Day 1 of Doing Something About It

Let me first say, I am not an extension of the media. As you will likely realize as I continue to write this blog, I think that the current state of the media in America is the greatest restraint on progress in this country. In high school, I was contemplating a career in journalism, but thought otherwise mainly due to lack of good salaries. Looking back, I'm glad I didn't go this route, not because of the money, but because of how much of a negative impact I feel that industry has. There will be much more of this to come. I am glad, however, that I can share my thoughts and opinions with others, in a completely unrelated way, through this blog (that said, I hope you share your thoughts and opinions with me).

There is a lot I dislike about this country. We are currently involved in two major wars, an energy crisis, have the largest unemployment rate in over 30 years, and are in the midst of the worst economic recession in a generation. On a more personal scale, every day I see roads and bridges that are falling apart, pass by dozens of homeless people on the street, most of whom are probably drunk or on drugs, yet still ask me to help them and spare some change, hear stories in the news about kids getting in car accidents while drinking and driving, and hear about high schools with dwindling graduation rates.

But, I'm writing this blog because there is a lot more that I love about this country. I was lucky to grow up with history teachers who legitimately cared and were able to instill in me a passion for this country that they clearly and adamantly held themselves. I have always had a strong desire to learn about American history and government in school and on my own(I recommend the book John Adams by David McCullough, for one). Over the last five years, I have been attending Northeastern University in Boston obtaining my BS in Mechanical Engineering. Unfortunately, during my time here I have not taken the time to get involved with many civil service or government related activities. Lately, however, I have been struggling to figure out what the hell I want to do with the rest of my life. I have become quite passionate about climate change and the current energy crisis (a topic I will write about in the coming days) and feel like this is a field I could work in for a long period of time, but that is some time down the road. I've had many opinions and emotions relating to various issues, yet up until now there hasn't been a whole lot that I've done about it.

So this is the first step. I am certain that I am not right in everything I am going to discuss in this blog. That isn't the point. If writing this blog gets even a few people more passionate about the dozens of issues concerning both themselves and the rest of this country, than I'll feel like I've made an impact, no matter how small. After reading Al Gore's book, The Assault on Reason, the thing I agreed with him most was the fact that the majority of the American people (including my younger generation) base their opinions on the quick-and-dirty "facts" and blurbs that they hear everyday from the media. That is neither a valuable use of your time, or a good way to get educated about a subject. The internet has provided the means for intellectual discussions between millions of people which are much more informative and convey the opinions of the common people, not those of the CNN exec who sits in an office trying to make millions.

So I hope you check back regularly and participate in this discussion. Like I said, I don't think I have the answers to all these problems, but I do feel strongly about them. I hope you do too.

Many people say they are going to do something to help change the world. But very few actually do anything about it. Which do you want to be?