Life 3.5

there have been many things that have been traversing through my unusually occupied mind these days. having recently grown into another year of existence and received an offer to enter the working world, i have realized that i have advanced into another phase of my life...phase 3.5

phase 1 was obviously childhood and the teenage years...progressing through the k-12 years, ignorantly believing my high school sweetheart and i were destined to be together, when figuring out an excuse to stay out later than 11 was the task of trickery and genius. phase 2 would be the college years, when freedom and independence were first experienced and a forage into adulthood was at my fingertips. phase 3 would be my post-collegiate/grad-school year(s)...i throw in the obligatory (s) only because i'm including my brief stint in china which i give full credit into landing me where i am today. had it not been for the escape of my san diego bubble, who knows what meaningless position i would be in now.

so here we are...at phase 3.5 = still in school, working, but not yet paying ALL the bills and hoping i can avoid that as long as possible. i mention this, as i have ostensibly used many more words than necessary to get to this point, because i started this blog with the intention of posting some details of my birthday and hopefully trick you into checking out some photos. but i guess looking back, i must have lost your attention somewhere between teenage angst and arbitrary description of phases...so now, without the glitz of pictures or funny anecdotes to keep your attention, i'll just sign off as is.

with a quick thanks to all those who wished me a happy birthday and for those who were lucky enough to celebrate it with me at nafis's and marvins

The Real Straight Talk

Balancing Act

i haven't yet announced this news to but a few people, not sure what i'm waiting for exactly, but since no one really looks at this thing, i might as well continue...i have been given the opportunity to work for my perfect job. i am the new research assistant to the health team of the Senate Finance Committee. that doesn't sound so sexy, and i'm sure it won't be. but for a person in my shoes, this is the perfect stepping stone to a bright and hopefully, gratifying profession in public service.

this news should have drowned out all others and the elation of getting one's first real job should have engulfed my inner most emotions. and to a certain extent, it has provided a sense of relief coupled with increasing anxiety and nervousness. yet, here i am at 3:30 in the morning, blogging to no one about the sadness that has dominated my senses all night.

put in perspective, i have all that i can ask for at the moment when so many others have so little. and the appreciation is not lost on the irony that i have done relatively little and earned so much while so many others lost their jobs and homes this past weekend. so i'll keep my sadness brief.

but it is embodied in the notion that i couldn't share this with you. i type this knowing the object of this piece will not be reading these words...but still with genuine sentiment flowing through my fingers. there has been a dampness that i have felt. it has dulled the good and great moments and exacerbated the bad and worse ones. what was there was never perfect and probably never could have, but who wants perfection...seeking perfection sets us up for great disappointment. no, i'm not looking for perfection in everything, but i am (or was) hopeful in the potential of perfection in all things. this way, the bar is set high, but expectations moderate.

i bring up this new founded cynicism to this day...and this news. you knew what i was chasing and how perfect it would have been to have been able to share this moment with you. though perfection may have slipped from my grasp, not all was lost and i have set new terms of measurement...terms that i am happy to have met today.

Great Ad

Hypocrites

how can anyone listen to these idiots and pass their words off as truth?

Universal Healthcare

i know...i know...no one wants to come to this blog to hear about my stance or work i've done in this particular field. they come here to read about the meager existence, the musing about pictures and videos found on the internet, or to try to decipher the often cryptic messages that form a cacophony of noise in my incoherent mind. however, there are times when an issue or thought drives its way through the muddled noise and is unique in my head...it is the rare and often elusive, coherent mind.

usually this is sparked by a random inspiration, a narrowing of thought forcibly obtained after hours of studying, or in this case...a chapter in fareed zakaria's book "the post-american world". the essence of the book is not to declare the future dominance of the emerging markets and the effects of globalization, but to stress the concern that while america has spent the better part of this past century pushing the rest of the world to globalize, we have forgotten to do so ourselves.

how does this all tie back into an universal healthcare debate? well, it can easily be said that our working class and middle class employees are often job-locked because of fear of losing their benefits. because of this, we lose potential new ideas that can form new companies that can be new IPOs that can be new global investments that can be new jobs for new americans. we've losing our competitive edge because major companies, hell even the small ones, have to mark up costs and lower wages to cover the benefits of its employees. thus forcing many companies to simply outsource these jobs to locales where benefits are guaranteed...universal.

our familiarity with the word 'outsource' has always been relegated to old-industry jobs...disturbingly referred to as sweatshop labor. but we fail to see our new-industry jobs slipping away because our industries must shell out large portions of their capital to provide benefits for its employees, leaving a lower growth rate. either that or cutting benefits or not providing any at all...like the older airlines or wal-mart.

so for those who don't agree with the idea of universal healthcare because we shouldn't be paying for the lack of personal responsibility of others, i understand that. but there are both micro and macro implications.

on a macro level, having a universal healthcare system may increase individual taxes a little, but it provides a blanket of security to the national workforce which would now be free to explore and be the entrepreneurs america is known for. it will allow car companies and airlines and small business to grow their profit margins, allowing them to reinvest in new technologies and efficiencies and grow our global economy. products would be cheaper for the average consumer, meaning more consumption or more savings. either way, though we might feel an individual pinch, the whole will grow and that benefits us all.

i know that's a lofty statement and coming from a democrat, seems rather characteristic. however, if we must look at it from an individualistic point of view, the benefits are already clear. beyond the fact that goods will be cheaper, most likely the amount paid into a universal system from your taxes will be less than what you forfeit to a private insurer. lets assume (and reminder, this has no scientific or actual practical knowledge behind it) that you make $60,000 a year, you're average health insurance premium would be around $4000...or roughly 7% of your income. now lets say you're paying an increase of about 5% (which is high) due to taxes for a universal system, that would only be about $3000...still less than that premium your paying. so now you're saving money on health insurance, not to mention the money saved by the fact that things will cost less.

so when it comes down to it, which one keeps more money in your pocket...private insurance or universal systems? i'm not advocating eliminating private insurers, they're a major sector of the economy and cannot be disregarded. but when it comes to choosing between a premium and a tax, the only real question should be...which one is cheaper?