A Mother of a Fossil

I have read lately that woman are realizing that they can't have it all. All that stress, burnout, and non-fulfillment was not anticipated when the early feminists exhorted women to leave home and march to future greatness. Some, of course, like old relics from the past, never left the mothering field to begin with, and slogged their way for decades through the minefields of full-time motherhood. While their sisters reached for higher things, these women always seemed to be reaching for lower things, or lost things, or mushy things. While some sisters strived to stand next to the boss and be among the Highly Compensated Ones, others walked among little people and got chronic backaches ministering to their needs. Interestingly, as the naysayers of motherhood left to work, those who stayed behind suddenly received requests to work for no pay: "Can Johnny wait here for the bus? Can Suzy walk home from school with your Sarah? We'll pick her up by 6 (which turned into 7). Can you take Tyler to the dance with your Mike...we have plans." Often kids asked behind their absent parents' backs: "Can I sleep over? Can you tie my tie? Can I hang out at your house and play with your dog." Here's a true story: two little girls came home from school one day to find themselves locked out. They asked the stay-at-home neighbor lady, "Do you know where our parents are?" She took them in even though she had other things to do, and she baked them cookies and played games with the kids, who weren't hers, and did it all amid the remembered, belittling side glances of her employed sisters. On top of that, because she was a full-time mother, there were times when other women assumed that she only had a high school education. That must have been a low point. She must have thought: "What am I, an educated person, doing in a non-paying, non-stock option, non-benefit job like this? Hmmm. Maybe I could write a book about a time when caretaking was valued and mothers roamed the streets to the delight and benefit of children everywhere? No, it would probably be burned, and I'd be asked to clean it up. Hmmm. Maybe some modern-day anthropologist would want to study me, as the last remaining full-time mom? No, then I'd have to offer her space in my house, and wash her sheets and (shudder) grocery shop and cook for her. Maybe I just need therapy? Or maybe, just maybe, kids still need moms and women still want to be moms first--right on, girl!

Liars, Liars, Pants on Fire

Unfortunately for future generations, the drug-induced, ideological fantasies of the 60’s Generation linger on like stale tobacco fumes. Would that the stench could simply be washed away. Better yet, would that the option of suing for harm caused to health and soul would make them cough up some cash for those of us who have long suffered the pollution spewed from their mouths. Should you wish to sue, here are the Top 10 Reasons to Sue the 60’s Generation:

10) Lack of personal hygiene and slovenliness, which are not virtues, but related to public hygiene and thus have the potential to make your neighbors sick.

9) Overuse of solid or liquid, mind-altering substances, which effects an indirect tax on your neighbors who must pay for your rehab and lost productivity, and sets a bad example for the young. Get sober. Get a job!

8) The promotion of a protest mentality, the constant incivility of which disrepects intellectual discourse, but more importantly makes the young cynical and denies them hope in the future. Try something other than hate and intimidation to get high on.

7) Spreading an anything-goes, do-as-you-please philosophy, which shows youngsters not only that you, but they, don’t need to respect themselves or others. Sexual promiscuity diminishes basic human bonds, which ultimately hurts the family. Yes, the institution of the family is more important than your genitals. Try to learn a little self-control (I know that discipline is hard for you).

6) Enshrining abortion as goodness, where people now accept that babies are an inconvenience to their lifestyles. The 60's Generation gave us the throw-away mentality of abortion on demand (no limits) and coupled it with the men-don't-matter mentality of the feminists. If someone came into your house to harm you, would you try to save yourself and fight back? Babies can't fight back, but you can choose alternatives to abortion (By the way, men matter alot.)

5) “Dumbing down” education by forcing their political agenda into the classroom and pushing critical thinking out. No thinking person wants to mindlessly memorize the ideologies and dogmas of a lost generation (yeah, I’m talking about your 60’s Generation, man).

4) Failing to pass on the Country’s history by willfully removing Civics and Western history and philosophy classes from schools as required knowledge (related to 5 above). I guess it’s better to erase, remove, and change history, than let others read, compare, and make value judgements about it for themselves???

3) Purposely mocking millenniums of religious knowledge while advocating a man-as-god philosophy. Scrawny crackheads, lascivious losers, the perpetually angry, old communists, and shiftless waiting-for-the-right-feeling, middle-age types don’t make good stand-ins for the Deity.

2) Using “diversity” as ram rod to divide and keep divided a country whose motto is E Pluribus Unum or Out of Many, One (highly related to 4 above). Diversity in and of itself has never been proven to be the panacea for anything, but constant division has shown itself to be the sure path to allowing power to concentrate in the hands of a mad few and enslave the rest of us. Unfortunately, madmen and madwomen, dating from the 1960’s, abound.

1) Ultimately denying young people the ability to think for themselves. By throwing out and ridiculing the values and history of their ancestors, whose collective knowledge stretches well beyond the 1960’s, the 60's Generation has failed their own young and future generations, denying them access to a rich past that can inspire their future as the 60’s Generation surely cannot.

Open-Mindedness Stored in a Jar

I live near the birthplace, or so it is claimed, of the Free Speech Movement. At first I was exhilarated to learn that such a place existed. I imagined what it must be like—friendly, open people everywhere who valued inquiry, and who were intelligent enough to deeply analyze ideas based on history’s great insights and writings, and, yes, even on mathematical truths. I imagined the constant buzz of conversation that was rich, learned, deep, patient and civil. However, upon my first visit, I noticed that the proper way to act in the Land of Free Speech was to carry signs and raise one’s voice to astounding levels even if classes were in session. Thus, being rightly educated in the ways of free speech, I often mused about the signs that I would carry, the slogans that I would write, and the many anesthetized minds that I would awaken. I lingered on that last one …wow … all those poor, misled fellow citizens to save. Yes, yes, people should awaken to the truth, and free speech as practiced in the Land of Free Speech would be the way to do it. Of course I knew that many of the people that I wanted to reach with my messages of truth would be at work, but they shouldn’t be. They should stop being so productive, realize how their minds were numbed, and come to listen to me. Yes, then their lives would surely change for the better. Oh, how they would change…(creepy, dream-like music heard playing in the background).

While still fantasizing about how my debut in the bright lights of the protest stage would go, I began to hear low rumblings from afar. Could they possibly be coming from the Land of Free Speech? Rumors had it that a conservative newspaper had been stolen and burned. How could this be happening in the Land of Free Speech? A college lecturer had requested in his course description that conservative minds need not apply. Hmmm, perhaps protesting is not the path to glory that I had thought it would be? Doubt began to creep into my mind. Perhaps I had better watch what I say? No, no, surely things were not, could not be this way. Surely there was no censorship in the Land of Free Speech?! The next day, I happened to meet someone visiting my town from the Land of Free Speech, and they proceeded to tell stories about the stupidity of others, but of the greatness of themselves. Doubt grew. The next day I decided to visit again this Land, and I saw the Learned Students harass a poor working man because he could not figure out their bill fast enough. I heard the Anointed Instructors mocking people like me. I began to be afraid. I hid the cross on my necklace from their critical gazes. A person could not speak freely here. A person’s thoughts were not allowed here. If I carried my placards with their lovely bright paint, I would surely be set upon and all of my hard work would be ripped up. If I spoke, bullhorns would silence me—me, an ordinary citizen who had sought the Land of Free Speech but had stumbled across open-mindedness locked in a jar—transparently revealing and ultimately shattering.

Liberal and SUV Hell

It's hard to live in today’s atheistic, anti-everything, liberal America. If you can't stand a whining, negative, antagonistic liberal, you cannot complain. Otherwise you might be called a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, or worse, a religious person, when in fact it is the liberal who has truly annoying personal habits, like always putting down ideas clearly supported by facts or throwing emotional temper tantrums to get his way. In the current liberal, secular heaven-on-earth, you are surrounded by all manner of self-centered personal behavior that pollutes humanity much more than does an SUV. Even so, you must constantly bear the public humiliation of always being wrong, because, of course, the saintly liberal's wounded self-esteem trumps all. Yet another liberal hissy fit now labels you as an accessory to terrorism when you drive your SUV. Here are the thoughts in a liberal’s mind that you should be able to pick up by telepathy, even though said liberal is not required to have the same ability (corrective commentary added in parentheses): “It's obvious, isn't it, that you planned all along to drive an SUV (he could never afford an SUV), and that you knew it would lead to the global warming that is choking me at this moment (maybe it’s all that marijuana you smoked in the 60’s), and to the understandable bombing of the Twin Towers (hates corporate America, hates international trade, hates any city without a socialist or communist mayor, hates any edifice not illegally constructed on private property, and thinks all terrorists had a US-induced, traumatic childhood). You maliciously provoke the terrorists in full view of small children and grandmothers when you drive your SUV (still marches nude in public in front of small children and grandmothers at yearly anything-goes festival). How can you possibly live with the knowledge that you lead your life with foul intent and fumes belching from your SUV (cannot live with the knowledge that choosing to reside in a socialist commune for 40 years did not bring fame, fortune, or much coveted personal power). Why you … you … you … (exploding in self-righteous indignation), SUV-using abuser of … of …minority, female, homosexual, and terrorist rights (needs illegal “herbal” remedy to lower blood pressure as hates anyone who actually studied in school, such as a doctor). The End.” To be fair, the liberal, SUV-hating tyrant may be very rich (think movie stars who live lavishly but buy a Prius so that they can lecture you about your unseemly consumption of the earth’s resources), or a professional protester (no education necessary) who used numerous modes of gas-powered transportation to come bother you (not to mention synthetic fibers and chemicals in his/her clothing, rubber derivatives in his/her shoes, and energy wherever he/she went into a store, owned anything made by a machine, or ate prepared food, etc.). Even so, it is you, the SUV owner, who are evil beyond repair and to be hated. May God grant you forgiveness, because the living liberal “saints” who accuse you will not.

Swirling Tides

The swirling tide of ill fortune that hit the Gulf Coast has sucked in an equally swirling mass of humanity either as victims, saviors, or the sludge of humanity. How can we tell these very different types of beings apart?

The Truly Needy—the Truly Needy stretch forth one hand, and barely even that, because they are either too weak, ill, or young to help themselves, or because they have been taught by their parents and their faith to take only what they truly need to help them rebuild their lives. Should by chance they wind up with more than they need, they readily give it to others less fortunate than themselves. In other words, when they are no longer the Truly Needy, they stop thinking of themselves as victims and turn towards those who still are Truly Needy. The Media would do well to note that victimhood is not a forever state, even though its use for ratings is.

The Truly Rich—the Truly Rich stretch forth two hands, and much more than that, giving up the maximum of time, energy, commitment, and heartfelt compassion that they can afford in order to help the Truly Needy. In other words, someone can be poor and still be Truly Rich. While money is certainly on the list of things to give, money alone does not designate the Truly Rich. In fact, money alone is often used as a reason not to act and not to have to face the more serious moral questions that arise when, for example, you must put others before your own family, actually take a stranger into your home, or close your business and go help. If money is the only thing someone has to give, then it is Truly Rich to give it. Some, unfortunately, can never be Truly Rich, such as the race baiters and class haters, because they tear down and take away rather than build up and bring hope.

The Sludge—the Sludge is made up of a truly toxic mix of supposedly fellow human beings. This slimly sea of humanity includes the fake needy who take much more than they need or simply arrive from under some distant rock to claim money and supplies meant for the Truly Needy. The Sludge includes ideologues, such as biased reporters both foreign and domestic, self-serving politicians, race baiters and class haters (who, interestingly enough, often are or want to become politicians), and criminals who loot and kill (yes, Celine, there really were actual looters, those organized criminals whose interest was not to touch a pair of designer jeans as you so poignantly pleaded that they be allowed to do, but to steal from and harm their fellow human beings. Don’t you think that “noble savage” perspective is really terribly patronizing?)

Hopefully the swirling waters of Katrina have pushed the Truly Needy and the Truly Rich down a common stream where the waters of human kindness and dignity can gather and enrich each other. As for the Sludge that churned up from the Netherworld to try to block that gathering, peaceful stream…well…it is easily buried, burned, or carted away. However, in the days to come, most likely it will be on TV, in government, on the lecture circuit, professionally protesting, or in jail. Don’t let it soil your stuff or your life.

Soooo Offended

Apparently the Ten Commandments are furtively lurking beneath an undergrowth of vegetation somewhere at the Oakland, California, zoo. Some human being of the hypersensitive variety, unable to look away, and crawling under the undergrowth (as befits his/her stature) found the monument and was offended. However, with naked, captive animals parading in front of him during his entire visit, he was not offended. Neither was he offended by the fact that obliterating the history of the people who chose to honor a judge by putting the monument there many years ago is a really evil thing to do. Any historian might argue that to do so is both a crime against a past generation's legacy and also against future generations' right to know their own history. Leaving monuments and public structures with their rather minor references to religion says something about what was valued then and how people held a connection between religious values and public values. At the very least, leaving such things intact allow future historians and generations to calculate exactly when godlessness took hold, marking when their ancestors took a turn for the worse. Maybe scientists could even trace human DNA back to the 1960's when, most likely, the dreaded godless gene mutation occurred. Mmmm. I wonder what the old folks who spent time and money putting up the monument and holding a ceremony might say today? Since they had religion, good ol' time religion, they might say this: "Your present uncivil state is appalling. Rather than going to church and learning humility, you are continually arguing over nothing, trying to put yourself front and center. (shaking their heads)I pity the fact that you have frittered away your time in self absorption, puffing up your opinions instead of learning to be generous, kind, and forgiving, especially towards your elders. I should say that you are ill mannered indeed, ungrateful for all that past generations have done for you and unable to extend them respect. You should be ashamed. (wagging their fingers) Hopefully the people who put up that monument will forgive you for destroying something that did not belong to you." Then you would be punished by one of the old timers from that godly generation to whom the monument meant much, as a reminder of just how offensive your poor offended views really are. You would find yourself in your room without supper (which is not the punishment mentioned above, but is in addition to it) and told to ponder your intolerant tolerance. And lastly, you would be told (oddly enough for you) to pray, so that your impudent soul would not be wasted in this lifetime or in the next. You may still grow up to be a self-absorbed, intolerant, godless idiot, but at least a previous generation, unlike you, would have taken the time and energy to teach young people that a good life based on religious tenets is far superior to one based on a bruised ego.