A Juvenal Satire

So, in response to my earlier post, I think it would be interesting to draw a parallel. In a history class here at BYU, we have been studying the writer Juvenal, a Roman who lived during the height of the Roman Empire's dominance. He is the father of satire, and one of his writings complains about many of the same points that I mentioned in my post about the United States. Let's see a few...

Hunger / Poverty
It's not surprising to see Juvenal talk about real poverty. He tells a story of a man named Codrus who suffered from want. "Poor Codrus had nothing, it is true: but he lost that nothing, which was his all; and the last straw in his heap of misery is this, that though he is destitute and begging for a bite, no one will help him with a meal, no one offer him lodging or shelter." He talks about the unfairness of the wealth of those outside of Rome, while in the great empire's capital they "perish for want of sleep...for who but the wealthy get sleep in Rome?" He goes into great detail, but it suffices to say that there is a lot of this in Rome, around our very communities and not too far from our homes.

Violence
We all know about the Coliseum, and the gladiator fights there, among other things. Juvenal mentions that once-good men now "hold shows of their own, and win applause by slaying whomsoever the mob...bids them slay," showing a kind of de-evolution. I think this happens all too often here in the USA. For starters, our culture is saturated more than ever with a love of blood and violence. That can easily rub off and take away our ability to recognize good humanity.

Dishonesty
Juvenal talks about men always trying to be something they aren't, mostly to impress their friends and neighbors. Sometimes, people will even take advantage of others to improve themselves. He states that, "In Rome, every one dresses smartly, above his means, and sometimes something more than what is enough is taken out of another man's pocket." There is a great falseness about the greatness of Rome, and though it seems nice on the outside, it is apparently just barely contained poverty and corruption. Sometimes that describes how our "American Dream" may really be perceived. "A man's word is believed in exact proportion to the amount of cash which he keeps in his strong-box," and that reflects in many of the lead innovators and celebrities of the day.

Immorality
This isn't a new problem; in fact, the wide-spread presence of immorality in a culture usually is a sign of its nearing fall. Here Juvenal says that to a Roman, "there is nothing sacred to his lusts: not the matron of the family, nor the maiden daughter, not the as yet unbearded son-in-law to be...if none of these be there, he will debauch his friend's grandmother." There is such an eager immorality in our country as well, and I hope that people can go back to the traditional values soon.

Intolerance
This seemed to be another problem for Juvenal's Rome. He says, "And what of this, that the poor man gives food and occasion for jest if his cloak be torn and dirty...?" He hates the fact that tolerance is based on material wealth. Juvenal bemoans, "Of all the woes of luckless poverty none is harder to endure than this, that it exposes men to ridicule." It's very unfair, and can still be seen all over America. We judge people by what they have or where they come from, not who they are.

The U.S.A. as I Know It

Well, fellow Americans, we are living in the midst of turbulent times. With all these crazy things happening around the world, national security doesn't always feel so secure. Whether these threats are militant, marketplace, or microscopic, there's a lot of trouble out there.

That being said, I think that there are plenty of issues right here in the homeland that need to be addressed--sadly, they are often looked over. I'm not going to get long-winded, but I think it's good to have a little reality check every now and then. Here are my top five:

Hunger
It's very easy to feel our hearts ache when we see the suffering images of starving and malnourished children in foreign lands. That is good--I would hope that you feel at least something. But it's all too common to forget about those hungry families right around us. They're not without food because they deserve it--no one does! Whatever the case may be, we can play a part in literally giving food and relief to our brothers and sisters. I would hope for the same if I fell into any unlucky circumstances.

Violence (Domestic or otherwise)
It's so tragic. Someone gets their "fair chance" taken away when they lose their life. Let's all learn that the first step to preventing violence is preventing anger. How do we do that? Forgiveness. Period.

Dishonesty
Perhaps you might say that this isn't quite as grave, but we hear about it all the time. Scandals, forgeries, embezzlement, thievery. And the funny thing is, it's almost always rationalized. Maybe because it's so competitive in nature, it's hard to shake off. That's like shaking off our pride. Can you imagine a world where people actually lived, worked, and interacted with 100% honesty?

Immorality
Seriously, this is one of the worst. Why? Because not everyone even thinks it's bad yet! Take drug use, or alcoholism, or any other gratifying behavior. While many succumb to it, it's still looked at as bad and wrong in a society. But sexuality? On the contrary, it is often praised, and as long as it stays that way, our families and relationships will be in continual, steep decline.

Intolerance
"Why can't you just get along?" Raise your hand if you were ever told this by your parents! On whatever end of the spectrum it is on, intolerance is one of the ugliest issues out there. Whether it's the majority hating the minority, or the minority hating the majority, it's just wrong. The worst is, we have gotten into a sort of cycle where it's increasingly okay for the underdogs to cry out in contempt against previous views or standards. In the end, we really do all need to just get along. Be tolerant.


Don't misunderstand me at all--I'm not complaining in the slightest. I just think it's prudent to not always look so far off for problems with a fearful or blaming finger. Sometimes, it's right under our nose, and that means that there's probably something we can actually do about it. While I might not be able to fight off ISIS terrorists or stomp Ebola out of existence, I'm pretty sure that I can help stop suffering, poverty, and violence in my own community by the small action that I take. And if nothing else, we can all decide to live better and give a good example, being part of the solution.

God bless the U.S.A.!

The Power of Routine

So, in college, there's pretty much two main approaches to managing workloads.

The first is basically like chasing the tide on a beach. The waves come crashing up on the shore, the water rushes up, and you run away from it before it catches you. Then, as it recedes, you charge after it, going as far as you can without going underwater. Of course, sometimes you'll get caught off guard and an especially large wave will knock you down. And then you're soaked.

The second is like swimming laps in a lane. Although you are constantly in the water (and therefore pretty wet), your main goal is to keep a pace and rack up the number of laps completed. Sometimes it gets pretty tiring, but let's say you get a break every ten laps or something.

I have always been a lot more like the first one. It's easy to kind of run with the tide of work, homework, studying, and reading. What I mean is, I just do the minimum to keep myself from getting pulled under, but never really learning consistency. I lack a disciplined routine. And too often, I get caught by an unexpected wave of stress or workload and I drown and suffer the consequences. If only I could develop an unshakable routine--maybe more difficult at first--I would actually be more free. Lots of steady, consistent work will enable me to do much more than just surviving by obligation.

So, what am I going to do now? Stop playing in the tide and get in the pool.

Everything Has its Cost

As a college student, there are lots of choices that I have to face everyday. And usually, there isn't any possible way to do everything at once. If I choose one good thing, I'll have to forgo another. So I am learning about how to make these decisions by balancing the costs of not choosing something. For example, will it be more costly to not finish this homework or miss out on a rare opportunity? The answer isn't always easy, but can clearly be seen if I just take a minute and weigh the situation before acting. Thanks, Professor Kearl.

So what? I think this will be an important skill to use when I have even more responsibility, like a family or a true career. I can't ever have everything in life, so I need to try and choose the best things. And sometimes, that means just minimizing my losses. Hey, life isn't always fair.

Thanks to a good friend, I'm going to try and take a step back when I'm about to make a tough choice. The solution to our problems isn't always to just "bite the bullet" and lose out. Yes, sometimes it's okay to not do a certain thing because it's more important to do something else. So I'm going to start really sizing up situations before I self-sacrifice or lose out.