Moral Dilemmas
At work again, this time I managed to change my email font to match the one on the rest of the page, the other one was too small and I wouldn't want anyone to strain their eyes trying to read, it could lead to bigger problems down the road, and discourages further reading. Anyway, I've been having some issues, things that I think about during the days and nights, puzzle over at every available opportunity, and no clear answer is apparent. So, I figure, why not share them with everyone? And, by everyone I mean the one or two people that read this blog intentionally, and anyone else with a computer, internet connection, and the bad luck to end up on this page. Most of these people are fans of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure", and, therefore, are extremely high right now.
Anyway, it's going to feel great to get this all off my chest. Here goes:
1. The Work Issue. I'm not a big fan of my job, it's only temporary and offers no future, thanks to me leaving in a few months. In the past I had a lot to keep me busy, and would put in about 46-47 hours a week, and I get time and a half after 40. Now, though, the past few weeks things have been slowing down slightly. I don't have to rush every minute of the day to finish my work, instead I can pace myself, and still easily finish everything. But, because of habit, I'm still staying later, still working the long hours, even though I don't need to. I wish I did have more work to do, actually, the days go faster. So should I stop working long unnecessary hours, or keep doing what I'm doing?
2. The Politics Issue. Obviously I'm rather involved in the upcoming election, and in politics in general. My position is clear, but it differs from that of many people, including some I consider friends. I also happen to believe that anyone in their right mind would vote for John Kerry if they knew all the facts and issues. Bill Clinton said the other day on 'The Daily Show' that "democrats only win when people think." I agree with this completely. It seems the majority of Bush supporters, not including the filthy rich, are NASCAR-watching flag-wavers whose concepts of politics are simple and mislead. I find it hard to believe that most people don't care about Health Care, most people don't care about Education or the Environment. I'm baffled that the country is split on giving Equal Rights to minorities. "Hmmm... so we'll take away the giant tax cuts Bush gave to the rich so we can pay for health care and educational improvements? I don't know, how about we deregulate industries to allow giant corporations to become richer instead?" Even Bush is avoiding the issues, all his commercials simply state that he was President during the 9/11 attacks, and how his stubborn nature is a good thing. We have the slowest job growth since the '30s, and somehow that means that "we're turning the corner". His economic plan basically says: Let's just wait another month for those tax cuts to kick in. It drives me crazy. So, my problem is, should I just keep my opinion to myself, avoid confrontation and losing friends, or should I keep writing and talking, hoping to convince one more person? Actually, I think this isn't much of a question, because there's no way I'm going to shut up about this. So, never mind.
3. The Marriage Issue. This one has sprung up in the past month or so. No matter what I'm planning on moving to Chicago soon, and I don't have any doubts about the future of our relationship. But, am I just being naive? With all the divorce and unhappy married couples out there, is it really a good idea to get married? And, should I be doing it, or proposing at least, so soon? I don't want to do it just so we can be engaged when we're living together, but I don't really see the point in waiting either. Half of me is prepared to go ring shopping next month, I already know exactly what to get. But it's such a huge deal, and part of me just wants to not worry about it for awhile. And, if I do go through with it soon, the thought of talking to her dad about it scares me to death. Why does that incredibly patriarchal tradition still exist? I'm considering skipping that part, actually. The guy likes politics, sports, movies, and has a bigger record collection than I do, and yet we can't have a conversation, just because I'm, well, you know. So that part of it makes me nervous, and I wonder if that's influencing me more than it should. Happily married people: let me know when you knew.
As always, comments are welcome.
3 comments:
Word. Here's my two cents.
#1. Working. Heck, if you're still getting paid to work overtime, why not work the long hours? Do you have something you need to leave work to get to? One "benefit" of having a significant other that lives far away is that there's no reason to rush home. (Yeah, not really a benefit, but try to look on the bright side.)
#2. Politics. Personally, I know very little about the upcoming election. Every time I try to read about the issues, all I hear is noise regarding what bill this guy vetoed or how long this guy *really* served in Vietnam. In all honesty, I think Bush is an arrogant prick and the fact that I haven't been able to find a decent job for the last couple years isn't improving my opinion of him either. But, as for where they stand on each issue - I barely know. All I know is that some republican funded yahoos claim that Kerry's war record is a sham and Bush was president during 9/11. Huzzah.
#3. Getting married. You know, there are a lot of divorced folks out there, but there are a lot of happily married folks, too. Take yours truly. I love my wife. I love having a wife. (Except for when she comes up with "projects" around the house.) ;) As far as when did I know? Well, that's pretty tough. I think I just got to the point where I just couldn't picture my life without her in it any more. That seemed to be the right time to me.
And don't skimp out on asking her father. I won't BS you - it was the hardest part of the process for me, but don't skip it. Just suck it up and do it. You may have problems holding a conversation with the guy now but, if you get married, you're stuck with the guy. Score some points now, bud.
So there you have it. Incoherent ramblings of a twenty-something. In the words of the great, Conan-like, Mr. Tron, Huzzah!
hey this is Dave, not anonymous. excuse the lack of proper typing. nick, ask her and get married man. as for work, eh you are leaving anyay, suck up the cash while you can. Politics.... i am republican, and even i dont like bush much. i will probly vote kerry, and vote all republican for congress. bush has done some good things, although i am pretty sure they werent done for the benefit of all, i am not naive enough to believe that. the war for example. sadam needed to go away. i heard a clip on wis. public radio from one of the democratic party leaders....sadam posed no threat to his neighbors, certainly none to us, and there has been no evidence he was involved with alquida in the slightest...... i found this interesting, and typical of the "american" way of thinking. as for the last part about alquida, of course there was no record of involvment. there was no record of sadam having 10 billion american dollars stashed in some dirt hole metal shed eighther, but we found the cash. but that isnt what bothered me about this quote. sadam posed no threat to his nighbors, or us eighther. this is certainly true. but there is a group of people that is left out here, the people in iraq. sadam took things to far. after the lastgulf war, we pushed him back into his own country. his army beaten, some half a million iraqies revolted, seeing this as an opportune time to get rid of the tyrant.
sadam killed them all.
we had a civil war in this country too. it was awful. but when the south was subdued, we didi not march into the south and exterminate every last man, women or child that had even a remote to do with the war. we did not set up a secret police to monitor every last detail of people's lives to watch for discontent. we did not set up a reward policy for turning in your nieghbors if they spoke out against the government, even if they hadnt. sadam did. and anyone that spoke ill of him or the govt, was arrested and killed as well ads an example. we turn a blind eye to others in this country. see some one getting mugged? dont look run away. see a car accident? 95 percent of motorists look and drive away. "someone will help them" its everywhere. domestic abuse....."thats to bad".... you see an occasional news clip about some one bitching about religoen in politics. helping a nieghbor in time of need is part of christianity, but it is a pretty good general rule too. but i guess we should have just let sadam murder and repress his own people. someone will help them.
people say we did it just for oil. in reality, i agree. but the entire american way of life is based on cheap fuel. for gas, for buisness and industry, for heat in winter. i have looked up alot of info on this subject. the truth is, there is enough oil to last the world at current growth of consumption well over the next 30 years, if not twice that. however, the available "cheap" oil, by wich i mean easily accesible to us, like alaska, south american oil, ocean oil, etc has been tapped out. 66 percent of the oil is coming out of the middle east. money must be spent there to increase the production to meet the demand. however, why would the few middle eastern fat cats who run the oil spend money to meet demand, when doing nothing will shorten the supply and raise prices? and why let the damn americans in to spend the cash?
a change of governmaent and foriegn policy was needed in the middle east to provide america with the oil it needs to continue our current way of life. so, out with sadam, in with american democracy, problem solved.
personally, i think that is a bs reasoin to do somthing that shouild be done anyway, but it is the reality. i also think we should be looking for alternatives, like cold fusion, but in reality, our culture simply does not work that way. we dont live in some grand utopia, we live in a slightly oppressive culture where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
"so why would you vote republican" you ask. i do because i believe in less govt. the democrats will not reduce taxes, they will simply shift them around a little, and as a general rule, will actually increase them overall to fund all the programs they want to create. some industry regulation is good, i will admit. but not uneducated regulation.
i work in the lumber industry. i am a lumberjack, if you want to think of it that way. i am sure people have heard of "tree huggers" "save the old growth forests" they say. "stop the loggers" watch the childrens movie fern gully once. and you knoiw what, the ignorant propaganda ofthe anti loggers worked. remember the spotted owl deal in oregon? yay, we stopped the loggers from destroying the owls habitat. it also cost american several thousand jobs in the area of dispute, and tens of thoud=sands nation wide. yay! owls!! educated forest managment has existed since the early nineteen hundreds. the company i work for owns 75 percent of the logging land in the up michigan and northern wisconsin. they have managed the land since 1950, and have harvested lumber several times with no ill effects. the forest is still there, the habitats are there, and the jobs are there, and growing. bush passed a bill that rewards (by tax credits on local property taxes) private land owners for planting hardwood trees on there property. there is at least 15000 acres more of hardwood saplings as of last year as a result. is this a govt regulation? no. does it raise taxes and cost a lot to fund? no.
my point is, alot of the regulation does not make sense. most of it sounds great to the unedcated public. like the owls. poor owls. too bad we werent really wiping them out, and we lost 10s of thousnads of jobs. in contrast, there are over 15000 acres of new forest growing in wisconsin at almost no taxpayer expense.
i will however, vote for "not bush" like a lot of other people. while i agree with a lot of things he has done, he has done most of them for very poor or personal reosons, and i think this needs to be stopped. i havent heard kerry voice an opinion on anything substantial yet, but he seems like an ok guy, and i dont think he will do anything radical to throw the country inot chaos. too bad mcain isnt up for election...
this has been way longer than i had intended, but i am pretty frustrated with the lack of info 99 percent of people have on how things work and all the bs politics we see every day on tv. i am always open for discussion of this, so contact me. latah playahs
thanks for the words of wisdom, guys. i'll probably be discussing these matters with you again later.
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