Shad

I’m typically not much of a joiner. I think my biggest problem with “joining” something is that you then are associated with that organization. And if they do something stupid that you disaggree with, then you either have to break off and go your own way, or shut up and pretend like you aggree. Actually, I believe that many “join” simply so that they won’t have to think for themselves.

Example
The two party political system in the United States of America. What the hell. We have such diverse choices. One the one hand, we have a party that’s totally ruled by corporations and special interests… and on the other hand, we have Republicans… who are totally ruled by the corporations and special interests. Yet, people still claim to be part of these organizations. They spout what they hear like a cheap recorder.

Seriously, there’s just really not much choice here. It’s like going to the grocery store and being able to choose between two pre-filled bags of groceries. You can examine both all day long, but in the end, thier pretty much the same and niether exactly what you want.

If you say, “I’m a Democrat” then you are automatically associated with everything that the Democratic party has ever stood for. It’s also generally assumed that you would back any Democrat to run for any office anywhere. If you say that you’re a republican… well… then you’re just obviously not really paying attention. This country is sliding quickly into a social morass for which our grandchildren will curse us as they watch India and China take over as the new “world powers”. Much of this is due to our current “president” and our unilateral policies. Oh, and the acceptable use of torture.

(a little off topic, but) Today, Congress questioned John Ashcoft about a memo circulated that defines what amount of torture constitutes torture and how we *should* use it to gain information from suspected terrorists. Sounds too crazy to be true, eh? Well, I’m sorry to say that it is. And when asked for a yes or no to whether this memo was accurate, he gave a very “lawerly” answer (according to NPR). But don’t believe me, listen to it yourself (check the All Things Considered link).

Anyway, back to my original point. I have a few simple requests.
1. Stop listening to politicians.
2. Take everything you hear in the media in it’s proper context (Note that the New York Times and Fox News are both owned by the smae man… Rupert Murdock).
3. Don’t hold strong beliefs about things you don’t fully understand. Opinions are a cheap, facts are rare diamonds.
4. If you have a strong belief, defend it, but be willing to listen to counter-points.
5. DO NOT just spout what you hear politicians saying. Politicians bend the truth (that’s one belief I will always defend).
6. DO NOT just assume that Amer’ca is always right. We all make mistakes, owning up to them takes real courage.

Remember this final thing… you ARE being lied to by your government… and it will eventually hurt you personally.