Freedom for all… Just not you.

So our glorious leader has decided that transgender folk aren’t free to lay down their lives for this nation. Because of who they are, they are not allowed to train, be equipped and fight against legitimate threats to this nation, president excluded.  On one hand I’m happy about this. Now before anyone gets pissy, hear me out. Anyone who is barred from serving our once great nation now has a much better chance of not dying at the hands of terrorists, again president excluded.  They won’t be sent overseas to be shot at by people who we, as a nation, been arming since before I was even born. If we’re arming them, they must be our allies, right?  Yeah, no. We’re arming them because the enemy of my enemy is my friend, at least until our common enemy is gone, then you’re my enemy.

Back on topic.  I’m pissed avout our transgendered Americans not being able to serve because every American should have the right, the privilege, to lay down their life in defense of the nation they love. I’ll be honest, it’s been a while since I was able to say that I truly loved this nation of ours. There is far too much corruption within the upper ranks of government to to be able to love. They rose to power by manipulating and lying to the American people. Mind you the people aren’t innocent in this at all. The American people are overly polarized over even the slightest thing and are dimmer that a sack of broken lightbulbs.

The biggest divides I see are, in no particular order, race, class, gender. As stated in my last post, I am a liberal. To me, that means I’m willing to let my tax money help the poor of all races, genders and class. It also means I don’t want my tax dollars to fund corporate welfare, seriously, if you’re reporting record profits of millions or more, then you don’t need my tax dollars. It’s fine if you’re poor and you have nice things like a nice car or an iPhone, just as long as you’re trying to put food on the table, it’s fine. If you’re transgender, good for you. You are who you are. Don’t let anyone tell you different. I grew up in a small town, I didn’t see my first non-white/non-Hispanic person in person until after I turned 18. But that’s ok. Even if you’re not comfortable with people of color, at least treat them with respect.

These are dark times we live in, is our country going the way of nazi Germany, or are we just on a rocky road to a greater future?  Some might argue that it’s one in the same. Those people make me fear for this nation. America has a long history of discrimination. Against native Americans, against blacks, against the Irish, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, women, muslims, the list goes on. If we are to be the great nation so many people claim we are, we need to stop the hate. If you don’t like someone, fine. Just show them the same respect that you expect t from them. We need to become more accepting of other cultures, and less close minded. In my opinion, one of the things that made America great is that we were a melting pot of cultures. Sort of an international fondue, rich and full of flavor. Now they just want to be a cheap domestic block of cheese. Bland, boring and decent on a sandwich with soup.

I hear all the time “if you hate America, then get out!”  I don’t hate America, I like it, it’s my home, but I’m not proud of it, kinda embarrassed really. I’ve always been a proponent of a single unified world government, similar to the UN, but that’s a rant for another time. We need to stand up as a nation, learn to get along with the rest of the world, and bring about a change in this world that will not only make America great, but the world as a whole great. I pray only that things improve before my niece gets old enough to understand what a horrible world we currently live in. Wars, famine, corruption and greed, all of which could be solved if we stopped blowing each other up and starting helping one another. There are better ways to solve conflicts in the world. There are always better ways.
~Sam

In the beginning…

I think the biggest thing to have shaped my attitude towards people in general is how polarized people get over anything and everything. This ranges from something as simple as what kind of car you like to religious beliefs and political affiliation.  I’m guilty of this as much as anyone but I’ve been trying to keep an open mind and listen to other view points. For the record, I consider myself a liberal independent. I also consider myself an angry American asshole. I could go into further detail about my political views, but I’d rather not deal with that at the moment.

It’s ok to have strong beliefs and opinions, but you can’t blind yourself to opposing beliefs just because you don’t like them or you disagree with them. It’s very tiring having to listen to the same closed-minded shit day after day because people don’t want to even entertain the idea that their opinion is wrong. When it comes down to it, many Americans are divided into one of two camps. The first is pro-humanitarian. In a nutshell this is helping the poor, providing for the less fortunate even if it means me have to pay more than the other guy. I fall into this group. The other camp is pro-class. Basically this is someone who puts the needs of themselves, their family and/or friends above the well being of someone who is less fortunate. Both sides have their pros and cons, but I sleep better at night knowing that my little extra is helping someone down on their luck have a much needed hot meal or a warm bed to sleep in for the night. Ideally if we could take the best parts from both sides and forge it into one idea that would be great.  But again, there are too many people who are set in their beliefs and would fight the idea of a near-utopian society just because it clashes with their personal beliefs.

This is all for now. May the dice forever be in your favor.

~Sam