Today I was thinking about how lucky I have been this year. It's been a strange year, full of unexpected events and unplanned for things, but looking back I have to admit that I have been fortunate in that the things I've had to face could have been much worse, much harder, and the truth is that the way things have come together has been well the best they could be given the particular circumstances.
Yeah, I know it's only halfway through the year and I have yet to experience the big stress of becoming a parent and stuff.. I was mostly thinking about Eric.
For I know I am lucky to have met these trying circumstances with a man who has stayed by my side. Probably many men would have left, in this same situation, and really, I'm not sure what I would have done. I'm not sure I could have handled this alone.
Beyond that, though, it really continues to amaze me how well we seem to fit each other. At least, how well he fits me. He really evens me out, helps me stay calm, and makes me happy. I've always liked balance in life and I really feel as though he balances me.
And that makes me feel very fortunate. I see so many couples in relationships that destroy them, who treat each other badly, who make each other unhappy, who have no trust, respect or communication. I'm very glad to not have any of that in my own. It has been hard, especially this past month, with him so far away. I worry, sometimes, that the physical distance between us will make us strangers to each other upon his return. At the same time, though, I feel like we are dealing well with it so far. We miss each other but stay in contact; I guess that's the only thing to be done :)
Anyway, today I was just thinking about my good fortune :) I've not been very lucky in life before now. This is a nice change.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Monday, July 2, 2007
Stereotyping White Men
It started out with an incorrectly typed street name; I tell her it says she's going to Othella and she laughs and says she she doesn't live on a bad Shakespearian play street. I tell her I've never read Othello and she proceeds to give me this description: "I don't like the story. It's about this black guy who marries this white chick and his friend tells him she was cheating on him so he kills her... surprisingly, it doesn't seem to be about racism as much as jealousy..."
And I tell her I'm not so surprised it's not really so much about racism since in Shakespeare's day there wasn't a lot of opportunity for racism, the vast majority of Europeans would live their entire lives without meeting someone of another race.
And she says "No, it's not that, as long as there's white men there has always been, and will always be, racism and other ism's because as long as they exist they'll try to make hierarchies".
And I want to know what the hell makes this woman think it's ok to get into my car and insult my grandfather, brothers, the father of my child, any sons I might one day have, me (being descended from these evil white men), and all of my descendants who will also be spawned through these same evil genes.
The fact is that white men hold no monopoly on bad deeds. Throughout the history of humankind there have been endless examples of how we always tend to scapegoat and oppress other humans. This is not limited to any one race, gender, location or culture... we are all descended from good and evil, and all of us will in the future be connected through blood to evildoers... such is the way of life.
It is only in modern day that slavery is largely extinct, throughout the history of human kind, and even within some species of animals, slavery has existed and flourished. The fact is that for most of our history the vast majority of humans would not have had contact with other races, and thus no racism, but we have always found some other reason to discriminate and oppress... be it due to religion, culture, gender or whatever perceived difference we could imagine.
This doesn't make it right, it does not excuse white men, asian men, black men, indians or any other for their deeds... it does mean that none of us has the right to blame the evils of mankind upon any one particular group.
And just because it may be popular to blame white men for all that is wrong, or thought to be wrong, with the world doesn't mean it's ok to stereotype white guys any more than it is to stereotype any other group of people for any reason... and really, how could you think it's ok to stereotype them to one of their own? It's in insult, any way you look at it.
And I tell her I'm not so surprised it's not really so much about racism since in Shakespeare's day there wasn't a lot of opportunity for racism, the vast majority of Europeans would live their entire lives without meeting someone of another race.
And she says "No, it's not that, as long as there's white men there has always been, and will always be, racism and other ism's because as long as they exist they'll try to make hierarchies".
And I want to know what the hell makes this woman think it's ok to get into my car and insult my grandfather, brothers, the father of my child, any sons I might one day have, me (being descended from these evil white men), and all of my descendants who will also be spawned through these same evil genes.
The fact is that white men hold no monopoly on bad deeds. Throughout the history of humankind there have been endless examples of how we always tend to scapegoat and oppress other humans. This is not limited to any one race, gender, location or culture... we are all descended from good and evil, and all of us will in the future be connected through blood to evildoers... such is the way of life.
It is only in modern day that slavery is largely extinct, throughout the history of human kind, and even within some species of animals, slavery has existed and flourished. The fact is that for most of our history the vast majority of humans would not have had contact with other races, and thus no racism, but we have always found some other reason to discriminate and oppress... be it due to religion, culture, gender or whatever perceived difference we could imagine.
This doesn't make it right, it does not excuse white men, asian men, black men, indians or any other for their deeds... it does mean that none of us has the right to blame the evils of mankind upon any one particular group.
And just because it may be popular to blame white men for all that is wrong, or thought to be wrong, with the world doesn't mean it's ok to stereotype white guys any more than it is to stereotype any other group of people for any reason... and really, how could you think it's ok to stereotype them to one of their own? It's in insult, any way you look at it.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Conservative or Liberal?
Today I was thinking about where I stand, politically. In general I must admit that I don't take a political stance. I don't vote (for people, anyway) and often avoid discussions of a political nature because I think they too often become frightening. However, at the risk of alienating some of my readers, I think I'd like to investigate some of my political philosophies.
First, I have to admit that I began this task by looking up the Wikis for Conservative and Liberal. I have often been told, and suspected, that I lean a bit toward the conservative edge of things. Looking over the Wiki page for conservative, though, I'd say that doesn't so much fit me at all. SO then I moved to liberal... there we have it. I am much more like what they call a classical liberal. Yay, I have a defining label :) but what does that mean to me?
I guess you could say that my basic ideal for government is that it should intrude upon my life as little as possible, be as fair as possible, and be practical. Sounds good, right? but what does that mean?
It means, first of all, that as an adult I should be assumed, by government, to be responsible enough, and smart enough to make my own decisions. I don't think the government should have the ability to tell me what I can or cannot do until or unless my actions infringe upon the rights of others. So things like stealing, assault, harassment and even speeding should be illegal since each of them hurts, or endangers, other people. But the government has no reason, or right, in my view, to tell me I can't buy beer after 1:30am (even though I don't drink) or that I can't smoke pot (even though I don't smoke pot) or how I should raise my children.
In regard to fairness, I think government should attempt to be as fair as possible to the most people it can. That everyone should have a vote and that each individual voice should carry the same weight... basically that while minorities should be protected and free, as everyone is, that their rights should not supersede the rights of the majority. I guess this is the utilitarian in me: the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
And then we have practicality: One of my biggest problems with govt. today is that it is absolutely impractical and wasteful. We spend more money on Bureaucracy to run things than we spend on the things themselves... that's just silly IMO. Take the IRS, for example, there are thousands upon thousands of rules and so much silliness that it is unwieldy and ends up wasting a great deal of the taxpayers money. I can't see why we don't adopt a simple flat tax for everyone. It would be infinitely more fair and save a great deal of money and frustration for citizens. What? Tax cuts for the rich? Actually, for the richest people it would likely be a tax increase. And anyway, I can't understand the graduated income tax. Why are we penalizing people for their success? Under a flat tax system they would still pay more tax, even a higher percentage of their income in tax, but in a way that is fair and easy.
how? Well, every flat tax system I've seen starts with an amount of income that is exempt from tax and then taxes all income over that number at a fixed rate. Let's say the base number is 10,000$ for a single person (though it's always higher than that). So if Rene makes 10,000$ of income in 1 year she will pay no tax... her tax rate then being 0%. If she makes 15,000$ the next year she will pay $750 in taxes (if the flat tax rate is 15%) which would make her actual rate of taxation 5%. If she makes 150,000$ then she will pay 21,000$ in taxes and her actual rate of taxation would be 14%. So, in effect, because of the base untaxable income, the tax system is graduated to a small degree (since you will pay a higher percentage of taxes the more you make until you reach the maximum of 15%). I'm not so worried about the actual baseline or the percentage of taxation, just that it is equally applied to everyone. I've never understood why we should punish success... especially since our complicated system wastes so much money and has so many loopholes for people who can afford to buy the right accountants and lawyers (oh yeah, no loopholes in a simple flat tax system). Warren Buffet, just recently, said that he was appalled to find out that he paid a lower tax rate than his maid... that certainly illustrates the unfairness of our system. And for a doctor, who has spent 12+ years educating himself for his profession, I can't see the justice in charging him upwards of 50% of his income in taxes.
Taxation is just one issue of govt. where we seem to be crazily bogged down and wasteful. You can see this same phenomenon in nearly every branch of government.
I just want to see a common sense approach to governance; accountability of both our citizenry and our elected officials; fairness to not only the richest and poorest of this nation, but to all of us who fall in the middle; and a system that rewards honesty and protects liberty. I'm afraid I ask too much.
First, I have to admit that I began this task by looking up the Wikis for Conservative and Liberal. I have often been told, and suspected, that I lean a bit toward the conservative edge of things. Looking over the Wiki page for conservative, though, I'd say that doesn't so much fit me at all. SO then I moved to liberal... there we have it. I am much more like what they call a classical liberal. Yay, I have a defining label :) but what does that mean to me?
I guess you could say that my basic ideal for government is that it should intrude upon my life as little as possible, be as fair as possible, and be practical. Sounds good, right? but what does that mean?
It means, first of all, that as an adult I should be assumed, by government, to be responsible enough, and smart enough to make my own decisions. I don't think the government should have the ability to tell me what I can or cannot do until or unless my actions infringe upon the rights of others. So things like stealing, assault, harassment and even speeding should be illegal since each of them hurts, or endangers, other people. But the government has no reason, or right, in my view, to tell me I can't buy beer after 1:30am (even though I don't drink) or that I can't smoke pot (even though I don't smoke pot) or how I should raise my children.
In regard to fairness, I think government should attempt to be as fair as possible to the most people it can. That everyone should have a vote and that each individual voice should carry the same weight... basically that while minorities should be protected and free, as everyone is, that their rights should not supersede the rights of the majority. I guess this is the utilitarian in me: the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
And then we have practicality: One of my biggest problems with govt. today is that it is absolutely impractical and wasteful. We spend more money on Bureaucracy to run things than we spend on the things themselves... that's just silly IMO. Take the IRS, for example, there are thousands upon thousands of rules and so much silliness that it is unwieldy and ends up wasting a great deal of the taxpayers money. I can't see why we don't adopt a simple flat tax for everyone. It would be infinitely more fair and save a great deal of money and frustration for citizens. What? Tax cuts for the rich? Actually, for the richest people it would likely be a tax increase. And anyway, I can't understand the graduated income tax. Why are we penalizing people for their success? Under a flat tax system they would still pay more tax, even a higher percentage of their income in tax, but in a way that is fair and easy.
how? Well, every flat tax system I've seen starts with an amount of income that is exempt from tax and then taxes all income over that number at a fixed rate. Let's say the base number is 10,000$ for a single person (though it's always higher than that). So if Rene makes 10,000$ of income in 1 year she will pay no tax... her tax rate then being 0%. If she makes 15,000$ the next year she will pay $750 in taxes (if the flat tax rate is 15%) which would make her actual rate of taxation 5%. If she makes 150,000$ then she will pay 21,000$ in taxes and her actual rate of taxation would be 14%. So, in effect, because of the base untaxable income, the tax system is graduated to a small degree (since you will pay a higher percentage of taxes the more you make until you reach the maximum of 15%). I'm not so worried about the actual baseline or the percentage of taxation, just that it is equally applied to everyone. I've never understood why we should punish success... especially since our complicated system wastes so much money and has so many loopholes for people who can afford to buy the right accountants and lawyers (oh yeah, no loopholes in a simple flat tax system). Warren Buffet, just recently, said that he was appalled to find out that he paid a lower tax rate than his maid... that certainly illustrates the unfairness of our system. And for a doctor, who has spent 12+ years educating himself for his profession, I can't see the justice in charging him upwards of 50% of his income in taxes.
Taxation is just one issue of govt. where we seem to be crazily bogged down and wasteful. You can see this same phenomenon in nearly every branch of government.
I just want to see a common sense approach to governance; accountability of both our citizenry and our elected officials; fairness to not only the richest and poorest of this nation, but to all of us who fall in the middle; and a system that rewards honesty and protects liberty. I'm afraid I ask too much.
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