Internet Blackout

So some of you might or might not know this, but today is an Internet Blackout day.  Major Websites like Google and Wikipedia are either boycotting the Internet or blacking out their logos today because of something called SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act.  So what's wrong with this picture?  Sounds like a good Act, doesn't it? 

Well the Devil is in the details as they say, and these details are sure to make you cringe.  Click Here for a short explanation of SOPA, Here for a longer and very technical version, and Here for an interesting video that explains so much about our country.

I don't blame Hollywood for trying to make sure their property isn't pirated.  I don't blame anyone for wanting to receive the money they are due for their intellectual property.  But this Act is just plain wrong on so many levels because it is the first step on a slippery slope that ends in the complete revocation of our American rights.  Free speech?  Not a problem for the government anymore.  They can just shut down the entire internet whenever it irritates them.  (slight exaggeration.  sort of). 

This Act is dangerous in the precedent it would set if it is passed.  Please do the research yourself and decide for yourself whether or not you want to live in an America where this is possible.

Best of luck to us all.

Monday Musings: Opinions, or What is Wrong with our Political System.

One of the great misconceptions of our time is that opinions are bad things.  Our culture has gone through so many radical changes that we now fear being different and opinionated in our politically correct culture.  We are raised on statements like: ‘what’s true for you may not be true for someone else,’ or, ‘there is no one right way.’

And if a politician dares to state a firm opinion: he'll lose votes!  The all powerful vote will be lost!  So he must lie lie and lie some more because if he actually told you what he actually believed and how he was actually going to act during office, we'd never ever let him in.  (and yes, I've been using the generic 'he.'  I know we've got women politicians, but it gets tiring to write he/she each time I need a pronoun)

So for politicians (and for many of the rest of us) what it all eventually comes down to is, ‘whatever you say or do will offend someone somewhere sometime, so say as little as possible in the quietest way.’  To this end we have become a nation of opinionated people professing to not have opinions.  We may not be able to hear ourselves think over the cacophony of voices screaming for our attention, but don't worry: our politicians only believe exactly what the largest number of us believe.  Ha. 

This is sheer nonsense.  This is the double talk of our modern age.  Everyone has opinions about life.  Everyone.  It is impossible not to have an opinion.  So when people start saying that they have no opinions about anything, I start looking for the lie.  Or the power cord to the automated politician robot. 

To live means to be able to make knowledgeable choices about the world around you, to choose between one thing and another, knowing the consequences.  So if someone isn't choosing, they're really not alive.  Hence the power cord.

 What we need to do is to stop being ashamed of opinions.  Everyone has them, and to pretend that you don’t is a lie.  Now that doesn’t mean that bludgeoning someone over the head with your opinion is a good idea: as with all things subtlety is needed.  But at least opinions are straightforward, plainly stating what they are. 

And that is what our culture needs most, a little certainty among the chaos.  We're tired of lies, of half-truths, of politicians that only say what they need to get into office.  We're so tired of having our opinions ignored as unimportant: except at voting time.  What we want is someone to actually represent us, to be opinionated on our behalf because we are an opinionated people, and it's time that was understood.