The times they are a changin'. From here on out, personal thoughts, ideas, and posts will land here at me.raddevon.com. My former blog is now devoted to tech, the Internet, and gaming. Check that out at raddevon.com.
Ever since the beginning of the cold war, we have cultivated an irrational fear of socialism that defies all logic while at the same time maintaining some socialism deeply ingrained in our society. It’s as though we can choose the socialism we like as long as we never acknowledge that it is socialism. In the eyes of most Americans, socialism is not just un-American—it is the anti-America. A truly balanced view would recognize that there are probably some aspects of our society that are privately controlled that would benefit from socialism, and, conversely, there are some aspects of society that are socialized that should be privatized.
Think of what you want… then ask for about 100% more than that. When you go into mandatory mediation, they will try to meet in the middle and hit something you will both agree upon. If you did it right, the middle will be just where you wanted to be. It’s sad but true. You may have to fight for something you don’t think is fair (more than you want) to get what you deserve.
This is not a popular opinion, but I hope this leads to a fundamental change in our collective lifestyle here in the United States. This pipe dream we’ve been living subsidized by the future had to end sometime.
On and off over the past couple of years, I have been trying to downshift. I have faltered in some ways, but in many I have succeeded. It seems almost ingrained in me that I can solve most any problem by buying something. In some cases, that is the best way to solve a problem. In most, it is very satisfying on the front-end but not so much in the end. I have an unfortunate gadget addiction that has set me back a little, but I think I can claim overall success in this endeavor.
Previous generations had shared culture in the form of television. Virtually everyone watched TV, and, before the advent of cable and satellite TV, people were limited to a few stations and watched many of the same program. Now, it is much more rare to find someone who watches the same television programs as you (especially for me since I don’t watch TV).
Yesterday was my third appointment with an ophthalmologist for a recurring sty on the inside of my right eyelid. The first three times this occurred, I went to my primary physician who gave me some drops. The drops always took care of the sty in about a week or so. On my last visit, my primary physician suggested I see an ophthalmologist to try to solve the problem for good. The ophthalmologist told me I would probably have to wash my eyelids twice a day forever. She gave me an ointment to get rid of the thing, and I was gone. Read the rest of this entry »
In the near future, there will be two choices in the toy aisle at your local Wal-mart: leaded or unleaded. As toymakers realize it is much cheaper to better market poisonous toys than it is to properly screen manufacturing processes or, better still, produce in a country with proper safety laws, the toy industry will develop an analog to food. Leaded toys are to unleaded as “conventional” food is to organic. Parents will be maligned and marginalized as “elitist” for paying the premium to give their children toys that won’t put them in the hospital (if they only had insurance) after a few play sessions. An entire backlash sentiment will develop among the “common man” as they claim superiority for not worrying about something so trivial and just enjoying life. “Why spend your life worrying about all the things that will kill you? We’re all going to die sometime.”
