Legends Never Die

               Hey guys, so you all probably thought I was gone, that i'd given up, and pulled the plug on my blog. Well luckily for you guys, I have not given up my goal of educating each and every single one of you on the many principles, practices, and nuances of Jarrod-ism. Instead of lessons, today, I'll simply give all of you a much-needed explanation for my absence thus far. Here are my excuses with explanations for each one.

1. All AP Everything

                With the coming of Spring, it signals the advent of what is known as AP (Advanced Placement) testing. In a nutshell, the very kind, generous, understanding, and reasonably priced collegeboard lets us high school students take a series of tests that are 3 hours long each, (4 hours if you get absolutely amazing and intelligent proctors). For a low price of only $660 I got to take exams such as AP Hand Cramps (AP US history), AP Staring into Space (AP Spanish), AP Inferiority Complex (AP Physics C), and others. All thanks to the amazing Collegeboard.

                                                           Yea fuck you too

       2. All I do is swim

                  As the end of the spring high school swim season drew to end, I was convinced by team that I needed my rest because my abilities in the championship meet were absolutely critical to our team's standing. With encouraging words from another good swimmer on the team,

Don't worry, you'll always have a special place in my heart

I decided to put the good of my swim team over you, my dear reader, and was forced to put my blog on hold.

       3. It's Summer

               Ever since summer started, just like I envisioned, I have spent the majority of my time writing a book, conducting research, bboying, exercising, lifeguarding, interning, cooking, and generally being productive.

                               

Whatever, it's only June

                However, on some level though, I have been taking some time off from the daily grind of work, interning, and online computer games to sit back and think about where I am. Because now is a time when I need to focus on what discipline I want to specialize in, I have been thinking about which I would best function in and contribute to the world with. Some things I've been doing are brisk runs at sunrise, half-day bike trips around a natural environment, philosophical reading, and staring at a lava lamp before bedtime. If any one of you gets the chance, I really urge you to at least wake up early one day and at least take a short walk around your neighborhood. It is akin to taking a breath of fresh air while working in a paint factory. 

                                        Bottom Line: I'm back, and I've got lots to write about.

            Jarrod-ism for the day - "I'm haterphobic, they be mad cause i'm winning"

             Peace Out, 

                 J-rod

                        

Gun Control and How It's Failing

           Author's Note: The bombing of the Boston Marathon and the shooting at MIT are very tragic events that one shouldn't joke about. This post is not a joke, but serious commentary. I am not criticizing the law enforcement that was in the area before the incident occurred but rather offering suggestions for the future. Because most of you didn't read my other slightly serious post on Capitalism,  I will make this post shorter and will include a tl;dr at the end.

            America's long and bloody relationship with guns and gun control dates back to even before the nation existed. One of the prime sparks that set off the American Revolution was the fact that the British soldiers stationed in America in 1775 attempted to seize the stock of colonial firearms in Concord. Determined to defend their guns, the Americans fought the unofficial first battle of the Revolution.
             As the nation matured, the issue of gun control has come up more and more frequently: especially in modern times. Notable and tragic examples include the Virginia Tech Massacre, the Columbine, the Dark Night Shooting, and recently, the Bombing of the Boston Marathon/ The MIT shooting. With each gun control incident, the nation has gone into an uproar and called for more gun control regulation. Even now we are discussing the possibility of a universal background check before one can purchase guns.
              Sadly, for all the restrictions on gun purchasing, it will still not help prevent the worst future shootings. For all our background checks and the like, we are assuming that anyone who wants to get a gun will do it through LEGAL means. In all honesty, if someone wants to get a gun to kill a lot of people, he/she is not likely to walk into a store and politely buy one. Instead, the criminal in question is likely to obtain through illegal means, thus bypassing all the background checks and other safety measures.
               However, it is still possible to take action against future massacres. Our country doesn't need MORE gun control laws, we need more ENFORCEMENT of those laws. Instead of debating about gun control laws that are not likely to prevent criminals from obtaining weapons, we should be debating about cracking down on gun manufacturers and foreign firearm imports. In order to prevent people from illegally obtaining weapons, we need to crack down on where they're getting them, not where they ought to be be getting them. Ironically, the gun control laws actually make it harder for law-abiding citizens to obtain guns for the purpose of self -defense, another potential site of reform. With our nations obsession with guns, the availability of firearms isn't going anywhere anytime soon, we just need to exercise much stronger control over it.

              tl;dr - US doesn't need more gun control laws, it needs more enforcement of existing gun control laws and a crackdown on illegal firearm sources.

              Your Jarrod-ism for the day - "If I were a god, I would wish to be more"

              Memorize it
              Believe it
              Live it
              Spread it

       Peace out,
             J-rod

Something New

        Author's Note: Like the title says, this post is different from my past posts. If you read my blog for sarcastic insults to various parts of society, then feel free to skip this post.

      As devout followers of Jarrod-ism, you probably know by know that money and individual initiative are what make the world go 'round. However, money and individual initiative cannot hold the world up. If everyone only operated with incentives of money and personal gain, the world would dissolve into a chaotic vortex of individuals that only serve their own interests. A world such as that would not be beneficial to anyone; Individuals at the bottom would be crushed and oppressed while people at the top would be constantly afraid of backstabbing competition. Differently from making the world go 'round, the spirit of being considerate of others and otherwise trustworthy is what holds the world up.
        So for today's lesson, I would like to point out the difference between being considerate and being an opportunist. The opportunist is the attention whore. He is kind to others solely for the approval of everyone else. The opportunist is just as bad as the enemies of Jarrod-ism (socialists) who live for the collective rather than themselves. On the other hand, true followers of Jarrod-ism are able to commit random acts of kindness solely for the sake of doing them. Because a Jarrod-ist is doing something nice and considerate solely because he wants to help is in line with spirit of living for yourself. In short, it is not empty sucking-up kindness that holds the world up; Rather it is the acts of generosity that are done in private that reaffirm my belief that humans are not completely horrible.
         Reach out, spread the word. If you see someone who looks lonely and sad, just smile at them or wave. Let them know that there's someone out there who cares. It's not that hard. It's a wonder that not many people do it.

         Your Jarrod-ism for today - "A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference"

Memorize It
Believe It
Live It
Spread It

          Peace out,
             J-rod

P.S. - Posts without sarcasm will be quite rare, read 'em while you can!

The Problems of College Admission Season

          Author's Note: I am not attempting to maliciously insult any Universities in the United States in the world nor am I making fun of this year's college applicants.

          Recently as I finished up another glorious day of being Jarrod, I received an unexpected yet welcome surprise. After finishing a long and easy swim practice, my coach handed me a letter of recruitment. At first I was excited that the Ivy League Universities were finally noticing my immense talent as an individual, an athlete, and a god. Then, I looked where the letter was from.
                                                      

                                                               Oh well, safety schools are good too

             However, upon thinking upon the issue for some time, I realized that there were no bad schools and that it truly was a shame how only one school could have an individual as amazing as me. So, if you, my faithful follower, have been adhering to the teachings of Jarrod-ism, you may well be faced with the same problem that I will inevitably face - too many college acceptances. When you do face this problem, be sure to solve it in a manner that complies with the principles of Jarrod-ism.

          1) Once you receive your 15 or so acceptances, place the acceptance letters of the Colleges you are NOT going to (such as Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, RISD, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, and Caltech) on your school's wall of rejection. After all, you ARE  rejecting those colleges.

                                                        I'd go to Asian hell for turning this down

           2) For every college you reject, be courteous enough to send them a formal letter of rejection. An exemplary letter might be as follows:

             Dear Harvard Undergraduate Admissions,
                       Thank you for your letter of acceptance. However, upon careful examination of all the schools I was accepted to, it is with sincere regret that I am unable to commit to your school.
                       This year has been the most competitive year for college letters. I have received 16 letters of acceptance so far for my enrollment in various private institutions. Understand that this is in no way indicative of your worth as a school and I am sure that you will find a great number of bright undergraduates that will go far in their respective fields. With so many well rounded and prestigious institutions that gave me acceptance letters, I hope you can appreciate the difficulty I faced of selecting only one of them.
                        If you still wish to have me as a student, I would welcome a letter soliciting a potential transfer from the school I will be in at the time.
                                                                                                           Best Wishes,
                                                                                                                  Jarrod Mock
                       
                                                         

         
                                       Non-followers of Jarrod-ism say these exist, I'll take their word for it

Your saying of Jarrod-ism for the day: "Colleges don't reject me, I reject colleges"

Memorize It
Believe It
Spread It
Live It

Peace out,
    J-rod

P.S. Regarding the frequency of posts, I will try to do at least one post per week but please be understanding if that is not always the case. After all, writing can't be forced.

       

The Merits of Capitalism and its Relation to our Education System

          Author's note: I'm honestly not implying that i'm part of the "1%. Also, part of this post talks about a touchy subject, and I agree that yes, school stress is unhealthy and there should be efforts to ease it for most students.

        The economic system of capitalism is simple; Capitalism is the federal policy in which the rights of the individual are stressed as much as possible. In short, a complete divorce of state and economics. It sounds like a good thing right? The most intelligent and hardworking members of society are rewarded and given exactly what they deserve while those who do not contribute are taking our orders for a big mac and fries. However perfect as this system sounds, there is a large group of people who declare themselves the "99 percent" and who publicly condemn the "1 percent".

       The basis of their argument is simple. The 99 percent think that because the 1 percent have more money and live more comfortably than they do, the entire economic system in America is unjust and discriminatory. In a way, yes it is discriminatory. However, it is still for the greater good. The 1 percent of society that are at the top of the capitalist pyramid deserve all the they have. They are the engineers of tomorrow and they are the ones who pay for public projects such as roads and bridges. Ironically, the 1 percent also pay for the federal handout services (social welfare / unemployment benefits) that a substantial amount of the 99 percent can't live without. The 1 percent also take up a majority of the tax burden that the federal government requires. If the 1 percent goes down to the shit storms of the 99 percent, the 99 percent is gonna get screwed over by higher taxes and less government handouts. Like I said before, the basis of their argument is simple... and stupid.

         The benefits of capitalism far exceed bailing out the millions of people that make up the 99 percent. With the capitalist system that keeps the tax burden relatively low for the rich, it sends them the message to keep being rich. It is the equivalent of our friendly neighborhood Uncle Sam telling everyone " Go out! Invent! Do something good for the country!". Likewise, a more socialist economic system is similar to Uncle Sam telling us "It's ok, I got your back even if you don't work". In short, capitalism is beneficial to both the 1 percent and the 99 percent, even though the latter group may not be able to see it.

         Our current education system is strikingly similar to capitalism. The top 5 percent of students enjoy scholarship money, special internships, and acceptance into the most prestigious schools in the country. The other 95 percent of students talk about how stressful and unfair the school system is; which I completely agree with as well. Think about this is in relation to capitalism, albeit on a much smaller scale. Within a typical American high school, the top 5 percent will be running student government, doing science projects, and going to public speaking competitions that will all bring prestige and grant money to the school. The top 5 percent create the study guides, explain the most difficult concepts, and carry the other 95 percent on projects.

         The topic of how grades are a terrible system of judging students could not be more simple. The grading system is fine the way it is and should not be changed. Schools are not training students to be the best people they can be, that training comes from friends and the home. Rather, the schools' job is to prepare the students for the world after school. In the real world, most companies are gonna judge a person on their worth to the company, not how much of a good person they are. Corporations are not going award grants to scientists based on how sociable they are, they are going to give it to the scientists that have the best work and present it in the most understandable way. Colleges do not have time to personally know how good or bad of a person each applicant is. They don't accept people, they accept applications.

          However, that is not to say that being a good person is completely unimportant. Being a good person is good for one's conscience and the happiness of those around him/her. Also, because colleges accept applications and not people, rejection from a college or not getting a job is actually not indicative of how good of a person you are. The admissions officers and judges are not judging based on how you are, but rather just your application. Whether we like it or not, we live in a starkly capitalist society and there's nothing we can do to change that. Luckily, it seems to benefit both the 99 percent and the 1 percent.

Your saying of Jarrod-ism for the day - " I do not say good game because I never face defeat"

Memorize It
Believe It
Live It
Spread It

Peace out,
    J-rod

       

   

Jarrod, that's me

What's my name? Jarrod Mock

What's your name? Doesn't matter

What am I doing? Trying to enlighten you on your path to success

What should you be doing? Reading my posts and absorbing my infinite wisdom 

    In learning the teachings of Jarrodism you, my faithful follower, shall soon learn to not only overcome your obstacles but to laugh derisively in their faces. I hope to not only teach you how to win but to also educate you on how to make your winning-ness be known. You will learn the all important, all encompassing motto and be able to recite it in 3 seconds or less. I hope to educate you on the on the cultural beauty of hip-hop and rap music. You will learn the importance and merits of sleep deprivation and overwork. You will learn proper use of smack talk such as "gg no re all because of me", "try harder," and the sacred rules of using hashtags. You will convert others to jarrod-ism and you'll have fun doing it.

    As far you're concerned i'm god. Not in the literal sense but in the sense that you should bow down before me and admit that i'm the best at everything.

  

    "Arrogance is the fountainhead of human progress" 

 

Memorize it

Live It

Believe It

Spread It

Peace out, 

    J-rod