Scattered Political Thoughts of my 19 year old self

(Originally written in August 31, 2003 in Scraps)

Quick Aphorisms

On Racism - Racism exists. It should not be swept under the rug. Nor should it be the only topic of discussion.

On Involvement in Politics - Those who do not involve themselves actively in government cannot demand anything from what they do not have a role in.

On the Two-Party system - Neither Republicans nor Democrats have gotten it absolutely right. Judge individuals, not parties. Encourage independent thinking.

On Religious Tolerance - Religious tolerance means tolerance of all faiths, but not acceptance of all the morals of those other faiths.

On Homosexual Marriage - Marriage is a sacred word to Christians. But, Americans should be allowed to marry by the government. The Church however is different. No individual church should ever sanction it.

On Freedom of Speech - Freedom of speech does not negate the freedom of an audience to get up and walk out on the speaker, nor does it give the speaker the inalienable right to an audience.

On Drugs - All drugs are bad.

On Terrorism - Terrorism ought to be fought on a global level. It is a government's responsibility to protect its people. If terrorism is fought on other soil then the battle is halfway over, even if it is unending.

(Added on April 26, 2005)

Not really deep, but somewhat pragmatic. It's interesting to see where some of my thinking was beginning to form as an adult. I didn't give context though to what prompted this little blurb. It was about this age where I became increasingly interested in politics and watched a whole bunch of Fox News and CNN, 2-3 hours a day. I was a bit more fiery at 19 too, but was already starting to see how screaming about issues and being one-sided wasn't exactly fair or balanced. I think I might have leaned further right politically at the time, but my love affair with Cable News was to come to a quick end as I just got tired of hearing people complain about others on a nightly basis and be told at the end of the show that this complaining was the end of the story on any particular subject and all other viewpoints on it were somehow less journalistically objective and slanted. Only this one particular side was free of all subjectivity. Blah, blah, blah.

Screeching. Yelling. Opining. Hook. Sensationalistic Imagery. Shocked look on the face of the host/hostess. Confirming emails from like-minded individuals. Credits. Next show. Different face, same story, same viewpoint (unless you switched the channel and then it was simply a denunciation of the aforementioned channel with the opposite viewpoint.

I digress though. While some of these little aphorisms are somewhat formative and others are less, it is interesting (and somewhat satisfying) to see how my more mature thoughts began to take root. Hopefully, in another decade I can look back on this period and see where I began to build on some and change on others to form a better, stronger thought pattern.

Belgian Soul

(Originally Written May 4, 2003)

Belgian Soul

There's a hole in the back of my head
About the size of a shotgun shell
I'm floating above my body so I can see it well
To the right there is this blinding light
To the left just eternal dark.

It's a ghost, no, an angel
And the devil himself
Placing bets upon my soul

Apparently Gabriel and old Lou have a running bet
And my soul just might square the debt.
I was neither good nor bad, for or against
I guess I was just a Belgian Soul

2 of the 7 Deadly Sins

(Originally Written May 3, 2003)

Greed

All we have is everything
Everything means nothing
In the new society of greed
Let's listen to the creed
And what's sad
is I am just as bad.

I must admit I am a selfish fucking brat
Give me more
Give me more
Give me more

Sloth

Dreary negligence
We all move towards our stench,
slowly and lazily
What have we wrought?
This pain and suffering from our sloth.

Just let me lie here just one more hour
Just let me lay here for now
Just let me lay here just one more day
I will be fine, everything's ok.

We Are Not God

(Originally Written May 1, 2003)

What have we done to render the heat from the sun to make it hotter?
What have we done to render the storm of the sky to cause so many more to die?
What have we done? What can we do?
If we must rely the strength of man we are lost.

We have not learned a thing
Since the Fall of Man
Neither from the Tower of Babel
Nor the hubris that collapsed to rabble
Could change our ways?
We grow sicker and sicker.
The sin is getting thicker and thicker
When will we cease and stop?
For God we are not.