Can I kick it? No, you can't.

Czar chasm

50-70000 people showed up in Washington DC Saturday to protest...something. Everything! A few snippets:

The remarkable thing here, is that there is very little of this which has been taken out of context. It's easy to make people look stupid via editing, but the interviewer was really only asking them why they were so upset about the things that their signs claimed that they were upset about. Again, I'm not really wild about the debt and deficit being where they are, but when the economy is where it is, this is the only recourse. You don't have to be happy about it, but it'd be nice if you could veer close enough to reality for a moment to at least acknowledge a couple of things:

Barack Obama isn't responsible for cratering the economy.

Things would be a damn sight worse if the stimulus bill had not passed.

Thus, here we are in a very strange moment, where we have the chance to make some real improvements in the way this country operates, and there are people, even those who would benefit, who are opposed to it because televised multi-millionaires have told them they ought to be. I will not go so far as to refer to them as "oligarhs."

Oligarchs, maybe. Plutocrats? Definitely.

I try very hard to see issues and events from all sides, because I have no use for political parties, and no ideology has a lock on good answers or common sense. So, I watch these events, and I wait for the moment where someone says something that makes me think, "Okay, I can agree with you in principle on some of that." But there's just so much WHARRGARBL, that it's nearly impossible to latch on to something that doesn't make you feel lobotomized.

Honestly, I'm to the point anymore where I'm halfway in your corner if you can just say what's bugging you without screaming or starting to cry. The right has turned into the left, all emotion and no brains, just angry, scared, and making everything about everything all the time, which is a classic liberal mistake.

For example, the anti-war protests. You're against the war? Great, march make signs, show the colors. But when the left turns out, PETA shows up, NORML is there, Greenpeace blows in, looking to roll severely obese marchers back into the nearest body of water.

But the right has guzzled down that particular gallon of left-wing stupid. These people who showed up in DC Saturday were angry about health care, that Obama is African, that we have officials called Czars, higher taxes, that Obama is a Muslim, ACORN, the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, to support Joe Wilson, a civilian corps of volunteers to do work in the US, the new combo philosophy of Communist Fascism, that Jesus isn't president, Barney Frank, to take the country back, mandatory abortions for all females over 11, that the country has been mostly destroyed, that "Barack Obama" means "anti-christ" in Hebrew, and just dozens of other really sensible, well-thought out reasons to be upset without needing to admit that the president is colored and that ain't America.

I know that this isn't all about racism, there are legitimate political and philosophical reasons to dislike what the president is doing. But most of this is about racism.

A Thousand Dollars

I was at McDonalds earlier today, because I was in the mood for crap. I like crap sometimes, and with that being said, I ordered a Minty Mudd Bath shake. It was delicious, although the color more resembled phlegm than anything else.

As I was ordering, I heard two impressively loud belches from behind me in the seating area. Now, to no one's surprise, I am amused by bodily noises, although more so in the privacy of my home than where others are eating. So, I turn around to look at the guy, and I just wanted to cry.

I get my cup of sputum, and go sit down. The belching guy is still there, although now he is talking in an unnaturally loud voice to his dining companions, one of whom appeared to be a friend, and the other his classy lady. The few chunks of witticism that I understand are bellowed in full white trash-speak, and I am unable to tear my eyes from this man's face. I would guess he was between twenty and twenty-five. He was fully un-self aware. I did a quick estimate of his IQ at 85, tops.

Don't think that this is a simple case of intellectual snobbery on my part. The average IQ of human beings is 100, and by default, half of the people in the world have an IQ less of than that. One out of every two people you see every day is below average. It's not a judgment, only statistics.

After the party had finished its post-meal conversation, belching guy and his girlfriend displayed no uncertain affection for one another, and the urge to weep overcame me once again.

These two are going to reproduce.

I am not a wealthy man, let's be clear about that. But I was honestly very close to walking over to their table and making the following offer:

"I would like you to join me at an attorney's office on Monday. We will draw up a contract which all parties will sign, to the effect that if neither one of you has any children in the next five years, I will at the end of that period pay you one thousand dollars."

I could save a thousand dollars in five years, I'm pretty sure, and I think maybe other people might even contribute to my new cause. But a grand isn't that much money, really, so I thought maybe ten thousand might be better, not that I could afford it.

But what about the government?

We are tested all the time in schools, graded, evaluated, you name it. The government knows who the morons are out there. Why can't we offer people money to not breed, at least in the short term? This isn't sterilization, it's not permanent, and it's not eugenics. Can't we simply pay the least capable would-be-parents to at least hold off until they are a little more mature? Can't we put off the production of some stupid babies for a little while? At least in the woman's case, we narrow the window of fecundity a bit. She may still end up with eight kids, but she'll have a hard time making it to twelve if she waives five of her childbearing years.

The savings would become evident very quickly. I am not criticizing people without health insurance, as I frequently fall into this group. But it isn't people who work for Fortune 500 companies who get knocked up without insurance, an income or some means of support.

Ten grand, tax free at the end of five years, just for not having kids. This is a good deal, for the stupid, and for America.

If anyone has any idea how the hell you start up a government pilot program, please leave a comment. And if you have any idea of how to write up the proposal without using the word "morons," that will help, too. Many thanks.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Friday, April 23, 2004

Thursday, April 22, 2004