I was driving back to the hotel after class today, and a few news articles made me wonder...why?
1. Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, former NBC Newsperson Maria Shriver, have split up due to the revelation that 10 years ago the "Governator" fathered a child with a member of his household staff. And we care...why? Seriously, even if he was still governor, why is this news? I couldn't care less who Arnold sleeps with. The only people who should are a) Arnold, b) Maria, and c) whomever he's sleeping with. Why are the sexual activities of stars/politicians considered "news"?
2. Israel/Palestine/Hamas/etc. - Why do we (the United States) care about reviving a "stalled" peace process between two sides that obviously don't really want it to work? Seriously, why do we give a shit? The President mentioned that this is "imperitive" for peace in that region. So what? I couldn't care less if they all blow each other sky high. If they wanted peace, they'd make it happen. They don't. Why should we give a shit? The solution is painfully simple...split the real estate in half, give one half to Israel, the other to Palestine, and be done with it. If they can't agree on this themselves, why should we be involved?
3. The "Arab spring"...again, I don't really give a rat's ass about unrest in Libya, Syria, Iran, Jordan, Bahrain...need I go on? It's not our problem. It's their problem. In fact, maybe if they concentrate on killing each other for a while, they'll stop killing us.
4. The money we could save from ceasing to give a shit about #2 and #3 could be put to my fourth source of irritation. States around the nation are facing budget shortfalls, and where is the FIRST place they go to balance the books? Education. They will give out huge tax breaks to companies day in and day out, then shit all over teachers. Newsflash...it's not a function of government to help companies make more profits, but it IS a function of government to provide quality education. End all corporate tax breaks. Period. Assess straight percentage taxation on companies (and citizens), and make education a major priority. Guess what...education and business are related. One reason (along with profit) that many companies outsource is that our workers here are too poorly educated. Why? Our schools operate on shoestring budgets, and they get squeezed harder when the money is tight. Stop giving big business the welfare handouts, fund education at priority #1, and stop playing political games with kid's futures.
5. Foreign aid...see #2 and #3. Again, if we have such big budget problems at home, why are we pouring money into countries that don't like us anyway. Screw 'em. Let them start paying us BACK, that will help the budget.
One side note...conservatives, would you stop tying everything to abortion? The issue was decided around the time I was in diapers. No one but a fringe bunch of dipshits really cares anymore. If you don't approve of abortion, don't get one. But shut the hell up about it already. It's last century's news. Seriously, there are far more important things to block up legislation with than abortion. I immediately label any politician who makes abortion an issue as an idiot. Ending abortion 100% today will not even make a scratch in the national debt, so why give a shit?
The same thing can be said about gay marriage/"don't ask, don't tell". DADT is history, quit trying to stall it's removal. Gay marriage will be legal, it's inevitable, stop making a big fuss over it. If every homosexual in the nation suddenly got married (or somehow became straight), neither event would make a scratch in the national debt, so why give a shit? Let DADT and DOMA die the death they should long ago have died, and concentrate on issues that really make a difference.
Technorati Tags: Politics
I don't think it's "we" who "give a crap", but rather those people who find the lives of *celebrities* titillating, and the machinations of war and foreign policy to be... well, boring by comparison. Or confusing at the very least.
ReplyDeleteThose of us who eschew such vapid, vacuous reports on the sexual proclivities of people who have been given more money than I will ever earn in a lifetime are, it would seem, in the minority.
This is a world that would grant a Perez Hilton the title of "journalist", while respected members of the Fourth Estate such as Walter Cronkite fade in memory, and survive only as barely-referenced wikipedia entry.
Anyone who disputes the collective "dumbing-down" of society need only reference the web-ensnared internet for proof that the intellectually challenged have a plethora of choices for mind-numbing entertainment - or escapism.
Anything that doesn't require them to actually, you know... *think*.
"Reality is for people who can't handle drugs."
It's almost as if the Gutenberg Press was only used to print comic books. THAT is the state of our "media" today.