Category: Uncategorized

Here’s one of my recent class assignments, basically on what I want to be when I grow up:

a little light bullshit

Okay, so we suspect that most people won’t accept banning people from voting if they can’t explain the concepts and ramifications of deficit spending. We also think that requiring someone to take a quiz on who holds what position is politically untenable.

So that leaves education as the ethical alternative. How do we effectively educate voters?

Got my bike back from the hub yesterday evening. Replacing the entire drive train (and the tires) has made my bike so rocking. A few seconds after I started pedaling, I actually exclaimed “Baby, your action’s so smooth!” I don’t think there were any pedestrians nearby.

And the gearing now goes much higher. It was a complete Zoom! experience. The midtown greenway no longer has signs up at 5th that say “don’t go here” Unfortunately, it’s raining today.

With regard to the last two entries…

While the country may be more polarized than it’s been in my lifetime, but I don’t need to go much earlier to find far greater polarization. Riots in berkeley where the national guard was called out occurred in the 60’s. I definitely don’t need to go back to the civil war.

I still believe in Jefferson’s quote: “I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.”

I was in a dark mood earlier, to put it mildly.

Spider Jerusalem, the protagonist of Transmetropolitan, has an interesting perspective on voting. This is another one unsuitable for all those teeny-tots reading my livejournal. But there are a couple of points where I disagree with him.

In general, I’m fine with whores, sinners, and freaks, most of them at least have some humility or alot of pragmatism. It’s self-righteous authoritarian majorities who wish to reshape the world into some autocratically constructed, idealized image that worry me, particularly because autocratically constructed images are rarely implementable.

You have to page down a bit to get to the cartoon. But once you see the guy with the tattooed bald head, jacket, and no shirt, you’ve got it. http://edge.cow-dog.net/archives/2004/10/12/on-voting-and-elections-in-general/

That’s pretty much what the election results felt like to alot of us. Probably the most polarizing election of my lifetime. And they haven’t been getting any more uniting as time goes by. I really hope my misgivings are wrong.

At the next constitutional convention, perhaps we should give some real thought to the duties of citizenship, and how just luck of birth is not enough.

Luck of birth (ius sanguini, ius soli) should be sufficient for permanent residence, and all the constitutional guarantees to liberty (freedom of speech, of religion, etc). But citizenship, most notably the right to vote, should entail some educational prerequsites. And the oath previously mentioned ought to be something all voters, as well as all office holders, have to swear at some point, preferably repeatedly.

It is interesting how this little phrase pops up in oaths for all CA state employees, all military personnel, and the oath of citizenship for naturalized citizens.

“support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” (emphasis added)

It’s interesting that it’s not the government, or even the nation, but the Constitution they swear to uphold and defend. It seems painfully relevant these days.

Why, what is this, there’s a guy standing there, smiling and staring openly at me, there is no smoke, and for that matter, no alcohol, and there are trains whizzing by. And I’m underground. Plus, I’m not wearing a coat, but I’m not cold. So, yeah, some guy sorta picked me up on BART. Always flattering. I saw this bizarre play that makes me feel utterly sane. I played much frozen throne, and am learning Junta. I talked with Luke, my bus companion to Phoenix. It’s good to be back, even if only for entirely too short a time. Yay for tom, and simon (no longer single!), and , and nathan, and …

I kinda miss Ro. Ah well. =)

It is still good to be back, even if only for a little while.

[this entry was originally made yesterday afternoon but decided to backdate itself to january. Do not ask me why. Reposted]

in response to: http://www.livejournal.com/users/cheerfulchaotic/260005.html?thread=723365#t723365

I’m not proposing we compromise on our values. I’m saying that the truth doesn’t advertise itself. It simply exists. As any good scientist knows, discovering and understanding the truth is rarely easy, and explaining it is often even harder. Insulting the population of most states is terrible marketing. And whether or not we mean it as a joke doesn’t mean that people aren’t listening and seeing deeper meaning in what we casually toss off. If we want people to listen to us, we have to construct a message that appeals to everyone and put it out there. This is important.

“Hatred is not a family value” is good, but “Loving _all_ our children is a _real_ family value,” is better.

The truth is, we probably care more about the well being of most Bush’s voters than Bush does. And that’s a truth that isn’t being marketed. A truth, I might add, that is a much more important message than a probable urban legend.

The thing that ultimately pulled me back from considering Canada as an option is that I may be able to help change the tenor of the country enough to keep one more fundamentalist’s painfully depressed, angst ridden, teen homo child from slitting his or her wrists in alabama or minnesota, or california. But it’s also worth considering that Bush bas been hurting America in a big way, he probably won’t be slowing down, and we have a responsibility to help stop the hurting, to the extent we can. Failing because we can’t be bothered to reach out to people of differing, even hostile, viewpoints and beliefs is a pretty damning failure, and not one I’m willing to accept.

visited states map