One monkey out, two monkeys in?
I started writing a reflected entry about the American election but the more I read, the angrier I got. So instead I wrote a short, not so reflected angry version of that entry.
Let me ask straight out? How can an civilized, well educated country have a presidental candidate pair that isn't ridiculed by people for being opposed to equal right for homosexuals? We look down on people that discriminate people based on their skin color or sex. Why don't more people point out that it is equally stupid and last century to discriminate people based on their sexual orientation?
How can rich people with all the privileges in the world think they have a right to tell other people whether abortion is right or wrong? A couple with estimated net worth of $100 million and an Alaskan govenor with estimated assets over 1 million dollar are too well off to be able to put themselves in the shoes of other less fortunate people and tell them they should have no problem with raising a baby.
Those are the same people that think it is absurd to have national health care to take care of these same people and these same babies. It is not them that are likely to be denied coverage by the profit hungry insurance companies. They are also the same people that are against giving people proper sex education because they think teaching sex abstinence is so much better... And why do we think people get pregnant and need abortion? Why is it not obvious that the best here is to educate people so that there are less abortions?
Oh and those people are probably thinking it is not smart to encourage too much thinking. Lets teach people about creationism and intelligent design to water out that science education that might get people to think and see that we are just two monkeys from the stone age. Or do they really believe that stuff... not sure what is more worrying?
I am happy to be born in a country and live in another where this kind of thinking is considered ignorant and stupid! Ahhh... it was good to blow off some steam. Now crossing my finger for the more civilized and human candiates :)
Really?
I'm surprised when you sound so sure that people in Iceland and Norway look down on all of those views. Are the majority of Scandinavians really so liberal? There is a huge number of people in the USA that share at least one of those positions.
I remember a business trip I made to Atlanta, where I had a conversation with a pretty highly-placed official at the FAA. He was absolutely intelligent, articulate and charming. Basically, his view is that he wanted things to be like they were in the 50s. He wanted his grandchildren to be safe outdoors like he was in his boyhood. He wanted life to be simple again. He didn't preach his religion to me, but he wasn't ashamed of it either.
This conversation had a huge effect on me. This guy wasn't some hillbilly in a pickup truck with a shotgun on his lap. I could not dismiss his views so easily, no matter how much I despise them. In fact, my own parents share most of his views.
Anger makes you feel powerless, but knowledge is power. Are you sure that you understand "these people"? Sometimes I find they're not as different from me as I thought.
For example, I am now against abortions (see disclaimer below!). That comes from my experience as a father. I've watched the ultrasound image of a fetus, moving around in real-time and sucking its thumb. It's just not the same when you're there in the room, compared to seeing it on the Discovery Channel. It's hard to explain the difference. I accept that maybe it's because the kid was mine! It doesn't seem right to me when someone says that a fetus is really not a human being.
But I also believe the government shouldn't get involved in the abortion issue. There are some situations where it might be justified, and I don't want the law to get in the way. It saddens me to hear that some women use abortions as a method of birth control, and have several of them. But I don't feel that's the same as murder. I would just have chosen differently.
Some thoughts
You are right that not all Scandianavians/Nordic people are that liberal. There are still a significant number of people that have slightly or very intolerant views. I however don't think they would get as far as running for a prime minister position. And they would be trashed hard in the media for their views. The only people that "get away" with being intolerant here are the church, other religious instances, and immigrants. They still get some pressure to change their views while no-one really dares to push them to hard because of the fear of being intolerant towards them.
No, I probably don't understand these people. The pattern I have seen when I have met them is usually that they seem they have lived a sheltered life and never been pushed or have never known anyone that didn't fit into their image of "right". Maybe this is a naive view of them? I used to be one of those ignorant people myself (when I was a kid) and had all kinds of misconceptions. It helped to work with/have friends and family that didn't fit the man-wife pattern and to live in an open minded society.
I am also in theory "against" abortions. I don't think they are right per say but I also acknowlegde the fact that I am not the right person to judge people that feel that this is what they must do in the situation they are in. I hope I never have to do it but I also know that life is not always simple and straightforward so I cannot say with certainty that I will never do it. It is an individual choice that shouldn't be encouraged but people should never be judged for doing it either. Prevention and education is the key word here! I think (hope) many of the women that use it as a birth control might not be well educated.
We can only hope
It has always bothered me that some of the most inexplicably ignorant people in the world get to vote for the "leader of the free world". They haven't chosen so wisely the last couple of times, but maybe this time sanity will win out. Fingers crossed... not much longer now.
My fingers are cramping!
I have crossed them so much :) It is tempting to stay up all night and watch the counting but I think my sanity will win and I will just check tomorrow morning. I am optimistic that all the smart people there went and voted :)