New Years!

2011 has been an exceptionally rough year for many people including myself. The economy is still screeching forward, and natural disaster have been as common as the cold. However, like many people are at 12:11 am on the first hour of the new year, I have high hopes for this next year.

I, for one, have made an embarrassing amount of horrible decisions throughout 2011. To be honest, 2011 has been a huge identity crisis for me. I'm at the age where I have to live with the mistakes I've made, and I have to learn to love myself despite my shortcomings.

Determining what kind of person I am is a continuing battle, but deciding what kind of person I definitely DO NOT want to be, is slowly rising above all other issues as their superior.

My new years resolution is that I will be able to look back on 2012, hold my decisions and achievements of the year up next to those of 2011 and notice an improvement. I know this seems like a mild resolution, but stepping out of a year of regret, disappointment, and failure is difficult. I'm already up against a tough road, why make the destination Mount Everest? Mount Wycheproof is so much easier to climb, and sometimes, easy is good.

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Mt. Wycheproof
The most frequently mentioned is Mt.Wycheproof in Victoria, Australia. This landform is 47 m high over the plains. On its slopes rests the town of Wycheproof. The landform is made of granite. On the east side is a quarry.

However, some claim that Mt. Wycheproof is not really a mountain. At its height, it should really be a hill. Again, this is based on the notion that 600 m is the minimum height for a mountain. The name Wycheproof is Aboriginal in origin. The name itself means “grass on a hill”.

Link: Mt Wychproof information

Link: Photo source

How to Fix the World

Ever seen the movie "the genius club"?

First of all, I should warn you. I watch A TON of movies, and I talk about them ALL THE TIME. Good ones, bad ones, creative ones, lame ones, movie are a very large portion of my life.

Anyway, "the genus club" is basically about a terrorist who is planning on detonating a large nuclear bomb in Washington DC. He offers only one option that doesn't include detonation, gather the people with the highest IQs in a room, and if they can solve the world's problems, he'll let everyone live.

Captivating right? Well, in reality, the movie was poorly made and I didn't even finish it, but the thought fascinated me.

What is wrong with the world? Is fixing it possible? Obviously the answer is no. Sadly, solving one issue just uncovers three more that no one anticipated.

We see this demonstrated in many ways. Take solving the problems with democracy for example. One of the main problems with democracy is that change is extremely difficult. The government's power is spread out so much that no one has enough power to make their ideas a reality. One person is strongly against a concept that another person strongly supports. They cancel each other out because they either posses equal amounts of power, or the lesser member recruits other lesser members to cancel out the person with the heavier vote. Although this system provides security to the masses, it causes important issues to creep along at glacial speeds.

The solution seems to be a monarchy system, where the government posses enough power to make things happen. The problem with taking this step is that it also gives the monarch enough power to abuse the trust of the people. This unforeseen issue could spiral into a tyrannical seizing of authority where the dictator or monarch makes decisions easily and without any accountability.

This is a broad example, but the point is that we can't fix the world. Every time we succeed in fixing one thing another thing pops up.

Does this mean that we should stop trying to fix the world around us? Absolutely not.
As humans living and interacting together, and as Americans, living in a democracy, it is our right and duty to take action against the demons of our age. We should rise up as a generation to battle with the foes of freedom and American rights.

However, as we contemplate the ever-evolving problems of our day and age we should not loose hope. We should push for change in moderation, and always take time to sit back, take a deep breath, and enjoy the things that are going right.

The individual who can face the world's problems with courage and resolution, but still be content knowing he is fighting an ever-changing enemy, is the one who will live knowing what the word "happiness" means.
It is our duty to fight evil wherever it appears, but it is also our duty to be content knowing that evil will never disappear.