Recently in politics Category
del.icio.us
Hillary won Pennsylvania tonight. Which, from what the people who know these things have said, make the race viable again.
Hooray. More time spent on things I don't care about.
I'll just come out and say it. I don't care about the election. I don't care about the candidates. And, to be honest, I don't care about the system anymore. It's not a red vs. blue thing. It's not a liberal vs. conservative thing. I've come to this realization lately. The system is broken beyond repair. So whomever wins, whether it's Hillary, Obama, McCain, or Burt Reynolds, is just perpetuating the same BS that we've been force-fed since...well...as long as I can remember.
For those of you who care to expand your historical knowledge, I recommend the book Everything You Know Is Wrong, edited by Russ Kick. It's quite the eye opener. Now granted, I've always loved to read and learn about the other side of things. History, sports, life in general. Because as we all know, history is written by the winners. But I'd like to know what the losers had to say.
We're all playing with a stacked deck. The machine, as Abby Hoffman so eloquently put it, moves on regardless of who's in charge. Parties no longer matter. Ideals no longer matter. Too much is at stake, too many people have a vested interest in things staying as-is. Do you know that many large corporations pay little or no taxes? That the "activist" shareholders of Washington Mutual had to fight to have the recent sub-prime write downs factored into the executive bonuses? Or that Merrill Lynch paid out more in bonuses ($37 billion) than they did in profits last year, even when they had to adjust down billions upon billions of bad debt? What's wrong with this picture? And why aren't people upset?
More people care about abortion than they do about healthcare. About immigration than government spending. About the price of fuel than the fractured education system.
I know I sound bitter and angry about the whole thing. You'd be right. But the thing that I'm most upset about? That I'm in the minority.
Hooray. More time spent on things I don't care about.
I'll just come out and say it. I don't care about the election. I don't care about the candidates. And, to be honest, I don't care about the system anymore. It's not a red vs. blue thing. It's not a liberal vs. conservative thing. I've come to this realization lately. The system is broken beyond repair. So whomever wins, whether it's Hillary, Obama, McCain, or Burt Reynolds, is just perpetuating the same BS that we've been force-fed since...well...as long as I can remember.
For those of you who care to expand your historical knowledge, I recommend the book Everything You Know Is Wrong, edited by Russ Kick. It's quite the eye opener. Now granted, I've always loved to read and learn about the other side of things. History, sports, life in general. Because as we all know, history is written by the winners. But I'd like to know what the losers had to say.
We're all playing with a stacked deck. The machine, as Abby Hoffman so eloquently put it, moves on regardless of who's in charge. Parties no longer matter. Ideals no longer matter. Too much is at stake, too many people have a vested interest in things staying as-is. Do you know that many large corporations pay little or no taxes? That the "activist" shareholders of Washington Mutual had to fight to have the recent sub-prime write downs factored into the executive bonuses? Or that Merrill Lynch paid out more in bonuses ($37 billion) than they did in profits last year, even when they had to adjust down billions upon billions of bad debt? What's wrong with this picture? And why aren't people upset?
More people care about abortion than they do about healthcare. About immigration than government spending. About the price of fuel than the fractured education system.
I know I sound bitter and angry about the whole thing. You'd be right. But the thing that I'm most upset about? That I'm in the minority.
Sorry for the delay, folks. It's been hectic here in the Norcross household. We've hired a second investment officer in my department, so I've been training them all week. My son is crawling, cutting 2 teeth, and being the overall awesomeness that we've grown accustom to. My wife is working part time, and studying for the Florida Bar exam. I've also started a small side business doing computer consulting work and website design, so that's been eating some time. I'll make an attempt to keep up on this. Promise. Now, moving on.
I was at one of my favorite cigar bars last night with the laptop working on a website and enjoying a nice smoke. There's a corner seat I usually take. There's a power plug, a ledge for me to keep my stuff, and small table I can put the ol' Toshiba Satellite M35 on. I also think it's close to the WiFi antenna, because I always seem to get a better connection there than anyplace else in the lounge. (Free WiFi + plush leather chairs + good cigars = a productive Norcross). Being that it was "Super Tuesday" (not to be confused with Fat Tuesday, Mediocre Tuesday, or Dance With A Badger Tuesday), CNN was glowing from one of the flat panel TVs on the wall, filling my otherwise serene space with political garbage.
Yes, I said garbage. I believe our political system is cracked beyond repair. And it bothers me.
I'll preface this by saying I've always had a rather large distaste for the political process. It all started when I asked my father about why he never ran for any office. Not only is he one of the smartest person I've ever met, he's rather charming and likable. Add in the fact that he's a baptist minister AND a true-blooded Massachussets liberal, you've got a formidable candidate. So I asked him once why he never ran. His response? "Because then I'd have to comprise everything. And some things aren't up for debate."
Ever since that simple statement, I've looked at the process in a different way. I believe many people get into the political arena with good intentions. But what do you have to give up to succeed? Well, from what I can gather, a small part of your soul. Yes, I've seen the Hope Speech. I've seen a lot of other things, too. None of it makes me feel any different now than it did before. All I see is someone who is trying to get me to do something. In this case, it's voting for them. If it were a boss, maybe it's taking on a project or training someone. But it still comes down to the fact that they need me to get things done.
Maybe that's what is really behind Gen-Y's strong desire to be entrepreneurs. Perhaps we've had enough of being told what to do, where to do it, how it's in our best interest, and that we're better off just doing it and not asking questions. I know I have.
I was at one of my favorite cigar bars last night with the laptop working on a website and enjoying a nice smoke. There's a corner seat I usually take. There's a power plug, a ledge for me to keep my stuff, and small table I can put the ol' Toshiba Satellite M35 on. I also think it's close to the WiFi antenna, because I always seem to get a better connection there than anyplace else in the lounge. (Free WiFi + plush leather chairs + good cigars = a productive Norcross). Being that it was "Super Tuesday" (not to be confused with Fat Tuesday, Mediocre Tuesday, or Dance With A Badger Tuesday), CNN was glowing from one of the flat panel TVs on the wall, filling my otherwise serene space with political garbage.
Yes, I said garbage. I believe our political system is cracked beyond repair. And it bothers me.
I'll preface this by saying I've always had a rather large distaste for the political process. It all started when I asked my father about why he never ran for any office. Not only is he one of the smartest person I've ever met, he's rather charming and likable. Add in the fact that he's a baptist minister AND a true-blooded Massachussets liberal, you've got a formidable candidate. So I asked him once why he never ran. His response? "Because then I'd have to comprise everything. And some things aren't up for debate."
Ever since that simple statement, I've looked at the process in a different way. I believe many people get into the political arena with good intentions. But what do you have to give up to succeed? Well, from what I can gather, a small part of your soul. Yes, I've seen the Hope Speech. I've seen a lot of other things, too. None of it makes me feel any different now than it did before. All I see is someone who is trying to get me to do something. In this case, it's voting for them. If it were a boss, maybe it's taking on a project or training someone. But it still comes down to the fact that they need me to get things done.
Maybe that's what is really behind Gen-Y's strong desire to be entrepreneurs. Perhaps we've had enough of being told what to do, where to do it, how it's in our best interest, and that we're better off just doing it and not asking questions. I know I have.
Look at it.
This was taken in 1994 during a famine in Sudan. It won a Pulitzer
Prize for the photographer, Kevin Carter. Three months later Carter
committed suicide. Can't say that I blame him. Especially with how bad things have become since then.
I mention this for one reason and one reason only: we live in the most privileged nations in the world, yet we (collectively) are arrogant and uninformed to a level that I can't quite grasp. While we all sit and talk about how to advance our careers, develop methods to have different generations play nice with each other, and scratch out a bit of individualism in an increasingly saline and homogenized world, THAT happens in other places. Places that we (in some manner or another) support, exploit, or just ignore. Especially my own situation: I was a middle to upper class white male born in the suburbs. I essentially won the equivalent of the cosmic lottery. Land of opportunity? For me it was. I had a realistic chance of being whatever I wanted to be when I grew up. Even with all the mistakes I made in my life (and there were many), I have been able to succeed. Someone else making the same mistakes, but not lucky enough to be in my shoes would probably be in prison, or at least dead broke. Certainly not married to a beautiful woman with a fantastic child. Even in our own country, children go hungry on a daily basis. And I'm just as guilty as everyone else.
It's the election season. Since I live in a "swing" state (Florida), I am going to be bombarded with ads, phone calls, polls, and other media showering me with perversely slanted information putting someone in a more or less favorable light. I made a comment to a friend of mine the other day that I would vote "for the person who made me believe they were lying the least". And my friend agreed with me. That's just sad.
Ok. Rant over. Back to choosing art for my office walls while death counts increase somewhere. Happy New Year.
I mention this for one reason and one reason only: we live in the most privileged nations in the world, yet we (collectively) are arrogant and uninformed to a level that I can't quite grasp. While we all sit and talk about how to advance our careers, develop methods to have different generations play nice with each other, and scratch out a bit of individualism in an increasingly saline and homogenized world, THAT happens in other places. Places that we (in some manner or another) support, exploit, or just ignore. Especially my own situation: I was a middle to upper class white male born in the suburbs. I essentially won the equivalent of the cosmic lottery. Land of opportunity? For me it was. I had a realistic chance of being whatever I wanted to be when I grew up. Even with all the mistakes I made in my life (and there were many), I have been able to succeed. Someone else making the same mistakes, but not lucky enough to be in my shoes would probably be in prison, or at least dead broke. Certainly not married to a beautiful woman with a fantastic child. Even in our own country, children go hungry on a daily basis. And I'm just as guilty as everyone else.
It's the election season. Since I live in a "swing" state (Florida), I am going to be bombarded with ads, phone calls, polls, and other media showering me with perversely slanted information putting someone in a more or less favorable light. I made a comment to a friend of mine the other day that I would vote "for the person who made me believe they were lying the least". And my friend agreed with me. That's just sad.
Ok. Rant over. Back to choosing art for my office walls while death counts increase somewhere. Happy New Year.
