Idiot Parade

I believe that if you choose to live and work in this country, the ability to speak, read, and write in English should be a requirement. No one is forced to come here; it is a choice. By choosing to make a living in the United States, a person should acknowledge certain societal norms, namely, the way in which businesses and most people communicate. If you speak other languages, that’s fantastic. No one can or should be kept from using their native tongue with friends and family. But if a person is conducting business with English speakers, which you have to do as someone living in this country, have the courtesy to know the language in which your customers and peers communicate.

I believe that there is nothing wrong with acknowledging that some stereotypes are true. Racism has taken on a life of it’s own, and there seems to be no gray area in a discussion of racial beliefs or remarks. It’s as though burning a cross in the name of white power is the same as Newsweek citing that 50% of African-American children are raised without a father figure in the home. That isn’t racist; it might not be completely accurate, because statistics can easily be skewed, but it is simply pointing out nuances in different cultures. Not all stereotypes are bad, either.

I believe that being politically correct can often hinder the progress of an honest discussion or debate.

I believe that it is unfair to expect someone to have one dimension. Human beings are contradictory by nature. I may be ‘conservative’ on certain issues and ‘liberal’ on others. If you disagree with my opinions or analysis on a particular subject, that’s fine, but that one opinion does not define me as a person, just as one act in my twenty-one years of living does not represent the whole of my existence. Neither of us can be labeled as “bad” or “wrong” simply because we disagree. All that can be said, frankly, is that we disagree.

I believe that people are offended too easily. No one tells you to troll websites or watch shows on a news network that caters to those who oppose your world view. I do those things because sometimes it gives me a good laugh, sometimes it makes me consider another point of view, and sometimes it ignites passion. But if I knowingly watch or read something that opposes my opinions, I take it for what it is and know that the only person I can blame is myself. Free speech means people have the right to say things that will upset you and piss you off.

I believe that Anglo-Americans are losing their culture. I have introduced myself as an Irish-American, and was quickly reminded that I’m not from Ireland. I doubt that every African-American, Asian-American, or Latin-American person is an immigrant from Africa, Asia, or Latin America, but they are still permitted to identify with their ancestry. Perhaps it’s because Anglo-Americans are generally racial “mutts”–I am Irish, French, Scottish, and Cherokee. However, because the majority of my heritage is Irish, if I should choose to identify myself as such, I don’t see why that should be any less plausible than any other hyphenated American.

I believe that God is good, that hedonism is pointless and futile, that life begins at conception, that love is not all you need but certainly one of the better things to have, that Bernie Goldberg is a fuckwit, that a grudge can only be held for so long before the holder looks like a complete idiot, and that my dog knows exactly what she’s doing when she eats my stuff.

Fin.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 at 5:33 pm and is filed under Daily, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.