Existentialism

So I just received a prompt for my second Existentialism paper, which is due in two weeks. I think I'm going to write about certain aspects of the human conditions which are described by both Sartre and Camus, particularly as described in Existentialism is a Humanism and The Stranger, respectively. Specifically, I think I am going to foces on the idea that 'man's only reality is his actions' (horrible paraphrase, but I'm not going to look it up to get the wording right). I've found this idea intriguing for a few reasons. 

When presented by Sartre, it appears very logical and self evident that one's intentions and inner thoughts are meaningless, and that the only thing one can truly rely upon is what they actually do. However, when reading The Stranger, it seems like a miscarriage of justice when the protagonists past actions are brought as evidence against him, even though his intentions and reasons for doing so were fairly reasonable and innocent. 

I think the problem here is the classic 'attribution error' of human psychology. When one makes a mistake, one tends to attribute the fault to one's own situation, i.e., poor road conditions, having a bad day in general, having had too much to drink. But when some other person makes a mistake, one tends to attribute the fault to that person specifically, i.e., they should have driven more cautiously, their day doesn't excuse rudeness, they shouldn't have drank as much or should learn to hold their liquor. I feel the same problem is true in comparing the situations in the works of Sartre and Camus.

When thinking about others, possibly ourselves, although probably in generalities, we can easily claim that actions speak louder than words. When someone acts in such a way that is harmful or irritating, and then claims that they would have done something else or were thinking about doing something else, one thinks 'Well, why didn't you just do that?' The problem arises when it is oneself whose acts are denounced. It is then that issues of circumstances and situations come up and act as excuses and sources of blame.

I think in the end, it is Sartre's claim (or rather, my interpretations of his claim) that wins out. When reading through the trial scene in The Stranger, one cannot help but think "Why doesn't he just explain himself? Why doesn't he just act differently." The hero's inner thoughts may make sense, and sure, the world may be indifferent and possibly malevolent toward him, but if only he were to act in a different way, he would not be in the same position.

The only reality that we know is our own actions. These are determined by our own free choice. With no divine purpose or meaning, we are condemned to constantly invent ourselves through our choices and actions, and in doing so (and maybe a little more of a stretch), invent mankind. Our thoughts and intentions matter very little, if they matter at all. It is only our actions for which we can be held accountable or receive praise. The coward does not receive praise because he wished that he could have acted differently; the hero receives praise because he acted in a certain way, even if he may have had misgivings. 

Our actions are our reality.

Public Apology

Sorry for the ads. Thought I would 'Monetize' my blog, and earn two or three cents once I get 'followers.' Hopefully they don't get too bothersome.

Death to Tyrants

The recent federal tax hike on tobacco is ridiculous. I don't mind the tax increase on packaged cigarettes, since it is only a little over 60 cents, but the increase on loose tobacco for rolling is absolutely absurd. I feel like I'm living in a goddamned Franz Kafka novel. Before the tax increase, I could purchase a pound of cheap loose tobacco for about $13. Now, the same tobacco in the same quantity costs around $40. For those less inclined toward math, that's triple the price.

 

The main reason for buying loose tobacco, at least for me, is the lower cost. True, it still costs under half as much to make your own carton of cigarettes rather than buying one, but it costs three times as much than it used to. In the current economic climate, and with my being a student, I do not have the money to continue to smoke. I feel that this tax increase targets those smokers who do not have enough disposable income to continue to support their habit. If I had more money, I would not have had to switch to loose tobacco in the first place, and I could continue to buy as many cigarettes as I needed to smoke. 

I am going to have to quit smoking. I accept that I am not forced into this situation, because I could choose to devote a substantially larger part of my income to tobacco, but I find the federal government to be at fault. Smokers have become an easy target for legislation. Many businesses no longer have the option of allowing indoor smoking if they would like. Many more smokers are now going to have to quit if they would like to have any sort of money left over from their paychecks. We are now footing the bill for government programs, while other industries and demographics are enjoying their time in the tax-increase-free sun. 

The raise taxes on gasoline now would be obscene. Few people would stand for it. To implement a similar tax increase on any other product at this time would be unheard of. With unemployment increasing and profits shrinking, many would be up in arms if most other products were to triple in price because of the federal government. Lesson to be learned from all of this (which ought to have been learned in kindergarten): There is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone will always have to foot the bill. As the government is trying to spend us out of a recession, they are racking up debt that will eventually have to be paid back by someone (my and future generations). This is a harbinger of the days ahead. 

As for me, I will stop smoking like the government wants me to. A sin tax is good as long as people continue to sin and provide revenue for the state's programs, but this is not a sin tax. This is an open assault on a smoker's right to choose whether to smoke or not to smoke. The demand for tobacco is relatively inelastic, but my demand curve has been stretched too far. Mission Accomplished. The state wants me to quit smoking, I will quit smoking. I hope many others do as well, and I hope that the state recovers drastically too few tax dollars from tobacco.

To be fair, the program (Children's Health Insurance) is a worthy beneficiary of American tax dollars, far worthier than irresponsible executives, but the government cannot have its cake and eat it, too. If they want smokers to quit, they cannot also hope to fund programs by taxing their addiction. If they want money, they ought to gradually increase taxes on tobacco as well as other things.

I should have voted for Ron Paul.

Maybe Going to Start

I may start actually using this and twitter, probably not twitter. Actually, probably not this. Hopefully, I'm going to start doing a weekly update with everything that's going on, which might not be a lot. For this coming week, I have to get started on a group presentation due in a couple of weeks. Luckily, one of the papers that was to be due this week was cancelled, and one of the others is going to be pushed back, probably to some time next week. 

I've begun putting away a little bit of money to be able to make the 2,300 mile trek home to Montana. Thus far I have $100 set away specifically for that purpose, with more in my checking account. Once I get paid this week and get a scholarship grant next tuesday, I'll put some more in. I expect the gas to cost somewhere between $250 and $300, and we will probably only have to stay in a hotel one night at most. 

My job search for the summer is still far from being complete, with 'complete' meaning yielding positive results. There are a few possibilities right now. I may be able to get in with a construction company in Butte, and I'm going to contact Spherion to see if they will have any full time positions for the summer. If those two fail, I have a fair amount of waiting experience which may be useful, if any of the local restaurants are going to be hiring. I expect picking to be slim, but I'm sure something will present itself.

If all else fails, I may have to become creative and come up with some sort of entrepreneurial plan to make some money. With the current economic climate, especially in Butte, I don't expect too many opportunities to be available. The lawn mowing market is probably going to be saturated, and most likely filled with people who have a comparative advantage. I may try to do something with recycling or anything else to ride the current push for consumers to become more environmentally conscious. If all else fails, i may have to start stealing manhole covers for scrap.

Almost 4 in the morning, and i'm almost in bed. I've become distracted looking up new and 'useful' things on the internet, including Twitter and blogging sites. I think that this step into blogging is the next step in a progression of steps started by my recent infatuation with podcasts. They're great, because they make you feel like you're accomplishing a lot (like learning about philosophy as you walk to class or hearing today's economic forecast while you're on the, well, toilet), but you actually waste a fair amount of time looking for new and exciting podcasts, updating those, managing your old episodes, transferring them back and forth between iPod and laptop, deleting and re-downloading episodes that you regret deleting, and so on. It also leads to activities such as the one which I am currently doing: wasting time writing a blog. It's the information age (or maybe we've already past that? I've maybe thought that I am living in an age that has come and gone) and there is a plethora of useless garbage available to help one become a well informed and well rounded individual. One can act as Big Brother on Twitter, and see what one's friends and family are doing as often as they update their status. Then one can go to Facebook and see the changes in their friends' (or more often, distant acquaintances') relationship statuses. After perusing Facebook, one can then look at whichever blogs at which one would want to look, all the while listening to The Philosophy Podcast. Of course, when one becomes confused with the podcast, one is always able to visit Wikipedia for clarification (albeit sometimes dubious and without citation). In the past week, I've learned so much about philosophy, current events, and the economic crisis from listening to my hours and hours of podcasts, but I've probably learned just as much, or, more likely, less, than I would've learned from going to my Existentialism and Macroeconomics classes which I've accidentally slept through due to my podcast induced insomnia. This is the intrinsic enigma of our modern world. There is so much information available, but the sheer volume of information tends to make each bit less important to us and also serves to limit our actually knowledge on any of the things which we are trying to learn. Sixty second sound bites about science may spark interest and help pass the time, but they do not teach one anything about the science to which they are referring. We've placed 'experts' on a podium, and asked them for brief snippets of information that are easily understandable. We lose interest in topics that take more than ten minutes to explain, and this would not be a problem if most topics required a great deal more time to adequately explain and even more time spent on reflection to adequately understand. When one is done with one sound bite, one moves on to another one, then another, then another. Humanity's thirst for knowledge (be it knowledge of one's self, other's selves, or the selfless world around us) is evident when one considers the success of information technology, of 24-hour news networks, of podcasts like 60 Second Science. But the use of these means to achieve the end of knowledge is like drinking beer to alleviate one's thirst. It may be liquid, and it may be mostly water, but in the end one is worse off for having imbibed it (well, maybe not worse off, just more thirsty). We try to sate our hunger for information with heavily processed and easily digestible bite sized bits of information, when we really need a seven course meal that took hours to prepare. Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink.