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Many of you may remember my crazy political rant that I used to have on my site. I took it down when I came to a realization: a rant about politics that could never come to pass and may do more harm than good is useless. I am in the midst on building a more positive philosophy. The title of this page is the key point of that.

Far too often we hear about something going on in the world that makes no sense. Most of the time you just shrug and say, "Man, that sucks, but what can you do?" That's apathy, and it's killing us. Do something about it. It doesn't have to be a lot, it just has to be something. Don't curse the darkness, light a candle to illuminate and destroy it.

Here's a perfect example. On March 25, 2002, a group of boys at an elementary school in Colorado were sent home after playing "army-and-aliens" in a remote part of the playground (you know the game, you divide into teams and you run around chasing each other pretending to be Earth's army or attacking aliens, and you have fun pointing your fingers at each other and saying "pow! pow!" or "zap! zap!"). You can read an article about the boys here. The kids were sent home, but not before they were interrogated about whether or not their family had guns at home (theoretically the school was trying to see if the children had access to weapons that they might bring to school).
    This is an aspect of Zero Tolerance, a problem sweeping the USA where small things that could be perceived as threats are punished as if they were actual threats. Kids with a finger-sized plastic gun on a keychain are suspended. An elementary school boy is suspended for offering "drugs" (lemon drop candy) to another child. And so on. It's ridiculous, and rational people know it (see here and here for articles on ZT).
    I'm not going to yell about it on the internet. I'm going to do something about it. I'm writing a paper letter to the principal of the school responsible for suspending the army-and-aliens boys, encouraging her to be rational and apologize for this mistake (I sent the letter May 23, 2002). You can see my letter here (HTML) or here (Microsoft Word). I encourage you to write similar letters or tweak my letter and mail it in (the school's address is in the letter, I found it on the internet at the school's web site). But when you write, don't be rude, condescending, or insulting. Appeal to the person's better nature. Be positive. Don't curse their darkness, offer them a light instead.

It may sound corny, but try it. Let's see if it works. Let's see if those with common sense can illuminate those without, or those who have abandoned theirs temporarily. Let's see if we can make a difference in the world, and not just retreat from its sickness.

Thanks.