Leaving

This is the second video I’ve posted to YouTube. Like the first, it is a music video I made using public domain footage. I use public domain footage because I do not have access to video recording equipment and like the idea of pairing my music with a visual expression. I chose WWII footage because it seems to convey the message of the song in a way that I had not originally intended. When I first wrote the song it was out of emotional anger, a response to a personal relationship. However, as I listen to the song now and watch the WWII footage I get the impression that it could communicate the complicated emotions of a soldier dying in battle, thinking back on his life regretfully.

Perhaps you will interpret it differently.

“Leaving” by Stephen Joseph

Some Questions Must Be Asked

Tempting Fate

30 Years and 30 Books of Influence

I turned 30 recently, which prompted much life reflection, introspection and despair. Really, it’s not so bad. My childhood years were filled with wonder and play. My teenage years were riddled with angst, questioning and sarcasm. My twenties were a time for debauchery, wandering adventures and self discovery. I expect my thirties to build on the wisdom I’ve gained as a young adult and give me the opportunity to contribute to a community in a positive way. Whatever happens in the future, I’d like to take the time now to reflect on a life of books. 30 years and 30 books of influence. The following list occurs in the order they affected me, from youngest to present time.

1. Happy Birthday, Moon By Frank Asch

As a child I found this book enchanting. The illustrations seemed to illuminate from the page. I read this book repeatedly transfixed by the powers of imagination.

2. Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

This comic strip’s mischievous playfulness delighted my sense of adventure when I was a kid. As an adult I appreciate its philosophical and ethical commentary on the human condition.

 

3. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

This is such a deranged novel. Set in the near future where society is shaped by an extremely violent youth culture, it is narrated by a teenage anti-hero. It is completely inappropriate reading material for a middle school student. My teachers were probably worried.

 

4. The Republic by Plato

The foundation for any serious discussion on justice.

 

5. The Stranger by Albert Camus

Camus never accepted the label “existentialist.” But because he preferred being called an “absurdist,” it is only fitting that his most famous work is almost always associated with existentialism. Such is the struggle to find meaning in a meaningless world.

 

6. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

A deeply profound and disturbing Russian masterpiece. A text to be reckoned with.

 

7. On The Road by Jack Kerouac

A book that never yawns or says a commonplace thing, but burns, burns, burns.

 

8. Howl by Allen Ginsberg

Poetry that rattled my bones and opened my mind. The beauty and anguish captured in this rambling verse is remarkable.

 

9. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

The bizarre descriptions of demented hallucinatory confusion and the honest perverseness of this book made me laugh out loud. “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”

 

10. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

A simple book with a simple question: do you want to save the world? Telepathic gorilla aside, there are some heavy topics about the evolution of civilization brought to light in this meditative novel.

 

11. A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn

American history 101. I graduated high school a semester early and spent my time working and reading. This book made up for the shortcomings of my high school history education. 

 

12. Killing Hope: U.S. Military and C.I.A. Interventions Since WWII by William Blum

I was and still am a big fan of the band Rage Against the Machine. In the liner notes to their album Evil Empire this book appears among a sprawl of other counter-cultural books. I considered the liner notes my curriculum for radical thinking. This book blew my mind and still serves to frame the way I look at the world today.

 

13. The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda

I was fortunate to have an avid reader for a father who grew up during the ‘60s. He introduced me to this book and many others. This book is as much of a spiritual journey as it is an intellectual exercise. Serendipitously, I met the love of my life in Boulder, CO who happened to be reading this same book at the time (at 18 years of age, my only peers who had heard of it were ones I told). 

 

14. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe

Sex, drugs and rock and roll embodied the Merry Prankster attitude. This book is about a bunch of free thinking hippies, led by Ken Kesey – fresh from the success of One Flew Over the Cu Coo’s Nest. They painted a bus in psychedelic day-glo colors and crisscrossed America pontificating the gospel of LSD. At times tragic and hilarious, the book is a portrait of a culture with infinite optimism.

 

15. Hamlet William Shakespeare

Classic philosophical tragedy. Shakespeare set the bar high.

 

16. Bound For Glory by Woody Guthrie

This is Guthrie’s hyperbolic autobiography that reads at the speed the man lived. Great stories and endearing characters open the reader up to the charisma Guthrie was known for.

 

17. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

When I read that this book was the result of a bet between Mary Shelley, her husband and other literary figures to see who could write the scariest story, I thought, yea, that is kind of cool. She won the bet of course. You can’t grow up in an environment of pop culture without being familiar with this story. However, it took a college course to force me to actually read the book. I am happy I did. It is an affecting book about the dangerous possibilities of science and the ethical implications inventors must wrestle with.

 

18. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

This is a fictional account of Vietnam by a Vietnam veteran. Quizzically, the book is dedicated to its fictional characters. Throughout the narrative O’Brien discusses the blurred line between truth and fiction. Disjointed stories echo into one another. Nightmarish episodes explore the human heart and weigh the torment of those things people carry throughout their lives.

 

19. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

Chabon writes with such creative flare. His use of figurative language, character development and pacing is expert. Reading this book is like stepping into another world, which of course is what all good fiction strives to do.

 

20. White Noise by Don DeLillo

This is an amazing commentary on the social and emotional state of America in the 20^th century. I wonder what changes DeLillo would have to make if he rewrote it for the 21^st century? In the book families are disconnected, dysfunctional and afraid of non/imaginary threats. Right, he wouldn’t have to change a thing.

 

21. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

If I had to pick a favorite book I would say that I don’t have a favorite book. But if I were pressed to name a book that could be my favorite I would say that it would depend on my mood and what book I was reading at the time. Then, eventually, by default I’d name “Grapes of Wrath.” I had a friend that wanted to name his band Rosasharn’s Milk. His band mates declined. They must have been illiterate.

 

22. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

Simple, profound and worth reading annually.

 

23. 1984 by George Orwell

“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” Orwell was a brilliant writer. He envisioned the dystopian world that to some extent, we now live in. Beyond the big ideas, the love story at the center of this book is devastating.

 

24. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Kundera opened my mind to the poetic power of the vignette. He weaves brief philosophical musings, erotic encounters and intimate secrets together, which form a brutally honest portrait of the human condition.

 

25. A Joseph Campbell Companion by Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell is known for his academic writings about myth and the power of metaphor. This book highlights his collective insights, dispensing nuggets of wisdom.

 

26. The Road by Cormac McCarthy

McCarthy’s sparse prose in this epic vision of a post-apocalyptic world is absolutely haunting. Its realism is tragic. Its thematic symbolism is spectacular. This is the story of a nameless father and son who makes their way to the coast after an unspecified catastrophic event has set the world back to year zero. A parable of the 21^st century.

 

27. The Watchmen by Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore

Who watches the watchmen? This graphic novel is the stuff of mythic proportions.

 

28. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

Words to live by – “I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it calls itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defense the only arms I allow myself to use — silence, exile, and cunning.”

 

29. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Hemingway said it best – “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. American writing comes from that.”

 

30. Beloved by Toni Morrison

This novel pushes the boundaries of the art form. It opened me to the possibilities of brutality and beauty. Reading it is like staring into the abyss of slavery and having the abyss stare back.

Psychics and crazy people

I have often wondered if some psychics are really just crazy people who do a good job of convincing others that they are not crazy. I mean, how do we know if they are talking to spirits or really just hallucinating?

Words of Advice for Future Residents of Spaceship Earth

1. People that are scared lose time worrying.

2. The best artists don’t know what they’ll do next.

3. The fearless see death as an eventuality that has already happened.

Two Guys Drinking Beer

This is a comic I drew. Maybe it’s funny.

 

Times We Had

I want to avoid commenting on the music I write as much as possible. Like talking about sex, it takes away the power of the unspoken gesture. However, in posting this link to a video of a song I wrote, I feel I must say something.

“Times We Had” is a simple song – a meditation on the nostalgic emotion that accompanies the moment in a relationship where you look back at all the silly inconsequential landmarks. When I wrote the song, I had no intention of pairing it with film. Yet, I wanted to share my music in different ways and over time, the idea of creating a music video seemed viable. I am not a film maker. I can barely manage to take photos that are in focus even when using auto focus.

Somehow I came across the idea of editing public domain footage to create a music video and within these limits I decided I was capable of creating something interesting. I spent a long time looking through various websites to find any footage worth using. There are many public domain B-movies, but I didn’t have the patience to sift through an hour and a half of footage to find a useable four minutes. I eventually stumbled upon a film of an alleged Soviet reanimation experiment. The original film is about ten minutes long. It depicts the workings of some strange laboratory where scientists experiment on dogs with the intent to bring the dead back to life. The footage can be disturbing until you realize that it is utterly fake, at least I hope it is.

I initially thought the film was bizarre. I still do. But that is precisely why I decided to use it for a music video. The video was strange enough to capture my attention, but the theme of the film also overlaps with the message of my song. The scientists attempting to bring the dead back to life, like lovers looking back upon their relationship, are motivated by some sense of nostalgia – an unwillingness to let go.

I only hope that the eye poking, severed heads and what not don’t detract from the music.

“Times We Had” – Stephen Joseph

Measuring National Success

While the U.S. economic system still struggles to survive, some wait for its eventual demise. Optimists say we are slowly turning around.

But how can we accurately assess the condition of our economy? We hear terms such as consumer spending, purchasing power and smart investing. And we look toward Gross Domestic Product as a guiding light. But GDP only allows us to see shadows on the walls of a cave.

GDP measures the monetary value of all goods and services produced in a nation within the year. However, it does not measure human indicators like happiness, satisfaction in the workplace, general health or environmental conditions. It fails to measure the health of the people participating within the economy.

Bhutan, inhabited by Buddhists and seated in the Himalayas, created a new way to measure success. As the country moved toward modernization in the 1960s and ‘70s, the idea of Gross National Happiness emerged.

Based on Buddhist cultural and spiritual values, GNH allows material and spiritual development to occur, benefitting industries and human interests simultaneously.

There are four basic pillars of GNH that promote these values. They encourage sustainable development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and the establishment of good governance.

When looking at GNH in such general terms it is clear that these ideas are cross-cultural. Any nation can embrace such universal values. It only makes sense to include human and environmental considerations into the measurement of any national economy.

There is no perfect way to measure the complexities of globalized markets. Neither GNH nor GDP are flawless. GNH considers the value of human life, while GDP values financial success. GDP measures end products sold in established markets while ignoring social, environmental and psychological elements.

What is frightening is that GDP cannot distinguish between positive and negative impacts within the living, breathing, feeling world. Costs such as security, war, police and pollution cleanup are marked as positive contributions to commerce. Such a dysfunctional system allows disaster to be seen in terms of profit.

Since the birth of GDP in the 1930s, the idea has been rapidly adopted as the best measure of economic performance in the world. But the challenges of the 21st century demand a better way to assess economic wealth. Climate change, poverty, resource depletion, human health and quality of life must be considered indicators of the well being of a nation.

Simon Kuznets, one of GDP’s originators once said, “The welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measure of national income.” It is time to reinvent the way commerce is measured in a manner that includes environmental and social aspects of progress.

A 2007 European Union (EU) conference titled, “Beyond GDP,” was successful in generating awareness of a flawed system. It also encouraged ideas that could move the international community forward.

As a result of this conference, “Beyond GDP” has now become an initiative among members of political and environmental communities.

The U.S. economy is struggling for a number of reasons. It began when the housing bubble burst. Mortgages of over-priced homes were traded, and banks couldn’t take on the debts, especially when the value of homes had drastically declined. Free trade agreements have sent jobs south of the border and overseas. Jobs have been lost to the technological advancements as well.

The rich enjoy generous tax cuts, and multi-million dollar corporations receive welfare. Underlying it all, perhaps the U.S. economy is struggling because it is measured in a way that excludes important human and environmental elements. It is time to redefine progress.

Irrational Reason

What is rationalized is not always reasonable. What is justifiable is not always just.

In the early 1950’s, a Chicago-area cult named the Seekers believed they were able to communicate with aliens. Dorothy Martin, the group leader, would transcribe the cosmic communications through automatic writing.

While communicating, the aliens informed her the world would end catastrophically on Dec. 21, 1954. Several of the Seekers quit their jobs and sold their homes, expecting salvation from a flying saucer.

Dec. 21, 1954 came and went without ruin. The Seekers, who were so emotionally invested in a belief system that proved to be unequivocally wrong, struggled at first for an explanation. But rationalization soon occurred.

A new transmission from the aliens arrived declaring that Earth had been saved at the last minute as a result of the Seekers’ meditations the night of supposed destruction.

The Seekers, who were previously indifferent towards the press, began to urgently express their beliefs in public. Despite heavy criticism and mockery, the Seekers continued to believe in their alien deities. Ironically, the decimation of everything they believed allowed them to become even more confident of their beliefs.

As it turns out, logical conclusions are often illogical and inconclusive. Although the Seekers’ astral cult is an extreme example of self-delusion, many of us are guilty of our own convictions in half-truths.

Our minds tend to gravitate towards facts that agree with our beliefs, while dismissing other facts that conflict with our worldview. This occurs because our ability to reason is actually connected to our emotions. Positive or negative thoughts are formed about people, things or ideas within a matter of milliseconds, before we are even aware of it happening.

As we evolved in a hostile environment, we were required to make rapid decisions in order to survive. We now apply these fight or flight reflexes not only to physical danger, but to information as well.

That doesn’t mean that reason is completely driven by emotion. Reasoning just occurs after emotional judgments are calculated, which can lead down a path of biased thinking. Reasoning through emotional responses is what cultivates our values.

As we mature and our sense of self becomes more solidified, so do our values. We are less likely to alter our well-established perception of the world, especially about ideas we care about greatly.

Several psychologists have conducted studies regarding bias and fact. One study gathered a group of Republicans that believed Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda were both linked to the 9/11 attacks.

The researchers cited the 9/11 commission report as well as President Bush’s own words – that he denied his administration had “said the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda.”

Only 1 of 49 participants changed their mind regarding the Iraq-Al Qaeda link. The others either created counter arguments or flat out refused to believe the facts the researchers had presented.

Similar tests conducted regarding President Obama’s birth origin, climate change and vaccines produced very similar results.

It turns out that people will seek out information that confirms what they already believe – not a terrifically new concept.

Yet, in a world where it is increasingly easier to consume information based on our own unique and specific interests, perhaps our fight or flight survival skills are not well suited for the information age.

On an issue as important as climate change, it is frightening that a major indicator of whether or not you accept the science depends on your political party. What is even more frightening, according to a 2008 Pew survey, is that college-educated Republicans are less likely to agree that the planet is warming due to human action than non-college educated Republicans.

This means that despite facts, the more educated a person is, the more they will stand by their own value-based convictions. And instead of simply refusing to believe in facts, they are able to form arguments based on educated reasoning – no matter that this educated reasoning is irrational.

To be fair, Democrats can be equally blinded by their own passions. Many liberal leaders hold the belief that childhood vaccines are the cause of autism despite the fact that the researcher whose work was responsible for this assertion, Andrew Wakefield, lost his license to practice medicine because his autism research was heavily fabricated.

We all carry some bias when interpreting new information. What can be done to overcome such shades of perception? It is not wrong to dwell in the abstract world of emotions. But it is wrong to allow emotionally charged rationalizations to substitute fact based reasoning. Keep an open mind and don’t be afraid to be proven wrong, should such proof be based on measurable fact.