Bread and Circuses.
Sound familiar?
It should. Many history teachers preach on the subject. How governments give the people distractions to keep them content. It's a sleight of hand technique to keep control.
All that being said. I have no problem with the Super Bowl. I like watching it; the commercials are always interesting. I am not a sports person. I don't play them and I never watch a game. The whole thing is uninteresting to me. I'd rather be reading a book. I understand that they are important to other people, some of my close friends and family members are huge fans of football. Honestly, it's more fun to watch them watching a game then to watch it myself. They get so into it.
I also have no problem with food stamps. Sure, some people are working the system but there is always going to be a group of individuals that game the system.
It's what con men, grifters, do.
I've been called naive for believing that. For believing in the goodness of people. I don't want to believe we have become so depraved that everyone one food stamps shouldn't be. I don't want to believe we've lost that much. America has always been a country of values and I refuse to believe it has changed. The values may have changed (of course), that's part of growing up, maturity adds a new perspective to life.
If nothing had changed since the founding I wouldn't be able to vote. I am a women. I am an educated women. If nothing had changed my life would have been different.
Superficially my life would have been much the same. I would still be a women, I would still have gone to college, I would still be able to think. But I wouldn't be allowed to do anything about it. I wouldn't be me. I would have grown up in a culture constantly telling me I am inferior, I am not good enough. That I will never be good enough. Because of my gender.
It's almost laughable.
Except that it's not funny when it happens.
Not going to lie. I got a lot of that already. It just would have been exponentially worse.
I'd like to think that I would have been a spinster working in a library. That is if I was born before women were allowed to be equal. By equal I mean legally. The unwritten rules have taken longer to change. They always do.
I can't tell you how happy I am to live in a world where my opinions are valid; where I can be both an intellectual and a women. It's such a refreshing idea, women can think logically (please note that's mostly sarcastic).
But more than anything else I am happy my value is not based on relationships. I do not have to be a wife to have value. I do not have to be mother to have value. I am an asset because of my brain. Because of my work ethic. Because of my humor. Because I am a valuable individual.
I am.
Anything I want to be.
Anything I want to become.
Anything I work hard enough for.
I am a women and that is enough.
And if I am naive for believing in the goodness of people at least I am happy in my naivete.
My original point was that we can't complain about stupid government decisions when we elected the people making those choices. (I don't care if you didn't vote for that president/governor/senator/mayor/congressperson; they got elected by the majority. Deal with it) Don't bitch when you don't care enough to research the people you elect. If you don't like the direction the country is going, do something about it. You are an important part of this era and your choices make an impact.
If you're wondering what one person can do to change a country take a look at the names below:
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rosa Parks
Mahatma Gandhi
Nelson Mandela
Mother Teresa
All of those people had huge impacts on the world. They changed the fabric of their cultures. Forever.
Here are some more individuals who've had an impact on cultures, eve if it is more oblique (and not always a good thing):
William Shakespeare
Mark Twain
J.K. Rowling
Stephanie Meyer
Suzanne Collins
Joss Whedon
They all started out with an idea, a dream, something they couldn't give up. Something to live for. Regular, everyday, people who didn't give up.
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