This I Believe Speech

I believe in picking out my own Christmas presents. The semester has just begun. And the Christmas season is now another year away. I greatly enjoyed the time with family and close friends I was able to have. But, I'm happy it's over. Waste. That's what Christmas is. It's one incredible, unbelievable, exhorbitant waste.

Now, don't be scared. I'm not a baby-eating grinch-terminator. Although, some may call me a heartless cyborg. I'm just a picky person. And if you're a human you too are picky. We want what we want when we want it, it's in our nature. You can deny it all you want, but it's a fact. And this is how Christmas is wasteful. We spend all this time trying to find the perfect gift for someone but to no avail:

Either it's not what they wanted or they already have it or they value their gift as much as you paid for it. From my experience, it's usually the first case. Would removing this gift deliberation ruin the spirit of Christmas? No it absolutely wouldn't. The spirit of Christmas is about spending time with people you love.

I believe in limiting the time needed to wait. To wait for anything. Waiting at the doctor's office. Waiting for the CATABUS. Waiting at a green light. Seriously people? While we wait we limit our productivity - somethings you just can't do on a 4 inch phone screen and gloves. We limit our growth, our lives.

This philosophy of efficiency has been instilled in my since I was a little kid. By the time of my 4th birthday I had been diagnosed with a progressive disease known as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. This disease wastes my muscles away with overuse. The diagnosis has taught me to save as much usage of my muscles as I can. I have learned when to expend energy and when to ask for help. I have learned to be efficient with my own energy and strength. The hope of a cure also has its inherent inefficiencies. The science involved is not close to efficient. It involves making progress, realizing a certain path doesn't have merit, going back and revising the experiment. This process continues until a breakthrough is made. Then long periods of testing on mice are needed before human testing can begin. Then for drugs to be produced there is a long process to getting a treatment approved.

I believe in a world without struggle, without pain. I believe in a world that runs like clockwork. Never missing a second, never skipping a beat. If I lived in a world with 100% efficiency this would be reality. There would be no war. There would be equal wealth distribution. There would be enough calories for every living human. There would be limited diseases. It would be an almost perfect world.

But in reality. Maybe all we really need are busses that stick to their schedules. The universe is and always will be full of chaos. 100% efficiency is impossible. Although unattainable it is what I believe we should strive to reach. I believe in efficiency and its power.

This I Believe & Civic Issues

Civic Issues:

Affirmative Action

• I did a project on this in 12th grade. I have a reasonable knowledge of the issues regarding affirmative action. I would do a blog on the history that led to the adoption of several affirmative action laws. A blog on the legal issues regarding affirmative action, the idea that this policy could be considered racist. A blog on the problems that affirmative action can bring about in education. A blog on the current cases against and for affirmative action. And a final blog on fixing the current affirmative action system.

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This I Believe:

Efficiency

• I like things to flow like clockwork - I believe in order
• I believe in heartless capitalism
• We should limit public goods
• No minimum wage
• Limiting waste
• Efficient energy use/creation
• Nuclear power plants

A no-party government system

• Introduce the history of our government system
• Why I feel its important
• This would lead to a more cooperative government.
• People would know where they stand on issues rather than just siding with "their" party.
• Perhaps this falls into efficiency?