[Rant] Long Political Rant
Disclaimer:
Anyone reading this expecting me to claim allegiance to candidate + VP choice X and that candidate + VP choice Y is a big doo-doo-head will be sorely disappointed. As far as I am concerned it's kind of like the tag-line from AvP: "No matter who wins, we lose". In the end it will boil down to whoever winds up becoming the devil we know and come November I will cast my vote for the lesser of two evils. Not that it matters much anyway since unless you're part of the Electoral College that popular vote of yours counts for dick-all anyway.
Further Disclaimer:
You will see crackpot theories concerning recent events that are meant to provoke your decaying mental processes. Just because I'm not some whack-job who believes the Antarians are dropping planets into our dying sun, nor a collector of Nazi war memorabilia, doesn't mean I can't enjoy a good conspiracy or two. FNORD.
Background Details of Import:
Like all revelations that cause a paradigm shift let me first describe where I come so you may get a better idea of what bias may color these words of wisdom.
I would consider myself a moderate conservative with a focus on family and moral values (ironic considering my current status as Hermit). Though I favor the Pro-Life stance over Pro-Choice I will neither criticize someone over something they had no conscious control over, nor will I throw red paint (representing the blood of aborted fetuses) at people walking into the local Family Planning clinic. I'm also not against the Death Penalty so long as it remains as humane and cruelty free as killing another human being is possible - Sometimes the greater good must be maintained by trimming a few diseased branches off the bonsai.
My religious foundation lies somewhere within the Protestant Christian flavor but I have a stronger belief in that there is more than one path up the spiritual mountain. I suppose I could say I am more Discordian in nature than anything else (never mind that Eris' will is fickle in the best of times and to think otherwise would be like partaking of the hot-dog bun). I loathe those who are so blinded by their beliefs that they want to cram it down our throats because they are misguided into thinking that their way is better (God I love you very much but please save me from your sons' lunatic fan-club). Practice whatever you want in the confines of your domicile and as long as it doesn't involve human sacrifice or forcing people to do things against their will then I say have at it. Also, like my Jewish and Muslim cohorts, I believe Jesus was a simple prophet with a few good ideas on faith and morality whose message got garbled in the subsequent retelling.
A person's sexual orientation doesn't matter so long as it does not involve any long-term non-consensual physical or psychological damage. What two consenting (or three, or more) people do behind closed bedroom (or kitchen, or living room) doors is really no concern of mine as long as everyone involved has fun, a good time and connect like people who are afflicted by love would. Just be smart about it so there are no "happy accidents" nine months later. Besides which if I frowned upon the whole Gay-Marriage topic there would be less hot lesbians for me to drool over (just keep that cup you two girls are holding far-far away from any camera).
The color of a person's skin is also no real concern of mine (Asian lesbians, what's wrong with that?). In the end we are all bags of mostly water flapping our meaty lips together to produce sounds. I for one await the coming of our new mechanical overlords.
I abhor stupidity. Unfortunately regardless of race, religion and socio-economic upbringing idiots are breeding at a dangerously exponential rate. Short of handing everyone a bent fork and pointing out the nearest electrical socket to let Darwin take its course I cannot see a better solution to this problem outside the futile effort to educate as many people as possible. One need only look at Chairmen Mao, Hitler and Stalin to see how well their ethic cleansing programs worked out to see how difficult it would be for one person to judge another inferior based on an unquantifiable set of variables. For humanity's future please cancel shows like American Idol; Nascar is just a bunch of cars going around circles really fast and isn't all that exciting when you think about it; A book is something that is meant to open ones mind to infinite possibilities and though pictures of naked lesbians is kind of hot (I sense a theme here) Hustler is not appropriate print.
Long Political Rant:
There are a number of concerns we face in the coming four years and I will try and touch those that have long-term impact. While I will do my best to offer solutions not all of these topics have an easy fix. Some will require years of careful planning and thought so it is more vital than ever for people to exercise the one organ most ignore out of petty laziness.
* Failed American Education System: I was fortunate (and in some cases unfortunate) to not be a product of the K-12 American education system. The horrifying realization is that our children perform poorly against those nations with better education systems and I feel as if for the most part parents today rely on school to baby-sit their darling angels and nothing more. It is this lazy, hands off approach, that I suspect helped fuel events like Columbine. I know some families don't have all the advantages in the world like I did (even if it did suck at times) but that doesn't forgive you for ignoring the next generation - Help teach them to the best of your abilities to not go on a clock-tower shooting spree and I think we can all work toward a more pleasant tomorrow.
* The Economy: It sucks for everyone who isn't getting fat off the spoils. Spread the wealth around so much that everyone is the same and you run the risk of people not carrying their fair share of the workload with no real means of punishing them for their inactivity. Welfare is an example of a good idea for those that really need it and is viciously abused by those who chose to take the easy path. Something needs to happen to fix this but a revolution is clearly not the answer as one need only ask the French and Russian people how their upheaval of the status quo worked out in the end.
* Peace (or lack therefore of) in the Middle East: Short of everyone kissing and making up I don't see it happening anytime soon. Countless millennia of the same shit as always has only proven that unless both sides are willing to concede they are acting like spoiled children there isn't anything anyone can do about it. The only reason there was any kind of American involvement in this hotbed was to secure the financial interests of allies (who in turn would throw money at those who made them even richer than before) and line the pockets of a few fat cats on Capitol Hill. Pulling out now unfortunately would be like trying to pull two felines in heat off one another - They mewl loudly and it would cause more long term damage than it would solve.
* Healthcare & Medicine: We are a society that is more concerned with erectile dysfunction than solving cancer, AIDS and any number of things that cripple and/or kill us. One need only look at the insane amounts of money the drug industry throws at advertising their snake-oil products to realize that things are well and truly out of control. While universal healthcare sounds fine and dandy on paper any good idea quickly fails when implemented.
* Limited Resources, Insane Gas Prices and the Environment: We are well and truly fucked. We have grown so dependant on a lot of things that are definitely hazardous for our well being the damage may be irreversible. Practical solutions that are offered are ignored/buried out of greed and will take a lot of sweat equity everyone isn't willing to put into it. While things done in the sake of progress has done some serious scaring hugging a tree isn't the only solution. A careful balance must be maintained but I don't even know if we can measure where the happy medium lies.
The Propaganda Machine:
We can trace some of the current problems we face to an age old problem - To the victor goes the spoils. For those of you not paying attention in class this means whoever survives history gets to write it preferably in such a manner that their side always comes out smelling like roses. One need only look at the events surrounding September 11th 2001 to realize just how insidious this is to the American psyche (never mind Chris Carter eerily predicted events in the pilot episode of "The Lone Gunman" eluding to a massive government conspiracy to start a war involving the WTC). I fear as if we have unfairly judged a group of people much like we judged the former Soviet Union to be the enemy and doom of us all almost thirty years prior. That is the danger of following the flock and not thinking outside the box - All in the name of national pride do we ignore the very real possibility we are all becoming mindless sheep.
So do us all a favor and make sure at worst you're just a wolf in a lamb-skinned business suit.