Lysa's Turn to Clarify Some Things...
Okay, let's set the record straight here. Not that there's been any
DIRECT confusion, but more like an indication that confusion is there.
I think it's important to set straight what myself, and probably some
of my circle of friends stand for nowadays, now that we're "grown up".
We still believe that racism is wrong. No one should ever be treated
differently because of the color of their skin. Sexism is wrong. A woman
can do what a man can do, and should get paid what he gets paid for it. Rape
is a crime. No one should give up their power over their bodies to anyone.
We're still pro-choice. When you're scared, and pregnant, not one of the three
major decisions available to you is a WRONG decision, if it's the one that is
most right for YOU.
Homosexuals have a right to exist. No one can tell you who to love and how to live.
Cruelty to animals is heinous. Just because we eat meat,
doesn't mean we condone veal calves, testing cosmetics on bunnies, wearing
fur, burning cats whiskers to "teach them a lesson", starving a dog because
you forgot it was there, or any of the thousands of myriad ways mankind
can fuck with our animal cousins. We still believe in trying to do what
we can to save the planet. We just now realize that it's better to tackle
the LITTLE things you CAN do, like recycling all of your cans and bottles,
than it is to TALK about EVERYTHING you SHOULD do. We still want world peace.
We're just now pretty sure that peace will take a lot of sweat, blood, tears,
and sacrifices to gain. Nothing worth having ever comes without a price,
as our forefathers learned when some of them died to free us from England. We
still believe that exploitation by the wealthy class sucks. But we've learned
that money makes the world go round, and we want more of it than we've had.
We don't want to be rich bastards who fuck over the little guys. We just want
to be able to have the important things, like a reliable car, and not have
to worry where dinner is coming from, ever. We still believe in saving whales,
protecting the owls, preserving the buffalo, whatever. After all, when a species dies,
the Earth dies a little more. But we've learned that for every species out there in
danger of dying out, there's already a thousand people trying to save it. They've got
enough help. We can concentrate on more immediate concerns. Like seat belts on school
buses.
Growing up doesn't mean selling out, or giving up. It just means learning, changing, shaping,
adapting, accepting and believing.
Posted at 14:58 # G
The nature of repression..
My best friend said something really interesting on the Fourth of July.
He said that he had experienced more repression during his years in the
punk scene than in his entire Catholic upbringing. We're trying to get
him to blog that, it was a really cool line of thought.
During the Independence Day
festivities, I came to realize something....
he is so right. Before I started hanging out with punks, I was a semi-patriotic
American. Basically, my philosophy was, America's damaged, and there's
a lot wrong with it, but it's my country, and I wouldn't live
anywhere else in the whole world. I love my nation with all my heart.
Does anyone remember Bloom County?
One of the characters in that comic said
it best, that America's still a good ol' broad.
During the Persian Gulf, a lot
of radio stations were playing this song "I'm proud to be an American, where at
least I know I'm free", and my heart use to swell with pride every time it played.
Then, during the years I was "busy being punk", I had to hide all that from most
people I knew, because that wasn't a real popular sentiment, and flags were frequently
defaced rather than waved. So I hid my heart, and got rid of my flags, and tried real
hard to be a good little anarchist, trying to change the world. But I grew up and
learned something....anarchy isn't going to change SHIT,
and much of punk is silly. The only way to save America
is to learn to use the system
she has in place, and force it to change things for the
better. My philosophy right now is, love America,
or get the fuck out of my country. Make
it better, or make tracks, because I have no patience for anti-American sentiment anymore.
I'm going to hang my flag,
and I'm going to sing the National Anthem
(off key) and I'll eat burgers on the 4th of July, and I going to be proud of living in the best damn country in the world.
Posted at 10:53 # G
