done by a friend
9 years ago
Friday, October 31, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Best stolen quote from a friend
...and then I realized it; I had been dating Cancers all summer long.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Blog Riotus: Presidential Debate 2008 / Economy
Probably the most telling fact I witnessed from the last debate was both candidate's inability to discuss specifics concerning the financial collapse. Most Americans are looking for leadership to explain what has happened and what we can do to buoy the capsized economy. Instead we get verbal clumsiness, more uncertainty and ultimately, confusion. Neither candidate has created a job, run a budget, or more importantly, has any idea as to what market forces are at work besides using keywords such as "mortgages" or "credit." I don't pretend to know what can slow the avalanche and I venture to say that neither do many of those people educated in finance and business. There is such a complexity at play, that in order to find the string's end, we'll have to unroll the ball of string.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Middle America
When the media, pundits and the candidates mention Middle-America with the freqency that they do, you would think this concept would actually have a concept. Instead, I am becoming convinced that Middle-America is a not-so-clever synonym for uneducated America, or Americans proud of the ignorance and unaware of the idea that there is an outside world that does not revolve around their local 7-11 or church. These people are comfortable electing candidates that would seem better drinking buddies than representing diplomats. It is shameful when our presidential election becomes a beauty pageant or a fraternity popularity contest. Although it would be equally shameful on my part to patronize the votes of other Americans, I do weigh the enormity of outcomes that will have global and international implications pending the presidential election outcome and suggesting that an election with such an overwhelming bearing on the lives of billions of people, should not be decided by trivial issues is far from patronizing. We are a strong chain, as such, we can be as weak as our weakest links... and we have quite a few feeble links. When are they going to get a chance to go drinking with the president anyway?
In this election, Middle is often replaced with a handful of neutral words that rub off some of their egalitarian ambiguity. Think about this. You can use: ordinary, average, everyday, common, hard-working (my personal favorite), regular et al. I am not even sure if the concept is geographic, economic, social, racial or cultural, but the term probably has the relevance of a term such as the middle class. Imagine how someone can speak for or to the middle class? So how can a candidate speak for a demographic as diverse and emcompassing as Middle-America? These words don't give a clear meaning to what kind of America or Americans they are describing, yet being Americans, these words are inclusive to an idea of what an American should be. Obviously, our idea of a hard-working, regular-guy, dedicated, and faithful American is different from everyone else's idea, however it is the idea, the romantic notion of being inclusive to this group that makes it acceptable to use this concept and then feel good about belonging to it. After all, we want to be proud to be American so the idea of being American must also be attractive. Constantly the pundits weave this concept into their dialogue to force feed the audience with notions of this modern pastoral demogoguery, which as is real a notion as a democratic Middle-Earth. America, God bless it. There is a reason why slogans and talking points succeed in America: It has been hijacked by voting gubers.
In this election, Middle is often replaced with a handful of neutral words that rub off some of their egalitarian ambiguity. Think about this. You can use: ordinary, average, everyday, common, hard-working (my personal favorite), regular et al. I am not even sure if the concept is geographic, economic, social, racial or cultural, but the term probably has the relevance of a term such as the middle class. Imagine how someone can speak for or to the middle class? So how can a candidate speak for a demographic as diverse and emcompassing as Middle-America? These words don't give a clear meaning to what kind of America or Americans they are describing, yet being Americans, these words are inclusive to an idea of what an American should be. Obviously, our idea of a hard-working, regular-guy, dedicated, and faithful American is different from everyone else's idea, however it is the idea, the romantic notion of being inclusive to this group that makes it acceptable to use this concept and then feel good about belonging to it. After all, we want to be proud to be American so the idea of being American must also be attractive. Constantly the pundits weave this concept into their dialogue to force feed the audience with notions of this modern pastoral demogoguery, which as is real a notion as a democratic Middle-Earth. America, God bless it. There is a reason why slogans and talking points succeed in America: It has been hijacked by voting gubers.
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