'Kayso, I don't really read or watch the news.
First, it's depressing.
Second, even if I was the most avid follower of all the major media outlets, I have a hard time believing everything they say. I know that some are slanted this way, some the other way...so what's the point, really? Better to just read the feed at Reuters, quite frankly.
(And by the way, even if I read all the news I'd get criticized for getting my opinions and my news from the news. Yeah. Follow that shit.)
Yet, somehow, even without all the accumulated knowledge of the news networks behind me, I still have opinions!
How is that possible, you say? Well, hold onto your lug nuts, cause it's gonna be a bumpy one.
I do this thing...where I listen to what someone says, and then I make this internal call...it normally goes "wow, that's stupid." , or "hey, that makes sense.", or even sometimes "that sounds asinine and bordering on evil."
I know, I know, I should have some supporting documentation to back up my ridiculous gut-feelings, but I already have 6 library books out and I can only do so much.
I can't help it. I was born this way.
So here's the thing. I was unaffiliated with a political party for a long time. I just didn't care enough to go one way or another. Neither of these parties, in total, seemed to match how I was feelin' all the time. Not being Ron Paul, I decided to just go nowhere with it (instead of Ron's nowhere with a slogan and a shitload of cash). I chilled in my unaffiliated state for a good long time. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I wasn't sitting all neutral about shit. I have leaned left my whole life, and I blame John Lennon and Bloom County, which means that, by proxy, I blame my mother. (Thanks, mom!) Peace, love, and understanding made sense to me, so anything on the opposing side was, well, the opposing side, eh? I never coveted a religious GOD, and those people on the other side seemed really hung up on the name and sexual preference of your imaginary best friend, so I just rolled here by default, I suppose. Like a rolling stone? Hmm.
I think I might be digressing, but who the hell knows?
Anywho.
To me, (and I know full well that there are many who disagree - just let me fucking finish, OK? Sheesh.) there's just a central question when deciding your political leanings.
It's not about war, although war sucks. (There are too many nuances as to when it's appropriate to engage - from the historical hindsight it seems we should have entered WWII waaaaaaay earlier, but who's to know? I may be a peace sign flipping hippy, but sometimes I think we should kick some ass, sure. Especially if we are teaming up with the rest of the world to defeat some great genocidal evil. I'm totally for that and I'll buy the graphic novel, too.)
It's: "Do you think that we, as a society, should take care of people who, for whatever reason, cannot take care of themselves?"
Now, here's the thing about this question.
You don't get to "BUT" it.
You don't get to "Well, yes except.." it.
You don't get to qualify ANY of the words in it. Not the "we", not the "should", and most importantly, not the "cannot".
It's a YES or NO.
It is an inclusive statement. Children, veterans, the elderly, the physically disabled, the mental disabled, the impoverished, the temporarily unemployed, the long term unemployed, the child of the Mexican who risked their life to cross the border so that their child would be an American, and yes, the "people who abuse the system".
Did I really just say that?
Yup, sure did. Keep up with me here.
So you, as a good tax-paying American get all up in arms at the thought of paying for some no-account loser to sit at home on their ass. Ok, I can see that. Sort of. Why don't you console yourself by instead thinking that jackass down the street with the dead lawn is paying for THAT no-account loser...and that YOU are paying for a Gulf War Vet who lost both of his legs, or a family who had to go down to one income because their child is dying of leukemia and they lost their health insurance. Feel better yet? Well, you fucking should, because you can't have one without the other.
You might find this to be a strange parallel, but this is just the way it is.
I remember going to a meeting for work once, one of our yearly or twice-yearly or whatever manager meetings where hopefully you get all pumped up and re-energized to go back to a damn Pizza Hut everyday (oh, and there's free lunch - my life has meaning!). Well, at this meeting our franchise business coach told us something that stuck with me (well, it must have because they fricking fired me and I'm still telling this damn story).
Basically, it was this - when dealing with customers who have an issue, somewhere around 97% of them believe they have a legitimate complaint. The other 3% is what we call "The Cost of Doing Business"...and we treat them all EXACTLY THE SAME.
Why am I bringing this up? Because if you believe that we, as a society, should take care of those who, for whatever reason, cannot take care of themselves...then you have to treat them all EXACTLY the same.
Because, really....who the fuck are you to look at someone else and pass judgement?
These programs are in place and have been in place for a long time.
Pissing and moaning about this one girl you know who is on welfare or whatever while you, you poor thing, have to get up and work every day, just makes you sound like an entitled prick, not the hardworking American you think it does.
If you think that you pay too much, change the system.
If you do not care for the way the programs work, change the system.
If you do not believe that we should have them, change the system.
And fucking read up on what a "Socialist" is.
I do not think it means what you think it means.
