I know that this would have a thin line between being fine and being a shit show, but I think it can be done. I've been really riled up politically these past few weeks, and when I've tried to talk about it with people I assumed would care only to realize they're ambivalent or don't have any idea what's going on, I've been confused, upset, and frustrated. But, I realized that in the gigantic, complicated mess that is politics, if you get yourself worked up over every issue that you could, you'd be a completely miserable person, and probably in an institution of some sort or the other. Even I have to scroll past articles sometimes because I need to give myself a break. I always think it's revealing and interesting to see where people end up throwing their support. Focus: What's your cause of choice? Why? What do you do, if anything, to support it? Avoid standing on your soap box for too long when answering the "why" question. For me, it's women's rights. And since that in itself is a gigantic umbrella term, I've narrowed it down to women's health. And since THAT'S also a big area, I've narrowed it down even more to reproductive rights (why I've been so angry lately) and sexual assault and harassment protection. I'm not really sure how this wound up being my area of political expertise, because I've been passionate about it way before I had any experience with the second half, and the first half has never affected me personally. But I remember exactly when it started, which was in my high school environmental studies class, where I had this amazing, inspiring teacher and I learned about how so many solutions to so many problems began with improving women's rights, and giving them more access to education, birth control, and financial independence. Then I came out of the feminist closet in freshman year of college, when I learned about third wave/sex positive/post feminist ideas and realized there was a place for me in there after all. Anyway. The main way I support it, besides just paying attention, has been writing about it. And now working for Planned Parenthood, of course. I've also done the whole rallying/protesting/writing to Congresspeople etc type things if there's something that I feel would be at all effective rather than doing it for my own sake. I can't devote too much energy to it, though. because I get too angry about having to fight so hard for something that seems so basic to me. I'm also working on a better way to teach students about sexual assault and harassment, since the methods people have been using for too long are out of date, unrealistic, focuses way too much on fear tactics, and in general is dangerous to both men and women.
Was this before or after you increased your class consciousness, freed Mumia and protested the Palestinian apartheid? Focus: I have a lot of petty causes, none of which I do more than bitch about on the internet. They include: -The media has completely failed in their mandate to inform the public -Religion is stupid -Corporal punishment is a terrible idea that doesn't work and creates massive negative outcomes -Various gender issues of the poor maligned penised-Americans
Delicious Chicken I've written multiple letters to Chik-fil-a corporate headquarters to try and convince them to open a place in CT. Eventually they sent me some bullshit letter and free food coupons. Coupons! What a fucking tease! The closest Chik-fil-a is like 120 miles away at the Burlington Mall in Mass. (and yeah, I drove there. Don't judge me). I've considered Andy Dufresne-ing their ass and just writing more letters, but the bottom line is that CT is a fucking expensive place to do business. Sunday Booze CT still doesn't allow liquor sales on Sunday. This is bullshit. I've written letters, signed petitions, and bitched endlessly with liquor store owners who have a great location and are missing out on a full day's worth of business because of some ancient blue law. Conversely, I've also petitioned to not allow stores like Walmart to sell any booze. If they did, the local Mom & Pop stores would be seriously hurt and they're run by some of my favorite people. So yeah, fast food chicken and booze on Sunday. Totally the same as women's rights.
Poor the Fucking Pint of Guinness Properly I no longer live in Belfast, but in England and Jesus Christ it's so annoying how consistently the bar staff over here manage to fuck up a pint of Guinness. The thing is, if you try and tell them how to do it, they get all annoyed and pissy and fuck it up anyway. There is really nothing you can do. Back in Belfast in the pubs I used to work, if I didn't pour the pint exactly right, taking roughly 90secounds I could have been fired on the sport. Here in England they don't give a shit. So everytime I ask for a Guinness "But please pour it properly... take your time... I can wait." And they still fuck it, I complain and end up with all the staff in every bar hating me. One bargirl is so sick of my shenanigans she just let's me pour it myself, but otherwise it really annoys me. Even on St. Patricks day, of all fucking days, I had to look the arsehole trying to get a decent pint. It's not even fucking hard, there's a video on the Guinness website that shows you how to do it. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.guinness.com/en-gb/thebeer-draught.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.guinness.com/en-gb/thebeer-draught.html</a> It's your fucking job, do it properly or fuck off.
I've been thinking about starting a movement to put an end to all this social media nonsense, but I don't know how to get the word out.
This was one of my issues last year when the Georgia Assembly was considering allowing local control over Sunday sales in stores. I wrote my state senator, who is an openly devout Southern Baptist, but who also saw the light and voted for the law. He actually read my email and personally replied. Sunday sales in my city start next week.
I work part-time on Mitt Romneys campaign regarding local strategems and little things like that, so I guess that's sort of a cause. The one big one I've actually written multiple Congressman many times over on is SOPA. As well as any similar legislation that peaks its head out of the House committees.
I'm passionate about getting as much of this country on grass fed meat and whole foods as possible. Not through governmental forces like subsidies, but the removal of subsidies on shit like corn so that grass fed and regular meat, whole foods and processed foods are closer in price and convenience than they are today. I don't really do much besides eating a paleo diet, buy from farmer's markets and get grass fed meat when I can, but I believe the shit (including whole grains) we're putting in our bodies is killing us and would like to remove part of the incentive of serving up the processed crap that's so cheap and readily available to us.
The one I've actually done the most work on is women's rights, particularly reproductive health, particularly the legislative side (and dealing with idiots who either try to have some medically unsound feel-good effort, like giving pregnant women handicapped parking space, or idiots who figure that access to doctors, medical procedures, or prevention methods is a matter best controlled by the legislature). It's just a natural result of growing up as the son of a health lobbyist, having a best friend whose house was sometimes picketed due to his dad being an OB/GYN, and having some basic fucking common sense when it comes to matters scientific, ethical, and pragmatic.
Politics! Fuck yeah, this couldn't possibly go wrong. I am so reactionary that entering a church makes me spontanously combust, so I don't have much patience for the various forms of Intra-Caucasian, Liberal One-Upmanship that people call "causes". Yes dear, I realize you desperately wish to align yourself with some underprivileged group so that their suffering can validate your own fantasies of victimhood. And I understand that clinging to your moral posturing allows you to pretend your constant failure to capitalize on your ample privileges represents some sort of heroic sacrifice for the little people. But nobody is buying it. In short, my cause is to tell pious hippies to suck my balls. I support the cause by being all "Hey, hippie, suck my balls."
Procedural Due Process How's that for dropping panties at a bar? The basic idea is that rights are meaningless without a way to petition or enforce them. That hard won substantial victories are irrelevant if they can be taken away with no redress. So, access to lawyers, fair process, non-outcome determinative judging, anti-SOPA/PIPA/ACTA, against the NDAA-2012 detention provisions, etc. The real difficulty is that it means I would rather vote someone into office who is procedurally fair and honest than someone whose ultimate stance on an issue I agree with. Without good process all meaningful beneficial change is fleeting and irrelevant. Regarding political discussion in general. I rarely engage in a serious political discussion. Almost everyone I know is pretty set in their beliefs, so absent curiosity as to *what* they believe, the discussion isn't likely to produce a meaningful result. And all too often produces anger and hurt feelings. So I shy away from them. The most political I get in social situations is when I remind people that making jokes and references predicated on the idea that the 20+ people in the room are guarenteed to share your political beliefs is incredibly thoughtless and rude.
School lunches. Absolutely disgusting. In no logical way can anyone assure me that school lunches are nutritious and healthy for our kids. Ketchup is not a vegetable, nor is pizza. Additionally, boxed and processed white potatoes aren't good for ANYONE. "Pink slime" is not real meat. Kids are fed extremely processed carbohydrates, their hormones spike in response, and around 2 hours after lunch they're tired, cranky, and can't concentrate. THEN they get into trouble for not paying attention, falling asleep, etc. The childhood obesity and diabetes epidemic in this country is depressing, and is 100% fault of the adults in charge. I'm all about education. Talking to the school, my kids - why they should make the choices to avoid that crap, and to other parents. Also, making sure my kids are eating real food at home helps a lot. Their palettes for the crap food diminish greatly.
As political causes go the second amendment and gun rights have been the big ones in my family. Mostly support it through active education in local and state gun laws and gun safety. Since laws vary state to state and locality to locality they can be very intricate and is best to know the subtle variances as best as possible as minor and unassuming infractions can cary big penalties. For example in Ohio the owning of a 30+1 magazine is legal but it is illegal to actually use them and considered an "automatic firearm," unless that is of coarse it is a .22 caliber rimfire chambered round. Needless to say possessing a "automatic weapon" is not a charge you want to be fighting. As far as fun causes go. The most active I've been in while has been in the "Surge Movement" a facebook group dedicated to returning Coca-Cola's Surge soft drink to the market. A click above slacktivism they try and flood Coke's wall with post weekly and call different corporate agencies in Coke to request it as well as independent bottlers (though I haven't made any calls). I have asked a local super market, which specializes in importing large amounts of foreign products (Jungle Jims for Cincy natives), to start importing Urge which is the Norwegian equivalent. Guns and pop and Im not even southern.
Northerners may not know this, but Chick-fil-A is also closed on Sundays nationwide, under the Founder's religious regulations. We're living in a fuckin Theocracy here. Chick-fil-A is a private entity, of course, but it still sort of forces religion onto a wholly non-religious enterprise and the general public. I mean not working on Sundays? Who fuckin abides by that ritual? As an atheist, I never really discuss religion with anyone, unless they are fellow atheists. I'm not interested in converting anyone to anything. Be a Scientologist for all I care. But if you believe I'm going to hell, at least let me live my brief reprieve from eternal hellfire and damnation in fucking peace. I got into the Paleo diet for a while, but I couldn't keep it up. One big thing: it's REALLY hard to give out peak performance at the gym with zero or very little carbohydrates. I've done some cylical keto or some paleo + refeeds though, and it's worked out pretty well. But the essence of the diet and the message is clear: the country is eating highly manufactured garbage for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and everything in between. Hell, practically everything we eat is based on corn or grains. Whole grains are debated (Paleo is strictly against them; many mainstream diets are for them) --- but corn? Corn is utter shit. It has literally 0 nutritional value. Most people think it's packed with nutrients because they think it's a "vegetable." No, it's cheap to produce and utter garbage for you. And yet, most of our cows and chickens are fed that shit en masse. Sodas and candies and sweet breads and barbecue sauce and salad dressing are loaded with corn syrup. Every single bag of chips or similar snack is made entirely of corn or potatoes. And we're giving the goddamn corn people government money! It's pure filler. It's worse for you than white rice, which is basically used as the universal filler in every Asian country and restaurant. The Standard American Diet (SAD) produces the standard American fatass you see waddling around in this obese country.
My two pet causes are... 1.) Restoring civil rights to convicted felons. I've always belived that once a convict is released from prison, he should have a stake in his society, by voting and holding public office. I also hold the line that a conviction of a non-violent felony shouldn't be a bar towards legal gun ownership. Violent felons, regardless of the nature of the charge should still lose the right to own a gun. As for anything else, when you walk out of prison you're a free man. On that note, I think conducting background checks on prospective employees should be highly restricted. I know the reasoning behind not wanting a person convicted of bank robbery to work as an armoured car driver, or a child molester working at a summer camp. However a felony conviction is a bar towards most jobs, and contributes to a certain degree towards felons returning to crime for lack of a legal occupation. 2.) Space exploration. Humans cannot survive on Earth indefinatly; at some point we have to expand through the galaxy for raw materials and room for our expanding population. I'd go so far as to rank it as a priority over anything else, to include medical research. I view it as a means to the end of the current economic crises as well. If private enterprise were to dump massive amounts of funding into space exploration, with the ultimate goal of strip mining other planets the profit would be massive.
I'm abandoning the social media thing and starting a new movement in support of eugenics for people who support eugenics but who want to arm convicted felons in the name of civil rights.
My 'cause?' Questioning the 'conventional wisdom.' I push people. I do it here. I do it in person. This does not necessarily endear me to many folks. In fact, I downright piss people off. Like my wife. I consider this board to have a collection of some of the best minds I've ever seen on a message board. Yet, sometimes, I see people take positions that baffle me. Then I think: 'wait a minute, they're following the conventional wisdom.' Which in turn gets me to think about my position. Which is awesome, and why I stick around. While I like convention, and some conventional wisdom, I find in our time so much changes that the conventions upon which the wisdom are based have changed. I've even seen a shift in some philosophies of folks on here over time, as they appear to put more thought into it. That's not to say they agree with me. Not at all. I don't consider my cause successful if someone agrees with me. I consider my cause successful if they walk away from an interaction with me thinking about their position. To me, my cause is better served by someone whom thinks about a topic and disagrees with me than someone who just agrees with me without thought. I see so much of today's education and discourse becoming rote repetition of 'facts' - without the examination of those 'facts' and that scares me. This is why I like guys like Michael Moore, Bill Maher, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly. While I don't agree with many of them on a whole host of topics, I always come away from watching them forced to think about my position and to challenge my own conventional wisdom. I believe the success of my cause could potentially make the world a better place. And don't think I'm taking credit for my 'cause.' Millions have done it long before me, many will do it after me, and many do it right now. But I try to do my part. Not because 'I'm so smart.' But because I fucked up (often by listening to 'conventional wisdom' and things turning out poorly because I didn't think it through), and hope to serve as a warning, since serving as an example is far beyond my reach at this point.