The Great Adventure
February 4, 2008I used to think that opportunities for business died out a long long time ago. I thought that all that we were left with are pyramid scams and shady deals.
Now, I am beginning to think otherwise. I see all the internet activity and all the advertisements. I no longer see clutter on the webpage, instead I see revenue.
The internet is not a place for free content, it is a place for cheap advertising. This has driven sites to develop more content so that more people visit them and click on the ads. The business model is just wonderful, its so sure, so simple, so old-school.
In actuality the internet has become more like the train station, you go into it, pay a minimal fee and are attacked by ads. Some ads are over 6 ft tall and advertise bone strength, some are more discreet preferring the classic poster types and others are innovative like images of people pasted on the train’s doors.
We brand the internet and its associated businesses as harbingers of tomorrow. In reality they are just reincarnations of the past with new trappings.
Differently Abled
One cause of my great discomfort over the past few weeks is the presence of one person in our house, one who many will brand as disabled. He is in our residence assisting us in our chores while members of our family are occupied.
He has only one leg, the other one was lost in an automobile accident a long time ago. He finished his education up until the college level graduating BS Biology in a college in his place of origin.
I loathe the idea that all we can do for him is to offer him odd jobs during these difficult times. To give him a golden parachute in the form of a loan would be unethical, and unduly taxing our finances. To maintain him as house help and odd-job man takes away opportunities from him.
I do not feel pity for him. Pity is demeaning. I feel regret. I regret that the entire system of living is still pretty much Darwinian, the fittest shall survive. I regret that because of a single incident in his life everything has changed. I do not blame him for toughening up and finding employment or engaging in some business because he has already done that and those ventures have failed.
I am not going to denounce the government or our way of life. The status quo is something that I regret but it is something that I acknowledge. It would take a monumental effort to shift all of that inert mass into action. The government is already overdrawn, it needs every person to be as productive as humanly possible. I am not seeking justice or equality or equity. I am not going to beg the government for dole outs on his behalf. All I am asking is that the people and businesses familiarize themselves with possibilities of employment or extending lines of credit for people that are differently abled.
It is my opinion that people lacking a limb or unable to fully employ all of their human faculties are not disabled. They are not weights with with which to slow down the economy. They are not seething pools of self-pity. I do not believe these brothers and sisters of ours deserve to be treated as "special" members of society because they have met with accidents or the fates conspired not to grant them abilities such as ours. Our brothers and sisters who have not full command of their body and thought are differently abled. I believe that they still can. Certain enterprises also believe that these people still can, I have heard stories of Lamoiyan Corporation, manufacturers of Hapee Toothpaste employing several of our differently abled brothers and sisters.
I call out to the owners and employers to consider these people when filling positions. They are capable in one way or another of fulfilling tasks. One may try to shape them into any form possible away from militant unions.
These differently abled people can be utilized to their full potential because some of them have had so little in life that they will be willing to sacrifice life and remaining limbs for the good of the enterprise that provided them with the dignity of work or the capital for business.
I hope that in the future we will no longer look upon our differently abled brothers and sisters with pity but with clear eyes. I hope that in the future we will think out of the box and be able to employ them in positions that would best fit their abilities or grant them assistance in establishing their own productive ventures.
Questions should be asked
Today is a culmination of several days of thought. Note that I have not yet reached a conclusion only a desire to voice out a question so horrible.
Should I stay the course?
Is it really worth it?
I have several reasons why I jumped into the great academic adventure known as law school. The first is the possible monetary gain that I might receive after four (4) long years of study. Second, is that being titled as a lawyer also brings with it a great amount of prestige. I have an overabundance of other reasons why it is best to go to law school, these reasons being purely selfish.
Now, it all boils down to this.
Is it really worth it? Is the perceived value equivalent to the actual value? Will law school really bring me the economic gain I so desire? Will I actually be doing good by staying the course and spending more of my parents money?
I have always favored facing reality and dealing with it, on one hand, rather than pursuing an ideal. Ideals are worked at, they are not mere markers in the sky. An ideal, anything or method that is the exemplar of its kind, is formed through meticulous repition and not through pining at something. Now, I want pecuniary gain, lawyering could provide me with that. Therefore I will stay. However, do consider that there are several other factors involved, like my ever increasing need for economic independence and my own urge to fulfill filial realities.
On the other hand, I have never started something that I did not finish. My first few months in school have all been driven by pride. I shall overcome, was a phrase oft emblazoned on my bruised and burning mind during those first few months. It is only my second installment of pain and I am already at the crossroads of quitting. God, help me.
I think that these thoughts are troubling signs of the weeks to come. I recall that when one thinks that he or she no longer desires to be in law school he or she begins a downward spiral too fast and too abrupt to correct. The person in other words becomes kicked out because of entertaining such thoughts as to stay or go in law school.
These things have bothered me over the past few weeks. I shall find a solution, do not worry.
