even though my brain is a fairly frenetic place these days, i need to talk about this whole liberal/conservative thing. now, this might sound like a pretty heavy subject to talk about on limited time!!! it is, but i'm up for it!!!! and btw.....i don't mean liberal as in stephane dion or in any type of governmental way, nor do i mean conservative in the big, fat-headed stephen harper kind of a way!!! oh dear!!! my liberal bias has already entered onto the scene....i just mean people, people who are more conservative in their ideas and people who are not!
now let me describe myself and why i would be considered a liberal (in the minds of my 'conservative' family of ex inlaws who are as conservative as any i know):
*faithful to yoga!
*vegetarian.....also know as the 'you can't live on lettuce and carrots' conversation.
*i really don't carry if you marry your boyfriend dude.... i just don't and neither should you!
*pro-choice........ a difficult choice, but a necessary option.
*need to care for homeless and other vulnerable persons in our society... it just seems humane.
*anti death penalty..... that's a hard one, but an eye for an eye only ends with a black eye.
* i have drank lattes and ate much, much sushi!
and here is how liberals see conservatives....
*close minded
*homophobic
*environmental rapers
*pro-corportation
*and usually intellectually inferior hillbillies!
first of all nobody can be described in bullet form!! we are so much more complex than that. more often than not, we are mixture of many ideologies and beliefs. and we evolve our ideas as we age, it is never constant.. ..
but now i want to cut through my liberal label bullshit. is this liberal?? i totally consider myself at least half redneck. i drive a big black diesel truck. i live in alberta for chrissakes! i grew up in saskatchewan. and i would still get in a bar brawl if the situation was called for.
it seems to me like the powers that be need to keep us fighting and separated.... distracted from some unpleasant issues. not even the big issues, but small ones that affect us all. it could stop us from noticing things like.....maybe the fact that we have to do an awful lot these days to keep our kid's schools going. i don't remember going to high school and parents needing to keep raising money for the football teams uniforms? that's what happens at my daughter's school and we live in a very rich town in a very rich province. the math of that just doesn't add up to me........ so many resources have been cut from public school funding.
what about us all slaving away and paying high taxes, but it seems like we get less? i don't use the medical system very often, but i've heard some horror stories about wait times. you can't tell me that with the canadian government doing pretty well, that we can't make medical and schools work better?
and i feel a little pissed off that my tax dollars go to this town who now spends it on photo radar services!! hello, don't i pay for the r.c.m.p. with my tax dollars?
we all seem to accept corporate welfare as normal whether we are conservative or liberal. i've heard conservative and liberal people complaining about those lazy asses on welfare! wtf? they're getting like what???? $500-$1200 per month!! and have you all seen what we give to big manufacturers?? or big oil companies?? WAY TOO MUCH.....and they usually leave behind destroyed small town businesses, a tear in our social fabric from too much working and not enough time with family and more often than that ..... a dirty environment!
omg....sorry, i got lost on a rant!!! to be honest, i just don't see these huge differences in character between the liberal people and the conservative people. whenever i have gone back to saskatchewan, i get a little teased about being a vegetarian and my ex in-laws do not share my views on gay marriage. however, if i was to show up with 2 gay friends, they would be offered dinner and a place to stay! there would be no hatred there. people get so caught up in their ideological beliefs, but in reality, it is often different.....and not very black and white.
now, i have a sister-in-law who would proudly proclaim that she is a hillbilly and i think that she is a fine woman. she goes out hunting. she loves red meat. she loves rural life, but when she comes here, she is the first one down at the starbucks ordering a latte!!! and we talk and laugh and have a good time! because we hold some different values, doesn't mean that we have any less in common.
it seems that we all want the same things. healthy and happy kids seems to be universal. we all want our kids to grow up happy, we rush them to lessons, hockey, picking up their friends! we also all want to be able to afford to do some fun stuff, like go fishing at the lake or skiing with friends. we want enough food to eat and a place to live. pretty simple stuff... stuff that is common to all of us.
occasionally i watch some clips of the u.s. election and it scares me for us.....i don't want that type of divisiveness here and i think that this is one of the reasons i really wanted to do this blog. i have a very typical rural upbringing and i'm so proud of those strong roots, but i am also a woman who has travelled the world and i have a mind that needs to explore. i see these little cracks beginning in our society and i just hope that people see through that. for the most part, i think we do. we all have a pretty big variety of conservatives and liberals within our own families!
so if i can be a liberal and have some conservative values just in me, obviously our society is far too complex to separate into such a small box. you are liberal and you are conservative. sorry, it just doesn't work, we are way more than just one thing. we are a constant evolution of ideas and growth and seekers of happiness!!
once we realize.....again.....that we are not that different, the government is going to be hella afraid!!!
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