Identity Crisis

I someday fear that I will be on a crash course for an identity crisis. My customized adds that appear urge me to send money home (to Texas??) and to write in my "native Indic script" (chicken-scratch??).

I find it all rather amusing actually. But a little weird that google, blogspot, and facebook follow my computer usage and search words enough to get that kind of information on me.

An Ajoinder

To add to the previous post, Leo Tolstoy writes, in the beginning of Anna Karenina, and I feel that it is an apt summation of what I was aiming for: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

Families are Families, no matter where you are

After reading the umpteenth blog written by an Indian, discussing the relationship of Western families as compared to Indian families, I am really perturbed by this assumption that "family and friends comes second" in Western families. Do they know any Westerners? or are they just picking and choosing the characterizations and subsequent case studies that they wish to to back up their case??? Do they recognize that the relationship that children in the West have with their parents is far different than the relationship Indian children have with their parents? I would challenge anyone that thinks Westerners put family and friends second to meet my friends and my family- they will tell you differently. In my mind, my friends are part of my family (I never miss a chance to introduce my friends to my family)!

I am blessed with a family that understands me, and trusts me, and wants what is best for me, and gives me the freedom to explore, mess up, make mistakes and learn. I can't think of a time I have had to compromise anything in my life because I talk things out with my parents and let them know the things I am thinking and the course of action I want to take. My parents are like any other parents- they worry if I will get married, have kids, get a job. But they also realize that this journey is my journey. Whatever decisions I make or course of action I make, the faults will be mine, but the successes will be the result of my work but also that of my friends and family.

I would not argue that I have been raised in an individualistic nature. Individualistic is far different than Independent. One infers a competitive state of nature, devoid of deep relationships with others. The latter, independent, infers the ability to make decisions and carve a specific identity for yourself, but still have deep connections to family, home, friends, and the world. It is that recognition of your self and the multiplicity of your identity and role in relation to others. Social interaction shapes and changes your identity and forms a sense of who you are. To claim that you are far removed from these social interactions fails to comprehend how vital these relations are in forming our sense of self.

Obituaries and Biographies

After reading some lately- I don't think I ever want one written- some of them are just so badly written.

Philosophy of Social Science

I lament the fact that people do not see history as a Hegelian procession -like a river- you cannot view the events of the past through the lens of today. You can, however, deconstruct it through a historical lens via an archeology or genealogy (hurray Foucault!) There is a sore lack of appreciation for social science theory and philosophy (alas!)

I write this little brief rant because I read a piece on DailyKos discussing Native American history that devolved into a discussion of how Native Americans had slaves. Well- Duh! Some of them did, as did many ancient and not so ancient civilizations. But, in the time period they were studying, it was mostly as a means for the Cherokee, specifically, to show how "white" they were, in the hopes that they would not be removed off of their lands. In the end, it turned out to merely be a continuation of the "modernization" of the Cherokees so that they appear "civilized" (sadly, I believe that this rhetoric and subsequent actions are still largely the prevalent model for development, as imposed by Western countries on the Third World. But I digress).

So yes, if you are going to produce critical history and comment on it, please please please, try to understand it through a historical lens- not your own.

Thick Skulls

For some reason, it always seems that the lessons that we need to learn the most, and the quickest, are also the same mistakes that we keep making. It is so difficult to learn from mistakes- and not make them again and again. Each time, you feel more worn out and more dense for not learning the first time. The conditioned response does not seem to form, despite numerous trials....successive learning events....and successive negative outcomes when learning is not completed.

And its finally when you hit the bottom that you realize the past mistakes that you have made over and over and it weights like a great rock in your heart- choking you and making it difficult to breath- causing you to be dizzy, as if hit with a great realization that your mind can't make sense of.

I am a human.

Philosophical Ponderings on the (Mis)Treatment of Animals (Humans) and subsequent (Re) Actions (A Poem of Questions)

Do you remain silent, in steely resolve? Or do you raise a hand to block the hand that strikes you? Or do you succumb, and become less human with each act of degradation?

And what if the other person doesn't share your same sense of what respect means? are you at an impasse? do you have but two options to choose from? continue...or.....?

Jesus Christ said turn the other cheek- but how many cheeks can you turn?