Doxa

I’ve lost lost my focus.

     I went to school for Political Science. Well, first I went to school for History. Then Chemistry. Then Biology. Then there was Philosophy. Then Religion....and then I finally went to school for Political Science. It's clear that I had a lot of aspirations: Teacher, scientist, doctor, philosopher, atheism advocate (yep..) Of course I finally decided to be a "political scientist,"; creating the catalyst for change, tracking the elements of apathy, and measuring the will of the people.

     However, there is a connection between all of these professions...at least to me. They all aim to help other people in some kind of way. Or to be broader, help humanity. Sure, that's a pretty loaded statement, but that's the kind of person I am....loaded? Anyway, I feel like I'm meant to help other people while I'm on this Earth. You can call it my purpose. Now, this isn't some kind of super natural purpose (reference atheism advocate), but one that I probably acquired through a mixture of watching cartoons, playing video games, and going to the movies. Regardless, it's a purpose that consumes me.

     While I could go into how each attempted major does indeed help mankind, I'll just focus on Political Science. I do this because I believe it is the only one that promotes amassing power to accomplish your goals. My friends always joke that I'm on my way to becoming an evil mastermind. Maybe that's the direction to go. Granted, I don't plan on becoming "evil." But there must be something that allows evil people to exert their will over a large amount of individuals. That something is power. Power of course can be used for good or evil, but it's a relevant if not necessary tool to accomplishing goals. For me, of all the things I wanted to do 'when I grew up', the path that would lead me to acquiring the most power was going into politics.


     The question is what would I use this power for? Well, I try to be as selfless as possible. It seems almost impossible, but its a practical and warm idea. When I think about being selfless I think about ways that I can use the resources and talents that I have to help other people. Some issues (in fact very few out of the whole) that I think hurt 'the people' the most are the poverty, our abstract healthcare system, .and obesity.
In the future I will go into each of these in detail, but I'll give a brief synopsis on why I think each is of great concern, and why essentially all three are related to each other.


     Poverty is not good. We know this because no person would like to live in poverty. A relatively simple reasoning. [Also be clear that I'm focusing on American poverty. Poor here may mean rich somewhere else, or vice-verse. So I am keeping it within the confines of the United States...for now.] So what is the solution to poverty? I'm not exactly sure. I do believe, however, that finding a solution to those in poverty seems to be of more importance than finding a solution to preventing people from falling into poverty in the first place. I walked past a man today who was asking for change. When I stopped to give him the change in my pocket he said, "Thanks man. People keep walking by as if this couldn't happen to them." And it's true. Even as I gave him the 75 cents in my pocket I thought to myself that this could never happen to me. Sure, I'm extremely broke. But I have a part time job and people that could and would take care of me. If I had none of that, then I would probably be sitting right next to that guy. Fortunately for me that's not the case. Unfortunately, that is the case for a lot of people. The question is does every individual deserve the kind of "back up" that I am lucky to have. Because that's all it is really...luck. It was pure coincidence... a random act of biology that I have access to the parents and friends I have today. If this country stresses that all people are created equal, then there should be an extensive and comprehensive system in place to make sure that is the case...especially when it turns out that it's not.


     Healthcare is something that is also important to me. I mean, I think it's important. It's important to me because I want to live. It's important to me because I get one life and I'd rather it not end when that end could have been prevented. I think a lot of people feel the same way, but as soon as money is introduced into the equation the idea gets warped. There's talk of universal healthcare this, and keep government out of that. While I'm sure there are more sides to it, they all seem to be fueled by money. Now, money is clearly an integral part of our economic system so it is to be expected. My question is when did people put economics before personal health? Yes, I personally believe that every citizen deserves “universal healthcare.” I have my reasons, and I also understand reasons against it. However, my main go to point is: look at the rest of the world. You hear all that time that healthcare for all would ruin our economy. That's a pretty bold statement. You look at England, Switzerland, Holland; their economy seems be relatively stable. In fact, you look at most countries and it seems that healthcare for all means more people end up living. Am I really supposed to believe that's a bad thing? Am I really supposed to believe that something that works for other countries will cause complete and utter destruction in mine? It seems quite illogical. Now, I of course have no facts backing my position, but hopefully in the near future that can be changed and expressed.


     Finally, there's the 'obesity epidemic.' This may seem out of place compared to the others, but it does share one major similarity. Prevention. There must be a solution to poverty that exists before someone is already in poverty. If someone is sick and they can't afford healthcare, then what? We'll they're screwed. But why not figure out ways and create systems that prevent you from getting sick in the first place? Then there's obesity. Sure obesity can be genetic... but what about the guy whose eating four genetically modified hamburgers a day? At some point you make a conscious choice to consume things that are clearly not healthy for you. But apparently that's OK. Why? It seems that there are things that are bad for you, and things that are bad for you that the government doesn't mind. The President will get slack for taking a picture smoking a cigarette. This is because it's a fact that cigarettes cause death and other debilitating ailments. But what about taking a picture eating McDonald’s French Fries or a Burger King Triple Whopper? I know that Obama was called out on taking a picture eating a hamburger recently, but that seems more like a joke. Or a slap on the wrist. What if there was a picture of him murdering someone? Obviously that wouldn't be good. But I do wonder what the comparison is between people who die from murder and cigarettes, and those who die from heart disease/obesity related incidents. I'm just saying there may not really be a difference between an Uzi and a Quarter Pounder with Cheese.


     (And let's not even begin to discuss how and under what conditions the quarter pounders are made.)


     Back to my original point, power is a very powerful tool. If there is to be any change or even a discussion (on a large scale) of these three issues, it will be a lot easier if you have some power to exert your position. Which is why I chose to do political science. I stated that I lost my focus. It's easy to have an idea. Easy to have a passion, a dream, a desire... all of which you'd like to see fulfilled. But, it's easier to just go on Facebook. I need to get back on track and turn my thoughts into something tangible.
Hopefully it makes sense along the way.

-Fernando Jones