This seems to be a fairly popular question in the air.  The Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger said “He thinks it is time for it to be debated.  All strategies need to be listened to.”

So look at this post as the beginning of a debate.

My take on legalizing Marijuana:

Just from thinking about it, and not even looking at any numbers or polls I can say this.  Marijuana became illegal for stupid reasons in the first place.  The fact that we could make it legal now and tax it for billions of dollars is great!  We obviously need the money here in the state of California.

Here is what I think would happen once it became legal.  Obviously the rules for it’s use would be very similar to alcohol use.  First off, tons of new business would open up.  Many already existing businesses would incorporate it as another product to sell, which would increase tax revenue.  All of the people who are in jail for marijuana related crimes could be let out and save even more tax dollars.

So many people already smoke it anyway so I doubt there would be that big of an influx of people suddenly becoming pot heads.  People who are not pot heads would not suddenly become pot heads just because it became legal.  Again, this is where parenting and common sense comes into play.

On a more humorous related note.  Some people who would never touch it because it was illegal might try it out.  This might be a good thing for some of these uptight people.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

I don’t know about you, but I get bored to death of the same old things.  Getting up in the morning, going to work for 8 hours, coming home, and going to sleep shortly after.  All the while you are constantly worried about various little things that you must keep in order in your life.  Then you wake up the next morning and do it all over again.  This is of course required for most people in order for them to have a decent standard of living in America.  I am no different in this regard, but I have found something!

Up until recently, I used to go out every weekend and party with my friends.  We would drink, play games, go out to bars or whatever.  Over time I noticed it started to change me.  It was probably changing me all along but I finally noticed what was happening.  It was slowly killing my dreams.  It was holding me back.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of fun, but my thoughts have begin to changed now.  I now spend more time learning about life, and living.  There are so many things in this world that I have forgotten all about.  I have had a revelation.  I remember when I was younger and I used to have so much fun doing the simplest things.  I was living.  I was learning.  I had dreams. I had ideas.  I had inhibitions to go and do them.

Somewhere along the line I lost focus.  Things became distorted and other elements shifted my life in a different direction.  The direction, while enjoyable was not the direction I wanted to go.  I was pushed in that direction by others.  I think about this all the time and the more I think about it the more I am starting to do something about it.  I realized that I have been spending the last 20+ years living my life by someone else’s standards.  I will no longer allow this.  I am breaking free.  It is time for me to start learning thinking and living.  Call it what you want, a quarter life crisis maybe.

When I say learning thinking, I mean learning how to think.  Yes, you can learn how to think differently.  All you need to do is teach yourself.  Start questioning everything.  Step out of your normal circle of events. Realize that most little things are not even worth the energy to worry about.  Instead of worrying, start living.  These are the thoughts I have now, and so far I feel much better.

If you feel the same way I did I recommend you start thinking about your life and what YOU want to do with it.  I know it is scary to think that way and may seem impossible, but it’s not.  You just have to find the way to do it.  Try to realize that you used to be different, but you let some thing or someone else tell you how to live your life.  I know it is scary but you got to find the courage.  Remember, courage is when you are the only one that knows you are scared.

Critical thinking is an extremely important skill to have.  Unfortunately, there is a lack of use of this skill in today’s American society.  I am not just talking about critical thinking in college school projects or using the skill to solve a computer problem.  I am talking about in everyday life.  Because we live in a society of capitalism and heavy religious involvement, it is important to keep your thinking wits about you at all times.  There are too many organizations and institutions trying to sell you on ideas therefore you must be aware at all times and use your mind, to make the right decisions.  Making a decision in your life should always come after a critical thinking session.

Critical Thinking is the mental process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information to reach an answer or conclusion.

What???

You might be thinking, “Ok….what does THAT mean?”  This is the dictionary.com definition so it is a little dry.  Let’s try to break this down by looking at the definition of each term.

The first term is “mental process”.  It simply means “thinking“.

Next we have “actively and skillfully conceptualizing”.  Conceptualizing basically means coming up with a concept.

Actively means constantly and skillfully means using what you have learned from past experiences.

“Applying” means to put into action.  “Analyzing” simply means to look at.

Synthesizing means combine and evaluating means to judge or determine the significance.

By combining and applying all of these things when making a decision you are practicing critical thinking.  So now we that you understand what each term means, you may be able to mentally grasp the concept.  Read the definition slowly to yourself and try to understand the concept of it.

Using this type of logical thinking in everyday life will help you in many ways.  The most significant way it can help you will be from making much more informed decisions in your life.  By applying critical thinking whenever you are presented with information or ideas you begin to learn how to ask the right questions.  You will be less likely to be manipulated or get taken advantage of, like believing in something that does not actually exist..

Very often we see suggestions on what products or services to buy, what to think, who to believe, who to trust or what we should be doing with ours lives.  By constantly asking the right questions, you will be able to see right through the information presented, and see it for what it really is.  Very often you will find that the information is propaganda and you will find the hidden agendas that exist.

After a long time of critical thinking you will see the world much differently.  You will start to notice things that you usually over looked before.  Don’t be afraid to use your thinking skills whenever presented information from entities such as governments, political figures, News media, and commercials.  These entities have a lot of influence on your life, so it is important that you be skeptical and think critically whenever possible.  Remember that critical thinking is a skill and does not come naturally.  It is imperative that we all develop this skill and use it in our everyday lives.

“Critical thinking is self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way.  People who think critically consistently attempt to live rationally, reasonably, empathically.   They are keenly aware of the inherently flawed nature of human thinking when left unchecked.  They strive to diminish the power of their egocentric and sociocentric tendencies.” – Dr. Lina Elder

You hear this all the time.  Someone will get pissed off at someone else for doing something they think is bulls%^t and they will say,

“Hey!  I’m just doing my job”.

So wait, you are basically trying to justify what you are doing by using the fact alone that it is a job?  In other words, the very fact that it is a job means it automatically becomes “right”???  What a bunch a crap.

This is yet another issue that is too taboo for critical thinking.  Just because someone creates a job doesn’t make it right or useful.  There are a lot of BS jobs out there that we let slide just because they are jobs.  Here is a small list of examples that we can attack or poke fun at.

Most People Working in Security Services – These jobs are meaningless half of the time.  They create the illusion of safety instead of actual safety.  I don’t know how many times these people have told me not to do something for no logical reason at all and when I ask why, they say, yep!  You guessed it, “I am just doing my job.”

And don’t try to give me that crap like, “Hey, they are working for your safety and they are trained professionals and know what they are doing.”  Isn’t that what they want you to believe?  I have to say that I noticed most of these security people are either old and out of shape, or seem like they could be outsmarted with ease.  Some are both!  Walkie Talkies, keycards and mace doesn’t make you safe.

So if I walk up to someone on the street and flip them off for no reason at all and they say, “Why did you do that?”  I will simply say, “Hey, give me a break buddy!  I am just doing my job.”

People At Fry’s or Other Stores Who Control The Lines – Here is another waste of energy and brain power.  I hate it when I go to Fry’s Electronics or Best Buy and there is some unintelligent jack-off telling me which line I can go in next.

HALF THE TIME THERE IS A LITTLE LIGHT ON WHICH REGISTER IS AVAILABLE!  What a completely absurd assault on someone’s intelligence!

I am amazed that a company finds it necessary to pay someone a salary to micro manage the register lines.  Lemme guess…it’s because in the past customers fought over which line to go in.  Well, if that is the case then they need new customers.  Let the customers fight it out, they are morons anyway.  Or how about this?  Provide training for the customers.  Pay them to learn how to go to the right register.  Hell, if you are going to waste money, let’s get serious!

The Military In General – As a veteran of the Navy I can tell you that there are many jobs that simply don’t make sense, but I know they are there just to mess with you.  I never could fully grasp the concept of making people do things that don’t make sense.  First off they often are a waste of resources and purposely messing with someone’s sanity is dangerous.  My guess is that by keeping people beaten down with nonsensical work keeps them under control.  I bet those military boot camp instructors take some serious psychology classes, because they are very good at manipulating you into doing what they want you to do.

Elevator Monitors – You see this crap in Vegas.  Someone who pushes the elevator buttons for you.  It is even more perverted when they have a tip jar.  Although these jobs are phasing out, you still see them once in awhile.

Guys Who Pour The Soap On Your Hands In Bathrooms – Are you kidding me?!  You see this in clubs.  A guy who chills in the bathroom and pours the soap on your hands expecting tips.  Get the f**k out of the bathroom man!  Being in the bathroom with a bunch of drunk idiots is awkward enough.  Then to have to feel even more uncomfortable because you are crowding the sink and trying to cleverly finagle money out of a bunch of people who just touched their private parts.  Find a new job buddy!

Well there you have it a small list of jobs that are just plain BS if you ask me.  So the next time someone tells you that they are just doing their job you might want to tell them, “Oh, yeah well your job is bulls**t!”.  Enjoy