Alcohol on College Campuses
By Josh Glazer
Alcohol has been a major presence at colleges & Universities for at least the last 50 – 75 years. It is accepted, even promoted, as a way of obtaining social adulthood through drunken relations with peers. I would argue that even University Administrations have been actively supporting the practice of binge drinking by not doing anything about it – until very recently.
Alcohol is one of the most destructive drugs known to man. As a Philosophy Professor, I have read countless papers about how dangerous alcohol is compared to Marijuana, usually in the form of an argument towards the legalization of weed. My point is simple: alcohol is dangerous, and costs thousands of lives, yearly. And yet you can end up in jail for possession of Marijuana, which has killed NOBODY. At least, not directly!
Another example might serve to illustrate the lack of logic regarding normative alcohol policy. The USA Government allowed Pharmaceutical corporations, as well as independent MDs, to distribute countless amounts of opioids in the form of Oxycontin and the like, and then suddenly decided, after they made enough money, to cut off the supply with no national institution to deal with the obvious aftermath of widespread opioid addiction. Now, we have MILLIONS of Americans who have turned to Heroin to fulfill their previous addiction to legal opioid pain pills, which they now cannot obtain.
Alcohol is a dangerous drug that should not be prevalent during one’s college years. It’s detrimental effects have been obvious to me, personally, and the peer pressure involved made things much worse. A person is still developing and learning while in college – over indulging in alcohol as a routine rite of passage seems almost silly, in hindsight.
Recently, however, some fraternities have chosen to have a ‘dry’ rush, inviting students to pledge, while not offering alcohol at their official rush activities. After personally viewing the aftermath of such a policy, the lack of drinking, peer pressure, and dangerous drunken hijinks, were noticeable to a high degree. It fostered a much greater level of community, and is a model for how colleges should be in the future: a place to learn and form relationships - without the specter of alcohol constantly looming in the background.
In conclusion, alcohol is just as dangerous and deadly a drug as any other, legal or illegal, and its almost total social acceptance can only be explained as an accident of history. Some Universities have finally begun to realize that alcohol should not be a basic part of the college curriculum, and are actively enforcing that idea. Other organizations are following their lead and cracking down on alcohol abuse within their own ranks. I think this is a positive goal to head towards, and I hope that in the future, alcohol use and promotion will be dramatically reduced on college campuses, nationwide.
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Saturday, April 27, 2019
Gardeners (or Leaf Blowers & Global Warming)
Gardeners
By Josh Glazer
Almost every lawn in America is tended year round by legions of ‘gardeners’ who use countless numbers of leaf blowers, polluting the air, with constant noise pollution, and a huge use of fuel.
I believe rakes were invented for just such a purpose, and should be substituted for leaf blowers on account of their all around environmental pollution and waste of natural fuels.
Additionally, the use of leaf blowers has become overly used and even abused. Even the simplest job seems to ‘require’ the use of a leaf blower, when a small amount of leg work is all that is need, with a smart plan of how to do the needed job.
Furthermore, gardening itself, as a profession, is a blue collar field. By definition, a job of manual labor. Using hundreds of thousands of leaf blowers is not an acceptable social solution to a simple needed job / service of ‘gardening / landscaping’. A rake, some tarps, and some plastic containers would save an ENOURMOUS amount of fuel, and reduce air and noise pollution 50%, at least in the suburbs.
Thus, I propose a ban or strong regulation on the use of leaf blowers and other non-necessary fuel powered ‘gardening’ tools. Lawn mowers, also, are a problem to be dealt with, in the near future, but are not nearly as abused.
One last point: Of every pundit that blabs about pollution, what percentage have gardeners taking care of their lawns with leaf blowers? Is it possible that every single person in the media is a complete hypocrite? According to the history of intellectuals – Yes.
By Josh Glazer
Almost every lawn in America is tended year round by legions of ‘gardeners’ who use countless numbers of leaf blowers, polluting the air, with constant noise pollution, and a huge use of fuel.
I believe rakes were invented for just such a purpose, and should be substituted for leaf blowers on account of their all around environmental pollution and waste of natural fuels.
Additionally, the use of leaf blowers has become overly used and even abused. Even the simplest job seems to ‘require’ the use of a leaf blower, when a small amount of leg work is all that is need, with a smart plan of how to do the needed job.
Furthermore, gardening itself, as a profession, is a blue collar field. By definition, a job of manual labor. Using hundreds of thousands of leaf blowers is not an acceptable social solution to a simple needed job / service of ‘gardening / landscaping’. A rake, some tarps, and some plastic containers would save an ENOURMOUS amount of fuel, and reduce air and noise pollution 50%, at least in the suburbs.
Thus, I propose a ban or strong regulation on the use of leaf blowers and other non-necessary fuel powered ‘gardening’ tools. Lawn mowers, also, are a problem to be dealt with, in the near future, but are not nearly as abused.
One last point: Of every pundit that blabs about pollution, what percentage have gardeners taking care of their lawns with leaf blowers? Is it possible that every single person in the media is a complete hypocrite? According to the history of intellectuals – Yes.
Sunday, April 14, 2019
FakeBook
FakeBook
By Josh Glazer
So
far I’ve spent two years on Facebook, accruing about 50 ‘friends’. In all that time, I have never had a single
real conversation with any of them.
Whether through ‘Messenger’ or otherwise, it was always a game of
showmanship – look at my life. Look at
how many ‘friends’ I have. It’s an evil
competitive social game that is destroying the network of our society.
To
begin with, labeling people as ‘Friends’ on Facebook is an improper usage of
that word. I am pretty sure a friend is
someone who cares about you, talks with you, listens, etc. But on Facebook, a ‘Friend’ is an icon of a
virtual persona created by an individual based on their own choice of events
and information. There is no real
friendship there. For people like me, who
would rather have ‘Real’ friends, Facebook is insulting and depressing. I don’t believe any of you are really
friends. It’s all a phony game.
I
disabled my account recently because someone I knew when I was 14, a girl I had
a HUGE crush on, but who stopped talking to me at some point, friend requested
me. I tried to message them. I even posted on their timeline – and they
DELETED it, with zero response. Finally,
I said I was disabling my account, and they responded. What a joke.
I disabled my account that day.
Facebook
is not real, and using the word ‘Friend’ anywhere in its lingo is immoral /
unethical. It creates more depression
and anxiety in this world, and we have more than enough already. Facebook and other social media sites should
be boycotted, and real relationships between people should come back. Smartphones and Facebook are destroying the
social relationships that make up our culture.
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Why Go Blonde?
Why Go Blonde?
By Josh Glazer
Everywhere I look today I see fake blonde hair on females, and sometimes on males. Why is it so much more desirable to go through the laborious process of constantly dyeing your hair, when you look just as attractive with your natural hair color? In my opinion, people look BETTER with their natural hair color.
You see this phenomenon all over the world. People who are darker in skin color are discriminated against in real life and in the media. Historically, especially. In India, just to list one example, an entire cosmetics industry has grown simply to ‘supposedly’ lighten one’s skin. This is to make one’s skin look lighter and therefore more ‘attractive’. (According to their advertising. Yet in their TV commercials, they use Ukrainian women, and apply dark facial makeup until they look more Indian. Totally false advertising. It’s all true – look it up.)
On TV, Movies, Media, etc. Almost everyone has to dye their hair. It is a biological fact that a certain percentage of people (especially females) are born blonde. Their blonde hair lasts until their 30s, at which point it darkens. It is meant, evolutionarily speaking, to be an indicator of youth and reproductive capability.
But nowadays it is treated as a normal part of living in modern developed society. I, for one, am grossed out by it, to be blunt. I am tired of people altering their appearance to trick other people. You want to be distinctive? Wear a hat.. You want to look fake, phony, and unauthentic? Dye your hair blonde. Oh, and highlights count, too.
By Josh Glazer
Everywhere I look today I see fake blonde hair on females, and sometimes on males. Why is it so much more desirable to go through the laborious process of constantly dyeing your hair, when you look just as attractive with your natural hair color? In my opinion, people look BETTER with their natural hair color.
You see this phenomenon all over the world. People who are darker in skin color are discriminated against in real life and in the media. Historically, especially. In India, just to list one example, an entire cosmetics industry has grown simply to ‘supposedly’ lighten one’s skin. This is to make one’s skin look lighter and therefore more ‘attractive’. (According to their advertising. Yet in their TV commercials, they use Ukrainian women, and apply dark facial makeup until they look more Indian. Totally false advertising. It’s all true – look it up.)
On TV, Movies, Media, etc. Almost everyone has to dye their hair. It is a biological fact that a certain percentage of people (especially females) are born blonde. Their blonde hair lasts until their 30s, at which point it darkens. It is meant, evolutionarily speaking, to be an indicator of youth and reproductive capability.
But nowadays it is treated as a normal part of living in modern developed society. I, for one, am grossed out by it, to be blunt. I am tired of people altering their appearance to trick other people. You want to be distinctive? Wear a hat.. You want to look fake, phony, and unauthentic? Dye your hair blonde. Oh, and highlights count, too.
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