Avatar and Obama

I read a Yahoo review a couple of days ago claiming that my conservative Christian peeps were proclaiming a liberal agenda for the movie Avatar. If this is true my response is, where have you been? I can count the movies on my hand that I’ve watched in the last year that HAVEN’T been politically motivated. Anyway, that’s not the point of this article. The point is that I watched the movie before I heard any of the complaints among Christian circles or read any reviews and thought I would share my interpretation of the movie.

Obama, played by Jake Sully, is a very passionate and charismatic personality, one that has a lot of belief in his ability while others may not.

Earth was disguised as the current worldwide economic situation coming in as an unstoppable tide. In the end, the fantasy world of utopia (aka, Avatar) won and the economic situation disappeared into nothingness after Jake, a real world handicap, was transformed into a fantasy world conquistador. In the dream, the conquistador and his converts worshipped trees for divine inspiration. Mmm, what a nice dream.

There are only two problems I have with the movie’s accuracy in telling this satirical depiction of real life.

First, instead of portraying Obama as an experienced warrior who was handicapped in battle it would have been better if he was portrayed as an impassioned immature 15 year old teenager. Then we could make the correct comparison. As it stands, the character is more similar to John McCain, and that just makes me laugh out loud. Also, I don’t think John would have killed himself in order to live in a fantasy world. He would have at least faced the reality of the world we live in. Would Obama? You tell me.

Secondly, it’s tempting to proclaim another large error. Only one person, Susan Sarandon’s character, from the real world believed in the reality of the fantasy world where in real time at minimum 2/3rds of the earth is behind the passionate rebel. But, I will give the director the benefit of the doubt in that he “intended” the real world to be the economic situation as a whole. And, I’d say this is a close resemblance.

James Cameron can try to brainwash us if he would like, fortunately, our mental compass can chose it's own interpretation...to an extent. And I say, thanks for the laugh! The moral of the story, don’t put your faith in some ridiculous god and an earthly idea of utopia because you will become blinded to the reality of sin on this earth and our own inability to sense right from wrong.

Do you have unique thoughts and interpretations of the movie? Or if you would like to argue with my viewpoint here is your open invitation, please post a comment below.

26 Years, 2 Degrees, and 2 Layoffs Later...I Am Learning.

I have been laid off twice in the past two years. This is only after the completion of two degrees that I have spent the majority of my life working towards. The completion of a college education and the American dream. Then, completion of a higher accomplishment, an MBA.

So, why am I not destined for success? It might have something to do with the training I received only being half of the education that I needed. I learned how to earn money in an institution. I DID NOT learn how to spend it or how to create opportunities for myself. But, wouldn’t the latter be the more important education? So, after graduating with my MBA I marginally began learning how to spend it by joining a Crown Financial Course at my church, and studying Dave Ramsey, Warren Buffett, and Peter Lynch to prick their minds about money management and investment principles that prove sound and most concrete in its philosophy and less focused on chance. Upon the completion of my studies, my real test came. I was laid off, the first time.

After a month of struggle to figure out what it was I was actually working for or pursuing, I was able to refocus long enough to receive a job at a manufacturing company.

At this point, I began focusing on building a money retainer and learning that you CAN buy what you want as long as you limit other expenses. This is where my economics course took effect. Diminishing marginal returns. Study this if you haven’t already, this is one of the greatest concepts that I learned in my institutionalized education. Albeit, I learned it in completing my MBA rather than in middle school or highschool. Also, I didn’t learn how to apply it to me personally which would have been equally helpful. Wouldn’t this be better to learn in highschool before a student goes off to college and ends up leaving the school with over $30,000 in debt only to find out they have to spend the next 20 years paying it off leaving them in bondage to "the system"? See Prov. 22:7 which basically teaches us that the borrow is slave to the lender. Goodbye freedom of choice and opportunity, hello struggle to find 8 to 5 job with benefits and retirement plan. The American dream.

Anyway, over the course of the next year I began learning how to spend money. Answers to questions like: what is an asset/liability? What is really adding value to me as a person and what offers me no rate of return? And, praise God for this lesson. I was laid off again, approximately a year after my first layoff.

This time, I at least am prepared enough to make this layoff a valuable learning experience rather than a hurried attempt to land another secure paycheck. But, now comes the second lesson that institutionalized education did not teach me: how to create my own opportunities. Time to relearn how to think and be more intuitive. This is after a degree in design/creativity. Is that not odd to anyone?

And, 26 years, 2 degrees, and 2 layoffs later, I am convinced this is the greatest thing that could have happened to me. I am truly learning what it means to live in its fullest with all of its challenges and expectations and to rely on a God who is bigger than myself. I thank God that I am learning at 25 with a clean slate rather than after working 25 years in an institutionalized business like those at 50 who are now finding themselves out of a secure job that they assumed they would work and retire from at 60.

Thankfully, I have hope in education of real value. Add that to a faith in a God that knows every detail before it happens, has my best interest in mind, and is worthy of my worship, and then you have a real strategy for success.

Purging

I am in a constant state of trying to make things better or so it seems. And when I can’t make it better I want to know why. I don’t know if I will ever be satisfied with anything I truly value, but I am slowly learning to enjoy the improvement process rather than focusing specifically on perfection. I find that most circumstances in my life are like my physical body. They deteriorate rather quickly if I don’t feed them, nurture them, and exercise them.

2008 and 2009 have been a time of searching for me, to find what is really important. Before 08, I spent most of my time in some sort education system. I have studied all different viewpoints from many different angles. I have tried to quantify what I really benefitted from in earning my MBA other than credentials. I think the main thing I learned is there will need to be continuous improvement of self for the rest of our lives and I shouldn’t have to rely on someone else to fill that need. A lot of what I am thankful for now is different than what I was thankful for during the process itself. More thankful for the people I met and the interaction rather than the course work itself, although I found the subject of Economics extremely helpful in developing better discernment and understanding the difference between good and bad business practices.

So since ‘08 I have been in the course that most people call “the rest of their lives”. Last fall I was a bit overwhelmed with my responsibility to personal development and with the political drama, feeling the pressure of my new job and then my layoff and then another new job. But I was reminded of Ecclesiastes 9:12-14 in a Bible study, where Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived explained the conclusion of his searching of the world’s form of riches and abundant life. It says, “But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body. The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is evil”. This verse tells me that I already have the conclusion/answer to all of the studying: fear God and keep His commandments, and everything should be a bi-product of that. I have been convicted, needing to admit that I will never understand everything or be able to articulate everything perfectly. This has been a tremendous source of peace to me. It was a confirmation, almost as if God was rubbing my back and saying, “Scott, slow down. Don’t get consumed, caught up in all of this.” So, my action is still to continue this process of improvement, but, not for my own sake. I seek to filter everything through His word. I hope to use what I gain to impact and increase God’s kingdom in some way.

In order to do this properly, one thing Blake (my brother and roommate) and I decided to do was not purchase cable tv or internet for our apartment for the time being. Most of my friends have been dumbfounded at this, but Blake and I aren’t the least bit concerned of missing important tv shows or sports games. We are trying to purge ourselves of things that might distract us from what should be our priority, to maximize our opportunities rather than get side tracked by things that might distract us from what God has called us to do. We have access to internet in the lobby of our apartment complex, so that has taken care of any real concern about not being able to communicate with people in a form that has become natural to us all. And if we want to watch a sports game, we make a night of it and go out, which makes it more special than it was when we had easy access to it.