To paraphrase James Bond: This post is "for your amusement only"

By now, you probably know that I'm a major advocate for thinking for yourself, educating yourself, and questioning mostly everything you see on TV.

Add "promoter of anti-egotism, anti-materialism, and anti-consumerism" to the list.

I recently gave a speech for college credit on why egotism is leading to the downfall of our nation and our generation. Throughout it, I kept alluding to the fact that pushing in your chair when you leave a room is the simplest thing you could do to not be egotistic. At the end, I said, "Thank you, and don't forget to push in your chair when you leave."

The interesting thing about this is that for no reason other than to satisfy my own curiosity, I devised an experiment. Before and after each one of my classes, I write down how many chairs were not pushed in. I did this the week before my speech, the week of my speech, and the week after my speech.

The only drawbacks: I don't get to school early enough to get a "before" reading for my first class, my second teacher doesn't have a first-hour class so his chairs are always up and can't be counted, and my third class has those desks where the chairs are attached.

Still, the results are ASTOUNDING.

Taken directly from my data sheet, these are the number of chairs I recorded that were not pushed in . . .

Day Before Speech:
4 chairs after first class
6 chairs after second class
7 chairs before last class
5 chairs after last class

Day Of Speech:
1 chair after first class
2 chairs after second class
4 chairs before last class
5 chairs after last class

Day After Speech (half day):
2 chairs after first class
5 chairs after a meeting
3 chairs before last class
3 chairs after last class

You don't have to be Einstein to see that my speech made a difference.

And the knowledge that I did something instead of sitting around and hoping something would be done is quite rewarding. Makes me feel a lot better, knowing that I am not the target of the song "We the Sheeple", as illustrated here:



I've been going back to some of my favorite books, especially the "Larry" series by Janet Tashjian. The statistics in them are alarming.

We have not been sold a Bill of RIGHTS; we have been sold a Bill of GOODS.

HALF of the SIX BILLION people on Earth live on less than TWO DOLLARS A DAY. When the book was published, this was the price of a cup of designer coffee at Starbucks.

Doesn't this cause anyone to stop and think?!

My favorite band, Green Day, puts it this way:



The song ends at 5:12. I'd like to think that a silence afterwards is meant to provide time for the listeners to think about what they just heard.

Be a person. Not a sheep.

Don't wanna be an American idiot
One nation controlled by the media
Information age of hysteria
It's calling out to idiot America