Friday, November 26, 2004
View Point
It has recently been mentioned to me that my usual sarcastic wit has been missing from these Blogs. And that the good old days of my battles with eBay are sorely missed. I can only say that each aspect of commentary has it’s own place at it’s own time.
My dialogue with BlogFrog4 could have been extremely sarcastic in nature on my part, but I chose not to extend myself in that direction. I was and still am serious in determining the depth and reasons for the dislike which BlogFrog4 showed in his/her comments.
We do not live in a bubble. We live in a world of expanding technology and communications. No longer are events occurring half way around the world and news reaching us days later. Many times we see them live, as they occur. And if we intend to continue to consider ourselves civilized, we must extend our thinking and feelings into those realms where our opponents exist. We cannot allow ourselves to consider that ours is the only way in which we must exist in this world. I do not believe there is a happy medium in which we can all survive, but there is a point in which each of us on this shrinking planet can co-exist.
Our phobias are driven by the daily elements of our lives. We fear the loss of aspects of our lives and thus we determine how we shall live. Our politics are based on all of the elements of our lives and determines the direction of our political leanings.
For the subscribers of my commentaries, they have a basic idea what type of person I am. Or do they? They see me quite often in chats and via e-mail, expounding on the shape of the Universe. What they mostly see is a clown with a sometimes razor sharp wit. Sometimes with a wit dulled to the point butter has nothing to fear.
But BlogFrog4 has zero idea who I am and what I truly believe in. Then again, there are many things we do not know about BF4.
I will mention only in context those things we do not know about BF4. Male or female? Age? Economic status? Racial makeup? Location on Planet Earth? Education? Travel experiences? Employment, both current and past? Martial status? Military experience, if any? Only child or position within a larger family? I could expand this list farther but I think you get the idea.
Each of the items I mentioned above adds to the makeup of each and every one of us. I do not subscribe to the thinking that the environment is responsible for making us a criminal or an upstanding citizen, but I do believe it shapes our thinking and how we approach life in general. I am aware that I just somewhat contradicted myself, but only if you subscribe to the standard pattern of Sociologists in how environment effects growth and character.
Something I’m sure most missed in the dialogue between BF4 and myself is that he never once asked why I determined that Bush was the correct man for President. Not once did he inquire if I had fears of Kerry taking the Oval Office. His concerns were narrowly focused, with very little room to maneuver.
I do appreciate his emotions in this matter. But to allow emotions to overrule logic can lead to many disastrous decisions. In this, we are all guilty. As hard as I have tried to lead my life making informed decisions, I am more then aware that I have allowed emotion to take control and lead me astray on several occasions. Those times when I was lucky in that my emotions were in tune with a rational decision, I can only be thankful.
What I did notice that created a nominal amount of fear in this last election was the attempt to firmly divide this country into the haves and have nots. To divide this country by class. To establish a situation where one group of people could be blamed for the condition of another. The wealthy verses the poor. But the amazing aspect of this was, it was members of the wealthy that was preaching the evils of the rich to anyone that would listen. And even more amazing was how many people bought into such drivel.
Then after the election we saw members of the losing party condemn those that voted against them. I have never heard such insults before, during or even after an election as I heard this time around, from high ranking members of the Democratic party.
And what I found funny was that long before the Democratic Convention, word had reached me that John Edwards political life was short lived and could not even be elected dog catcher in his home state, and yet, he was chosen as Kerry’s running mate in hopes he could bring in the Southern vote, as LBJ had done for John Kennedy. If I heard this from several sources, both privately and in public, didn’t the Democratic National Committee hear this and if so, did they just choose to ignore it? And they consider us ignorant rednecks.
By now the reader is wondering just where my demented mind is taking this diatribe and when I am going to get there. Actually, that point has came and went. But to simplify it some, here is what I was trying to say. If we as a country intend to survive and continue to grow, we must attempt to understand what drives the opposite political view. In doing so, it is possible that we can even adjust our own views to take in consideration those of the opposing side of the political aisle. Hopefully during this exchange, they too will examine their positions and modify them to accept some of our concerns or fears.
I shall close this maniacal diatribe with the following thought. The best man for the job as President was not elected this November 2nd. And it is extremely doubtful he will ever be elected, for one specific reason. He did not run for the office. And he will never run. The best man for the job is smart enough not to put himself in such a position. Who is this person? I have no idea. And I doubt anyone else does either. Just that he will never allow himself to be used by either side of the political fence.
26 November 2004
Creek County, Oklahoma
My dialogue with BlogFrog4 could have been extremely sarcastic in nature on my part, but I chose not to extend myself in that direction. I was and still am serious in determining the depth and reasons for the dislike which BlogFrog4 showed in his/her comments.
We do not live in a bubble. We live in a world of expanding technology and communications. No longer are events occurring half way around the world and news reaching us days later. Many times we see them live, as they occur. And if we intend to continue to consider ourselves civilized, we must extend our thinking and feelings into those realms where our opponents exist. We cannot allow ourselves to consider that ours is the only way in which we must exist in this world. I do not believe there is a happy medium in which we can all survive, but there is a point in which each of us on this shrinking planet can co-exist.
Our phobias are driven by the daily elements of our lives. We fear the loss of aspects of our lives and thus we determine how we shall live. Our politics are based on all of the elements of our lives and determines the direction of our political leanings.
For the subscribers of my commentaries, they have a basic idea what type of person I am. Or do they? They see me quite often in chats and via e-mail, expounding on the shape of the Universe. What they mostly see is a clown with a sometimes razor sharp wit. Sometimes with a wit dulled to the point butter has nothing to fear.
But BlogFrog4 has zero idea who I am and what I truly believe in. Then again, there are many things we do not know about BF4.
I will mention only in context those things we do not know about BF4. Male or female? Age? Economic status? Racial makeup? Location on Planet Earth? Education? Travel experiences? Employment, both current and past? Martial status? Military experience, if any? Only child or position within a larger family? I could expand this list farther but I think you get the idea.
Each of the items I mentioned above adds to the makeup of each and every one of us. I do not subscribe to the thinking that the environment is responsible for making us a criminal or an upstanding citizen, but I do believe it shapes our thinking and how we approach life in general. I am aware that I just somewhat contradicted myself, but only if you subscribe to the standard pattern of Sociologists in how environment effects growth and character.
Something I’m sure most missed in the dialogue between BF4 and myself is that he never once asked why I determined that Bush was the correct man for President. Not once did he inquire if I had fears of Kerry taking the Oval Office. His concerns were narrowly focused, with very little room to maneuver.
I do appreciate his emotions in this matter. But to allow emotions to overrule logic can lead to many disastrous decisions. In this, we are all guilty. As hard as I have tried to lead my life making informed decisions, I am more then aware that I have allowed emotion to take control and lead me astray on several occasions. Those times when I was lucky in that my emotions were in tune with a rational decision, I can only be thankful.
What I did notice that created a nominal amount of fear in this last election was the attempt to firmly divide this country into the haves and have nots. To divide this country by class. To establish a situation where one group of people could be blamed for the condition of another. The wealthy verses the poor. But the amazing aspect of this was, it was members of the wealthy that was preaching the evils of the rich to anyone that would listen. And even more amazing was how many people bought into such drivel.
Then after the election we saw members of the losing party condemn those that voted against them. I have never heard such insults before, during or even after an election as I heard this time around, from high ranking members of the Democratic party.
And what I found funny was that long before the Democratic Convention, word had reached me that John Edwards political life was short lived and could not even be elected dog catcher in his home state, and yet, he was chosen as Kerry’s running mate in hopes he could bring in the Southern vote, as LBJ had done for John Kennedy. If I heard this from several sources, both privately and in public, didn’t the Democratic National Committee hear this and if so, did they just choose to ignore it? And they consider us ignorant rednecks.
By now the reader is wondering just where my demented mind is taking this diatribe and when I am going to get there. Actually, that point has came and went. But to simplify it some, here is what I was trying to say. If we as a country intend to survive and continue to grow, we must attempt to understand what drives the opposite political view. In doing so, it is possible that we can even adjust our own views to take in consideration those of the opposing side of the political aisle. Hopefully during this exchange, they too will examine their positions and modify them to accept some of our concerns or fears.
I shall close this maniacal diatribe with the following thought. The best man for the job as President was not elected this November 2nd. And it is extremely doubtful he will ever be elected, for one specific reason. He did not run for the office. And he will never run. The best man for the job is smart enough not to put himself in such a position. Who is this person? I have no idea. And I doubt anyone else does either. Just that he will never allow himself to be used by either side of the political fence.
26 November 2004
Creek County, Oklahoma
