Contrariwise
I've been avoiding fandom cause I haven't kept up with things (Tempus remains unwatched on the DVR) and avoiding reading fic because I'm not writing any and avoiding the news because it's depressing. But still I have some thoughts.
I am both of the 99% and of the 53%. I've been fascinated by the real life stories on the tumblr site We Are The 99%. So many stories, of bad luck and bad choices, despair and dignity all mixed up together. R's theory of Enforced Equality comes into play when I try to think what this all means, as well as Marcus' idea that maybe it's a good thing that Life is not fair. The 53% people have some good points; but their ideas feel unrealistic and anachronistic. Is hard work really still enough? What about the sheer bad luck of disease and recession? Is there no allowance for bad choices? I'm all for personal responsibility, but the 53% race all the way past that and straight into Cain territory. 'Am I my brother's keeper?' , they demand with petulant bitterness and spite.
Why, yes. Yes, you are.
I try to keep to the way of 'judge not, lest ye shall be judged.' But I've found it hard recently with Steve Jobs' death. I can't get past the fact that he was an organ-shopper. I went a little ways down that path with my mom...I would have done almost anything to keep her alive. But I was always aware that with the scarcity of organs, her getting a transplant meant someone else was not getting one. Her continued life was made possible by someone else's untimely death.
The gated community that is Apple products is functional and beautiful. #1 has an iTouch which I purchased to give him a safe space to play on the Internet. Jobs was a modern American CEO-- with all the baggage that entails. Deifying him doesn't serve anyone well. A man has died. Full stop. Isn't that enough?
I have put off filling in the form to volunteer to work next year's election. I think the Presidential election is likely to be close, and it may be that we Americans will be taking one step closer to the abyss. Perhaps that's the case whoever wins. But I like the solemnity and good nature that surrounds election work. There is a little less of the cheer-leading and competition that fills the air and the airwaves. You have to work together by design, and you're continually reminded of the essential humanity of the 'other'. It may be too late, but I think I'll send it in.
This entry was originally posted at http://vjs2259.dreamwidth.org/234777.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
I am both of the 99% and of the 53%. I've been fascinated by the real life stories on the tumblr site We Are The 99%. So many stories, of bad luck and bad choices, despair and dignity all mixed up together. R's theory of Enforced Equality comes into play when I try to think what this all means, as well as Marcus' idea that maybe it's a good thing that Life is not fair. The 53% people have some good points; but their ideas feel unrealistic and anachronistic. Is hard work really still enough? What about the sheer bad luck of disease and recession? Is there no allowance for bad choices? I'm all for personal responsibility, but the 53% race all the way past that and straight into Cain territory. 'Am I my brother's keeper?' , they demand with petulant bitterness and spite.
Why, yes. Yes, you are.
I try to keep to the way of 'judge not, lest ye shall be judged.' But I've found it hard recently with Steve Jobs' death. I can't get past the fact that he was an organ-shopper. I went a little ways down that path with my mom...I would have done almost anything to keep her alive. But I was always aware that with the scarcity of organs, her getting a transplant meant someone else was not getting one. Her continued life was made possible by someone else's untimely death.
The gated community that is Apple products is functional and beautiful. #1 has an iTouch which I purchased to give him a safe space to play on the Internet. Jobs was a modern American CEO-- with all the baggage that entails. Deifying him doesn't serve anyone well. A man has died. Full stop. Isn't that enough?
I have put off filling in the form to volunteer to work next year's election. I think the Presidential election is likely to be close, and it may be that we Americans will be taking one step closer to the abyss. Perhaps that's the case whoever wins. But I like the solemnity and good nature that surrounds election work. There is a little less of the cheer-leading and competition that fills the air and the airwaves. You have to work together by design, and you're continually reminded of the essential humanity of the 'other'. It may be too late, but I think I'll send it in.
This entry was originally posted at http://vjs2259.dreamwidth.org/234777.html. Please comment there using OpenID.