More Thoughts on Politics

Because it's on everybody's mind lately, for obvious reasons. I, like many others I think, fell into the trap of thinking that people would finally shut up about politics after the election. Nope.

Democracy is like deciding where to go for dinner, except you're in a school bus outnumbered by dozens of children, and every single time, without exception, they either vote McDonald's or Burger King. If you happen to like either of those two options, then you're in luck. Because otherwise, you're gonna feel like your voice doesn't matter. Periodically, you see small subgroups campaigning for Wendy's, but not once has it resulted in success. Which is demoralizing. And say you really want to eat at Olive Garden. There's no chance in hell of swinging that vote, so why bother?

Here are three issues on which a candidate coming out in support of would cause me to become invested in politics:

1. Abolishment of the concept of obscenity, which is unconstitutional (twice over*), and unfairly discriminates against sexual expression. *In addition to effectively abridging the freedom of speech, I feel that this is an artifact of Judeo-Christian morality (which, unlike older, pagan beliefs, is very critical of human sexuality), which reeks of respecting an establishment of religion.

2. Decriminalization of prostitution, because whether somebody wants to buy or sell sex, they should have the freedom to do so (within the bounds of supply and demand). And before you cry "sex trafficking!", the best way to combat human rights violations is to drag the industry out into the daylight. Criminals (and make no mistake, anti-prostitution laws punish the victims) have no recourse to the law.

3. A federal statute either explicitly permitting, or prohibiting local or state laws that criminalize "simple nudity" (which is the simple state of being nude, not involving "lewd" or explicitly sexual behavior - honestly, I think this would police itself given that a citizen is allowed to film anything that goes on in public view, which can be used as evidence) either on private property in public view (such as my own house or yard), or - to go further - in shared, outdoor, public, community spaces, such as parks and roads and sidewalks and the like.

And those are just a few of the main bullet points. Can you see why I don't think there's any point in me voting? (And for those of you who are thinking right now, "thank god he doesn't vote!" - you're welcome :-p).

Why I Don't Vote

In the words of counterculture visionary George Carlin. I'd heard people talk about how great George Carlin was before, but I always just took him for a comedian. Turns out he was so much more, and I've had the chance to finally realize that just this year. He was one of the few, the brilliant, who see the illusion for what it is - those of us who step outside of Plato's cave, and can see the coding of the Matrix. I wish I'd known what a national treasure he was while he was still alive. Here he is explaining what a clown parade democracy really is:



All I have to say is, this election can't be over soon enough. Everybody thinks their candidate is the messiah, and their candidate's opponent is the antichrist, while ignoring the critical flaws in the two-party system (and it is a two-party system). And to anyone that says "But Trump!" - the fact that Trump is even in the running is proof that giving people the power to vote isn't going to fix anything. Meanwhile, it's always "meet the new boss; same as the old boss." Nineteen Eighty-Four was thirty-two years ago, and here we still are. I'm just glad we don't have to elect a Pope every four years in this country. I don't think I could handle that much pointless tribalism. We're all in this together; for better and - as is most often the case - for worse.

My Case

I don't need everyone to be like me. I just want them to give me space to be myself, instead of forcing me to be like them. But there's something else. I know I'm eccentric. I'm an outlier. It's probably difficult for most people to understand me. And they don't have to. Not completely. I just would really like it for people to view me as somebody interesting. Somebody with a unique perspective. Who looks at things in intriguingly novel ways. I want that kind of respect and admiration, even more than understanding. I want that, instead of being viewed as an anomaly, a failed experiment, an inexplicably-impaired head case. My psyche can't handle that alternative. But it's beyond my powers to "become normal" just to satisfy the majority. I can only be me. Yet I can't stand the idea of the world hating me the way I hate them...