Divided We Fall
I want to make this very clear before I start: I am, and have been for years, a person who considers himself without a political ideology. For me personally, I was once extremely conservative, but time and actual experience living in the world taught me that subscribing to any ideology is like enslaving your mind, and that embracing a centrist, moderate point of view gives a person more leeway to change their mind or have their mind changed, which contrary to current belief, is actually a good thing. Believing in an ideology the way I did, the way so many people do, means your mind is made up, it cannot be changed, you are a slave to your political beliefs, blindly following them to wherever they lead, even if it is the darkest recesses of humanity, and that is an idea that is now anathema to me.
With all of that said, the question that is on my mind right now is: What the hell has happened to my country since I joined the Marine Corps in 1998?
I may no longer be an active duty Marine, but the love I have for my country has never wavered, and I cannot help but notice the shift in national fervor towards more ideology on the fringes, that marches away from the middle, from moderation, in the last 13 or so years. When I graduated from Parris Island, I may have not personally liked the President at that time, but I never felt such vitriolic hatred towards him that it seems half the country felt towards Bush, and now half the country feels towards Obama.
When did our country become so divided, allowing the radicals on both sides of the political aisle control of so much of the message each side blindly believes in?
And people, it is not just about politics. We see it in sports, especially now, with the NFL labor strife. People have taken sides, and they have taken sides with a vengeance. While I am impressed with those people who have passion and who have intelligence in arguing their side, I am thoroughly not impressed by those same people when they act like the other side possesses not one single valid point or intelligence of their own. That kind of slavish devotion to their ideology in this matter is a microcosm to the bigger political and cultural problems facing America today.
I guess I just feel disheartened today.
You know, people like Richard Dawkins, the famous British Atheist, who claim that the world would be so much more peaceful without religion in it are so full of crap. They just use that line of bull to further try and prove their cause for atheism, when the truth is, human beings will always find a reason for war, for fighting, for wanting what someone else has.
Because it is humanity, not religion, that is the problem. Religion is just the excuse. If people were to actually follow their beliefs in Christianity or Hinduism, for example, there would be no war; there would actually be harmony. But human beings who have political ideologies, who are frightened of people who are different, who want what others have, and who cannot stand living in a world where everyone else does not think like they do will always find a reason, an excuse, for war; to fight, to take, to kill.
People with the most extreme point of views will always have the loudest voices. Rush Limbaugh, Keith Olbermann, Glenn Beck, Dan Rather (a wolf in sheep's clothing if there ever was one), just about every idiot actor in Hollywood, Paul Krugman, Sean Hannity, Richard Dawkins… these people shouldn’t be the voices we listen to or follow. They are the same people throughout history whose voices carried the messages that showed the very worst humanity had to offer: Burn the witch! Blame the Jew! Burn the book! Kill the pig! God is dead!
We must rise above our need to enslave our minds, to follow the loudest voices, and we can start in the smallest of fights, like with this NFL-NFLPA standoff, in which both sides have valid arguments, both sides are not behaving as they should, and both sides share blame in how negotiations fall apart.
Fans, do not hurl insults at writers who are defending the NFLPA, calling them “pinko” or “commie,” there is no reason for that. These people just have different ideas than you do, and hurling insults without arguing logically makes you seem unintelligent. That goes double for some of those same writers (let’s face it, most writers) who side with the NFLPA and act as if the Owners or those arguing for the Owners have no legitimate point of view or arguments, and who act like all of those who say that the Owners have a legitimate argument have bought into the “propaganda” of the NFL. It is okay to be on the side of the NFLPA and admit that they are just as complicit in these matters as the Owners. It is not only okay, it is the truth.
Let us all be civil to one another. Start with the NFL labor mess, and maybe someday soon, move that into the political arena. It is possible to disagree without hate. It is possible to negotiate without vitriol. It is possible to speak to someone who does not agree with everything you believe in and find them to be pleasant company.
We have to move the discourse back to the middle and away from the extremes. Reject Jerry Richardson and DeMaurice Smith. Embrace Robert Kraft, Arthur Blank, and players who, well, who haven’t made themselves known yet because of NFLPA solidarity, but who are moderate and would have preferred to keep on negotiating.
If we can do it with this small argument (in the grand scheme of things), we can move on and reject the politics of Nancy Pelosi and Sarah Palin, and embrace the politics of Joe Lieberman and John McCain.
Then, maybe, the people who make up the country I love can get back to disagreeing with each other on a more peaceable level, such as it was when I was a boot Private back in the day.
Gameday Predictions (March Madness Edition)
So, it is now Friday, and the NCAA Tournament has been live for a day.
Whose bracket besides mine is now busted beyond all reason?
Why oh why did I buy into ODU? Why I oh why did I buy into the Big East (looking at you, Louisville)?
I am incapable of predicting anything when it comes to college basketball. At this point, I am just praying my Georgia Bulldogs win a single game.
So what’s my prediction for this Tournament, which EVERY sports writer and blabber told us was going to be boring, but has already given us three upsets and two last--shot wins?
Madness.
Oh, and a Duke-Kansas Final. The Dookies win their second in a row, which will probably cause more hate from Jalen Rose and his non-Uncle Toms.
Today in History
On 18 March 1893 former Governor General of Canada, Lord Frederick Stanley pledges to donate a silver cup to use as a trophy to be awarded to the best amateur hockey team in Canada.
This is, of course, the Stanley Cup, perhaps the most famous and celebrated trophy in professional sports.
The Cup would continue to be awarded to amateur hockey teams until 1910, when the various North American hockey leagues began to play for it, pitting champion against champion. The Seattle Metropolitans were the first American hockey team to win The Cup, and since 1926, the Stanley Cup has only been awarded to the Champion of the NHL.
The Jukebox
Lists about “Best Ever…” are subjective things, but they are generally fun because they bring about real passion in the way people will want to argue the merits of any such list, and unlike in most things in modern life, that passion is usually good natured, not anything like what I talked about earlier.
I think I will start to use Film Real, TV Dinner, and The Jukebox to start making some lists every now and again, not for any particular reason, but just because they are fun and lead to pretty good discourse.
Lists, of course, take time, and thought, and both of those I find in short supply at the moment of this writing, so to tantalize you (maybe) about the list you may find here next Friday, I just want to say… Nevermind.
Smart Quote
I love this quote, because in modern times I believe it stands for the slavery of the mind that the blind following of political ideology has brought our country.
A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half-slave and half-free.
Abraham Lincoln, 1858
Hey, Check This Out!
Here is the last-second buzzer-beater that destroyed my bracket this year, as I, a complete idiot, had ODU making the Final Four.
Feel free to laugh at my misery. But you know what, my day was still better than Rick Pitino’s. Heh.
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at @UGABugKiller. Thanks!
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