Politics....

To be fair, this will be a fairly long rant about several issues I have seen in the last few months, so if you do not feel like reading it, I will not take offense ^^

I will be the first to admit that I am not very political-minded.  In fact, most of the time I avoid such things (except when it comes to voting, because that is still very important) because I do not enjoy listening to the backhanded comments, the blurred focus, and the slander of political debate, or even the political talk shows.  Conservatives bash the liberals, blame everything that goes wrong on them, and liberals do the same to conservatives.  It is really dumb, because rather than present their actual opinions on and solutions for a relevant issue, they point the finger at their opponent, point out his or her flaws and failures.  Like I said, I avoid hearing it as much as I can.

Well, since living with my Grandparents I have heard a LOT in regards to politics.  My Grandpa listens to political radio basically all day long and watches Bill O-Reilly (I cannot stand him, really--the only good thing I have to say about O-Reilly is that at least he admits that he is narrow-minded and full of himself.  Which is actually is a big thing since so few people do admit to such things)  in the evening.  Grandpa is fairly well-rounded, and listens to both sides despite his own political direction, and I think that it is one of the reasons I look up to him.

The first issue I have--and it is first only because it is so recent--is this whole dragging the names of politicians through the mud by bringing up alleged crimes/misconduct of their past.  Mainly I think this is bull because it is cheap tactics to weaken the other person's credibility and it happens a lot.  It detracts from the important issues and serves really only as a distraction.  Yes, the things that we do have a way of coming up and biting us in the ass--it just seems oh-so-suspicious to me that so many of these things come up during critical points in these people's careers.  It seems to me that it is done because the individual is a threat to someone or some group, and so they become a target of scandal.  

So what if Cain was a skirt-chaser twenty years ago?  What does that really have to do with his ability to run the country and help get it out of the tight spot she has been in for the last eight or so years?  What does it have to do with foreign policy, with military awareness, and other important issues?  Seriously, if the biggest dirt clump you can dig up on someone happened twenty years ago, you are really stretching for a reason to discredit the man.  Not to mention that all of these sexual harassment and sexual assault charges seem to be very.... storybook.  The amount of detail these women are able to recall, and that there are suddenly so many, just seems more like a set-up, or as though these are people searching for their fifteen minutes of fame.  Why one would want to be known for such a thing, I have no comprehension of.

What would really impress me in a candidate for any political office is one who is well, honest.  Stands up, speaks their mind, but addresses the issues at every turn and does not lower him or herself to mud slinging.  It would be nice if someone like Cain were to say, "look, in the past I did hit on women both inside and outside the workplace but we are not here to talk about that.  I am here to help turn this country around, and this is how I plan to do it."  Give attention to the allegation, address it briefly and be honest about it, but move on.  There are much more important things in this world, and especially in the political world, than what politicians do in their personal lives.  Let's face it, most of our politicians have gotten their hands dirty in some way or another--none of them are saints, they are all humans.  Get over it.  Absolutely ridiculous that so much time is wasted on such trivial matters.

Which actually leads me into my next topic--trivial matters.  This is a lot less politics, and a lot more, what the hell as a society are we thinking?!?!?!  Celebrities and their twisted, fame-seeking lives.  The newest debacle: the whole stupid Kardasian (?) thing.  I had never even heard of who this person (actually, I guess it would be people, since it seems like it is a whole family of fame-seekers) was until she got married to the NBA guy, who she then divorced and there was a whole question of if the marriage was a sham.  My first question: who cares?!  My first observation: of course it was a sham--look how much attention they are getting now that their marriage lasted only a month.  I now shut off the television, radio, or whatever anytime I hear that name mentioned because it is ridiculous and such a time-waster.  

Have the lives of the people become so engrained in what is on the television that things like reality television are so popular, and the lives of celebrities mean that much?  Get outside, go live your life, and stop giving attention to people who pull stunts just to capture your interest.  It is all fake--especially reality television.  I could rant about stupid celebrities all day, but I do not really want to waste my time by doing so--besides, it is not worth it.

It just makes it easier to lead into my next topic--again, I am getting away from politics ^^--: technology.  There is a commercial on Hulu for HuluPlus, where one of the actresses on a show (I do not know who she is or what show she is on, sorry) talks about how with HuluPlus, you can take her anywhere you go via your phone, your iPad, etcetera.  Then you have other commercials where people are sitting on the beach watching a movie, and in all reality it just makes me sad.  The commercials for smart phones infer that if you do not have one, then you are to feel like a shamed outcast because you cannot connect with your friends on facebook, or watch a movie, or any of the other things that the smart phones now do.  What happened to the good old days when I phone just made calls and sent text messages.  I find myself rejoicing when I leave the house and realize I have forgotten my phone because I do not feel the need to be constantly connected to everything around me (and in this sense I am talking about the false feeling of connectivity that technology gives us).

People use these technological things to babysit and raise their children.  I cannot tell you how many people come through the line at Costco, and their children are being entertained by an iPad.  I am always happy when I see the children who actually have little toys or books that they are playing with while sitting in the carts.  It is no wonder there are things like memory and attention problems when everything can be done for our children with a touch of a finger.

I know it sounds a little paranoid, but how many movies are out there that tell a story of human dependency on technology turning into some sort of slavery or other negative outcome for our race?  Really, it does not seem that far fetched when we look around us and see how dependent we are becoming.  Cars that can park themselves and warn us if we are about to hit something we do not see--they seem like great innovations to further protect the populace, but in a very real way, they just make us lazy.  What happens when that technology fails, or malfunctions?  Do you sew the company that made it because you had been so dependent on it telling you that there was that car next to you that you did not even bother to check before changing lanes?

Then there are the online back-up programs, where you can safely store all of your important documentation and computer data just in case something happens to your lap or desktop.  Why is this idea so appealing to so many people--besides the fact that you won't lose your information in the event of a crash or some other disaster.  I am trying to get an external hard drive to back up my files, but otherwise I try to print or keep copies of things in several locations so that if something does happen to my laptop, I am not at a loss.  However, backing up your files online just seems to scream for your personal information to be hijacked.  I guess that really goes for anything done online, because as secure as some websites are, there is always a possibility that some one can get to the information.  Ha, that thought makes me want to start sticking all my money somewhere outside of a bank and use money orders to pay my bills =P

Anyway, back on track here: Technology helps remove responsibility from our individual choices--which is not a good thing.  We already have too many people in this world who do not take responsibility for their own actions or their own carelessness/stupidity--they file lawsuits, blame others, become the victims, and act rashly out of their own misconceptions that something could not have possibly been their fault in any way.  We often forget that there are two sides to every story, that action and reaction go hand-in-hand.  Some people have bad days and cannot separate their feelings from their interactions with others.  We choose to take the things said or done to us either personally or with understanding--and the way we interpret the actions or words of others changes the way we react.  This is easier said than remembered, but if you can try to take responsibility for your own reactions and actions, and understand that you cannot control the way the other person acts or reacts, then you can find yourself in a much more peaceful place.

As it is, right now people take things to personally.  Words inflict damage because they are given power, and we live in a society where sugar-coated insults are preferred over the truth.  Political correctness is all just one big sham, an effort to protect the feelings of people who feel that the truth is an insult--their interpretation and personalization of the word makes it so.  We have racism, reverse-racism, and snap judgements made based on stereotypes (which are often proven wrong the more interaction a person has with a group).  In a country where our own constitution declares that all men are created equal, we are far from it.  In trying to create equality, we become less so.  

In reality, we are not equal any way, and that has nothing to do with gender, race, or socio-economics.  We are not equal because not every person is made the same.  We do not have the same strengths, the same weaknesses, or the same outlooks.  Some people are raised in abusive homes and come out of it well-adjusted, some are raised in good homes and come out of them mal-adjusted.  People are unique, and that uniqueness creates natural inequalities--they should be celebrated, not hindered.  Not every child who shows up to a soccer game should get a trophy--not only is this unrealistic, it does not help them prepare for life in a society built on advancement through achievement.  Of course, there are companies out there that pay the person that works hard the same amount as the person who just shows up, but I think for the most part it is an unrealistic view on the way the world works.

Again though, with technology being how it is the way the job market is played is even different.  Companies like Costco, who value the person who is aggressive in obtaining the position (by calling or making an appearance to check on the application status) are becoming fewer and fewer.  Most companies now ask that applicants send in their applications or resumes with a cover letter through online portals or e-mail and prohibit any contact regarding the status.  It makes it difficult for potential employees to really sell themselves.

All in all, I think we would be in a much better position if we could learn to take responsibility, teach responsibility, focus on what is truly important, and just learn to accept things and people as they are.  I know I have some problems with the last one, but I am working toward that end.  It is thoughts like these that I often have trouble articulating because I know that while most of the people I associate with agree with many, if not all, of these points, there are a lot of people in this country that do not.  I have considered though, writing a column or to and submitting it to the local paper, but I feel like such things do not make much of a difference.  There are plenty of books, radio shows, televised reports, and newspaper articles that outline these things, and yet as a society we continue moving in the same direction.

So sad...