“Mankind is best when it is most free. This will be clear when we grasp the principles of liberty. We must recall that the basic principle is freedom of choice, which saying many have on their lips but few on their minds.” – Dante Alighieri
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“The act of playing music with people of different cultures, religions, economics, and politics is a powerful statement. It shows that we can find ways of working together and sharing our experiences with another in a positive way. Music has the power to break down the walls between cultures, to raise the level of human understanding.” – Mark Johnson, founder, Playing for Change
“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” – Aldous Huxley, Music at Night, 1931
There has only been a few times when I have seen harmonic resonance in effect. Resonance in its simplest terms is when an object vibrating at its natural frequency causes another object to vibrate with that same frequency. An example would be to strum a note on a guitar and that same note vibrates on a second guitar.
The time that I’ve seen this theory of harmonic resonance in effect was in a New York City subway. A crowd was gathered around a man who played the guitar like it was the only thing he had ever known. He danced with that guitar as if he was the most peaceful free man in existence, he was the only man in the world. Everyone realized the connection between the man and his music, and the music and ourselves – we were all connected. The man stopped a crowd of people at the busiest hour in the most hectic of cities! The heart that he played that guitar with resonated throughout that entire station. I saw myself as if I wasn’t even inside a subway, but like that man alone in the world. I don’t mean alone as in lonely, but alone as in all-one, I was at peace. I only wish the whole world could hear that sweet song, because we all could use a moment of peace through music.
I first discovered the documentary Playing for Change over 6 months ago. I’ve been waiting for the release ever since I first watched an interview between Bill Moyers and the director Mark Johnson. The video brings together street musicians living all over the world as they play together, but remain within their countries thousands of miles away. I couldn’t believe the resonance that it reverberated through my soul. I understand now why Schopenhauer believed music to be the closest thing to the divine. Music has been around since the beginning of time. There are mantras tracked back so far in Hindu history that linguists say they contain not a single word, but are man singing bird song. Music takes us back in time to when we danced at the prom. Music can also stop us in our tracks and brings our minds to silence. Music can bring us out from our suffering of impossibility to looking up with our heads held high for any possibility. If I must find a way to peace, then I hope I can walk to a tune of a gentle song.
Join the movement! Click here: Playing for change
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“Freedom of speech means freedom from interference, suppression or punitive action by the government and nothing else. It does not mean the right to demand the financial support or the material means to express your views at the expense of other men who may not wish to support you. Freedom of speech includes the freedom not to agree, not to listen and not to support one’s own antagonists. A “right”; does not include the material implementation of that right by other men; it includes only the freedom to earn that implementation by one’s own effort. Private citizens cannot use physical force or coercion; they cannot censor or suppress anyone’s views or publications. Only the government can do so. And censorship is a concept that pertains only to
governmental action.” – “The Fascist New Frontier,” The Ayn Rand Column, 106.
A careful examination of the above quote amplifies the seriousness of the first amendment, and also allows us to reflect upon such a great freedom. What if I could never speak my own opinion without fear of government reprisal? We can’t force someone to approve of our opinions. We have to work for that respect with one’s own effort. My site today has 32 hits this month, not many by far, but I work each day to earn more readers by providing information and quotes that may open their eyes or inspire them to see that our rights are nothing to be taken for granted. Each time we express an idea we express liberty. Each time we are heard, we are free.
The dangers of censorship are alive and thriving in today’s media. This may be America but we are not immune to the whims of those of power or of those who own the television companies. The video I am posting above is about the censorship of Ron Paul. If you haven’t heard of Dr. Paul you may have been the victim of censorship. I feel a deep compassionate regret for you. You weren’t granted the freedom to make an educated decision or aquire the truth because of censorship. In my opinion, you were a victim of theft. Someone took the truth from you and you weren’t given the chance to know. Even though the election is over and Dr. Paul is not running for president, I think of Santayanas wise words when he said, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” My words may not awaken a person to their senses, but I’m quite sure this video will.
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The term a trillion dollars has been thrown around in these recent weeks. Like any term or phrase that is constantly repeated it tends to lose its value over time. I have heard the trillion dollar remark thrown around so much that I happened to lose scope of exactly how much money that is. Thanks to a post I found Read more
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Do not yield to the bad, but always oppose it with courage. – Virgil
Ludwig von Mises chose that quote in high school to be his personal motto. I believe a man is as good as his heroes and a newly acquired hero of mine is Mises. He is a champion of economics and individual liberty. You may wonder how economics is linked with liberty and how they come hand in hand. Simply, you exercise your liberty each time you Read more
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Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Read more
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If you are like me and like to learn about a variety of topics, but don’t really have the time to read a book on the subject you can watch HowStuffWorks. You can feed your baby, iron clothes, lift weights, jump rope, and balance your check book, meanwhile, learning about whatever peaks your interest. Read more
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At one time long ago, I held close to my convictions, opinions, beliefs and values thinking they would carry me through my future years. I’m realizing more every day that I’m breaking down these convictions one by one, in the face of new truths. If that time long ago was bright and full of certainties, today is even brighter without the guarantees. Sometimes, I feel that everything I know is wrong, but then I have to tell myself that is also a blessing. Discovering the wrong means I have found the right, realizing the truth means I have destroyed a lie. If you want to discover the truth, like I have, to the point that it may even frighten while at the same time enlightening you, read Economics in One Lesson. Read more
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