me, and my general world view
Where this is coming from:
There's a comment on my last post that said my "babe a day" sidebar is inconsistent with my other views. That, and I have to get past staring at New Orleans on TV every night and blogging about it, so let's do something that will piss a few people off (or maybe not).
First, let me confess that my views aren't necessarily consistent. I contradict myself all the time when I look at issues from different angles. That may not be fair, but neither is life. I also understand that there's only one person in this world who agrees with everything I say, and that's me. I'm not offended that nobody else does.
Next, I guess the driving force behind most of what I think is the concept of personal responsibility. Everyone makes choices, good or bad, and I've made my share of bad ones and suffered in my own way for them. I'm sure I'll suffer for the ones I make today. Each choice comes with a set of consequences and when you make the choice, you have to be ready to accept the consequences that come with it. If you decide to smoke, you know one consequence is possible lung cancer. When you light that cigarette up, you're accepting that. Don't come back years later and blame the tobacco company for your stupidity. My view on abortion is very pro-choice...my way. Johnny and Susie have a choice. They can have sex or they can not have sex. One consequence of that choice if they decide to go for it is the creation of life. As soon as they make that choice, they've accepted that consequence. That's where the choice part starts and stops. You don't later get to choose to kill a baby. That's murder. If you can't accept that consequence, keep everything in your pants/panties. I believe people have the power to do that. I believe that's one of the things that separates us from the monkeys masturbating in their cages at the zoo. I realize the law, not as written by our lawmakers but as interpreted by our law interpreters, disagrees with me, but it's still my view. When, at 15, you choose to drop out of school, you then accept the consequence of low wages for the rest of your life, so weigh that consequence very carefully before you quit, deal drugs and die in a gang war at 19. You make choices. You deal with the consequences of them, and don't blame anyone else.
I believe that we force a certain moral standard on the rest of society every day. If we didn't, nothing would be illegal and we'd have anarchy. If nobody wanted to enforce their moral view that rape, murder, theft, or passing bad checks was wrong, there'd be no law against them. So people who say, "I don't want to force my morality on anyone else." or 'Don't force your morality on me." have no leg to stand on with that statement. Find another leg from another statement.
Next, I believe in the basic goodness of people, and I believe in the potential they have. I don't believe that potential changes because of race, color or creed. I believe if you demand quality from people, they will rise to the occasion and take pride in what they achieve. I believe when you convince people that they aren't good enough, or smart enough, or whatever enough to do something for themselves and they need your help, you cut that empowerment out from under them and they will always expect your help. I believe that's the power the Democratic party has over many of it's constituents, and why affirmative action fails. I believe in a hand up, not a hand out. I don't believe we are entitled to very much beyond life, liberty and the persuit of happiness. I don't think life is fair or equal, and I don't think it's the government's job to try to change that. I think it's the government's job to provide a framework in which all of us can do our best to make our lives what we want. I don't think it's their job to guarantee success in that endeavor. I believe the communist mantra 'from each according to his ability, to each according to his need' is a nice pipedream. I believe it's the foundation of the Democratic party. I believe it doesn't work because within the framework of human nature, if all you are going to supply someone is what they need, you will not get the best of their ability, because they have no incentive. I wish people were more altruistic and filled with initiative than that (and I include myself in that bunch) but time has shown me we aren't. The U.S.S.R. collapsed because of that. I don't begrudge rich people their wealth because someone worked hard, made sacrifices and made some difficult choices to get that wealth. It may not be the person spending the money that earned it. So what. If I spend my life working 16 hour days 7 days a week for 50 years so that my grandson doesn't have to work a day in his life, and I succeed, then he shouldn't have to and it's none of your business that he doesn't. That was my choice and my consequence, not yours. I believe class envy is a stupid waste of time. I believe conspiracy theories are too.
I believe freedom isn't free. I believe some people recognize that, and cherish the ideal enough to make sacrifices for the greater good. I believe a lot of those people are in the military, and understand that they are defending the right of people who disagree with them to voice that opinion.
I believe in God, and the power of prayer. I believe the way I have chosen to worship that God works for me, but doesn't necessarily work for everyone. I believe Christians of other denominations or non-denominations, as well as my own, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and most of the other organized religions of the world who recognize a higher power are actually recognizing/honoring/worshipping/begging for help from the same thing I am, in their own way. I choose to call it God. None of our ways is better than any other. They are just different.
I believe "babe a day" more often than not looks damn good, and when I'm at the beach, so do many girls in thong bikinis, and I don't mind looking. I may be 48, but I'm not dead....yet.
and I think that's all I have to say about that, for now.
There's a comment on my last post that said my "babe a day" sidebar is inconsistent with my other views. That, and I have to get past staring at New Orleans on TV every night and blogging about it, so let's do something that will piss a few people off (or maybe not).
First, let me confess that my views aren't necessarily consistent. I contradict myself all the time when I look at issues from different angles. That may not be fair, but neither is life. I also understand that there's only one person in this world who agrees with everything I say, and that's me. I'm not offended that nobody else does.
Next, I guess the driving force behind most of what I think is the concept of personal responsibility. Everyone makes choices, good or bad, and I've made my share of bad ones and suffered in my own way for them. I'm sure I'll suffer for the ones I make today. Each choice comes with a set of consequences and when you make the choice, you have to be ready to accept the consequences that come with it. If you decide to smoke, you know one consequence is possible lung cancer. When you light that cigarette up, you're accepting that. Don't come back years later and blame the tobacco company for your stupidity. My view on abortion is very pro-choice...my way. Johnny and Susie have a choice. They can have sex or they can not have sex. One consequence of that choice if they decide to go for it is the creation of life. As soon as they make that choice, they've accepted that consequence. That's where the choice part starts and stops. You don't later get to choose to kill a baby. That's murder. If you can't accept that consequence, keep everything in your pants/panties. I believe people have the power to do that. I believe that's one of the things that separates us from the monkeys masturbating in their cages at the zoo. I realize the law, not as written by our lawmakers but as interpreted by our law interpreters, disagrees with me, but it's still my view. When, at 15, you choose to drop out of school, you then accept the consequence of low wages for the rest of your life, so weigh that consequence very carefully before you quit, deal drugs and die in a gang war at 19. You make choices. You deal with the consequences of them, and don't blame anyone else.
I believe that we force a certain moral standard on the rest of society every day. If we didn't, nothing would be illegal and we'd have anarchy. If nobody wanted to enforce their moral view that rape, murder, theft, or passing bad checks was wrong, there'd be no law against them. So people who say, "I don't want to force my morality on anyone else." or 'Don't force your morality on me." have no leg to stand on with that statement. Find another leg from another statement.
Next, I believe in the basic goodness of people, and I believe in the potential they have. I don't believe that potential changes because of race, color or creed. I believe if you demand quality from people, they will rise to the occasion and take pride in what they achieve. I believe when you convince people that they aren't good enough, or smart enough, or whatever enough to do something for themselves and they need your help, you cut that empowerment out from under them and they will always expect your help. I believe that's the power the Democratic party has over many of it's constituents, and why affirmative action fails. I believe in a hand up, not a hand out. I don't believe we are entitled to very much beyond life, liberty and the persuit of happiness. I don't think life is fair or equal, and I don't think it's the government's job to try to change that. I think it's the government's job to provide a framework in which all of us can do our best to make our lives what we want. I don't think it's their job to guarantee success in that endeavor. I believe the communist mantra 'from each according to his ability, to each according to his need' is a nice pipedream. I believe it's the foundation of the Democratic party. I believe it doesn't work because within the framework of human nature, if all you are going to supply someone is what they need, you will not get the best of their ability, because they have no incentive. I wish people were more altruistic and filled with initiative than that (and I include myself in that bunch) but time has shown me we aren't. The U.S.S.R. collapsed because of that. I don't begrudge rich people their wealth because someone worked hard, made sacrifices and made some difficult choices to get that wealth. It may not be the person spending the money that earned it. So what. If I spend my life working 16 hour days 7 days a week for 50 years so that my grandson doesn't have to work a day in his life, and I succeed, then he shouldn't have to and it's none of your business that he doesn't. That was my choice and my consequence, not yours. I believe class envy is a stupid waste of time. I believe conspiracy theories are too.
I believe freedom isn't free. I believe some people recognize that, and cherish the ideal enough to make sacrifices for the greater good. I believe a lot of those people are in the military, and understand that they are defending the right of people who disagree with them to voice that opinion.
I believe in God, and the power of prayer. I believe the way I have chosen to worship that God works for me, but doesn't necessarily work for everyone. I believe Christians of other denominations or non-denominations, as well as my own, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and most of the other organized religions of the world who recognize a higher power are actually recognizing/honoring/worshipping/begging for help from the same thing I am, in their own way. I choose to call it God. None of our ways is better than any other. They are just different.
I believe "babe a day" more often than not looks damn good, and when I'm at the beach, so do many girls in thong bikinis, and I don't mind looking. I may be 48, but I'm not dead....yet.
and I think that's all I have to say about that, for now.
John put this out here at 10:05 AM
6 Comments:
So glad to read you are not dead... yet
I know I should be offended, but I think your Babes are kinda funny.
I think it's quite silly to be offended by the Babe of the Day. Or surprised. I'm sure there's a difference between appreciation and lust.
//I believe that we force a certain moral standard on the rest of society every day.//
quite right, John. I believe that religion was the first government. This is what makes politics so tricky in this country, as one of the principles it was founded on is freedom of religon. We need moral standards to prevent us from harming each other, but the laws in this country must be flexible enough to accommodate many different worldviews.
I actually quite enjoy looking at your Babes. It's the first thing I look at when I went into your blog everyday (sorry) :P Just for the simple fact that I think they're tastefully done.
Since I'm featured as the Babe-of-the-Day often, I don't mind seeing it. :D (j/k)
I've toyed with putting a Stud-of-the-Day up on my site, then I remember King John visits often and he's stud enough. lol
But seriously, you are who you are and you have an amazing clarity when writing your views. I may not agree with everything, but I do enjoy reading you over coffee.
I kinda feel bad for the anonymous commenter that lit this fuse. It wasn't you fault...really it wasn't. I just started with why "babe a day" fits into my view of things, and then I just took off. I looked at the finished product and thought..wow, where'd all that come from, but it didn't make me want to take it back or anything, so it stands.
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