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MYSTAND ON SMOKING IN PUBLIC

I have a question, is the message so urgent you have to send that smoke signal right away? That’s for people who smoke anywhere they feel like. We all know that smoking cigarettes is harmful to our health. At least if you have seen a cigarette package you have a clue of what I am saying. The kind of warnings on the package really are clear. The warnings are for the smokers. So what about the non-smokers? Who is to warn them about the health effects of being a passive smoker. They are called the second smoker or something like that, sounds to me like the person you share your cigarettes with. Jokes man.

Smoking in public, to me seems like dragging a few other humans with you to your grave. You want to cut the world population that bad? For your information, smoking of tobacco is the leading preventable cause of deaths worldwide. We are talking about 600, 000 deaths a year. Did we not see the warning signs on the cigarette packages from 1964?! Or even when the doctors pushed for smoke free public spaces in the 1970s? Here is the ABCs, smoking is a health risk to both smokers and non-smokers. Smokers should therefore inhale all the smoke from cigarettes. Wait, we still want to see them more before they are done with. So please, smokers should keep public spaces like workplaces, restaurants, parks and even homes free of the cigarette smoke. Peace, my people, smoke where you ain’t causing threat to non-smokers.

MYSTAND ON COMMUNISM

Beforehand, I thought I knew about a specific communism system that worked out. Only to research about it and find that it wasn’t even a community based on communist principles. I thought the OSHO institution was… I cannot believe it!

Communism is a type of social ideology that advocates for abolition of private properties with the sharing of resources and wealth equally amongst the community members. Karl Max got famous for putting out communism after capitalism seemed not to favor everyone in the community. He argued that capitalism was exploitative. To make matters worse, the workers were not even well appreciated for their work. This was just a ground block for communism. Over the years after, communism has grown to be accepted in different communities. At some points even those governments becoming authoritarian. Basically, communism work by resources being owned by the community with everyone working according to his ability and the produce being divided according to the needs of each. A pretty good idea. It needs firm authorities to implement though. This makes me support capitalism and socialism more than communism. I think communism is most likely to fail of all the tree ideologies. It is the most humane of the three though!

MYSTAND ON CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM

I heard the talk on socialism and capitalism from a friend some time back last year. All I could get from the talk was that both had failed at different instances. Why argue which economic or political theory works best? It sounded off to a point. Not today though, I woke up ready to read through the boring political/economical theories to know why they are such a big deal in matters of money.

I will kick off with Capitalism. Capitalism is very simple and I can relate it to the jungle survival mode. You got the power you got what you want( without the killing). This is how it works, some big private investors get to control the production and supply of products in the market without the interferance of the government. The big dogs run the city. The capitalist simply get the say so. This mode of production only favors the capitalists and not the whole community. There is a lot of work on how capitalism works and I will not get much into it. The principle behind it is that you work extra hard to get to the top of the food chain or else ypou have no say over what is going on in the production and supply industry of country. In short you got your own back. Just get some willpower man, works just fine!

Socialism on the other hand came latter on, influenced by the Great depression after WWI and The Great recession after WWII. It was in favor of the millenials who better put where the majority of the active people in the industry by then. This system works by the government controlling the production of products in the industry. The government is also responsible for the food and employment of its citizens. Sounds like the typical modern day man. Always trying to keep things in order so that no one fails. Socialism has worked well in a number of countries e.g. China, Cuba and Vietnam.

So, between socialism and capitalism, which one would I choose. I think I will stick to Capitalism and Socialism, they are both ok. If you are determined enough and put in the effort you are destined to make it in either of the systems. I happened to see something on communism as I was reading on these two, my next blog will be on that.

MYSTAND ON COLLEGES AND CAREERS

Did you know that looking for a job is a job? Now you know. You can ask the thousands of college graduates out there. When students get called to colleges to pursue their dream careers it is always a nice thing. A dream come true for most. For me it wasn’t that blissful, story for another day. So colleges are meant to provide students with knowledge on their career. Help them land a good paying job afterwards. Well, this is not the case in most countries. College dropouts are increasing daily. What is not happening? Is it the carees or the colleges that are to be blamed? What do you think?

My 5 years in college has taught me a lot. One major thing is that I only got myself to blame for my failures. Owning up sounds better. Colleges teach us a lot, the lectures teach students a lot in colleges that is. What they don’t teach is how to actually get the job done. You end up graduating with very little skills. A couple of my friends who are newly employed tell me the kind of job expected of us( in our course) is far from what we have been learning all along! I got tempted to dropout for sure. This is not the only issue, there are so many people who have been employed working in places they didn’t even study for in colleges. So what was that degree for? I can keep on and on about colleges and the way they have fallen short of the world expectations. I have a better way to it though, my opinion. I propose colleges be substituted with career colleges. Where skillset is more prioritised than the loads of paper work they are stuffing on students in colleges. That, I believe, will change the quality of workers in our countries.

What were your parents doing at your age?

Today’s WordPress daily prompt to write has been inspirational. So what were your parents doing at your age? I wouldn’t know what exactly they were doing but I have a little information to give me a clue what they were up to. My dad, at my age was already working his days away as a mechanic in some company I won’t mention. My dad has been working hard to provide for his for a long time. He is one guy I get to appreciate every other single day. He is a clear definition of a father, a responsible one to be precise. At my age my father most definitely had what he wanted in life figured out. He was so much engraved in it I believe he didn’t have time to get away from his path. Otherwise he wouldn’t be a success. The reason this daily prompt got me so inspired is because I have been looking for what I really want to dedicate my 10,000 hours to. Like my dad did. My question to myself today is what am I doing now that my kid will hear about or be told about and spark his interest? Oh, big up to you dad. For my mother, I have to ask, not a lot of stories are told. Though I know she was a good tailor. Remember getting the sewing machine’s needle through my finger while at her workplace! She is a loving woman.

MYSTAND ON SPORTS IN COLLEGES

It just occurred to me while writing on this post that the 2022 all African games was hosted by the college I attend! For 2023 it will be in Accra, on a date not yet decided upon. If you have been following my blog you know I quite rugby. I still have the sports spirit in me, enough to care about the sports culture in our colleges.

Colleges have a lot of talent. Students just don’t have the time to take part in the games. Plus, the schools are not making it even worth their time. Yes, I am talking about the allowances. Colleges should step up on their funding too. In my world, I see colleges as a place for socializing and having fun and discovering lots of other skills. Colleges should be the place where young athletes are mentored. We would have better sports competitions all around the globe! Thrilling stuff to watch. Just a matter of investment man, oh, I am talking about the Kenyan colleges because I know some countries have their colleges in check. If this gets far, can our colleges get more funding for sports, we are tired of the learning all year long.

MYSTAND ON SCREEN TIME

My posts have been on a somehow adult mode. Soon I’ll be telling dad jokes. On screen time, it takes no astronauts to tell you it should be limited. From adults to children, wait, from children to adults. Screen time is the time spent on our smartphones, tablets, computers, video game consoles, we should add Virtual reality too! We are humans, we seek to to get entertained ones in a while, though we tend to extend our time. Those who work online probably are saying I am nuts, well, you guys also need a stretch some time. Or you can just beat the hell out that computer and be free of it.

Why am I concerned about screen time? Here it is, some part of the whole, that is. (You can look up more information if you get intrigued by it.) Extended screen time can disrupt our sleep cycle. Poor sleep means poor performance. Studies show that high amount of screen time is associated to weight gain. Man, I think I’ll try this out, been trying to gain a couple kilos. Screen time in children can affect their cognitive development. More screen time is associated with less cognitive function with links to anxiety and depression. Children who have more screen time are also more probably not to take part in physical activities, this is true with adults too. Screen time also affects the academic performance of children and I won’t explain how. These are just a number of effects on the amount of screen time one has. It is in this topic that my favourite artist has a similar opinion. Chronixx says Television is the worst. I say screen time should be very limited. We have all we need around us. Limit your screen time my people.

MYSTAND ON RACE

Mark my words, I did not say races or racism. I am probaby talking about car races. Cars of different colors. Racing. I figured out I needed some information on human races. What could make one think one race was superior than the rest?! I kind of had Adolf’s number but he is not answering. Could you guys get me some other guy for me to ask my numerous questions? I am paying handsomely…

From my research, Race is not scientific but a socio-cultural construct. That sounds like hiding away from reality. Here is a reality check, there are different human races in the world. I only knew of two by name before this blog. Not that the others were less significant or something but I just did not have time to find out about the rest. Not that I was even interested in the human races. First of all getting to know yourself as a person is far much more time consuming and important that whoever gets to see one race superior than the rest must be super genius or have some super powers of some sort. Or mad!

Many platforms are trying to say there are no races. Some even getting to points of telling someone he can self designate his race. I am not for that. Why are people hiding from the truth so much? Human races exist and it is such a beautiful thing. We should not try to dress it up. Instead, we should educate ourselves on races and racism, advocate for change, call for inclusivity of all races and interact with other human races as much as possible. As a matter of fact, I am ready to be invited to anywhere in the world to be around people of a different race. Just make sure there is plenty of food. Let us all embrace the wonderful human races.

MYSTAND ON ABORTION

I wrote this blog post right about noon. I thought I had published it but alas! Here it is all the same.

Abortion is a hotly discussed topic worldwide and I thought I can give my thought or two on it. Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy so that it does not lead to the conception of a child. There are a number of things, reasons, that may lead to an abortion. Some are “justified” while some “aren’t”. I say justified because in some cases the medical institutions and government agree to them. Such cases are when the pregnancy is due to rape or incest or when the baby’s organs are underdeveloped to the point he can’t survive, and if the pregnancy poses a threat to the mother’s life. Those are the instances abortion is termed legal. These are very narrow case scenarios, don’t you agree? So what about the rest of the women who don’t fit here? This is what makes abortion so controversial. I first heard of abortion when I was 10 years old. I wouldn’t dare tell the story, it’s a pretty sad one.

This is a topic which I’ll have to take sides. Some women will say I shouldn’t be talking about abortion. Well, a man and woman both contribute to the making of a baby. So the termination of a pregnancy should be a decision made by the two. This abortion topic really got me wondering why people have sex? Why do you have sex? It’s so sad if you end up getting more surprised when the lady gets pregnant, call it unwanted or unexpected. In life, probably in every single situation they say you will never be ready. You will never be completely ready for those kids you think you know well now, if they got back to being todlers you’ll still have a hard time taking care of them! Abortion just makes sex and pregnancy sound nasty. It’s like some villain taking away your peace and life. Statistically speaking, 1 out every 4 pregnancies end up getting aborted. This is in countries that allow and those that do not allow abortion. Why not just make it legal then? Not today, not any other day friend. What good comes off abortion? In fact it is the third most leading cause of maternal deaths in the world. I can’t see the light in it. Whether safe or unsafe, abortion is a crime!