Pacifism

There are some kids who would declare themselves pacifists- they say they find violence to be immoral and inexcusable. And first of all, I just want to make it clear that I'm not trying to be a dick with any of this.

I think the self-proclaimed pacifists just like the idea of being nice and unconventional. They say violence is wrong while they support the institutionalized mass murder of hundreds of millions throughout history. They claim that violence is the bane of mankind while ignoring the fact that humankind was born in blood. They declare violence to be immoral while buying products from and sending money to murderers across the world. In other words, the pacifists at Prior Lake support government, ignore ancient tribal warfare, pay taxes and buy stuff from sweatshops. 

I think I'll be getting into the whole issue of government a lot more in the future, but let me condense this perspective in a few short sentences for expediency's sake. Any form of government is merely a group deciding what is best for strangers, and killing these strangers if they disobey. Taxation is extortion: You pay up and we'll make sure nothing bad happens to you, but if you don't pay up we'll make sure something bad does happen to you.... Democracy is a sanitized version of Might Makes Right: My 51% beats your 49%, so therefore my 51% is right- obey or die. 

Born in blood? Yes, everything is born in blood. Life evolves through exploitation, cunning, cruelty, mercilessness, and brutality. Humans are no exception. And even after they become evolved to the point of civilization, or at least hunting and gathering, the bloodshed doesn't stop. History is filled with war. Whatever exists in the present day; whether it be political ideology, technology, nation-states, language, art, or culture; only exists because that's what the best killers used. 

If you disagree, then think about this: Who would when in a fight, a pacifist or a murderer?

Paying for and supporting violence? Yes, if you want to lead a normal life you are simply required to pay the salary of hit men and buy products from oppressive slave-owners. Your government will never ask you where you want your tax money to go. You cannot buy from the nicest supplier and expect to achieve any level of economic success. No, your money is taken from you by force and sent into the pockets of professional and well-equipped killers. The most successful businessmen are the most exploitive and ruthless; it's the way the natural world works. 

I think anyone calling himself a pacifist should ask, "Am I the product of millions of years of bloodshed? Do I honor killers wearing my nation's flag? Do I pay to make murder happen?" Unless you are a radical, uncompromising hero, you answer "Yes," to all three of these. And even the heroes were born in blood. 

Dance Policy

I just got back from a school-wide meeting about the Dance Policy. The school officials don't like it when the students grind and pretend to have sex while they are at a school dance. Neither do some parents, apparently. We have been told that some parents are threatening to press charges against the school because of the "inappropriate" dancing that goes on.
Hilarious.
My opinion on all of this is that if people were not meant to be sexually active before they are 18 years old (which is completely irrelevant, anyways [So what if you have survived 18 revolutions around the star]) then either the gods would prevent people from possessing feelings of sexuality before they turned 18. If sex was harmful for people under 18 then humans would have evolved some sort of prevention to it, much like how most grade schoolers don't think about getting laid. But since humans think about sex on a minute-to-minute basis well before they turn 18, it can be inferred that sex is neither objectively harmful nor is it morally wrong for people under 18.
But we are not talking about school-sponsered orgies here, are we? We are talking about get-togethers where loud music is played with cool lights and a big open area. For whatever reason this has turned into an opportunity to grind a guy's groin up against a girl's butt; of course, this can change depending on a dance couple's sexual orientation, but that's the gist of it. I personally think this is actually kind of boring. Yeah, it's sexy but to move, and pulse, and wave, and jump, and swing, and stomp to the sound of the music is a lot more fun than grinding. I would rather go to a crazy dance party than a crazy hump fest, which is what Prior Lake dances are.
But I'm not so slef-righteous to think that grinding is bad for everyone. I would prefer dancing to grinding, but I don't think that everyone should feel this way. It's just my opinion on what is more fun and some people will have a different opinion. Now, when I go to dances I am not forced to grind, nor am I forced to attend. If I don't like grinding I don't have to, and if I am so offended that I don't even want to see it happen I don't have to go. It's not like people are being slaughtered here and you need to intervene to protect human rights, people are just deciding it would be fun to grind so they do. No one is being exploited, no one is being harmed, no one is being hurt; everyone who grinds at the dances finds grinding to be beneficial to their level of happiness and satisfaction in life.
I would say that some people are selling themselves short by voluntarily objectifying themselves as screw toys, but that is their choice to make and I am certainly not going to condemn them for finding fulfillment in a different manner than I do.
So I guess I wish all three parties involved in a school dance would read this- parents, students, and the school officials. Parents need to understand that they cannot maintain their rationality while also suing the school. Students need to understand that what they are doing is not the work of the devil. And the school needs to understand the idea of respect for another's way of life.

Moseying Around By Starlight

I'm a bit tired right now, so forgive me if I seem incoherent. I need to get these thoughts down as soon as possible before they vanish and fly away from me! 

You are sitting in a chair at your house waiting for people to text you back. They don't. You check Facebook and they aren't on there, either. Someone finally sends you a message but he says he doesn't want to go clubbing, which is exactly what you wanted to do. He wants to see a movie you have already seen. You compromise and decide to use another friend's Xbox to play Halo while that kid is out with someone else. You pick up the kid, let's call him Austin or something, and you start driving. 

Friendly chatter about roads and routes, laughing. More laughing. Amiable talk. You get to the other kid's house and you say, "You know, there's a sewer system we could check out instead." And this kid, Austin, he says, "Sure, let's do it. I don't care." 

So you pull into reverse and you head back the way you came. Up the hill on Utica, left on 42, left onto Burnsville Parkway, stop at the strip mall. You go and look at the sewer, it's a storm sewer. It's too high. You go climb up the back of the strip mall instead. Up a pipe mounted on the wall. He doesn't want to come up, afraid of heights. You realize that getting back down is frightening. You find another way down, and it's also an easy way up. He comes up. You walk around on the gravel topped roof and look at the stars and talk about light pollution. You wish you could see a shooting star. 

You decide it's time to get off the roof. You know you can go down the easy way but you want to go down the hard way. You sit with your legs dangling off the roof with your hands ready to grab onto the pipe and hold securely while you slide down onto the concrete. It's too scary. You eventually do it, but not in the way you imagined yourself doing it. It doesn't look like a stunt from an action movie, but you got down. You walk up and down the strip mall and talk about a book he read for AP English, "Into Thin Air." It's about climbing Mt. Everest. He says the last thing the author talks about is how he got naked, got high, masturbated, and ate an apple in his hotel room. I'll have to check to make sure that's legitimate. 

You drive back to that one other kid's house. You're talking in the car but you don't go inside and play Halo. You say, "You know what I've never done? Laid on the hood of my car at night and looked at the stars while I talked. Let's go do that." So you do. Get on the hood of the car and it has dust that gets on your clothes. When you get on the hood it makes sounds like you're bending the metal. Whatever. 

You talk about the Sims, and how you locked a kid in a cell for 40 Sims years and fed him a bowl of rice every day. You talk about how you removed all the doors leading into your house so the IRS couldn't steal your stuff if you evaded taxes. You talk about how you had a neighbor come over before removing the doors so he never got out of the house and was constantly passed out and smelling horrible. You talk about how your brother built a Nazi house in the shape of a swastika, and had an adult named Adolf and a dozen Nazi children. The Sims was fun.

You say you want to sell your car, and he says he might buy it. But he doesn't know how to drive a manual, and you say "Let's go to the high school and I'll show you." "Right now?" "Yeah." "Sweet. Let's do it." 

You drive. You get there and the lights are off and it's completely black. You realize that the first time someone drives a stick they grind the gears and kill the engine a bunch of times. You don't want to show him how to drive stick, even though this car isn't a nice one. You say "Oh my god, we need to go and hang out on the bleachers." You point at the fenced-in football field. 

You both get out of the car and start walking. The gate is locked and you climb over. You pass a water fountain and take a drink because you're thirsty. You say "If you were a girl, I would totally go make out with you up on those bleachers." He laughs. You climb the bleachers and get to the building thing at the top, where a guy talks with a microphone and tries to get people to buy things at the games, and announces scores and whatever. You climb up on that; stand on a waist-high fence and climb up the horizontal pipes like a ladder. Getting down is easy. You make a note of the place for a cool spot to take a date or to listen to music some night. 

You both go and sit at the very top of the bleachers with your feet propped up on the seats in front of you. Hood up and hands in your pockets you are still a little cold. You don't know how the conversation starts but you talk about philosophy. He talks about how there are really big, unanswered questions like the meaning of life, morality, the beginning of life, etc. His view reminds you a lot of what went on in your head every day a few years ago. You say these questions are impossible to answer because humans do not have the information to decisively answer them. There will always be doubt in the minds of most people about the Big Bang or the nonexistence of gods. 

He says that humans and their minds could not have just happened for no reason. He says that some kind of god must have made us. He says that the creation of the universe is too complex and magnificent of a thing that a god must have done it. You say that simply because science cannot answer these questions right now does not mean that science will never be able to answer them. You say that people have always pointed at the unexplained mysteries of the world as proof of God, and, one by one, these proofs have been knocked down the accumulation of intelligence by humans. 

He isn't convinced. 

He brings up how everything is one giant hypocrisy. 

He says that people focus too much on the negative stories of religion, like crazed fanatics, and ignore the good stories of religion. Like when the pope shook hands with a Muslim guy and said, "I love you like I would any other." Or something like that. 

He says that he is so disgusted by people and the things they do. 

The discussion is riddled with interruptions and misunderstandings. It is a friendly discussion nonetheless. 

You climb down the bleachers and hop back over the fence. You notice how cold it is once you are done talking. You both hurry to the car and blast the heat at maximum capacity. It's loud and sounds funny and you both laugh at it. You are surprised how quickly it warms up. Maybe it won't be so bad in the winter. You both agree that putting your cold hands under your thighs is the best way to warm them up if the car is cold. Or if your seats are heated, you should heat the seats and put a blanket over your lap so it traps the heat in. 

You are sitting in the car talking about petty things in comparison to the discussion you had on the bleachers. You see to your left two other cars pulling in and heading towards you. They are the only vehicles in the parking lot. 

"We should probably get out of here." he says. 

"Yeah, probably. Are we going to get in a car chase?" 

You drive the car out of the parking lot and keep looking back at the cars. They are still heading towards you. 

"I think we're going to get in a car chase." 

"Turn left up here." 

"Okay." 

They stop following and you say you are both happy and disappointed at the same time that they didn't follow you.

"They were probably there to race. Or fight. Or sell weed. Or vodka."

"That sounds about right for Prior Lake."

"I have no idea where we are."

"You've never taken this route?"

"Nope."

"That's alright, I know exactly where we are."

"Cool."

"That's Nate's house right there."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Oh yeah, I remember. I went to a party there, once."

Drive home and open the front door quietly because mom is asleep and hears everything. Dad is working on his laptop and you say hi. 

"Let's make hot chocolate." 

You take a mug that you will use to drink the hot chocolate and fill it up with milk three times so you know you will have enough. You poor it into the pot and start heating it. While you're waiting you get a glass of water for both of you. You show him the posters you got from Crimethinc. You show him the book "Art of Nonconformity." He wants to borrow it and use it for his nonfiction book report. You ask dad and he says it's okay. 

The milk is warm and you stir in the chocolate mix, add a tiny bit of vanilla. When it's done it's just alright. Dad makes it better. You both sit at the table and drink the yummy beverage while each reading something. Eventually he says he should head back to his house. 

You sit at your computer and write this. 

Spirituality

The people at Prior Lake drift (typically) between alleged Christianity and agnosticism. I say "alleged" because they label themselves as Christians, and to some extent demonstrate their religious belief, but do not really dedicate themselves to their religion. They are not leading the lives they believe God wants them to lead; they lead the lives they want to lead while giving some consideration to their God. They also seem to pick and choose which parts of the Bible to believe. 

Essentially, the Christians at Prior Lake do not take Christianity seriously. If the Christians were really Christians, there would have been a bloody cleansing of blasphemy throughout the school by now. If not this, the Christians would be preaching in every classroom and pod, baptisms in the bathrooms, and communions at lunch. 

Okay, okay. Maybe I'm being a little sarcastic, but one would expect a school with nearly half of its 2000 students calling themselves Christians to have a more significant presence of religious thought and action. 

Instead, there is really none of this. Occasional references to "My man Jesus," "Heaven," "Hell," "Bible," and other keywords are sometimes heard. Even among the groups of kids who are all Christians, the topic never comes up. Judging by their actions, one would never guess that these are religious people. You hear them talking about hot girls/guys, drinking, masturbation, profanity, drug use, and generally "immoral" behavior just as much as the agnostic and/or atheist students.

And it's not like the faculty is surpressing religion. Half the teachers are Christians themselves; those who aren't are very careful to never bring up the topic of religion. If they do, they are even more careful to maintain their neutrality on the subject. The population whose kids are sent to the school is predominantly Christian as well. 

There's not prostitution or gang wars or public vivisections (when you cut a person up into little bits) or burning of Bibles or anything blatantly against the Christian religion in Prior Lake. It's just that there isn't really anything Christian about it, either. The half-assed Christianity of their parents becomes the half-assed Christianity of the students. 

This is a strange balance. Devout Christians would be pleased to see the presence of religious belief in the area, but would be disgusted to see the indifference of it. Strong atheists would be pleased to see the lack of religious fanaticism, but would be disgusted to see widespread belief in Christianity. So a weird, uncommitted "truce", if you will, is established. 

I would love to see whether or not this is common in the United States and the world, or if it is just some odd anomaly. 

Agnostics, not atheists, are the other end of the common spectrum at the school. During my interviews I often hear kids say, "There might be some force out there, and there might not be. Who knows?" These people do quite a bit of thinking before they make a statement like this, they usually have a lot to say about their religious beliefs. It's odd that the ones with little to no belief have more to say and have done more thinking than the ones who have belief. You'd think it would be the other way around. 

Once again, I would love to see whether this is just something about Prior Lake High School or if this is common to hear. 

My opinion? I'd say that the strong majority of the people at PLHS were raised in somewhere between a slightly religious to a moderately religious household. The parents's beliefs are passed to the kid and she adopts them as her own. However, if a kid is raised in an agnostic household, they won't really be taught to "sit on the fence." The parents would probably never really bring it up if they had no opinion about religion. But those who do believe in gods will certainly pass their beliefs onto their children. So the standard is to be somewhat religious, since most of the people in the Prior Lake-Savage school district are religious. Unless you deliberately question and mull over your parents's beliefs, you will accept them as your own. So the critical thinkers are usually the ones who become the agnostics, and the more receptive children are usually the ones who live as (alleged) Christians. 

I will certainly be looking into this some more.

Underage Drinking

In Prior Lake High School at least half the students I talk to say they have gotten drunk at some point. 
How does this happen? Maybe you go stay at a friend's house for a night and they want to see you drunk. Maybe they pull out the shot glasses and you down half a dozen as quickly as possible. Maybe you retch when the horrible taste hits you. Maybe you wonder why people ever drink this stuff. Maybe you all go sit on the couches and chat about how you are feeling. Maybe you feel normal but they say you're acting funny. Maybe you laugh a lot and everything seems happy. Maybe you suddenly realize that your head is heavy and you spin it around because it is fun. Maybe you say that people should do this every day before they leave the house. Maybe they tell you not to urinate because it will waste alcohol. Maybe they drink from a bottle of vodka they were going to save for the next night. Maybe you say it tastes like nail polish and you still don't know why people drink this stuff.
Maybe you loosen up and everything is just okay. Maybe you talk to them and say exactly what you mean and feel. Maybe you wish you could be this open all the time. Maybe you wish that people could be this open to others all the time. Maybe you have never had sex and you ask them all about it. Maybe they pull up a diagram of a vagina on an iTouch and tell show you where the clitoris is. Maybe you all cluster around the iTouch and you throw your arm around someone's shoulder because it just feels like the good thing to do. Maybe you ask them how they get so much sex. Maybe they tell you it's just all natural. Maybe they tell you that part of it is initiating light, physical contact and read her signals. Maybe they tell you how to read her signals. Maybe they tell you to escalate the contact bit by bit as long as she gives off good signals. Maybe they say that you should last a minute your first time, so don't feel like a faggot when you bust really fast.
Maybe they play music and you dance around to it. Maybe you feel fluid. Maybe you practice maintaining a calm, controlled demeanor in case his parents come down. Maybe you practice the drinking tests a cop will give you. Maybe you can pass them but you know it will be pretty hard. Maybe you tell them earnestly that you never ever ever ever ever want to drink and drive. Maybe they say yeah dude that's just not cool.

One kid said the first time he got drunk, as in drunk, a friend of his spent a half hour simply falling backwards onto a couch. He would stand up straight and then tilt back, and fall onto the pillows and cushions. He never said anything to anyone when he was doing this, but his friends said he probably liked how it made his head feel funny.
That same night, a kid was trying to throw darts. He took about a dozen steps back and tried to hit the target, but the dart was thrown about 60 degrees to his left and left a mark in the wall. Everyone thought it was hilarious. He said he just collapsed midway into the throw and missed completely.
When one kid was trying to pee, he stood as far back as he could and "pissed all over the place." He said it was a lot like the scene in The Hangover when Allen first wakes up.
One kid really wanted to show everyone his dick. He said, "My dick might be short, but it's fuckable," then fell back onto the couch.
One kid really wanted to lick someone else's dick. He got really close then laughed and jumped away.
These kids had sports practice the next morning and had a horrible hangover.
One of them later got a Minor in Possession of Alcohol after a party.

Drinking alcohol is a non-issue in most of the world. Strangely enough in the U.S. (the land of the "Free") it is highly illegal to drink under the age of 21. Most people ignore this law. The first time a kid drinks probably when she is with her friends. Probably past midnight. Probably at someone's house. Or maybe out in the woods. Because it is illegal for teenagers to drink, they drink almost invariably without any supervision. No one is there to tell them to stop, to tell them how to mix the drinks, to keep them from doing stupid things. But I seriously doubt anyone would get drunk with their friends while their parents were in the next room ready to baby sit them if need be. Perhaps this is just an American thing, but drinking is one of those steps you take to distance yourself from your parents and claim your own independence.

I talked to an exchange student from Switzerland about this. He said in Switzerland it's not such a huge deal, but kids still think of drinking as some kind of "independence movement." Having a beer with your parents can happen, but getting drunk with them just never happens. One exception, though, he has a friend who gets drunk and goes to clubs with his dad, but it's a rare relationship.
The drinking in his country is a lot more open and social than what PLHS kids do. Swiss kids will go to the bars and all start drinking together. Some mugs, some bottles, some wine, some shots. Friends will walk in and have a few drinks. They might go run around in the city streets for a little while or stay in the bar. Then maybe they go to the sports game a few hours later. PLHS kids will smuggle alcohol into parties like they're transporting WMDs, and it's totally bad-ass if you are intoxicated outside of the house.
I guess the Swiss kids get a 5-year head start on us with their legalized public drunkeness.

Of course I'm just a teenager who wants more liberties, but I think it is reasonable for the U.S. government to take note of the fact that alcohol-abuse rates are not higher in the rest of the world, even though kids get drunk (big kids, that is.) Maybe it's just how everyone in the U.S. is brain-washed with Health 9 lectures on how alcohol will kill you if you have not survived 21 revolutions around the star. In theory, this is just silly. In objective reality, it's asinine.

-

I heard a conversation between two kids about whether or not under-age drinking is immoral. The kid who said it is immoral brought up things like, "You're not ready for it yet," and "It's against the law." The kid who said it is not immoral countered with things like "That's completely subjective," "Laws are not moral absolutes," "Would you condemn someone for drinking wine at Communion?" Would you condemn someone for having a beer with his dad?" The kid who said it is immoral to drink under age seemed like he ran out of arguments.
My perspective on this? Those who say it IS wrong to drink underage say so because they do not question authority. Those who say it is NOT wrong to drink underage say so because either they harbor irrational disgust towards authority, or because they have thought it through on their own and arrived at the logical conclusion.

Your #2 Priority (hint- survival is #1)

I think most of the readers here do not worry about survival. I think you have food to eat and water to drink, and that no one is trying to kill you. If that does not describe you then I'm sorry but I really have nothing to offer you.
Good luck.
If, however, you can easily survive and continue existing as an organism, then I think I know what your concerns are. I think that since you do not worry about survival, you worry about happiness. A person will sacrifice happiness for survival in almost any scenario. So since you don't spend your days hunting and killing woolly mammoths with your tribe, you instead spend your days trying to be happy.
The issue, though, is how to go about achieving this so-called happiness. Besides eating, drinking, sleeping, and avoiding physical harm, everything you do is done in the hopes that it will maximize your level of happiness. (I use the word loosely, but I think you get the general idea.)
I am not assuming you are a deeply depressed individual who despises his/her life. I am just assuming that your life is not the best it can be.
I think you should change that.

Try this thought experiment: Think of your 24-hour day and everything you do in it. Think of the survival tasks (eating, drinking, sleeping, avoiding physical harm). Think of work-like tasks (school work you do not enjoy, a job, chores). Think of the time you spend being passive (watching TV/movies/mindless internet browsing, eating for pleasure, video games, hanging out with friends). Think of the time you you spend on purchasing and buying unnecessary things (nice clothes, car, phone, media). Think of all that, think of the time you spend doing those things.
Now what else do you do? Seriously think about what you do when you are not doing the aforementioned things.
How long is that list? How many minutes a day do you spend on these things? 0? 10? 30 is pushing it for most high schoolers. Most high schoolers spend their time surviving, working, buying, and relaxing. In general, most adults their time like this. Do you see anything wrong with this schedule? Where's the purpose? Where's the meaning? Where's the end result?
You survive so you can work. You work so you can buy. You buy so you can relax. More often than not, you buy too much and go into debt and work but buy too much again and work and buy and work and buy and work and buy... ad infinitum. From this model your life's purpose seems to be relaxing.

Instead I'm thinking that you should focus your attention on the time spent outside of those four categories. I'm thinking that is the good stuff. That is the productive stuff. Those are things that you do voluntarily, you are not forced to do them. And those are things that you do to feel engaged in life; you do not try to relax and distance yourself from reality when taking part in them. When you relax, you do it voluntarily but you are not engaging in reality. When you work, you do not do it voluntarily but you are engaging in reality. I'm not saying that someone sticks a gun to your head and tells you to work, but you work because you think you have to. You wouldn't do it unless you had to.

So what is "work?" Ask these questions:
Would you do this if you didn't get paid?
Does doing this make you happy?
If you answered "No" to both of these questions and you still do that thing, then it's probably work. That's not to say that work should be completely eliminated. Even activities that are productive and creative have pieces of them that are just "work." If you like the overall activity you may not enjoy each and every moment of it. For instance, I do interviews with students, but I don't get paid.  Doing the interviews makes me happy. So it's not work. But transcribing the interviews into text to put on this blog is something that doesn't generate happiness for me and I would prefer not to do, unless I got paid for it. It's work. But it is an important part of the whole process, and I really like the overall process of learning and blogging about students. The mundane processes are usually what become work, and even productive and creative things consist of a certain level of mundane tasks.
We cannot eliminate work completely. But it should be minimized and shrunk to take up as little time as possible. This sounds kind of obvious, doesn't it? But it's weird, a lot of people will work for work's sake. What we all need to understand is that being busy is not the same thing as being productive.
What do we call the stuff that we would do without being paid and that does make us happy? I would call it things like producing and creating. This is because you are usually making something that can be used in the physical sense. You are also generating happiness in yourself.

So for the next few days, I think you should take note of how you spend your time. Surviving, working, buying, and relaxing. Be aware of the time spent on these things... and then let them go; ignore them; "destroy" them, figuratively.
What is left over?

That's the stuff you should be focusing on.

Suggested Reading

Fiction
Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk)
  -Short, punchy, thought-provoking, and radical, Fight Club is a must-read for anyone who has questions about the status quo of the western society (and perhaps especially those who do not). And no, the book was not inspired off of the movie. It was the other way around. Even if you have seen the movie, the book is a great read and can make for an awesome book report. It's about a guy who is really dissatisfied with his life and society as a whole, and he meets another guy who has a half-crazy, but still valid, opinion about this world we live in.

Perks of Being a Wallflower (Steven Chbosky)
  -This book is written in an interesting manner; imagine if you received anonymous letters from a high school freshman, chronicling the events of his first year. The kid (Charlie) is really weird, unpopular, and kind of lost. He has a tumultuous year, but it makes for a great story, and the way it is written just makes you feel like you are actually talking to the kid.

Non-Fiction
Guns, Germs, and Steel (Jarred Diamond)
  -This is a phenomonal book which addresses the big questions of history: Where did we come from? And why has history played out the way it has? Diamond answers these very broad questions with the utmost care and detail. The information may turn out to be too much to handle for many readers, but it is certainly worthy of a check-out at the library by anyone interested in humankind's origins.

Greatest Show on Earth (Richard Dawkins)
  -This book will answer any and all questions you may have about the theory of Evolution. Whether you want to prepare for the biology unit ahead of time or need some help during the course, or if you are simply interested in the theory and want to learn more about it, The Greatest Show on Earth should be your first reference.

Art of Nonconformity (Chris Guillebeau)
  -One thing I hear all the time from high schoolers is, "I just don't want to work in an office." If this is something you hear yourself saying, you may want to check this book out. It has invaluable information about living life on your own terms and approaching life from an unconventional perspective.

Stress-Free College Admissions (Cal Newport)
  -While I highly recomend you read this book before you even start high school, it is never to late to start. I read it in my junior year and it did incredible things for me. The book offers a radically different approach to high school. The message? Don't take a huge load of tough classes and extra-curriculars to impress colleges. It won't work. Instead, do something interesting. That probably sounds much easier said than done, and it is, but Cal Newport gives the reader sound instruction as to how you can go about doing this. The great part about this is that you'll find something fulfilling, productive, and fun to do with your life.

Atheist Manifesto (Michel Onfray)
  -For those of us who feel confused about our parents's religious views, and their insistence that we adopt them as well, the Atheist Manifesto can give us a breath of fresh air and reason. Tackling the three monotheisms, (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) Onfray disassembles myths and the sanctity of these texts. He demonstrates the irrationality of these books and shows how they've been tampered with throughout the ages. He does not, however, address the existence of God(s) in general, instead choosing to discuss the books which claim to be written on behalf of God.

The Atheist's Way (Eric Maisel)
  -This book doesn't spend any time trying to convince the reader that there are no gods. Instead, Maisel assumes the reader has reached this conclusion and is asking the question, "So now what?" Maisel shows the reader a healthy way of approaching life and happiness without using God(s). It's not so much about religion as it is about having a meaningful life.

Generation Kill (Even Wright)
  -This is a very authentic and realistic look into the life of marines on the front line. Even Wright, a journalist for the Rolling Stone, tagged along with the Marine First Reconnaissance Battalion during the invasion of Iraq. He wrote a book full of vivid accounts of interactions between marines, their commanding officers, civilians, and the military strategy employed for the invasion. What is nice is that the focus is entirely on the soldiers, and Wright's opinions and personal feelings on the war are left virtually unmentioned.

Podcast
School Sucks Podcast (http://www.schoolsucksproject.com/)
  -Brett Veinotte hosts a podcast about the shortcomings of government-funded school. He offers a contrarian and alternative view on politics and history and public education. The podcasts are around an hour long each, but they're packed with great ideas and well worth the time (what else are you going to do, watch another B-movie?)