So, IncrediPoop calls me Ambivalent in his list of political activist readers.
Hmmm�what does that mean? To me, it means that I may not care about politics. As the word is defined, it means �uncertain or unable to decide about what course to follow�. I don�t think I like that. It seems to mean �wishy washy� or says �I don�t give a fuckstick and a half�. That�s not me, is it?
Well, I try to keep my politics out of here for the most part. I don�t know why�probably because it�s a somewhat serious topic that needs a lot of words to articulate and I�m not so much in the articulate camp.
I�ll get to a point soon, I swear�just let me divert you over here for a bit�
So, my trip to NJ:
Sunday: Flight OK
Monday: Meetings all day, painful dinner with my parents
Tuesday: Bouncing from location to location, evening with ChurchBomber and Merlot Man
Wednesday: More meetings ALL DAY. I left the office at 8:00 and had dinner with the project lead. Got to the hotel after 10:00 which was not good because�
Thursday: Up at 4:45 to get my flight back home. On the way, the basis of this rant got started�
I�m humping along 540 and Imus is on commercial. For some reason, I decided to switch to FM and see how bad the radio stations were. FM radio and Raleigh don�t go together very well. So, I�m wandering the dial and happened upon a commercial that caught my ear. It was obviously the lineup/roster of events for some sort of event: �blah blah blah�reparations�blah blah blah. Come to Washington for the Millions More March (or some bullshit)�
Screech!
Reparations?
That�s a real issue to some people?
What? I thought it was only mentioned on The West Wing. They mean that (and when I say �they� you bet your ass I mean Neeeeegroes).
That reminds me, I have to go get the final fitting for my sheet. It�s part of the Welcome to NC Club that we all joined.
OK�back to reparations. You�ve got to be shitting the shit out of me. I really hope no sensible person (no matter your color) thinks that we need to pay back the ancestors of slaves for being enslaved.
I�ll come at it from 3 angles (kinda like a 4-way triangle, if you will)
1: The money. I�m not smart, but I�d imagine the interest that would have accrued since 1860 has got to be kinda big. So, where�s the money coming from? Let�s say the government decided to do it. Do they tax Whitey only to raise the funds or do we tax everyone? Do we just tax the Whiteys who owned slaves? Because I�ll tell you what now; back in 1860, my peeps were nothing but a bunch of spaghetti bending Dagos living in Naples. I don�t want to pay. I never owned a slave. Do I have to pay? And, if they tax everyone, then the very people who are going to be paid back would be partaking in the funding of the payment. So, here�s my solution: Reparations are fine. Raise taxes to pay for them, but only tax people who would get the money. They, they fund the account that pays them.
2: The crazy, reactionary side: �Here�s your reparation. Oh, yes, it does indeed look like a plane ticket to UggaBuggaWugga, Africa. Not get the fuck out� If this is such a bad place for you to live, please leave and don�t let the door hit you on the way out. If America is such a shitty place for you to live, please leave. It opens up the roads a little more. Less traffic means I�m happier. Or, should we say that the opportunity that YOU have today (ass opposed to your ancestors) is reparation enough. While they got truly screwed out of whatever life they wanted to live, this most recent generation gets to do whatever they want. Wanna go to college? OK. Wanna buy a house? OK Wanna eat wherever the hell you want? OK. I know there�s no price tag on that, but it�s got to be worth something.
3: And I happen to think this is the point where sleep depravation really kicked in. Maybe slavery was a good thing. I mean, without it, how could the early USA have grown into what it is. We needed a labor force to make the country grow. There were not enough people here. They (old time folks) did what they had to in order to prosper. Of course, the country eventually fought a war over this, and the march towards equality started. Think of all the millions of people who would still be living in huts somewhere in Africa had their ancestors not been brought (albeit forcibly) over here. It�s like saying �I know slavery sucked, but it was a necessary evil that enabled the country to grow into what it is today; a place where you have opportunity to prosper and grow�.
But I get a feeling that those looking for reparations aren�t quite thinking that way. I�d bet they want a check and that�s all the motivation. If you want to pay back black people for the terrible treatment of their ancestors, I�d like to see every person who gets a check use that money to fund schools�fund scholarships�start programs to help more poorer people get a leg up (uh-ho�I�m sounding like a pinko liberal right now) and stuff like that. Don�t use it to avoid working for another year or 70. You want to get paid? How about we pour money into urban areas instead. That way your kids, and all the other underprivileged kids around them, can have a chance to prosper.
Because THAT, folks, is what being an American is about.
In the end, I just hate stupid people. I don�t care what color you are. If you�re stupid, I have no use for you. If you expect a handout and to be given anything, I have no use for you.
On a related note, on Wednesday night, as mentioned, I was eating with our project lead. We were at a Mexican place and it occurred to me (not to my surprise at all considering my background) that I had never eaten in the company of a black person (she is�I wasn�t just having random thoughts). I was raised in HonkyMcHonkeyville, NJ and never interacted with anyone who was black. It�s kinda sad in a way. Of course, I�m not about to go out all Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm style and go look for black friends, but, shit, I have lived a very sheltered life. I hope we can give Shmuppie a better-rounded look at life. I really lived a sheltered life.
OK�can I try to be funny?
Says the gaggle: �Go ahead and try, assface, but we all know how it�s going to come out�
Me and JewelrySlut are going to dinner tomorrow. Woohoo! Just like WarCryGirl�s who got to go out recently, we�re giving it a try. We have not eaten together, just us, since the night when the truck came here to unload the furniture back in June. I recall sitting in a restaurant with her and eating, but I was too tired to know any better. So, we�re looking for someplace to go. We have it narrowed to an Irish pub down in the heart of the Magapolis that is Raleigh, and a Cuban place over across town from us. Either should be fun. We�re sending Shmuppie to a thing at the YMCA. They round up the ids a few times a year and let the parents go out for the evening. Hell, for only $10, it�s a steal and a half.
One more thing and I promise to leave.
We decided last weekend to start trying to snazz up Shmuppie�s playroom area. It�s down here in the basement. When the basement was finished, they left a roughly 8� x 8� area at the bottom of the stairs. It�s essentially, a wide hallway to my office. We tossed down a rug and her toys and shit when we got here. Well, JewelrySlut fixed it up last week. I think it looks cool. Whaddaya think?