This is an excerpt of a conversation I am currently having with my parents, and both have accused me of having "changed" and "rebelling"...Ok, its more of my mom who says that, but regardless I felt the need to address them all in an email after my mom sent our conversation to the entire family without one of my replies.
For reference, here is the initial FWD that started it all:
"> Subject: Must Read - a reminder for us all!
>> - Very well written and very true.
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> Grey-Haired Brigade
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> They like to refer to us as senior citizens, old fogies, geezers, and in some cases dinosaurs. Some of us are "Baby Boomers" getting ready to retire. Others have been retired for some time. We walk a little slower these days and our eyes and hearing are not what they once were.
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> We have worked hard, raised our children, worshipped our God and grown old together. Yes, we are the ones some refer to as being over the hill, and that is probably true. But before writing us off completely, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration.
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> In school we studied English, history, math, and science which enabled us to lead America into the technological age. Most of us remember what outhouses were, many of us with firsthand experience. We remember the days of telephone party-lines, 25 cent gasoline, and milk and ice being delivered to our homes. For those of you who don't know what an icebox is, today they are electric and referred to as refrigerators. A few even remember when cars were started with a crank. Yes, we lived those days.
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> We are probably considered old fashioned and out-dated by many. But there are a few things you need to remember before completely writing us off. We won World War II, fought in Korea and Viet Nam . We can quote The Pledge of Allegiance, and know where to place our hand while doing so. We wore the uniform of our country with pride and lost many friends on the battlefield. We didn't fight for the Socialist States of America , we fought for the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." We wore different uniforms but carried the same flag. We know the words to the Star Spangled Banner, America , and America the Beautiful by heart, and you may even see some tears running down our cheeks as we sing. We have lived what many of you have only read about in history books and we feel no obligation to apologize to anyone for America .
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> Yes, we are old and slow these days but rest assured, we have at least one good fight left in us. We have loved this country, fought for it, and died for it, and now we are going to save it. It is our country and nobody is going to take it away from us. We took oaths to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that is an oath we plan to keep. There are those who want to destroy this land we love but, like our founders, there is no way we are going to remain silent.
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> It was the young people of this nation who elected Obama and the Democratic Congress.
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> You fell for the "Hope and Change" which in reality was nothing but "Hype and Lies." You have tasted socialism and seen evil face to face, and have found you don't like it after all. You make a lot of noise, but most are all too interested in their careers or "Climbing the Social Ladder" to be involved in such mundane things as patriotism and voting. Many of those who fell for the "Great Lie" in 2008 are now having buyer's remorse. With all the education we gave you, you didn't have sense enough to see through the lies and instead drank the 'Cool-Aid.' Now you're paying the price and complaining about it. No jobs, lost mortgages, higher taxes, and less freedom. This is what you voted for and this is what you got. We entrusted you with the Torch of Liberty and you traded it for a paycheck and a fancy house.
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> Well, don't worry youngsters, the Grey Haired Brigade is here, and in 2012 we are going to take back our nation. We may drive a little slower than you would like but we get where we're going, and in 2012 we're going to the polls by the millions. This land does not belong to the man in the White House nor to the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. It belongs to "We the People" and "We the People" plan to reclaim our land and our freedom. We hope this time you will do a better job of preserving it and passing it along to our grandchildren. So the next time you have the chance to say the Pledge of Allegiance, Stand up, put your hand over your heart, honor our country, and thank God for the old geezers of the "Grey-Haired Brigade."
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> ~Author, Anon. Grey-Haired Brigade Member
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> I am another Gray Haired Geezer signing on. Come on guys. Let’s get this circulating around."
I was slightly annoyed, and expressed this annoyance with the blame being assigned. It was nice that all blame was not being assigned to one man now, but instead the entire generation after was assigned fault for hiring such a (paraphrasing) dumbass. Regardless if you agree with this viewpoint, pointing blame away from yourself when you are just as indictable is terrible.
Now that that's over, here was my response (names have been changed...ok just a couple haha).
"Ok, now I was only referring to the idea that blame can be assigned to one group, in this case a younger generation enamored with the radical new ideas of a charismatic black man (whether or not he delivered on those, as promises during campaigns are always taken with a grain of salt) and saying that he is the sole reason for many of the economic and social problems that we face today.
Saying that it is the fault of the younger generation is slightly stretching it to some extent, as right now the US has a top-heavy population; ie, there are more people around the age of 40 or so, I think is the median, than there is on down the line to the younger people. So that just means that really, the Baby-Boomers were also part of the group that voted Mr Obama in.
Also, in terms of whether or not he is a socialist, you can ask most professors and socialists, who agree that he is not at all a socialist. Rather, the administration is trying to figure out the best way for everyone to be covered without too many problems. Ideally, it could work if people would use it for its intended purposes, but, as so often happens, there are loopholes that are not found until laws are into effect. Not only that, but people tend to enjoy having it "easy", which is why you run into people who are ticked off that they have to pay $3 for their medicine rather than nothing. These people are terrible, I agree, and the system that has brought them up is antiquated. But finding a nice solution to match it is like saying you are planning to work out the Cosmic Constant to a simple, easy pattern in a day; Rather, you attempt to find something that a majority would be able to be covered under reasonably.
The problem with most news outlets, be they Fox, CNN, MSNBC, etc., is that, sure, they do report the news. But the news that is watched the most is the kind that will keep you on your toes for months at a time, until the story gets old or a new one comes up.
Am I ok with Obama as president? At first, I was scared shitless, if you pardon the language, just because I honestly didnt know anything about either candidate. I was basing my facts on everything that I was told. Now? I don't necessarily agree with everything that he has done, but that doesn't mean that he is the worst, and the US is going to go down the tubes because of him. I think my favorite image I've found to illustrate is the "our fault, their fault" scenario, which I just drew on paint, so excuse the penmanship lol
Wish I had made it smaller lol but oh well! point is we need to realize that most of the fault lies with everyone. I'm not saying a few didn't stand out from the crowd in reference to the economic status, but I prefer to assign blame to the parties involved. Which is what's so great and frustrating about democracy: majority gets a say, but majority gets a say, and based on where you are demographically in terms of majority, you will either like or dislike it. And there is no such thing as a perfect candidate, just for the fact that opinions run rampant everywhere and no one person will agree with you completely. I respect the President because he is the face of our nation, regardless if you are happy with it or not. Bad-mouthing him for taking a different approach is going to make us look like a bunch of whiny kids. Once again, I'm not saying that you can't disagree, I'm just saying that there needs to be a better, more mature approach than blaming all the problems of the country on him and his "socialist" followers.
In terms of religion, I honestly hadn't even really noticed it in the email and was taking the document as a whole rather than focus on the one subject that seems to divide us lol, but to offer light on the subject of my "changes", I blame basic inquisitive nature haha. It's not really a rebellion of sorts, since you've always told me that I should always be ready to ask questions about things. Rather than throw a metaphysical reason for rather natural processes, I just like to know why something behaves the way it does. Like rainbows: I didn't know this, but apparently the rainbow you see in the sky is actually the refraction of light through rain droplets, but you can only see one color at a time since the splitting of the light sends it to areas not necessarily called your eye. It's a compilation of these splits. Since I did a crappy explanation not being able to draw it out, here's a picture:
Anyways, that's getting away from the point. I don't mean to deface anything, and I apologize if I've seemed revved up about certain issues. It's just that I don't really have too much free time to discuss great issues (not meaning issues like a problem, but topics of discussion), and not many people ever want to since most either don't know much about whatever topic I'm going on about that day or don't care, which is the other sad part: no one wants to talk. Tensions get flared, I understand that, but trying to ignore opinions differing from ones own doesn't offer up to a solution; instead, it causes more tension than need be. And that can go for anything: politics, religion, economics, science, what shoes to wear, whether or not a shirt is funny. Discussing a difference can lead to an understanding between two parties, regardless of the agreement.
And that's why I enjoy coming home and talking with dad or ***** & ** about random stuff like that: I love hearing their take on situations or topics, and offering my own. We don't agree on everything, but talking about it, at least for me, relieves stress in ways that running or video games or movies cannot. Like I said, talk to me, listen, and I'll listen, because I enjoy it. Just don't belittle me or I will consider you to be arrogant, as neither you nor I know all the answers to problems in our world, and just because my view may butt heads with yours does not mean either or us are intrinsically right. I'm not pretending to know everything, as some have said that I act like I do. If I am wrong about something and you call me out on it, I will accept it. I may not seem gracious about it at the time, but I have gotten much better at being corrected and taking it for what it is: me making a mistake and accepting it.
Now, I was going to say this stuff when I first got mom's reply until I saw that she had CC'd it to everybody, so I felt like I would just go ahead and leave it, as I was both tired and walking back to the house at the time and didn't think anyone would want to hear. But now I reply, explanations, awesome pictures, and everything lol
Oh yea! The cool-aid reference is a stereotyping of typical black people (along with purple drink) which is where I got my idea of being slightly racist. I recognize the intention of the word ('cool' heh) but yea, that is my explanation for that.
Jeremy"
Oh I forgot, the cool-aid thing haha that was interesting.
Thoughts?
- Jeremy Jenkins
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