WASHINGTON!!!

The verdict’s in, folks—I won’t be coming back to UHart until Fall. I’m in Washington right now, studying Foreign Policy at American University, hence the lack of posts. Sorry about that, folks. Anyway, it’s been crazy. Since last week, I’ve been in whirlwind meetings and classes. On the first day of class, I went to a symposium featuring luminaries such as Gen. Petraeus, Richard Armitage, Madeline Albright, and others. Capitol Hill’s fantastic, and it’s so easy to get around here. The Metro, DC’s subway system,  runs throughout the city, much like New York’s, only on a smaller scale. Another thing—I’ve heard that it’s colder in higher places, but Washington exemplifies this: it’s coldest on the Hill, but becomes warmer after only a few blocks. The city has possibly the strangest climate ever—with the possible exemption of Barrow, Alaska, which experiences annual 2-month dark periods during winters. Classes are fun, I won’t lie—45-page research papers and all.

You think you’ve heard about Washington’s  inauguration preparations? Unless you’re living here, you seriously have no idea. Half of Capitol Hill has been sequined off for construction, and there’s a large build effort going on at the Capitol. The White House is enlisting over 5,000 volunteers for the Day, and the entire city is already packed. In addition, I saw Obama speak live yesterday. That in itself was AMAZING!!!!

I think it’s great that we’ve elected—and will soon be inaugurating—an African-American president. It’s not just because I’m of the same ethnicity that I’m saying this, but because of the possibility that it will change global comparisons of ability to color, and related comparisons. How is it, one might ask, That a country whose majority, for a good part of its history, attempted to withhold the rights of an entire people, now has chosen to elect one whose race was the object of said oppression? To answer this question, I would simply cite a combination of public dissatisfaction with government in its usual incarnation, a desire for (yes, you got it) a change therein, and a realization that ability is not related to color, or to sexual orientation, or economic status, etc. Though it is my only my opinion, and therefore subject to error, Obama’s not doing a bad job so far. He’s brought in economic officials from the Clinton administration and kept R. Gates as Defense Secretary, which, I feel, is a fantastic move: he’s kept the one person able to give Democrats express knowledge on the most vital aspects of our Middle East campaign while simultaneously ensuring, mostly anyway, that the Democrat-ruled Congress will be able to pressure him out of any decisions otherwise detrimental and/or contrary to both American public interest and the White House’s goal of putting pressure on Afghanistan to find Osama bin Laden and destroy al-Qaeda–not on Iraq, whose only major benefit to American interest is its vast quantities of oil, the use of which is progressively contributing to the spoiling of the Earth’s environment (but that’s a story for another post). The mere fact that I’m alive to see this happen gives me hope for the future. Though, whether Obama will be able to shoulder the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression whilst simultaneously searching for an alternative, yet mutually favorable, conclusion to America’s conflict with the Middle East is yet to be seen. Let us hope.

Winter Break – Possibly Unrelated Coincidences and Somewhat Abstract Thoughts Thereon

3:29 AM. I’m bored. I didn’t think I’d be this bored over Winter Break, when people are usually supposed to be having fun, etc. It’s weird—I’ve done all the usual things one does after school gets out, but I’m still sort of bored. Whatever. It’s comforting to know that I’ll be going back to school soon. I wanted to talk about something weird that happened to me tonight, though. I was driving with my father tonight to take a coat back to A&F. When we left my house, I threw something over some of the things he had in his backseat, which aggravated him. He started telling me that he didn’t want me to throw my things over his, etc., etc. He then said, and I quote,

“Now, if someone messed with your stuff, you’d throw a fit too.”

Whatever. We went to A&F and I found out that the coat I wanted in Large was sold out. Fine, we left. Much later, after we got home, I went to finalize the iPod deal I’d won on eBay, only to find that, suffice it to say—despite the contrary this morning—I no longer had the funds to do so. Naturally, I flipped. And then I thought about what my father said.

Let me get a bit personal. I’m just as religious as the next guy, alright? I hold a basic belief that there does exist a force of some kind that holds a good deal of influence over a lot that goes on everywhere. However, I’m very rational, and I can usually find explanations for most of my experiences. Yet, for some reason, I found this to be a very interesting coincidence. Bible Chapter Exodus, 20:12 states:

“Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

I presume that many of you raised Christian in one capacity or another throughout your life has experienced that little pang of guilt that comes from, you know, displeasing your parents or unintentionally (or maybe intentionally, lol) insulting them in one way or another. Now, at the time, I didn’t feel guilty about throwing my stuff over my father’s things in his car—and trying to tell him afterwards why his aggravation was unwarranted—but after I saw this discrepancy, and remembered his words, I felt a bit creeped out. I wonder: does the Golden Rule (or, the Boomerang Effect) in Matthew (Do unto others as you would have others do unto you) truly apply to life? My question, of course, stems from a supposition that people usually interpret that quote as encouraging of good deeds and general goodness in life. Yet, I think that, while general definitions of good and bad seldom differ, individual and personal definitions of good and bad almost always do. My father’s definition of courtesy—something coming from a notion of good behavior towards others—given his behavior, can very well said to have induced him to react as he did. While this inevitably implies that his definition of courtesy might differ from those of many others’, it still holds true that his personal definition of courtesy likely influenced his reaction. I wonder, though, if the “Rule” applies to individual definitions of good, rather than general perceptions of good and bad. James 4:4 reads,

“Whoever shall be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.”

This implies that biblical doctrine disfavors the adoption of general, that is, popular, opinions and views on morality and life. This, then, might also suggest that popular perceptions of good and bad are, according to said doctrine, incorrect. Though the Bible does indeed say that God loves all people equally, I’m inclined to think that God would favor religious people more in his consideration of those going to heaven, hell or in-between—as, since man, according to the bible, was constructed in God’s “image”, it follows that our perceptions must be similar, however little, to His; and, since I, as a human, think this way, it follows that said perception is similar to that experienced by God. And, to anyone thinking this, I’m not saying I’m God, lol. I’m not self-absorbed or anything like that. But, really, would God favor very religious people more than less religious people? And, moreover, if said religious people were offended by someone violating their personal rules of courtesy, would the Golden Rule come into effect? Would said violation spark the activation of some karmic principle inducing reciprocal action on the violator? I don’t know. Honestly, I really never think much about religion unless I have no other way to explain something, but my dad’s statement rang true tonight. In a religious context, I wonder if the Boomerang effect applies in relation to personal definitions of good and bad rather than universal ones. In that respect, could anything that insults or negatively affects anyone have reciprocal karmic effects on the human source of said insult or negative effect? Something for spiritual readers to think about.