(no subject)

I took the time this AM to look through many more LJ friends than I often do, in much greater detail than my usual skim. I swear - I am so dull compared to most people. Everyone is either in the midst of some horrible relationship issue, screaming about politics because unlike me they haven't lost hope in humankind, or running on about the very cool and interesting things they do for recreation.

My god I'm dull. I lift weights because I hope it'll make someone fuck me and me able to not get beat up. I'm so simple.

Politics - It's sad that our political system is so overrun with special interest politics, and that things are so comfy in this country that people have lost any desire to even watch the most basic of news sources. I'd love to blame our leaders, and in that bastard Bush's case I do - but overall the problem is that mainstream I so loathe. I'm in the minority for just watching mainstream news and voting - how very sad.

I know I'm capeable of more on a civic level, yet by comparison I'm Mr. Civic Duty. This country deserves a real disaster, though I doubt they'll get it. People in countries around the world are in the same boat we are - all focussed on short-term goals with no concern about anyone/thing outside of that narrow vision.

"I told you so"

To everyone and anyone I keep telling not to do relationships to try and fix problems they have:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030317/hl_nm/marriage_outlook_dc_1
A 15 year study in the March issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that people who got married were NO HAPPIER than before they were married after the brief high that came from the new marriage. This is only one study of course, but it just parallels my experience too much not to 'gloat' over.

They also found people that were happy to start with were more likely to have successful marriages. Everyone else had a greater probability of appearing on a talk show...

So - relationships are not going to make you better. No matter how you may search, the only thing you can find that is capeable of making you happy is inside yourself.

Support the troops! Yay!

Does that mean stop talking about peace and commit to fighting? Or does begging our leaders to bring the troops home to their American families and American jobs without fighting on foreign soil also qualify as supporting the troops?

Why is it patriotism is so commonly becoming synonymous with not questioning authority? I would say no matter your opinion on the war, that either failing to express your opinion or discouraging others from expressing their opinion is highly unpatriotic. Freedom of speech is not meant to only toe the party line, but to question those who lead us and the decisions they make. I think the entire POINT of freedom of speech is to do exactly that - question leadership. Any leaders who don't have to defend their decisions are going to fail.

Lately it seems the pro-war elements are criticizing the anti-war elements for having the views they do, and telling them to shut up. They say they aren’t patriotic at their worst – how very base, never mind inaccurate. I don’t hear the anti-war people telling the pro-war people to shut up. I don’t hear them calling the others ‘less American.’ On those counts, the anti-war people are being far more patriotic and American than their counterparts.

I sound anti-war, as most of my friends are, but in all honesty I’m more for it that against it. I’d point out my reasons for and against – and there are strong arguments on both sides, but I feel like those points have been well-discussed already and are pointless as there is no real question that we’re about to go to war.