blog #9 Public Private

            Private or public in a community revolves around the consequences.  The results of any action is the most important aspect of any decision.  The best way to start is to determine a method of how to distinguish between what is necessarily public community information. Therefore, relevance is the key.  Especially since doing the most good for the most people is always the general goal. I decided that the extent to which the spheres or sub-communities that are most affected is what decided public vs. private. An action may be done in private but eventually have community wide repercussions.  I believe it is possible to suss out the immediate drawbacks of any action, then such analysis can be used to recognize if it need be public or not.  Of course such a  definition can leak over into more controversial territory but in general I think this rule works. 
          On the surface I would not say nation has a place anywhere in my life. A nation is not something I consciously think about. I remember where I am from but not in the ideological terms that are discussed here.  There are no political ideas attached to my memories or associations.  Though it does make me wonder about the particularly American or Jamaican things I do.Nation is involved with the activities I take part of and with the freedoms I have. For instance, the everyday struggle with consumerism along with various addictions that seems to plague mostly American citizens like shopping, excessive eating or hoarding.  I find it hard to believe such compulsions are as common anywhere else.  I suppose nation a should occupy my mind on days like July fourth but they do not.  I see them as days people shop. If I am incorrect please tell me.  A nation occupies my mind when I fill out official documents like: driver's license or applying for citizenship.  Or while I try to decode which box I should check. Am I black?  Or do I write Jamaican in the "other" line?  A nation, I guess then, does not play a pivotal role in my personal but a subtle one at best.