KT

A) I'm not being facetious at all. Read up on all that stuff, read all the issues of The Economist you can find, and then notify me when you've made an impact on society due to reading it. I'm talking primarily about politics (I thought that's what the post was about?). Obviously with science or medicine or something, anyone could improve "the world" by inventing medicine, but more of a correlation between work/school and discovery and not reading journals/discovery. Though, if you read a Neuroscience journal and somehow instantly discovered something new and amazing, that was a well spent 3.95 (or 4.95 or w/e).

I think it's a different mindset out in the burbs...in the city, you just want to earn enough to get a decent place to live, leave work before 9, and not work on Saturday.

If reading journals and stuff makes you feel like you've got a handle on the situation and you're improving it, then go for it. If you want to read something that's actually accurate and good, get Roll Call. It costs $250 a year and gives you the inside scoop on the D.C. political happenings. If you read that for awhile you'll realize our whole government is pretty much hopelessly inefficient, completely driven by micro-scale concerns (DeLay didn't personally like housing bills, so he killed all housing bills) and graft, and is only "successful" because of our massive tax base.

B) Where is this campaign going? Is it supposed to end soon? I remember awhile ago Rob said "from here on out (I can only post once a day)." So does "from here on out" mean that the blog has a specific ending point? If it (this party) is supposed to go for awhile, I'll keep playing conservatively. If it's supposed to end in a month anyway, I won't.

C) If you live in a binary world where option 1 is to care about wanting to change the world by reading journals, or option 2 is to eat fast food and live a vacuous life, perhaps you should consider two further alternatives: 1- the existance of any sort of gray area at all, and/or 2--the practicality of being efficient with one's energy and time. As an example of the later: I like to volunteer at the animal shelter, and walk the dogs who haven't been getting much attention. Unfortunately, since I am not changing the world, I supposed I had best trade that hobby in for a Big Mac and some Liquid Silk? I've joined political groups and rallys in Chicago, I've been to the Obama rallys and talked with his supporters...have you guys done much beyond reading a journal here or there? Nevermind, I suppose I should just buy a couple magazines, sit at home, and feel empowered.