Having a voice of my own

It seems to me that there is this tendency to see the people of a country as a unified whole. Democracy is supposed to be this wonderful political system whereby the people control their government. The result is that the politicians and bureaucrats talk and act as if the government is representing all the people. But the problem with most modern democracies is that they are not direct democracies. Rather they are representative democracies where politicians get into power by a majority or plurality vote. That means they are only elected by a proportion of those they are supposed to represent.

The reality is that our representative democracy is not representing people like me very well. I find I am angry at the way the government is handling things with very little sense that they actually hear my protests. And I don’t trust them very much any more. In the last couple of years I have begun to believe that the US news has become so controlled by the government and big business that we might as well consider it state run news services.

And not all Americans are members of the conservative right. I certainly am not. I am not sure that I am a liberal either, though compared to them I am. I actually find that I define myself in terms of what I am not simply because I get so annoyed with their rhetoric that assumes I am just like them.

And that is where this blog comes in. We, the people living in the world, seem to have little input into the way we are presented and represented by the media and the government. I want to represent myself so that at least some will understand that we are not a homogenous whole who all believe in the course presented by our government.

So, here I am going to explore what it is I believe about philosophy, religion, ethics, art and politics. They do go together, although not always because they should.

I confess that I worry about putting these thoughts out into a public space. Speaking up can make one a target of some vitriolic and nasty attacks. I don’t particularly enjoy some of the nasty comments I get from people I know – I have been told that disagreeing is un-American and I should emigrate to some place where my views would be more acceptable. That not only hurts, it violates the principles of a democracy, which scares me.

I am writing despite my fears because the other choice is to let the bureaucrats and politicians destroy the earth and enslave us. That is, of course, a vast rhetorical overstatement. Nonetheless, it is how I am coming to feel about the current state of things. I choose to resist.

Getting into the swing of things

Well, I am finally back from Quebec City. Nice place and people but I missed the kitty girls. Actually, I like people but need lots of personal time. This being a business trip, had little personal time.

Most amazing sight there, at least that I saw, was the setting moon. Normally, I think of the harvest moons as rising moons. but this one was a setting moon. Gorgeous!

And then there was this wall. looked like it might have been the original wall around the settlement but was too new looking for that to be real. But the view gave history a new feel.

Welcome to Scrap's Book.

After threatening to start one of these for a long time, I am finally getting started. Wanted a place to have a voice on the issues I care about. Also a way for my friends to catch up to me. So here goes...