"Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal" - Pablo Picasso

In response to a recent discussion with a friend, I felt like I needed to write down my thoughts on the matter of 'plagiarism'. Pablo Picasso supposedly said that "Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal". This leads one to think about the concept.

First, I would like to discuss the idea of owning property. This is a HUGE thing in Western Culture and Capitalism. It is a normal concept to us that you own property. Be it that barbie doll or action figure that your sibling just stole and ran off into the other room with, or a house, or the book you just published. This is a seemingly normal way of life. It seems to just make sense and be the 'correct way'. We go so far as to punish those who do not conform to this idea.

From there we have to understand that this is not what the entire world thinks. In many cultures, in Asia and Africa, the concept of knowledge being 'owned' by someone is completely foreign. In Asia, quoting something from an authority on the subject is considered being the greatest respect that can be owed. Knowledge is owned by the society as a whole.

It is an interesting concept. Something to think about. It can be argued that the concept of owning knowledge, art, and such only adds more problems to society then they aid. Of course it is wishful thinking that society would change enough to allow such a thing. But it is something to consider when we start thinking about people who 'steal' copyrighted items, or download music, books, etc, or share a piece of artwork on a different website than the one it was posted on, or want a copy of a picture from a photo studio but don't have the money to pay 250 dollars for the copyrights to their own child's face that's in the picture.

Dissatisfaction in Government

Ok. As the Presidential elections loom on the horizon, I start hitting the mute button on my TV even more. I hate election seasons. Nothing is ever really achieved. But as that i was just invited to an event on Facebook entitled "Obama leaves office!" I felt like I needed to get something off my chest in regards to this. 

Throughout history people have been dissatisfied with the leaders of the world. Athens cycled through every single kind of government, tyranny, democracy (the real kind), republic, oligarchy, aristocracy, and monarchy, and were never happy with it. Emperors of Rome were killed in office, people hated the monarchs of England and France. Tribal leaders were often killed so that someone else could take over leadership. Tsars and Tsarinas of Russia have a bloody history of being murdered by their own people. Even great leaders who wanted to end suffering, like Alexander II of Russia and Abraham Lincoln were killed because some people weren't happy with their policies and changes. 

This is still alive today. People are still unhappy with current leaders. Whether or not they are actually to blame for the faults of the world. Whether or not they are actually trying to influence change. People are still going to be unhappy. No matter what the president or other current leader does, people will still disapprove. People will still complain that the leader is to blame because their lives are difficult and not perfect. It seems utterly impossible for an entire group to be pleased with government and leadership. 

Graduate School Update

I was accepted to a graduate program! YAY! Excitement!
I thought as i was fighting with all the requirements for the application that that was the hard part. I was wrong.

As an undergraduate, financial aid is handed to you. You really don't have to worry in the state of Georgia how you are going to pay for college. There was HOPE, and PELL, and then loans. Graduate School is different. All you have are scholarships that entry level students don't really have access to, and loans. Lots of loans.

but here is the other problem. As an undergrad... its unlikely that you have credit. Not necessarily bad credit... just not enough. Which means that private loaners, banks, etc aren't willing to give you the loans. and if your parents are financially burdened, they can't help you either. You're pretty much screwed.

Also, they don't accept you to these schools early enough that you can get into a decent dorm. So you are scrambling for housing.

My advice... Do everything as early as you can... because then you have more time to scramble...