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“The true philosopher and the true poet are one. And a beauty, which is truth, and a truth, which is beauty, are the aim of them both.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Nick A. Jameson is a philosopher-poet and ideologue with strong progressive convictions and a history of creative endeavors, including the conception of left-leaning political, economic, business and spiritual theories. Residing in Bend, OR, Nick was born in Fort Bragg, CA, and has spent most of his life in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties, CA. He has a BA in Business Economics from UCSB and an MA in English from ASU. He writes both fiction and nonfiction spanning many genres, including short stories, novels, philosophy, poetry, theology, theosophy and sociopolitical theory.
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Nick’s Self Synopsis:
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Born in the redwoods of coastal Northern California in the former mill and fishing town of Fort Bragg, my early years were trouble-free times of youthful exuberance. I was very much a rural kid, playing sports with friends, catching critters, exploring the forest, shooting bb guns, swimming in the river and ocean and eating blackberries off the bush until my hands were stained purplish-black and my stomach ached. At the age of six my father was transferred to the rapidly urbanizing town of Santa Rosa, CA, in the heart of the Sonoma County Wine Country, an hour north of San Francisco. There, I gradually transformed into a video gamer with a strong creative streak. In my adolescence I concocted elaborate games for friends that captured their attention for hours on end, often during school hours. Some of these games were centered around toys, but the more popular were produced on paper, which I called “paper games.”
As I matured I came to the same conclusion that most young, observant people come to: Money is the root of freedom, for freedom is purchased, not freely given. I knew that I had to do everything possible to accrue as much cash as possible, so that I could do what I wanted and be who I pleased. This culturally-pervasive mindset continued through most of college, during which I attended the University of California at Santa Barbara and studied Business Economics, afterwards entering the real estate business. I was highly motivated by the orthodox ambitions inculcated into western youth by way of our aristocratically-hailing conservative culture and, through them, decidedly driven to pursue what most consider the hallmarks of ‘success:’ a lucrative career, the socioeconomic rank and all the trappings. This was before I realized the subjectivity of ‘success,’ and the fact that the greater form is that which Einstein alluded to: “Try not to become a person of success, but, rather, a person of value.”
Thus, the doubts that I’d begun developing during my last couple collegiate years (coalescing during the 2008 financial market implosion that penalized the many, especially the disadvantaged, for the evil of the privileged few) that following the traditional path was the best, most moral and progressive use of my abilities. Upon inspection, and in tracing the full causality, I realized that this path produces parasitism and suffering. The more you’re said to ‘make,’ the more you take. Nothing materializes from nothing, and capitalism unbalanced by socialistic principles and equity-sharing is less about freedom and hard work than it is about exploiting disadvantage.
My heart and conscience thereby began to crystalize around the greater concept of success: defining it in terms of the creation rather than the extraction of value. Later, as my spiritual awareness grew and I began to sense that ‘listening to your heart’ is more than mere fleeting emotion, but a tapping into a truer, fuller form of universal Self, my earlier doubts converged with my contemplations to form the first seeds of my ideology, and everything changed.
Though I continued to struggle with some serious health issues at the time, much of which continues to plague me, on another level I came into myself and began to harness a deep sense of purpose. I realized that I’m meant to translate the spiritual messages being conducted through my heart, which, combined with my intellectual inspection of the world, have led me to some profound conclusions about the nature of existence and the greedy heart of western culture compromising our collective potential.
I moved away from the business world and committed to exploring the realm of ideas and language, earning an MA in English from Arizona State University. At the same time my innate creativity found a grander outlet in conjunction with my naturally-philosophical mindset, and I began practicing the ancient art of storytelling whilst simultaneously seeking the underlying nature of reality, formulating my own ideologies and envisioning the type of societal systems that might someday steer humankind away from a ‘greed is good’ attitude that minimizes total quality of life on earth, and towards systems serving all of humanity.
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Some work from my Master’s program at ASU:
https://sites.google.com/view/naj-asu-ma-english
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I find that most people tend to feel threatened by thinkers; by those that possesses the capacity and inborn drive to formulate and understand ideas and subjects on a level which they don’t, or can’t.
The vast majority would much rather that you simply fit in, playing your part in upholding the status quo, even if you’re revolted by it. This is what it is to ‘be professional,’ and to ‘contribute to society’ in the minds of most. You’re a ‘naïve idealist’ and distracting nuisance to think and act otherwise.
Thus, instead of supporting such thinkers, their ideas and works, most people’s instinctive response is to try to destroy them; to tear them down and thereby eliminate the threat to their own pridefully-insecure egos. This is even more true when the ideas being advanced by the thinker are a threat to their livelihood or worldview, which meets with an ever uglier, more self-defensive response. As arrogant as this no doubt sounds, I find this phenomenon to be a prevailing force in my life; a force pushing me away from people so as to avoid ruffling their overly-sensitive feathers.
At the same time, one of my greatest aspirations is to seek-out and cultivate a community within which I and others like me can be myself/ourselves, and to push as many people currently ‘on the fence’ over that fence and into this progressive fold as possible. I seek community; solidarity; shared, creative endeavor and progressive purpose. If you feel the same way, please reach out!
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Critics are commonly derided as cynics, a word used to denote those with a pessimistic view of the world; one dictionary synonym is “prophets of doom;” an example of conservative propaganda built right into the dictionary. In reality, cynicism is a blending of idealism and realism. It is based upon a realistic doubt of how things are presented, and the realization that people and profit present false fronts in order to pursue the maximization of their interests; interests which are very often mutually exclusive with the best interests of those to whom they’re presenting those false fronts.
Such ‘cynicism’ is thereby not only necessary to see the truth and protect yourself from the costs of being a victim of indoctrinating propaganda, but is also my version of ‘realism;’ as opposed to the version that’s actually immoralism; that’s motivated by the need to justify immorality on the pretense of ‘it’s simply the reality that human beings are inherently evil, and will act against others for their own self-interest.’ In the commercial sphere this is summed up as ‘it’s just business.’
Yet the reality is that there’s a critical difference between humans being inherently corruptible through limitations and susceptibilities of body and mind and people being inherently evil; and it needn’t be ‘just business’ to prey upon weaknesses of people and planet; there are better, far more just, sustainable ways of organizing and engaging in business that will ultimately prevail.
So, you see, ‘cynics’ have their own motivation, and, in fact, it has nothing to do with negativity and being a ‘prophet of doom,’ but more like seeing the causes of doom and attempting to save oneself and others from it. For when you truly begin to grasp cynicism, you’ll find that it has a PROGRESSIVE motivation at its heart, and persistently reminds us of truths gleaned from a ‘cynical’ doubt of others’ presented motives and the results of conservative practices BECAUSE its proponents are motivated to FIX THE PROBLEMS and pursue idealistic solutions.
There can be no solutions (i.e. ‘progressivism’) without first doubting the presented reality that prevents us from pursuing said solutions (i.e. ‘cynicism’). You’re a cynic, or you’re a victim.