What a week for Africa, what hope is in the air. If you are in Africa you may be feeling a sense of hope from events that may directly effect your life, or the lives of friends and family. Cote d'Ivoire, Tunisia, Sudan, Congo, even the whole of Africa via the start of this year's WWW.UrgentEvoke.com Indirectly we all feel hope; seeing a land known for poor material wealth, under-utilized human wealth, and extensive corruption find hope is eating a slice of humble pie with a shot of elation.

We need to hold on to this feeling, hold on to the up-surge of drive for progress. Change for the better and the long-term can only come in the presence of faith. The Sun rises and the winter will end.

Love in the key of Objectivist Humanism?

I've cracked the code, uncovered the last seal in the Objectivism saga. Ayn Rand wrote that there are two major distractions, hedonism, where one is motivated by base, short-term stimulus, and a perverse version of altruism, being motivated to appease and sacrifice. The middle road, lauded Rand, is Objectivism, where one values initiative and derives self-value from accomplishments. While this describes a world of givers and takers in a self loathing spiral, the alternative she offers is lacking. What if we try but fail? What if we want to do, but are crippled by poor self image? What about those who conditions is such that almost all their energies are spent on maintaining health?

Humanism and Buddhism tell us that we are valuable because we are. This precious moment is a miracle and we need to appreciate how it manifests, no matter what the details are. It seems that Objectivism would be much better off if it was addended with a little love from the likes of Rogers. What if we took Rand's original statement, as paraphrased above, and on the healthy middle path we said, "when you take initiative toward your personal goals and dreams, believing in and valuing your self, then the behavior that pours forth, whether fruitful in bringing about a change or addition, is good. You were successful in being you, the most important act."

Resolutions and Time Management

The turning of the solar and lunar calendars and the changing of numbers in our sterilized civilization is a mnemonic marker which tells us when all of those annual things come to account. We in the West have a wonderful tradition of resolutions, of resolving to make a change, and in the age of progress, it is a secular, self-affirming, "positive" change.

Of course, we should strive to be in a constant state of flux that takes into account the turbulent nature of being an entity that is the overlay of billions of semi-individual organisms in a hallucinatory state of "self" and whose nature is highly social, that is, dependent on the relations with other such beings in definition and measure. So, the idea of a prescribed time to resolve for improvement could be a textbook example of contrived, if such a guide be in demand. However, we are, as noted above, social, and it is being prompted by this society to improve that I find the inspiration for the following, as well as aspiring to inspire.

To evaluate myself as a work in progress, to acknowledge that there is more work to do, and all work worth doing takes time for fruition. There are things out of my control, be they externalities or circumstance or structural bias, and are obstacles to be aware, not any part of self evaluation. Which is to say, I must practice what I preach here in PersonalLiberationLand. We are the beautiful phantasm of individuals, an evanescent drop on the surface of society built on a synergy of organic chemistry which rests so fragile on a lattice of physics. There is no room for circumstances there, except those which we nigh miraculously overcome to exist.

To avoid distractions, finding a joy in progressing, no matter how infinitely tiny, no matter how quixotic the goal may seem, towards that which I have set out to do until I succeed or die. There is nothing more pathetic than having a blog where you describe how being independent of mind and spirit is the very definition of living an authentic life, then being distracted in the very pursuits that you are driven to do, and after a time, bitch that you haven't succeeded (not directly to you, dear readers, not you).

Making evaluations of goals to see if they stay in alignment with ideals and are in proportion to where they sit in priority. This is a little like the "my third wish is for an infinite number of wishes" kind of resolution, the meta--resolution.

Keeping the spark

Despite the malaise in the financial circulatory system the New York Times has run articles that show a rise in entrepreneurial activity. When you have little to lose betting doesn't seem so bad? Which might be a fine theory if you overlook that when times are better your friends and relatives would be more able to support you should things end up on wrong end of the bell curve. And the "bell" for businesses is pretty flat. But, in this time isn't it nice to dream and work toward control? Plus, it highly depends on what you seek to get out of self-employment. If you expect riches, ease, the support of strangers and friends alike then you may find more incentive to quit. Money is always a fickle thing, nothing is easy about doing some things your own way, and if you are taking a risk many people will look at you like a disease carrier.

I'm making the effort, myself. I'm writing more outside of work. Research for a business with an ecological focus, as well. I'll keep you posted.

The "holiday spirit," gifts, charity. When does it slip away? That is, what is the threshold to maintain this kernel of altruism wrapped in a cushion of greed and insecurity?

We see in places like Cote d'Ivoire and North Korea a gear and desperation leaving the idea of worrying about anyone else a luxury. I would like to know how charity is viewed in Russia, as it doesn't seem a place where such "soft" feelings would be respected. It is important to delineate between soft and practical, as charity can be an indirect benefit over time.

I have seen economic studies which showed no strong correlations between an education beyond the sixth year and GDP growth. However, if reading and logic and deduction enhance abstraction and long-term thinking, then I posit there is a negative correlation between exposure to the humanities and violence rates.

This not to say things like expectations of material and physical needs meeting aren't big factors, too, which I suspect in the above examples.

Looking for Inspiration

I apologize for the long delay in posting, apparently contemplating the correlation between contemporary unemployment rates and the suicide rate is not this writer's motivating exercise.

What we need, as individuals and as a society, is inspiration. Science and engineering are frustrating as we see the ravages on the environment. Social change and growth, even when pioneered by a charismatic leader, is stymied by political squabbles. We are left with distractions, entertainments to distract or feelings of hopelessness. It doesn't surprise that so many intelligent and educated people spend their free time either smoking marijuana or playing computer games.

I have long believed that entrepreneurship is the best path for the free-thinker. My own pursuits in such realms have not been sustained, but are looking like a renewal is burgeoning. Many, many self employed people have said that you should do what you love and let that drive blossom into something marketable. I want my own endeavors to be informed by inspiration, being the change that I wish for humanity.

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There is a lack of prospects in the current labor paradigm. There are four times the number of PhD graduates than the openings in universities for them. Law firms are contracting or at least ceased hiring, leaving young attorneys to work data entry.

As I've suggested before, this has to be demoralizing for those even "lower" on the rungs. And for those out of work, desperation must be feeling less so and more like realism.

Now would be a great time for empowered and inspiring leadership. If we could make the overtime threshold twenty hours we could employ almost everyone. Plus, those thinkers and dreamers who didn't make the cut for those positions that would challenge them would have the free time to pursue academic and entrepreneurial endeavors.

Couple this with an income tax refund that would ensure everyone earns the equivalent of twice the poverty rate, and you have the makings of a happy, productive society with a vibrant national economy. Dream with me, please?