On materialism

"What bothers me the most is the rampant materialism in our society. It's not just celebrities; although, like you said (in *this* video) they're the ones that COULD be making the biggest positive impact. It's the poor, middle class and upper middle class (mostly), and the rich. When I park on campus, I too often pull up next to a monster truck. When I jog through the streets in my neighborhood, it's a sea of tinted windows and shiny rims.
Christmas just having recently passed, witnessing this just further fuels my anger. People can't/don't want to see the large problem with running out to retail stores and wasting money on piles of stuff so we can collectively celebrate our consumerism. I'm well aware of the drawbacks of communism and totalitarianism (Western European socialism is working the best right now), and I know you were joking about the totalitarian government thing. But how many years will it take before it becomes obvious that capitalism has caused more destruction over the last few decades than there would have been otherwise with communism keeping America's materialism at bay? The not-so-distant future when world hunger, poverty, and inequality spiral completely out of control."

-Tony C

Justin Fahmie's story

At 15 years old, my stomach began to feel not quite right. After a few months my mom noticed I was slowly withering away. Nearly 6 feet tall, and barely covering 100lbs. Local docs were hopeless. My mom fought for me to get admitted to children's hospital. 

Children's hospital finally found the problem.. Some weird thing called Crohns. At the time the word meant nothing to me. A cool nurse hid me a nurse laptop station, so I could use the Internet and research. 

So I spent the week or however long I was admitted for researching. Learning what I was in store for. I also found people like Lorraine and Joel at this time. My first real support group. 

Soon after eating the hospital I went to the CCFA camp hope on the mountain. Where I spent time with other kids with Crohns. It was overall a decent time. I saw many who felt like I did. One of which I still contact to this day. 

Transitioning into an adult with Crohns has been a nightmare. Doctors have no compassion. The doctors who care are so held back by laws and policies they can't be effective. Medications don't work, doctors don't believe you, it's a vicious cycle 

Now, 32 years old. More than half my life I've been in agonizing pain and no one, not a single person. Can help me. Doctors throw drugs at me, then it's my fault they don't work. 

How would you feel spending your life like this? Not just daily.. 

EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY AND IT NEVER ENDS.

- Justin Fahmie
Pueblokc@gmail.com