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Monday Morning Ramblings

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If you watch Fox News or listen to conservative talk radio, you probably believe the Occupy Wall Street protest and the subsequent demonstrations springing up around the nation are nothing more than a collection of neo-hippies, drugged-out radicals, welfare leeches, and uneducated rabble intent on hijacking the government for their own socialist ideology.  These disorganized radicals are at the same time undisciplined lawbreakers and highly trained agents of some secret Leftist cabal planted by Karl Marx himself.  If you believe the far right, this is how totalitarianism begins.

Of course, two years ago, when Tea Party Activists were conducting similar protests, these same pontificators praised protesters as true patriots attempting to save the nation from the evils of government.  Then, protests were our God-given right, guaranteed by the Constitution and paid for by the blood of the Revolution.  It was the duty of concerned citizens to protest the injustices of Death Panels and government bailouts of irresponsible corporations.

I’m not physically there on Wall Street, so I can’t intelligently speak about the people who are protesting.  I also can’t intelligently describe their methods or activities because I haven’t seen them firsthand.  All I’ve seen are video clips and sound bytes from major news outlets, and we all know that the media can manipulate those to fit whatever suits their needs.  What I do know and can speak about intelligently is that the vast majority of us “average” Americans are fed up with corporate greed and government bureaucracy.  We’re  sick of watching laws and regulations manipulated to favor the few and harm the many.  We’re sick of feeling like the entire system is rigged against us.

The other day, I wrote about my hopes for the protests.  Nearly every person I know, regardless of political affiliation, feels like our country is slipping away from us.  Maybe, it’s already too far gone to save.  Maybe, we can salvage our democratic republic and restore liberty to the masses.  Only time will tell, but what is certain is that this current round of protests is fueled by an overwhelming sense of frustration we all feel.

General Posts

Saturday Afternoon Ramblings

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I must be getting old because I find myself thinking a lot about just how lost this current generation seems to be.  Last night, I went to homecoming to support my niece, who was the junior representative for the court, and while watching the game, I found myself wondering how my coaches would’ve dealt with the egos and self-centered attitudes of the players.  The stadium has a fairly impressive video screen, and for pre-game, the kids get to record their own introductions.  It’s a pretty cool concept, but after watching the clips, I was simply disgusted.

First, all the boys acted in their videos like they were mugging for Monday Night Football.  The cockiness and arrogance of their posturing was ridiculous.  It might not put me off as badly if they had the skill to back it up, but their effort on the field was pretty disappointing.  I can’t imagine what Buddy Sausbury or Brumley Greene would’ve said to us if we had arm-tackled like that.   The defensive line to a player had weak technique, their first step typically being to stand up and look in the backfield.  On the line, low man wins, and the side that gets the better push with leverage controls the game.

Second, there was an attitude of entitlement in the videos that is pretty symbolic of all that’s wrong with this generation.  They’ve done nothing on the field to earn that swagger, yet they acted like they’re the defending state champs.  How about you accomplish something before you tell me how good you are?  I see that same mentality in the classroom and around campus.  Kids park in the faculty and staff lot and, when confronted, act as if they deserve to park there because somehow they are above the rules and beyond reproach.  At 38, I’ve paid my dues, kid.  Accomplish something before you take my parking spot.

I also took great umbrage with their uniforms.  I don’t know if it was a one game deal or what, and I don’t know who made the decision, but the team came out in all black.  Those aren’t the Trojan colors.  We wear crimson and silver.  Have a little respect for tradition, please.  A lot of people came before you to create that program, and we bled and sweated and toiled for those colors.  It meant something to me to put on that jersey, and I think it meant something to most of us.  Get rid of the black and wear the school colors, please.

I’m well aware that I sound like a cantankerous old man, and I know my opinion won’t hold much sway with anybody in the school system, student, teacher, or administrator.  But I was disappointed with what I saw last night and had to express my feelings.

General Posts

Thursday Morning Ramblings

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I only speak for myself and don’t purport to know the motivations and aspirations of the protesters at Wall Street, but if I were among their ranks, the following would be my clearly stated goals of the protest:

I want to live in a nation that respects and rewards a person’s contribution to society fairly and justly.  I would like to earn enough money to pay off my student loan debt, save for retirement, have access to adequate healthcare, and send my children to college, not feel at the end of the month as if I have to choose between food and gas.  I would like to know that my contribution as a professional educator is respected and appreciated, not just by my students and colleagues, but by society as a whole.

I want to live in a nation that holds corporations and CEO’s accountable for moving jobs overseas and hiding billions in profits offshore to avoid paying taxes.  I’d like to see CEO’s punished for bankrupting companies, not compensated with multi-million dollar severance packages.  I want companies to be held accountable if they poison our water supply, make our air unbreathable, taint our children’s toys with lead paint, contaminate our food supply with lethal bacteria, or in any other way recklessly endanger our lives in the name of profit.

I want to live in a nation that once again embraces innovation and ingenuity and doesn’t allow other countries to outpace us in technological advancement.

I want to live in a nation that respects all people who are willing to work full-time, regardless of occupation.  There is dignity and honor in contributing to society, whether that be as white collar, blue collar, or red collar.  All jobs are important, and anyone who is willing to work and be productive should be viewed, not with cynicism and disdain, but with appreciation and admiration.

I want to live in a nation that embraces diversity and respects everyone’s rights to freedom.  Liberty is our birthright, guaranteed by our Constitution, and these freedoms are granted to all citizens of this country regardless of sex, race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or any other artificial stratification created to keep us divided and bickering.  We are all American citizens, born with certain unalienable rights.

I want to live in a nation that celebrates and aspires to greatness, not promotes and rewards mediocrity.  Not so long ago, our music, our movies, our books were the best in the world.  Today, we create paper-thin melodies with no soul, recycle worn-out franchises, and cheer poorly written, cliche-riddled narratives.  We have half-baked reality shows rewarding talent-less jackasses and washed up celebrities.  We promote buffoonery and incivility, while creative geniuses play street corners for handouts.

I want to live in the America I was promised as a child, a land of freedom and opportunity, a place where if you built a better mouse-trap, the world would beat a path to your door.  Today, if you build a better mouse-trap, Corporate America and government bureaucracy will trample your aspirations with a myriad of confusing regulations and a maze of overbearing documentation, stifling your innovation in name of preserving the status quo.

Those would be my goals for the protests.