Posts
20 Weeks: Trial by
Fire
Rights, Groups, and
Intersectionality in the United States Today
By
Jared Michael Royka
Well dear readers I have been bitten
again by the writing bug and its finals week for the 1st half of my
summer semester at ASU. I have the privilege of having several friends whom are
professional writers so any time I put my thoughts to paper, I feel that I have
tall shoes to fill. One of my longest and dearest friends, Paul Matuzsak, is a
professional journalist in the wide open realm of modern journalism,
specifically blogging on political, social, and personal issues.
While I do not always agree with my
dearest friend he does manage to make a strong point on a single topic. That
topic is to get oneself informed and ready to take action in regards to how our
nation is ran. I tend to be a bit more prosaic in how I get to the same point
but on this we both adamantly agree, it is critical to be active and demand your
government works. Without active citizen participation we get what has become a
political system mired in partisan rhetoric and the pervasive influence of
those whom think they know better than you what it is you need.
Again I do not endorse any given party
or political faction as I tend to rate most of them with the leadership skills that
are best defined as; they couldn’t lead starving wolves to fresh meat. Yet as I
slowly it seems finding myself drift politically into that no-man’s land of a
blend of libertarianism/constitutionalist/moderate or as I call it the “Leave
me the Hell Alone Party.” I have become a cynic when I “Insert hated opposition
group/ideology/ect here” is ruining our nation. Frankly I have become violently
ill at vitriolic sewage that we call political discourse, my blame gun is
locked, loaded, and I have ammo enough for both sides.
If you have to blame someone for my
rising need to speak out on many issues blame my friends, my wife, my growing
education, and lastly my family for instilling in me a love of my nation. We
have a lot of issues that this country needs looking at and having real
solutions suggested, not hey this group or this really rich person or industry
wants me to do this? In fact I find that my friends like Paul and my lovely
wife do much to show me intelligent dialogue that while in disagreement is done
with respectful candor. So I am challenging myself to do at least one post on a
social/political/economic issue for the next 20 weeks. I have to admit that in
my own estimation of this goal being successful is well about as likely as me
getting returned to active duty and then being allowed to retire from the
military.
I am further challenging myself to
approach these issues that I will write upon from a neutral perspective as
possible. I am likely to be all over the map as I am finding my own opinions
somewhat broader than they were 20 years ago. So dear readers I challenge you
to give me a new topic to write about each week. I will pick one and do the best
job I can to provide information and my own assessment of the topic as I see
it. Please take me upon this challenge as I need to continue work on improving
my research and analytical skills. Throw me some good ones and before someone
goes there, yes I will discuss just about any topic that is relevant to us as a
nation and a people today.
So let’s see what trouble we can get
into together, eh? It is often said that knowledge is power, so let’s all get
empowered off facts, information, and the consistent ability to apply critical
thinking skills. Oh and I challenge you dear reader to do the same thing
yourself. The more voices heard the more likely we will connect as a people and
make the decisions that have to be made. Let’s get to work and I am excitedly
waiting your suggested topics.
Very
Respectfully,
Jared
M. Royka
Federalist 83 and its application to the issues of today. Considering I haven't reread 83 in the past 18 months, it will inspire me to do so. ;-).
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