What Do YOU Really Care?

Perhaps you should search your feelings more.

Is it always one way or the other? Is there not a compromise? Is it necessary to sugar coat things to make us seem "less" atrocious? Or, perhaps hiding our true motives behind some altruistic ideals? I don't care about your movement or goals. I want to know what you are really after.

I don't care what your views are on certain topics. I do care when people try, with excruciating effort, to paint a perfect black and white picture in every social, economical, etc. issue. Let's face it, there's a very limited number of items that falls directly under right or wrong. For the most part, nearly every issue we encounter grinds down to a matter of different shades of gray.

What else is new? There will always be justifications based on hyperbolized hypothesis of potential outcomes. Better yet, tossing buzz words that 95% (I'm gonna call this my confidence interval) of the audience have no idea what they actually mean.

Whether you sympathize with Jamie Oliver, Suzy Orman, Dr. Oz, etc. or some larger entity like a church, homosexuals, etc, does not concern me. What I'm curious about is the underlying ulterior motive each and every person/entity has beneath the mask of good intentions.

In layman's terms, "HELL with your altruistic tendencies! I want to know what you are really after when you actually accomplish your goals."

Perhaps it is the American culture, as reflected by our government, that has bred the hypocrisy most of the world always talk about when they think about the USA.

• Why call it the War on Terror when the government is trying to tame the demon it created to spite the USSR?
• Why calling it defending liberty when it's all about maintaining US supremacy (which I have no problem of)?
• Why call out other countries about environmental/social issues when we have similar problems and/or our allies are worse offenders of these so-called violations?

These are just some examples of what I call "shades of gray". Yeah, they have a point, but how does one not see the blatant half truths and double standards approach to the issues?

What bothers me often is the polarized attitude of "opposing" sides. It's always one way or another and never what's proper for a functional society. Let me enlighten you on a simple fact: only the Gospel is perfect. No changes needed there. As for the temporal world we live in, due to the long-entrenched worldliness, the reasonable solution to every issue is not a matter of choice a) or b), but something along the lines of the square root of a^2*b^2/X.

Take people's complaints about government vs. businesses or perhaps employers vs. employees, for example. Only idiots will say things like governments should stay out of business or governments should have tighter grip on the system. Little did people realize that without regulation, you'll be straight back to the 1900s when working conditions are absolute hellholes. Regulations are the reason why you don't die from simple procedures at the hospital. The problem for today is whether or not we are pushing in too far in one direction that we need to revert back to a restore point on the sliding scale when things were working properly.

That's for general issues. For more technical and scientific rundowns, they become more complicated. You see, some people will believe anything that starts with ammonia or mercury has to be automatically dangerous. Well, thanks to your unwillingness to do some research, this is why US has to import its scientists and engineers.

But what do I care? I TRY not to! I realized a long time ago that if I keep reading the ridiculous responses posted on the Internet, especially when they are not even funny, I will only become angry. Here's another fact: the people that post absolute garbage also happen to be in the minority compared to the billion user base of the Internet. It's always been a societal trend that a few cries the loudest and turn a personal grudge into an armageddon involving everyone.

What are people after by pushing their agenda? Is it fame? Is it fortune? Is it just a desire to watch the world burn? Who knows? You may think I'm pessimistic and only see people as glass half-full, but that's not how I roll. I question the very existence of the glass and the claim that it even contains anything. Like I said before, there are those who propose change to benefit mankind, those for revenge/gains, and those who bandwagon.

Remember, there's one type of person we all know Jesus despised in the New Testament: hypocrites. Don't be one of them.

What do I really care? I care about gaining wisdom through truths and knowledge, the power to utterly crush hostile opponents that hinder my goals, and the courage to stay true to myself without ever becoming a hypocrite. Sounds like the Triforce, doesn't it?

Summer Lineup

We finally got rid of all the junk!

Ever wondered what goes on in the ugliest house on the street? Neither have I. I'm going to tell you a little bit about our mad house for my own amusement. Because...Pinecone!

There are two reasons why I'm writing about my roommates:

1. It's long overdue. I generally blog about it whenever we have a occupant change.
2. I'm sick of writing about my thoughts on controversial issues we see on social media each day.

In short, I am tired of the extremist views shared on the comment sections. Then again, the loudest voices tend to be in the minority; at least, I hope it is so. Otherwise, we have a grim future dominated by people who not only know nothing about resolving a issue, but creating more conflict while playing the "force fix/update" button on society.

Without further delay, I shall bring on the house lineup. As usual, I'll order the tenants here by age.

Circa February 2014

It is unfortunate that I'm oldest in this house. Luckily, age is just a number. I recently finished up all my coursework at BYU, put myself in self-imposed unemployment to prepare for the MCAT, and will now start an internship at the Intermountain Medical Center up in Murray in July. More surprises coming in the next year or two!

My near future goals are obtaining more "power", work for a year to save money, and eventually more schooling.

I don't even know... when did this happen?

Between John and Tyler, they are the next in line. 

John is currently employed by the Church as a paid intern. He is putting all information systems knowledge to good use. He is also one of the last original six including me.

Good games, good times, and good workouts are all but part of John's busy life.

Tyler is new to our house, but he is no stranger to us! This man has been an integral part of our madness since the days of IX at Miller.

A diamond in the rough when it comes to future careers. He's got many options, and now we will see which path he will take. By the way, this man is from Jersey and I'm always partial to East Coasters.

Nick & Amanda

Our resident filmmaker is taking the next big step in the course of life. Nick and Amanda are scheduled to be married in late July.

It'd appear that we are marrying off all the Missouri boys! When you see Nick, be sure to pass on your congratulations! That is...if you can find him.

He's as fresh as they come!

Normally, we have a tight grip on who gets to join us, but this one slipped through the cracks thanks to all the unexpected changes coming from Jonathan and Klint.

In case you missed them, Jonathan is in the Marines and Klint is scheduled to be married in October this year. In addition, T.K. will rejoin us when Nick moves out.

Jared is a good man. Fresh off of his mission in Russia; still got the recent RM aura all over him.

Jared is from Arizona, studying computer science at BYU. His hobbies include eating healthy and working out. He's a bit shy, but more than willing to make friends. Sadly, he is only with us until the end of the summer. Get to know him while you can!

Seems awfully relaxed for someone that works 50+ hours a week

Last of all, we have Alex: the TRUE car guy.

Life can be difficult for a car guy, especially when we are all mostly amateurs compared to his vast knowledge and interest about cars.

Alex is currently working full time (and then some) and plans to study mechanical engineering at BYU.

Much like John, good games and good times are also part of his busy life. Not to mention, he's got a summer project car that he is working on while time passes. If you have an insatiable interest in cars, he's the man to tickle your fancies!

That will be all for now! Be sure to look for another post in the fall!