As most of my friends know, I'm not a politically correct person at all. So if this post in any way offends any of my 5 readers, I apologize.
So this morning my cousin called me just to check up and see how I was doing in the current market crisis. One of the things she asked was whether I was going to vote. When I replied no, she asked me why. After a couple seconds of thought, I replied that the best way to express my reason was that "I don't believe in the system". As I mentioned to a friend earlier this week, I think we will eventually see a black president or a female president long before we will ever see a Buddhist president or a Jewish president (well that one's just because the President doesn't make that much money).
The US is by and large a Christian nation. So instead of always talking about how the "A"rabs are attacking you because of your freedoms, maybe its because your god is mentioned on your currency, not theirs. Maybe it's because an opinion on whether or not women can have abortions is a presidential issue in this country. Not that I think stoning them is a better solution.
The bailout vote is a perfect example of why I don't believe in this government. There are almost 500 lawmakers between the Senate and the House of Representatives and many of them don't know enough about the economy to understand all the reasons for, against, and the consequences of this bill. Yet a couple of paragraphs about taxes on wooden arrows and rum will get them to change their vote? As my friend put it, "I don't understand the peculiarly american notion that your leaders should be like the common man."
Another problem I have with the process is that the United States seem less and less united. Not only do we have completely different legislative and fiscal problems between states, we have a VP candidate who mentioned many times in her debate that she wants more to be left to the discretion of the state. And because of the way the system is set up, most elections essentially come down to a few swing states and that's it.
So, after all that, anybody wanna buy my vote?
4 comments :
As with most examples of offensiveness, your comment about a possible Jewish presidency offends me for the sheer stupidity of your comment, rather than some feeling of horror at your lack of political correctness. Given the nature of your other commentary, I would assume that you are above such inanity; though maybe such an assessment of your intelligence should be restricted solely to your evaluation of tasting menus and over/under lines.
Ummm... that was clearly a joke, just like the comment later on about stoning. I know that tone is hard to convey in these posts, but given the presence of those two lines plus the final line ending the post I would have assumed most of my readers to understand the intended tone of the post. Besides, I have many Jewish friends and they all seem to have a perfectly good sense of humor about how other people seem to view these "stereotypes". Seriously, lighten up dude.
To steal an Obamaism...I think that humor like this is a kind of "soft biggotry." Though you might believe that it is all in good humor, and I have no doubt that your intentions are positive, commentary of this sort is degrading both to you and to the group that you reference.
As for the last line of your post showing that clearly your post was a joke, I guess I would expect you would be happy to sell your vote. Why wouldn't you accept a certain payment that would compensate you for the trouble of going to the polling station on election day (and possibly the trouble of registering since I guess you may not have done that as well). Maybe I'll take you up on this someday if you move to a swing state.
Seriously...I am not upset about any of this (though I guess you would still insist that I should lighten up). I just feel that it is worth adding my two cents that it is at least my opinion that stuff like this doesn't have a place even in a forum such as this.
First of all, let me restate that I do not actually have any such beliefs as mentioned in the jokes (about money and stoning), but I do acknowledge that they are out there.
Now, I understand your views and I'm happy to publish them. After all, that's the point of blogging.
As for my views, which I hope you can respect and so will end this dialogue. From wikipedia and dictionary.com: "A bigot is a person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or identities differing from his or her own, and bigotry is the corresponding state of mind". And again, while I do not believe any such stereotypes as listed, I also believe that the belief of stereotypes does not make one a bigot or discriminatory. It is when one is intolerant or makes assumptions of superiority/inferiority that causes discrimination.
The comic Carlos Mencia is a perfect example of this. Many people find him offensive; I find him hilarious. He makes fun of all kinds of stereotypes and makes it a point not to leave out any ethnicity, because, as he says, that would be discriminatory. I suggest you youtube some of his performances, and that way you can direct your disgust at someone else. Or how about Jeff Foxworthy, the best selling standup comedian of all time, who makes a living off redneck jokes. The key theme for these types of comedians: too many people just have an inability to laugh at themselves. So yes, as you predicted, I will tell you once again to lighten up.
Post a Comment