest on the grounds including some former slaves.

The book I read from is Lend Me Your Ears–Great  Speeches In History. It is edited by William Safire. 

A good book to read to learn about Malcolm X, as you may have already, is Malcolm X’s Autobiography.

Two other good titles to learn about Malcolm, and that are also listed that are also listed on my Martin Luther King Reading & Reference List, are the second of Taylor Branch’s three volumes of Martin Luther King, called Pillar of Fire, and Martin & Malcolm & America — A Dream or a Nightmare by James Cone.

Pillar of Fire has a lot about Malcolm and the Cone book is a first rate compare and contrast of Rev. King and Malcolm.

We all merit respect. All people matter.

Below is Malcolm X’s grave from a photo taken by Jim Tipton. The grave is at Ferncliff Cemetery in Westchester County, New York 

Reading About The Panic Of 1873 In Front Of The Enron Building

This video is called Reading About The Panic of 1873 While In Front Of The Former Enron Building. It is the second video on the blog. This video is about three minutes long.

Please click here to see the first video on this blog.

I view the ability for average person to make a video as an updated kind of folk art. Here are various definitions of folk art. One idea of folk art is people without any artistic training creating something with the tools they have at hand.

All people are able to express themselves in some creative way.

Here is information about the impact of the Panic of 1873 in New York. This article discusses what the 1873 crisis had in common with the current economic distress. 

There were issues of banks and credit and greedy speculation.  

Here is a good essay about the impact of the Panic of 1873 in Illinois.    

Here is the Panic of 1873 for kids from PBS.

The book I read from in the video is The Age of Lincoln by Orville Burton. 

Here is a chronology of Enron events from USA Today. 

Here are a series of articles about Enron from the Houston Chronicle.

Here is a history of Enron from the Canadian Broadcasting Company.

In the video, the sun is partially on my big head while the other portion of my head is in shadow. This makes my head somewhat like this drawing of the Earth—Part light and part dark. Here is an explanation of daylight.  Here is an explanation of night time on the Earth.

Thanks for reading Texas Liberal. Please feel free to offer a comment. If you like the blog, please forward the link. A blog grows one reader at a time.

First Ever Texas Liberal Video—I Have Confidence In You

Here is the first Texas Liberal video. I filmed it on Galveston’s East Beach a few days ago. It is just under 2 minutes long.

The video explains why I am making videos for the blog. The video expresses the idea that I have confidence in you because of the things that you and I have in common. 

Not in the video is the rotting dolphin carcass that was about 30 feet away from where I was standing.  At first look, people thought it was a seal carcass. Don’t folks know that the only seal ever to come near Galveston was the now-extinct Caribbean Monk Seal? (Below) This was the only seal native to the Gulf of Mexico.

Why do you think that people must drive big pickups onto the beach and motor around in circles? I’d like people to please know that I kept my eye on the camera despite these trucks, the dolphin carcass, the many bulldozers replenishing the beach with sand after last year’s Hurricane Ike, and people feeding seagulls out of moving cars as the seagulls followed the cars in noisy flocks.  

Thank you for reading this blog and for watching the video.