alexis in the city

strong opinions, weakly held

“to deal with an uncertain future and still move forward – [it's important for] people to have ’strong opinions, which are weakly held.’”

-bob sutton, quoting Palo Alto Institute for the Future director paul saffo

i’m sure it’s clear to anyone who’s read some of my posts, or to anyone who knows me in real life that i am opinionated and unafraid of voicing these opinions. when i was in elementary school, my best friend’s dad would always tell me, sarcastically, “don’t sugar coat it, alexis, tell us how you really feel.” i don’t know how much of this is nature and how much is nurture, but i do know that - although diplomacy in my (military) family is almost its own religion - i have a strong mother and highly-intellectual father who are not typically afraid to tell people how they “really feel.” in a way that meets protocol, of course :-).

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“i’m still free”

i found this on the livejournal page of one of the people i follow on twitter and it made me stop and think about  “the war on terror” in a new way. after nearly eight years of that catch phrase being bandied about, it’s not often that i get a new perspective.

so here’s osama bin laden - the head of the network that, at least in part, drew us into the mentality of preemptive strikes. (along with non-existent WMDs, oil, saddam and a host  of other things.) it’s been almost eight years since september 11th. almost eight years since we began asking ourselves what should be done. over six years since invading a nation for no good reason. and yet osama bin laden (presumably) is still alive and free.

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i love ron paul

in regards to a new bill he’s proposing to legalize the growth of hemp, ron paul had this to say:

It is unfortunate that the Federal Government has stood in the way of American farmers, including many who are struggling to make ends meet, competing in the global industrial hemp market. Indeed, the founders of our Nation, some of whom grew hemp, would surely find that Federal restrictions on farmers growing a safe and profitable crop on their own land are inconsistent with the constitutional guarantee of a limited, restrained Federal Government.

man do i love this guy. and i had no idea hemp was only imported and not legally able to be grown in the US. i must’ve single-handedly kept those importers in business during my hippie macrame phase. read more about the proposed legislation here.

can we really become post-partisan?

some of my politically conservative friends laugh when i say i’m not a democrat. although i’ve voted for democratic candidates and democratic issues, i’ve also voted for republican candidates and republican issues. i’ve never been registered democrat though - some may be surprised to find out - i was registered republican (before i knew better ;-).

i think many of us - especially those of us in our 20s and 30s that are politically active - are beginning to see how disturbingly the two party system is failing. if anything, it’s become a shouting match between two “sides” - and both positions are typically guilty. i am less concerned with picking a side than with finding a way to unify people through what we have in common. (and, yes, in inciting some fun debate along the way :-). which is why i found this snippet from “democracy matters are frightening in our time” by cornell west to be poignant:

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a revolution of hope, peace and change

i’ve been looking at two ideas put forth in mclaren’s book, “everything must change,” in response to a theocapitalist society. i.e., an economic structure where capitalism is king, where we look out for number one - either as a country or as individuals - and where we are deaf to the cries of the people that this hurts.

the two ideas being 1). the idea of jesus as a rebel, dedicated to bucking the socio-economic norms of his day, and seeking to lead us today in our quest to do the same and 2). the idea that these actions will lead to a revolution of hope. here mclaren tackles an idea that may sound hokey and superficial on the surface:

“it’s clear .. that we will not be complacent. … instead we will tell the truth about systemic injustice, as jesus did, and defect from it at every opportunity.”

mclaren goes on to say:

“more and more churches, thankfully, are showing a concern to show kindness or compassion - helping the victims of injustice through trips, giving to social needs and so on. but the number of individuals and churches focused on doing justice remains disproportionately low. depending on how you look at it, that could be an indictment, or an opportunity.”

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