A Thought: On Those Who Would Do Us Harm

If you give to those who would do you harm nothing but peace, love and understanding, those are the only things which they will have to use against you. Read more!

A Thought: On Protecting American Rights

The moment you say that any right given to some Americans should not be given to all of them, regardless of reasons why not, you are no longer allowed to complain when someone wishes to remove yours.

True Americans fight for all people, not just those with whom they agree. To use one's guaranteed rights to voice one's thoughts, to back them up with strength of arms or power of assembly, to try and prevent others from obtaining equal rights is antithetical to all upon which this country was founded, in practice as well as in principle, and invalidates the very reasons we were given them in the first place, to ensure Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness for ALL free people of this great nation. Read more!

A Question to Those Who Would Fight Tyranny

While I do not in any way advocate violence, because it serves little lasting purpose, I do ask those who keep claiming that Americans need guns to stand up to those who would take away our rights any time someone even mentions tightening gun control, what rights, other than that to bear arms, are you talking about?

Our education system is crumbling, with children being packed like sardines into classrooms falling apart to be taught only the basic facts necessary to pass standardized tests created by companies with no educational background, thus causing us to slide further and further behind countries whose citizens understand that education, more than anything else, is the way to drive an economy.

Millions of Americans fall victim to profit-based privatized health care system, driven by pharmaceutical and insurance industries, causing us to have health numbers and mortality rates rivaling those of third world nations.

Banks and big businesses receive massive subsidies while small businesses are crushed under laws bought from career Congressmen by said large ones to ensure their oligopolies are maintained as they squeeze the life from their workers, one paycheck at a time, cutting jobs while posting profits.

State governments loot their coffers and destroy their states, one backdoor deal at a time, all the while erecting, along with Congressmen who can hold their jobs for life, a masterful smokescreen that makes the average person think it's all the fault of the evil president, who actually has as much power domestically as any one of them.

So, again, I ask, when, exactly, are you going to start standing up for those rights that you need your guns to protect?

Read more!

A Thought: On Questioning Where Your Money Goes

Americans will raise hell over every penny the government wishes to take from them, regardless of the numerous necessary things for which it is used, but they will blindly and unquestioningly just shrug and shake their heads wordlessly while big business steadily increases the prices of basic necessities. Read more!

Thoughts on the State of Our Political System

In an ongoing discussion with a friend of mine regarding the politics of the country, he asked, in response to a statement I made, whether I subscribe to Marxist or Communist beliefs.  I spent a day or so thinking about it and came up with this response.

Would that it were that simple.  Marxism is an economic theory and one which has never been implemented anymore than pure capitalism, and for the same reason: neither takes into account humanity.  And the political Communism bears very little resemblance to Marx's theories anymore than conservative Republicanism actually embodies pure capitalism.  When it comes down to it, though, it isn't an either/or situation.  That's just something that we've been sold as a country so we'd have a united enemy that wasn't the actual enemy.

What I meant when I said what we have isn't working is just that.  Our political system isn't working.  It's product is a nation in decline.  But saying that the system we're using now doesn't mean that I'm saying we should switch to the system that others are using, because there are flaws in all of those, as well.  Chinese Communism does an exceptional job with prioritizing public education and social awareness, but allows for virtually no freedom of the press or personal expression.  European socialism does an exceptional job of taking care of its people's health and well-being, but keeps them isolated from one another and, as a result, has led to flagging economic systems which are only interconnected enough to drag one another down.  And American Republicanism allows for unprecedented levels of personal freedom, but limits those very freedoms by placing a higher priority on economic growth and the health of business now than it does on investing in the future.  So, as with all things, there's no black and white.  In order to grow and succeed, we need to learn from one another's successes and failures, take the good, leave out the bad and create a system that works, admitting when parts are broken, and fixing them.

The founding fathers intended the country's government and legal systems to be organic, to grow and change as necessary to reflect the needs of the country and technological growth.  Hell, Franklin and  Jefferson both speculated, pretty accurately, a lot of modern technology, but you can't base a government on speculation.  Look what basing our financial system on speculation has done.  Plato was right in that we ought to be governed not by politicians, but by top scholars and thinkers working as a council, for the betterment of the people, plain and simple. Read more!

A Thought: On the State of Activism in America

A big part of what's wrong with our generation, what's contributing to the unimpeded downfall of America, is that reposting political memes is what passes for political activism.  We don't even want to think enough to write our own opinions, for the most part.  I enjoy a real debate, encourage them.  It's how we learn, how we grow, if we approach it properly, with an open mind and a willingness to listen to the views of others, to try and understand one another.  Think.  Write.  Express all the ideas you want, but make damned sure they're your own. Read more!

A Thought: On the Difference Between Ignorance and Stupidity

I often hear it said that the average American is stupid, that our country is being dragged down because of said stupidity.  That's not the case, though.  Most people in the country are ignorant, which isn't the same as stupid.  Ignorance is lack of knowledge, because of a failing education system, a life where education took a back seat to simple survival, that kind of thing.  Ignorance can be remedied.  Stupidity is when one realizes one's ignorance and is not only okay with it, but revels in it and seeks to spread it around rather than eliminate it. Read more!

A Reminder: On French-American Relations

To those Americans ignorant enough of our history to utter the foolish phrase, "If it weren't for us, the French would be speaking German," I remind you that, were it not for the French, we would still be English. Read more!

When Asked Why America Fell

When asked why America fell, they will say…

We spent too much time worrying about our guns

And too little worrying about our children’s education

We gave too much credence to men who had read one book

And far too little to those who had read many

We spent too much time trying to regulate people

And not nearly enough regulating our economy

We screamed constantly about being overtaxed

And never realized most were simply underpaid

We silenced our voices, hearts and minds

And spoke, felt and thought only what we were told

We vilified, crucified, the intellectuals and educated

And raised in their places those who spoke with slogans and smiles

We mistook fanaticism and pandering for toughness

And called toughness tyranny

We marched, step-lock, to those at the extremes

And called compromise cowardice

We neglected the long-term survival of the nation

For the brightest, shiniest distractions of the present

We fought too hard against the things that didn’t matter

And never, ever hard enough for the things that did

We were unwilling to sacrifice freedom at any cost

Except where the price was paid by others

We spent all our time pointing at problems

And none of it coming up with solutions

We let those in power convince us we couldn’t change a thing

Rather than reminding them often enough that we could

When asked why America fell, they will say…

We gave up, one by one,

In fear of the world and each other,

The strength of our unity

The power of our innovation

The protection of the weak

The checking of the strong

And the voice of our nation

Read more!

Hope in Remembrance

It saddens me this morning to log on and see people, many of whom I know to be thoughtful, reasoning individuals, being, at a best flippant and at worst outright disrespectful about today’s remembrance.  In part, it’s because I have a great deal of respect for Dr. King, flawed in some ways though he may have been, as are we all, but more because it shows how well those who stood for all he, and so many others, fought against have succeeded in burying what it is we truly celebrate on the day which bears his name, the capacity of a society to stand up for what is right and drastically change, without violence, the shape of the world.

Today is not just a day to celebrate a man.  Today is a day for remembrance, as much as Memorial Day, of the sacrifices made by thousands who saw the world both as it was and as it should be and gave so very much to make those things the same.  To disparage this day is to tarnish the memory of what they gave the world.  By standing arm in arm, against those who would rob us of freedom, of choice, who would oppress us, stifle us, in the name of bigotry, profit and blind tradition, those brave few reminded us for one brief, beautiful moment that just because something always has been does not mean that it must, or should, always be.  Over the screams of a nation, and a world, frightened of nothing more than change, which sought to hold down what was right, they showed the strength of a whisper when carried by enough voices to be heard and to make a difference, a susurrus which carried, running beneath it all one simple message, that which is most dangerous to the forces of tyranny and oppression: Change is possible.

In a time when our country is nearly as polarized as it ever has been, when the concept of civil discourse has all but vanished behind talking points and hypocrisy, their message seems all but lost.  But now is when we need it the most, when the powers that be, stronger than ever, if subtler and more insidious, are doing all in their power to strengthen the stranglehold of power over us, feeding us a steady diet of fear, just as they did then, keeping us docile, turning us against one another over things that matter far less than the issues on which we should be standing united.  We are a falling nation where the equality they fought so hard to win is, in a twisted way, finally being brought forth, as children across the country are without health care, living in poverty and denied the education that once allowed their grandparents generation to make this country a force with which to be reckoned.  Their future is bleak and we stand by and allow it to happen, saying that there’s nothing that can be done, that what we would fight against is too powerful, too entrenched, to ever be different.

Those for whom this day is celebrated faced the same doubts, the same dark odds.  But they stood.  They marched.  They lay down weapons and took up arms, raised voices to shout the unalienable truths upon which this country was founded, the hope that every person born in America, or sworn to its defense and prosperity, will have the chance to rise above the circumstances of their birth to be something more, to propel him or herself beyond what fate dealt them and, in so doing, carry the country with it, into a brighter, more prosperous and enlightened future.  That is what they fought for and that is what we must remember today, and every day. 

Read more!

Four Things That Need to Stop Being Said By Gun Advocates If They Hope To Ever Get Anything Done

Alright.  I'm all about responsible gun ownership, and the folks who want to take away all guns from everybody are, even to an idealist like me, a tad unrealistic.  Can it be done?  Yes, it certainly can, and probably should, if for no other reason that we've shown, as a species, we probably shouldn't be trusted with particularly pointy sticks, much less high velocity projectiles.  But is it likely?  No, not even a bit.  So, in the spirit of compromise, I'm offering some advice to people who believe guns should have no restrictions whatsoever, because I keep hearing a few frankly shortsighted and ill-thought-out arguments which do little more than give those who argue with you a free shot.

1. "Guns are the great equalizers. A gun in the hands of a 125lb. woman can make the difference when she's faced with a 250lb. rapist/mugger/etc."

Alright.  I'll grant you that, in that particular situation, a gun is certainly an excellent deterrent.  The thing is, what happens when the gun is in the hands of the rapist?  Then you've got an ARMED 250lb. man staring down a 125lb. woman.  Because think about this logically.  In a rape scenario, or any other crime, for that matter, who's generally the more prepared for the rape to happen, the perpetrator or the victim?  And given that most rapes take place in what are called "safe" settings, with known perpetrators, unless the woman is strapped and one hell of a quick draw, she's not too likely to be able to get to the gun in time for it to be of any use.  So, while this one is a valid statement, to a degree, be careful, as the use is pretty limited, in reality.

2. "If everyone had a gun, and knew how to use it, no one would ever do it for fear of repercussion."

K.  Imagine this for me, for a minute.  Take the sketchiest, creepiest or even just most irresponsible person you know.  Got them in your head?  Now give them a gun.  Anything from a .22 to a high-powered assault rifle.  Okay...Now put them alone in a room with your kid, your cat, your dog, your elderly grandma...any reasonably defenseless person.  That make you nervous?  It should.  If it doesn't, then you need to do a quick reality check and make sure you aren't wearing your argument blinders.  The fact is, some people shouldn't be trusted with guns.  The majority of people, really.  And that includes, as we've seen lately, quite a few who already legally possess them.  There needs to be a middle ground.  We need to have some restrictions.  It's just that simple.

3. "If more people had guns, there would be fewer gun deaths."

The point of this one, which isn't quite the same as point number two, is that in a situation where some nutjob goes off and starts firing into a crowd, your average well-armed citizen could neutralize the threat quickly and efficiently, thus preventing further harm.  While it's true that your average well-armed, heavily-trained special forces operative or secret service agent or the like could definitely have a positive impact on that situation, your average person isn't too likely to do much more than add more bullets flying through the air for the crowd to get away from.  And here's why:

You are not a hero.  Life is not a movie.  No matter how much time you spend at the range or how often you go hunting, you are not prepared for that kind of a situation.  You just aren't.  The highly-trained folks mentioned above?  One of the biggest parts of their rigorous training is being able to think with any semblance of clarity in that situation.  But, because we've been raised on action movies, we all want to believe that we'd be that cool, calm or, at worst, scared but awesome hero who doesn't feel that instinctual panic.  But, when it comes down to it, studies, statistics and even most of those highly-trained folks all back up the simple fact that, when in a life or death situation, we all kind of revert to scared children.  We have heroes in this world, but the chances of your average person being one is pretty slim.  Let's leave it to the trained professionals.  So stop saying this because it's like saying that if everyone owned a wrench, we wouldn't have nearly as many power outages.

4. "The Founding Fathers never intended there to be gun restriction, else they wouldn't have written The Second Amendment."

Before I address this one directly, let me just offer a blanket statement to people on both sides of this, and in general.  Stop trying to offer interpretations of history when you very obviously have no idea what you're talking about and/or are incapable of adopting any historical perspective.  Just. Stop.  Alright.  Back to the point, though.  When The Second Amendment was written, you have to realize two things. 

First, these guys had just fought one hell of a war to free themselves from what they saw as a tyrannical regime that used, when necessary, and sometimes when it wasn't, force to administer its rule.  (Oh, and as a side note, stop throwing around the word tyrant.  Tyranny isn't just not being able to do whatever the hell you want, else every single parent is a tyrant.  And for the same reasons.  Suck it up.) 

Second, when they said we could all have guns, guns weren't what they are today.  They couldn't have possibly foreseen modern weaponry.  Hell, it wasn't until 1825 that percussion-cap guns were in common use, nearly 50 years after The American Revolution.  And most, if not all, of them were dead by the time we got around to anything resembling automatic weapons.  These were wise, thoughtful men, for the most part.  If they could have foreseen guns which could be concealed in the waistband of pants and held seventeen rounds, or guns whose fire rates were measured in fractions of a second, they would have restricted them, too.  Because, as point one demonstrates, if you have them, then the other guys can get them, too.

Alright.  There you have it.  This, as with so many other things, has become one more way that we've been needlessly divided.  Let's step away from the extremes, stop getting both offensive and defensive and sit down to talk about this like the grown-ups that both sides seem to think are only found on their sides, which is, funnily enough, the hallmark of children.  It's time to compromise. Read more!

A Thought: On Secession

That so many people in this nation are supporting the secession of their respective states shows just how truly out of touch with reality they are and how much of their daily lives they take for granted without giving a moment's thought to what would actually happen were they successful, especially given how many states are incapable of functioning without significant government funds.

But hey, I say let them go.  We can parcel off some land, somewhere in The Midwest, say, and move them all there, erect one of those giant fences they're so fond of wanting, stick them with the standard tariffs and such that we erect on all foreign nations, and stick cameras everywhere to watch how quickly society crumbles.  It'll  be reality T.V. gold. Read more!

A Quick Civics Lesson

Good God, people.  You don't trust politicians to have your best interests in mind, which is a completely founded belief, but you're willing to assume that large corporations, when given the choice between higher profits and a smaller American workforce or lower profits and a larger American workforce, are going to go with the latter? 

Oh, and stop touting that third parties are the answer to all the country's ills.  It's foolishness and shows an utter lack of education when it comes to American history.  Both parties we have now, the ones who are the current monstrous purveyors of woe, were third parties once.  Any party, given sufficient time and power, will become corrupt.  Again, I cite empirical evidence. 

If you really want to enact change, do research.  Vote the issues.  Just because the electoral college makes the presidential race all but a sham doesn't mean there aren't real, valid issues on the ballot.  Get off your butts, do some research and vote.  Then, after that, rather than coming online and bemoaning the state of the nation, go out and do something. 

Fight for term limits on Congress.  Take the subsidies from big business, not small farms.  Fight for education reform, because that's the quickest and most effective way to both decrease welfare dependency AND revitalize the American economy.  And finally, for the love of all that's holy, quit whining about taxes.  We all need to pay them.  If you want to do something about your tax burden, close the loopholes that allow the wealthy and large corporations to avoid theirs.

There is no shortage of good that can be done in this country, but to do it, we must exercise not just the rights and privileges we were given at its inception and since, but also the expectations laid upon us.  That we will stand up for what's right. That liberty and equality are not up for debate. That we will struggle together, not against one another. Go out and be Americans, not just on election day, but every day. Read more!

An Interesting Piece of Mail...

Since moving into the new neighborhood, by far the most affluent in which we've ever lived, we've gotten campaign flyers and such every day.  It was nothing but annoying, until the other day.  Now, I'd heard of this but have never had it happen to me before, until the other day, when we got this...

Dear Rhonda (the woman who lived here before us),
   I am a fellow American who is very worried about out country and the future of our children.  Please pray for our country.  Our nation is in deep trouble and will not survive 4 more years like the last 4 years we have endured.  Please vote for Mitt Romney for President and Jeff Landry for Congress!

A concerned American,
    Olivia Nash

There was no return address, though I'm tempted to look her up and write her a letter in return asking her what, exactly, she has endured these last four years that was the result of the current administration, rather than the previous, how it will destroy the nation in only four more and what Mitt Romney and Jeff Landry will do to miraculously save us.  This, right here, is the product of the politically divisive, fear tactics being employed in this country to control the ignorant populace.  Yeesh. Read more!

A Thought: On Commies!

My favorite thing about this election is that it has allowed me to yell, "Commie!" in an accusatory tone while pointing at anyone who doesn't agree with me.  I mean, who'd have thought that, two decades after The Cold War, half a century after McCarthy, we'd be able to drag that one back out with the same self-righteous, blind zeal as those glory days. Read more!

A Thought: On Revolution

I keep hearing people calling for revolution.  Revolution need not, should not, be violent.  The most successful, most lasting, revolutions begin quietly, with whispers and ideas, not fists and guns, and remind the world just how quickly a susurrus becomes a roar, how one person standing for what's right can become ten, a hundred, a thousand...enough to change everything. Read more!

A Thought: On Clergy as Political Counsel

Unless they plan to pay your taxes, provide your health care, guarantee your equitable retirement and do all the other things that are the province of the government, your religious leaders shouldn’t be telling you how to vote.

Read more!

A Clarification of The First Amendment

There is a common misconception in this country of late regarding The First Amendment's right to free speech.  The Founding Fathers believed that free speech was foundational in creating a truly free society, and rightly so.  As such, they included protection of that right in the very first amendment to The Constitution.  It was an incredibly insightful, and truly radical, decision and has been one of the defining aspects of many of the brightest, and darkest, moments in our country's rich history.  But let's be clear about some things.

First, while The Constitution protects every person's (and yes, I said person, not just those of the American variety) right to say whatever it is they want to say, it has been ruled, time and again, that it only protects speech as long as it doesn't incite violence or harm.

Second, and this is the one that other people seem to have a real issue with in the light of all this Chik-fil-a stuff, while everyone has the right to say, in any forum, whatever they want to say, to express any belief in whatever way they choose, it does NOT protect them from any repercussions that those words have. 

In other words, if you choose to speak out against something with which you take issue, you must accept that there will be those who disagree and that those actions may have consequences and that they have just as much a right to respond as you did to speak out in the first place.  Read more!

A Thought: On the Glorification of a Killer

News media,

   If the tragedy at the theater the other night is really so appalling and sickening to you.  Stop giving it the same kind of press coverage you give to movie premieres and royal weddings.  Stop making the killer's face a household name.  Stop telling his story and let those truly effected rest peacefully.  Stop inspiring the next kid society's robbed of a life to get one himself by taking those of others.

Americans,

   Stop giving the news the fuel it needs to prolong and profit from suffering.  Don't just give those lives shattered a moment of your silence.  Give them all of it.  Read more!

Idealism and America

            I have often been called, in these increasingly politically divisive days, an idealist for expressing my beliefs that we as a nation, and as individuals, are capable of looking past ourselves, past our own immediate wants and needs, and doing what is right for the future of this country.  Well, perhaps I am a bit of an idealist, but at what point were we led so far off track that we became convinced that being so was a negative thing? 

            Looking back at this country’s incredible history, it’s clear to see that those who have had the greatest impact upon its creation, its evolution, have always been idealists. 

The Founding Fathers were a group of statesmen who looked at the way their colony was being run, saw the tyranny and oppression of imperialism, the suffering it was causing in the streets around them and, rather than step down, saying there was nothing they could do, or retreat into their parlors to rail in private against the unfairness of it all, but do nothing to stop it, chose to see a brighter future for America. 

No, they raised their voices, shared a dream of an America where everyone was given the opportunity to rise above the station into which they had been born, was given the tools, the education, the open doors and advantages that allowed them the ability to truly rise to their potential.  They saw a world that had never been and chose to believe, against great odds, that it could be and were willing to give their lives to make it so, because some ideals are more important than blood and pain and even death.

A century later, this country went to war with itself because many of its citizens still saw that the dream hadn’t been fully realized, not when many of those who worked to bring it to fruition were being held in chains.  So, again, those who believed in freedom, in equality and in our ability as a nation to be better than we had been, fought and died and created from the ashes of a dark past the foundation for a new and better future.

I know what many of you are thinking and you’re right.  While they were freed from one set of chains, those new, valiant Americans, many of whom had fought side by side with those who would see them freed, were then shackled with another, fashioned from the fear of reprisal for the injustice and ignorance that had been the core of their suffering. 

But, if anything, that was a failure of idealism, a failure to look at our fellow man and see that, despite difference and experience, they, too, could rise above what had been in the name of what could be, as so many did.  No, it is a testament to their idealism that, even in these newly-fashioned, more insidious chains, they believed that they could still be a part of this country, could one day stand shoulder to shoulder with their brothers and sisters in the dream of a nation of equality and prosperity.  And they were right. 

Though it took much suffering, and the deaths of many more brave men and women, they utilized the most powerful aspects of the dreams dreamt by those men who once believed that we could be a nation, to bring about true change, once again, not with violence, but with hope, with peace and with the voice they had been given by this great nation.

Today, we find ourselves once again on the precipice of darkness.  Our country suffers under the weight of inequality and, for the first time in a very long time, stands so divided that it may well break.  We rail against one another, tearing each other apart because there is no vision for a brighter future, there is no guiding light to which we can move and, without that, we are terrified.  And, like scared children, we scream and cry, without the understanding that we have the ability to chase off the monsters.

Now, more than ever, is the time for idealism.  But it must be tempered with realism.  It is idealistic to think that, given free reign, a business will look out for its consumers and the economy upon which it depends more than its own bottom line, to think that more weapons on the street will lead to less violence, to think that, freed from the burden of taxation, all Americans will instantly stand up to share the load on their own and do the things that must be done to hold this country together.  That, my friends, is idealism without the sobering voice of reason.

Certainly, we look at ourselves and say, without hesitation, “I would,” when asked if we can hold ourselves to those ideals.  But can you say you believe it so easily for those beside you?  What about those on the other side of the political line, those who, despite what the people in whose best interest it is to have to believe so, to keep you divided from one another and more easily manipulated, are only visionaries of a different sort, with a different idea about what this nation could be?  The words don’t come so quickly there, do they?

As Americans, it seems that we can’t agree on anything these days, and I couldn’t argue that we do, wouldn’t argue it, though not for the reasons you may think, not for the hopelessness, despair and desperation which seem to weigh down so many hearts in my troubled country.  No, I wouldn’t argue because I believe we need disagreement, were founded and kept alive and brought into power by those who disagreed.  We argue now because we are all visionaries, we all see a world that is better than the one in which we live, not only for ourselves, but for all of those who live within it. 

But there are those who would, who are, stopping us from realizing that vision.  Their ideals are not the same as ours.  They seek not to make a better world, but to better their own worlds.  And we have allowed them to do so, to divide us by our differences when we should be uniting beneath the ideals we share, the hope and the strength and the passion to be better than we have been.  It is within us, it is our birthright as citizens of this great nation, to rise up and take power back.

So call me an idealist.  I will wear the badge proudly.  My country can be great again, as once it was, and greater.  But do not doubt that I’m a realist, as well.  It will take sacrifice.  It will take some suffering.  And, more than anything else, it will take compromise.  It will take all of us giving without the instant gratification to which we’ve become accustomed. 

Instead, we will have to look to the long-term.  We will have to look around at the world and see it as it should be, not as it is, and, most importantly, to believe in its capability to become so with the same conviction as did those proud Americans who came before us. 

The greatest weapon of those who would keep us beneath their heels is hopelessness, is making us believe that things cannot change, that we should accept that this is how things have to be and that it is the fault of our brothers and sisters.  It is their voice in your ear that whispers that we should simply accept things as they are, that we must spend all our time and energy on blame, when it could better be spent on enacting change.  We must find hope in ourselves, in our ideals and, most importantly, in one another. 

There is so much in our history that proves we are better than those who would keep us down believe we are, that we are able to pull ourselves from this morass of despair and bring this nation back to where it belongs, to continue to forge the shining dream for which so many have given their lives.  We can be more.  We can be better.  We can be idealists and realists.  We can be Americans.

Read more!