04/07/2021 - Questions 16-20

Question 16: Can there be liberty apart from equality and perhaps apart from fraternity? 

I must admit, I did look up the definition of liberty before writing this entry because I wanted to make sure that I understood exactly what Barbara was asking. "The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views" is the first listed definition while "the power or scope to act as one pleases" is the second. When I was a child, and learning about the history of the United States for the first time, liberty only had one meaning: the second definition. It wasn't until I got to high school, or maybe even university if we are being honest before I considered the other meaning, and the one that the founding father's actually intended to speak about: the first definition.

In any case, both of those definitions assume that there is some society to be acting against, or protected from. Therefore, I believe that liberty cannot exist without fraternity, certainly. Equality is another key component to functional liberty in my opinion. If one group of people has the ability to lord over the others, based on status or wealth, then the underlings must not have true liberty by definition, because they do not have as much of a say in designing the society as the upper classes, and thus, are more likely to fall outside of the boundaries of acceptability.

Question 17: Who was the best president in your lifetime; president you admired most in your lifetime and before your lifetime?

The best President in my lifetime would probably have to be Obama, considering the other two candidates are George W. Bush and Donald Trump. Not exactly a stellar cast, so Obama wins by default. I suppose I was around for the end of the Clinton years, embroiled as they were in controversy, but I will leave him out of this because I never got to know him as a person. I think the President before my lifetime I admire most would be the boring answer of Lincoln. I mean, he freed the slaves, man. John Adams is pretty cool too for being the only founding father to not own slaves, but he still was an elitist asshole. So Lincoln I suppose would be my favorite option.

Question 18: Does the notion of a "first cause" to the universe stand up to analysis? 

Wow, Barbara is teaching me a lot today, as I had to look up "first cause to the universe." I soon as I did, I was flooded with memories of another Philosophy class I took my Freshman year with the same snarky professor. Philosophy 104 - Purpose and Chance in the Universe, in which we focused on a number of cosmic questions and theories about the universe. One would be the "first cause" theory, which states God must exist because something had to cause the universe! I think this logic is a bit flimsy, because the question then arises, "What created or caused God?" The answer is God himself. Why would "God" be able to create himself and not the universe itself? I hope I am understanding the depth of this argument based on my two-minute google search. Otherwise, I'll really look like a jackass. 

Question 19: Is our behavior directed by will?

Who's Will? Haha, just kidding.

I think to a large extent, yes, our behavior is directed by our will, but oftentimes this will can be subverted or altered by emotionality and embodied experiences. For instance, I could want to be nice to my annoying roommate because I know it would benefit both of us to get along. However, the deep pit in my stomach whenever they try to have a normal conversation with me prevents this sometimes. I simply have a shorter fuse and I don't think that is entirely in my willpower. Call me weak, or barbaric, but I don't think people are wired to be in complete control of themselves. That's what capitalism wants you to think so that you never question your surroundings but only yourself.

Question 20: What comes to mind when you think of your childhood?

Again, as I stated in my first post on the site, I have very limited memory of my childhood. So this question is a bit too vague to trigger any hidden memories, which sometimes does occur. When I focus very hard and squint my eyes, and focus on my childhood I remember my grandparent's home in Florida with a big pool. I spent about a month every year visiting that house with my family. The house was a gaudy 80s creation, something more suitable for a Michael Mann movie than a place I'd want to live. But, that made it feel more like a vacation, I was somewhere exotic with low-rising partition walls all over the place, art deco sculptures, and glass bricks. Their pool was the main event, as it was concealed beneath an enormous screen canopy. It felt like a magical place, and my memories of it are very fond.

Another thing I remember about my childhood was sleepovers with friends, where we would stay up late and play video games all night and awkwardly talk about the girls we like. I remember the geography of my childhood friend's basements quite well, as well as my own but that is kind of a cheat for this question about childhood. And for now, that's really all I can conjure to mind. See, not very good at this childhood memory thing!

A Lot's Gonna Change by Weyes Blood was the song of the day yesterday.

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