December 23rd, 2009

On Immigration

Anytime someone argues against making immigration to our country or attaining citizenship easier, their underlying arguments seem to me very close to racism.

The arguments I've heard tend to be along the lines of, "They'll take our money," or, "They'll take our jobs." But who is "our"? America's always been a nation of immigrants.

It took me a long time to get over my fear of immigrants. It took a lot of reflection to realize that what used to make me so against increased immigration was the fear that my comfortably white and English-speaking culture might start to change.

Now I can appreciate diversity, and realize that just because your world is changing doesn't mean you're threatened.

The other big argument against facilitating more immigration is that immigrants tend to be poor, and seem to show a greater tendency toward crime and sucking up government resources.

Therefore, I encourage a push for citizenship, and, as usual, education. I believe they're poor and alienated because they haven't been educated in the same schools as wealthy America.

It's not a question of "us vs. them."

I'm not big on required education, but I would like to encourage American schools to teach Spanish to their students.

December 9th, 2009

"The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules. It's people who follow orders that drop bombs and massacre villages.

"As a precaution to ever committing major acts of evil it is our solemn duty never to do what we're told, this is the only way we can be sure."

Banksy. Wall and Piece, 2005.

December 7th, 2009

"I also want to speak tonight directly to Muslims throughout the world. We respect your faith. It's practiced freely by many millions of Americans and by millions more in countries that America counts as friends. Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah.

"The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself.

"The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends. It is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them."

George W. Bush, September 20th, 2001

Just a reminder.

December 6th, 2009

Two Big Ideas About Money

Big Idea #1

What if currency was made out of food? We've heard about the gold standard and the silver standard, but those things are only valuable because they say we are.

I vote we use the food standard. More specifically, I'm envisioning something like apples. Maybe kumquats.


The new national currency on the left, the old on the right. Source: BabyCenter.com

Three arguments:

-We'll never have to worry about stagnant markets again, because your money will rot if you don't spend it quickly enough.

-There will be less of a tendency to hoard money because, again, your money will rot if you don't spend it quickly enough.

-It'll no longer be necessary to cut trees to print money because money really will grow on trees.

Big Idea #2

What if there was a bank that had no fees?

On a more serious note than kumquats, during my time with the Americorps organization City Year, I met a wonderful janitor at the Timberland headquarters. Every time I asked her how she was, she would respond, "I am happy. And you?"

Yet my old boss once told our corps of how every time she received a paycheck, the janitor had to spend $3 to have it cashed -- which can amount to a lot when you don't have a lot.

We hear every day of people having to take new loans to pay off the interest on old loans, maxing out credit cards, or simply not being able to get an account.

So again, what if there was a bank that had no fees? It didn't charge to cash a check or use an ATM, or issue anything but debit cards so you couldn't overdraw your account. It wouldn't give you any interest on your account, nor would it expect any interest on your mortgage or a loan, and would specialize in micro loans. It wouldn't sell debt, nor invest your money in other companies.

It would be called the National Mattress, since under it the entire nation could comfortably hide their money.

November 29, 2009


Presidential Thought for the Day: On Bottled Water

Bottled water is, in most cases, just plain silly.



(If you really need me to tell you why, just ask.)

November 27, 2009

Video Update: On White Guilt

Harnessing technology, woo-hoo! A reader suggested a while ago putting video updates on YouTube. So I've done it. It feels uncomfortable and looks pretty low-quality, but with any luck, watching me talk through my thoughts will be more interesting for you (collectively) than reading through them.

All my videos will now be available at:

www.YouTube.com/RT2024

The two currently available videos are on white guilt. Take a quick online test by Harvard that may measure how racist you are, discuss the test, and hear me unleash my theory on why we still have a racist and segregated society.

November 25, 2009

If you believe in what I'm writing on this website, I need you to get other people to listen.

If the things I'm writing are true -- about money, and art, and war -- then the entire world needs you to get other people to listen. To listen to what I have to say, and what you have to say, and the ways we agree and disagree, and your own completely separate ideas and philosophies.

I don't want this to be a campaign. I want this to be a movement.

Consider that in the Congo, right now, there's a girl dying of starvation. When I speak of the difference between being a part of a campaign and being part of a movement, I am speaking of the difference between donating money to a non-profit organization that specializes in preventing Congolese genocide, or running for President so that in 15 years you can generate substantial awareness of the conflict in the Congo and encourage Congress to allocate funds to pursue peace -- the difference between those, and buying the next plane ticket to Central Africa, putting yourself on a 24/7 live Internet video feed, and refusing to touch food in front of the world until humanity realizes that without having been told to do so, an American is willing to die for the well-being of a famished, foreign girl.

Would I do that? Absolutely, if I wasn't so scared. I hope you have more bravery than I do, because becoming truly content and fulfilled in your life takes much more strength and courage than becoming what should make you truly content and fulfilled (namely, a job, 1.6 children, a house, a decent salary, etc. -- how many people have you met who have all these things and don't have any personal problems? Be very cautious around material comfort.).

Again, I don't want this to be a campaign. I want this to be a movement. I want other to be inspired to do something themselves about what makes their lives anything less than content, rather than follow American politics as usual, in which we elect a President we hope will solve all our problems for us.

When was the last time anyone solved all your problems for you?

Happy Thanksgiving, on that cheery note.

Check out this man:

A Life Without Money

November 15, 2009

November 1, 2009

On Running for President

September 19, 2009

On Health Care

Americans' "pain tolerance" is extremely low, remarked political commentator George Will during a 2007 address at Miami University. Mine certainly has been. I opposed legislation allowing conceal-and-carry gun permits, but the result of the legislation being passed hasn't been a dramatic surge in crime, the way I imagined. I was skeptical of the recent smoking ban in Ohio buildings, but the result of the legislation being passed wasn't a wave of restaurants and bars going bankrupt. Political decisions tend to be like SARS and the avian flu: whenever they're supposed to ruin the nation, they usually don't.

So whatever happens with this health care snafu, I have faith in Americans' human ability to adapt to the new situation. Whether we adopt "Obamacare" or otherwise, we will all quite likely do just peachy.

Rather than spend years debating the "right" sort of health care plan to implement, I encourage the government to just choose one of the different health care plans, jump into it whole-heartedly, and see what happens. So much time is wasted on the politics of compromise, as legislators wage wars of attrition on each other to make bills suit everyone's interests. To quote My Fair Lady, when the House and Senate are presented with two different approaches to a challenge, "rather than do either they do something else that neither likes at all."

Instead of sending a little money here and a little legal support there to try and please everyone a little bit, let's send all our support one direction and see what happens. Committing 1% to a 100 different ideas is a terrible way to see what works. Let's try committing a full 100% to one idea.

Our reliance on health care may be a symptom of a greater problem. More than health care reform, I encourage increased government education, recreation and nutrition programs to get kids outdoors, make adults and parents aware of proper ways to eat, and to decrease our obsession with screens. I encourage increased taxes on junk food and decreased taxes on raw foods. I encourage shifting paradigms, changing the way we think and live so that, some day, perhaps we won't need health care in the first place.

"Not very far away were the Triple Demons of Compromise -- one tall and thin, one short and fat, and the third exactly like the other two. As always, they moved in ominous circles, for if one said "here," the other said "there," and the third agreed perfectly with both of them. And, since they always settled their differences by doing what none of them really wanted, they rarely got anywhere at all -- and neither did anyone they met."

-The Phantom Tollbooth (1961, New York: Bantam)

August 25, 2009

On Money

Terry Prachett, the author of the Discworld books, likes to say that God(s) only exist because we believe in them. The same is often said about time. But while the nation has its atheists, there are very, very few Americans who don't believe in money.

Your little green piece of paper is just that — a little green piece of paper. It only has value because we've given it value. It doesn't represent anything but faith, or trust. Every greenback's "In God we trust" seems like a nod to Mr. Prachett's view of religion with an ironic connection to the world's view of cash.

Physics has the Law of Conservation of Energy. You and I and the rest of the world are much the same with money: the total amount of cash value in civilization never grows or shrinks. The U.S. might print more money, but its value will decrease proportionally through inflation, and vice versa. We get things like food and houses and TVs just by moving these little units of faith and value from person to person, just as a chemist might move chemicals from test tube to test tube without ever changing the total amount of chemicals. With money, one person always has to lose something in order for someone else to gain something.

The current recession was due to people relying on money that didn't exist. But what's strange is that no money really exists. People build empires, reputations, and their place in the social hierarchy solely on something that doesn't exist. People wear certain brands of clothing or drive certain kinds of cars just to strut their reliance in something that doesn't exist. And yet, we're all pretty much identically naked underneath our clothes!

A Stanford student demonstrates a fascination with money. Photo: Robin Thomas

So what do I want you to do about it? I haven't come up with an alternative to the way we run society today. But I do want to encourage you to avoid having "making money" as one of your goals. Don't view money as an end. Instead, think about what you need that money for. If you want to buy a car, instead of thinking, "If only I could earn more money", try thinking, "If only I could earn a car". If you want to do something nice for someone you love, instead of thinking, "If only I had more money", try thinking, "If only I had some way of showing them I love them". If you need more food, instead of thinking, "I can't eat because I don't have money", try thinking, "I can't eat because I don't have food". Sounds silly, right? Money is only a means to those ends, and is just one of many means, which we forget very, very often. Maybe you'll be surprised by what alternatives to "spending money" you come up with in order to get what you need (sharing with others, growing your own food, building your own things). But hey, maybe not!

I keep dreaming of giving away everything I own except the clothes on my back, and entering the world fresh and unbound to any system. I think a lot of people have had that dream. But I've always been too scared to make it a reality. If that ever changes, I'll let you know how it goes.

I look forward to people challenging my views because it makes me think. Send me a critical e-mail, at robin@RT2024.com, and I'll post it in the 'Think!' section, along with my response.

August 8, 2009

On War

I'm sitting in the San Diego airport next to a dozen or so Marines, who are sleeping in tiny cots outside of the United Services Organizations building. I wonder if they're going to or coming from combat. And here's a little Midshipman, coming from a month of infuriatingly cushy training. Whenever a civilian sees me in uniform and "thanks me for my service", this intense feeling of unworthiness bubbles up in my throat. I feel humbled sitting here, and find myself wishing I was part of the "once a Marine, always a Marine" community, taking the test of physical and mental strength all Marines endure, earning the right to sleep on my own little cot next to these men. I'm wanting to prove myself.

So where does that deep respect for the warrior come from? Why is it even a Midshipman will get thanked on the street for his or her service, but not a person in City Year or Peace Corps gear?

Probably because ingrained in the human mind is the idea that the warrior is willing to lay down his or her life for a cause, and there's little more honorable than that. But hopefully soon the human mind will come to realize that there are many Americorps workers or Red Cross workers who are equally willing to die so that others may enjoy life.

Hampton Academy Junior High students painting a school mural with a City Year corps member. Photo: Robin Thomas.

The Battle of Bunker Hill gave us "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes". Today, humanity has become so much closer, thanks to tech and travel, that you can't really help seeing the whites of anyone's eyes. Sun Tzu in The Art of War instructs "know your enemy" and "keep your friends close and your enemies closer", and today both are pretty much impossible to avoid.

"Know your enemy" means acknowledging that you have an enemy in the first place, and sounds like a CIA mission statement. America's very good about knowing its enemies, and Sun Tzu might be pleased by our approach to modern warfare. But the ultimate goal of the military is to not need to exist, and the fact that we haven't achieved world peace means we need to be doing something different.

God, through Jesus Christ, gives us the next step in Luke 6: "love your enemies". That doesn't mean stop fighting. But that does mean start respecting. Stop knowing your enemies and recognize their humanity, since all wars are caused by some kind of disrespect or misunderstanding. Walt Whitman says "battles are lost in the same spirit in which they are won"; interpret that as you will.

Yesterday, Admiral John Harvey, head of the U.S. Navy Fleet Forces Command, spoke at Naval Base San Diego. Afterward, I fumbled my way through asking him (do I stand at attention or relax?) whether, as evidenced by the massive typhoon relief efforts of the USNS Mercy in Southeast Asia and the developing "hearts and minds" approach of the Marines in the Middle East,  as the world comes closer together by virtue of technology and travel, the idea of military power is changing from physical strength to humanitarian and educational strength.

To make a shortish story shorter, he said yes. Hooyah.

Don't fight for anything for which you aren't willing to die. Recognizing how important the little things are is the key to leadership, according to him, and the key to winning a people — having a clean bed, food, water, relief from monotony, protection. Providing these things for Marines is as much a physical necessity as it is a way of showing respect for their work. Similarly, providing these things to the men and women of Iraq or Afghanistan is providing them with enough respect and enough sustenance that they don't have any more need for the protection or cultural respect provided by al-Qaeda, for instance, or the Taliban.

"Killing with kindness", when I've gotten over myself and actually tried it, has had a remarkable success rate. I'd like to see it tested on a national level toward an entire different people.

Incidentally, the Marines don't yell and scream at each other because they all had bad childhoods, as I used to think, but because they develop confidence in each other and actually get stuff done. To the USMC men and women, I pass along all the "thank yous for your service" I've ever received, and add my own.

July 28, 2009

On How Americans Sit

Let's tackle "united we sit" before "united we stand".

Watch any audience take its seats, and you'll notice that everyone sits as far as possible from everyone else. The center seats might be taken first, sometimes the aisle seats, but in any audience of strangers, there is always at least one seat left open between every person, unless a packed house calls for some squeezing.

American trains are "overcrowded" when elbows start bumping, while European trains are considered "overcrowded" when people have to start sitting in each others' laps. In the States, taking a seat right next to another person on a mostly-empty subway car is as creepy and uncomfortable as standing right next to the only other person in an empty elevator.

It may be that we're afraid of needing to engage in conversation with the person next to us. Maybe we see them as some kind of physical threat. It could be we just like our leg room. But whatever the case, taking this checkerboard approach to seating usually means lots of physical discomfort for those seated anyway, as people clamber over them, knees and elbows flying, to get to the seats they left open. In a full house, everyone ends up right next to everyone else anyway.

Personal bubbles can be a great thing, but I worry the reinforced steel personal bubbles of our nation are a sign of inherent American distrust. I encourage you (and me, too) to start believing that "united we sit": plunk yourself down next to a stranger in the train, and introduce yourself. Maximize space efficiency, be convenient for someone else, and most importantly, bring the nation closer together.

July 9, 2009

Apparently, undercover U.S. government agents were able to smuggle bombs into ten federal buildings undetected:

Fox News reports

CNN reports

But if you're about to go blaming someone, I'd like you to wait a minute. My mother introduced me to the concept of "blame-storming" recently. It's something of which we've all been guilty -- a plan goes wrong, and we spend great effort trying to pin down the person responsible.

I find that blaming a person isn't very satisfying, and even as a disciplinary measure, it doesn't get a whole lot accomplished. Instead, I'll choose to blame the way we think about security.

It can be effective to establish security routines, like luggage scanners and drug sniffers installed in airports and federal buildings. But we need to remember that routines are predictable, whereas those committed to hurting others strive to be unpredictable.

On NPR yesterday evening, one of the executives of Google expressed the company's commitment to always being "new". Even if you're good at something, not changing it just because it works leaves you at risk to becoming obsolete when someone else introduces something unique. Rather than shifting around security personnel, we'd get more accomplish by shifting around the way we think about security.

July 4, 2009

Mike Huckabee Finds Fellow Americorps Supporter in Runningmate

Call him premature, but former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR) has found himself a runningmate. No, he isn’t a few months early… he’s years early!

On Saturday morning at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, Foster’s Daily Democrat photographer John Huff captured 2008 Presidential candidate Huckabee  running (Far R) alongside ServeNext member and 2024 Presidential candidate Robin Thomas (Far L)...

 Photo by John Huff

...Some quick numbers on the day:

- Thomas and Huckabee finished their 5k in under 30 minutes.
- 8 ServeNext members braved the cold and ran on Saturday morning.
- Huckabee has lost over 100 lbs. since he started running in 2003.
- As of 11/11/2007, 416 people have joined the Thomas for President Facebook group.
- If elected President, Huckabee will expand AmeriCorps by 100,000 members!

- Granite Idealism, November 12, 2007

Mike Gravel Speaks at Philips Exeter Academy, in Hampton, NH

Mike Gravel, a Democratic Presidential contender, spoke with students at Exeter Academy in January of 2008, shortly before the New Hampshire Primary Election. I had an opportunity to speak with Senator Gravel about national service:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFz9LEp-csc