Puceronie

Archive for the ‘politics’ Category

Freedom and Freedom

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

I find that you will hear people from all over the political or economic spectrum using the word freedom (or Freedom). Not all of them seem to use it in the same manner, though.

Freedom for Freedom

On one side you have those who prone freedom for the sake of Freedom. Your laws, your opinions, your beliefs, they all can exist provided that they do not come in the way of My Freedom. For example, those who advocate against gun control in the United States will cite the US constitution. "I don't care about any other arguments, because wanting to keep me from owning a gun is against my freedom."

Freedom for Well Being

On the other side, where I find myself, are people who prone freedom as being one of the many things that promote the well being of humans. We believe we must strive for the good of people and that, in order for the world to be better, people need some freedom: the freedom to vote, assemble in public, participate in harmless religious practices, love and live with a person of the same sex, etc.

The Problem of Freedom for Freedom

The problem of believing in freedom for its own sake is that, along the way, you can find yourself harming other people. I could use the freedom argument to do horrible things, something which I will not do if I think that freedom is only one of the many aspects of a good life.

There are people in this world who are denied rights such as voting (including gender-based discrimination) or who live in horrible conditions. When I hear people say that my not wanting them to keep an unlocked, loaded gun in their house goes against their freedom, I find it rather insulting to all those people.

Shut Up With Your Tax Refunds

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

Advertisements, the news and everyone keep bombarding me (not necessarily just me) with ways and occasions to get tax refunds and reductions. Well, guess what? I don't want a tax reduction.

Now I can see many people fainting as they read this. "That must be why she goes in therapy!" I assure you that's not the reason. Some would say "but we are in a crisis! Don't you want every penny you can save?" Well, in a way, yes, I do enjoy saving money. That's what I'm doing right now. But even by saving a good portion of my income for when I return to Montreal, I have more money than what I need to live. I am more than happy to think that some of my money goes to important things, such as the health or education systems. They need the money, after all.

Sarah Palin and Hunting

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

Among the many, many, many, many people who oppose Sarah Palin (and are quite right to), there is a lot that uses the fact that she supports hunting and has herself hunted for animals as a reason to dislike her.

Now I only hope you will read carefully what I'm about to write, and not just the first part of the first sentence, because if that's what you do, you're missing my whole point.

I am not opposed to hunting, provided it is for nutrition purpose (i.e. eat the meat) and that the animal is not part of an endangered species. So I will not call Palin a demon because she "eats moose", but I will speak against her for a few reasons in regards to her hunting practices, and those she supports:

  1. "What you mean "endangered species"? In the Bible, God says animals are ours to kill freely". Well, too bad for you, lady, because whatever your God told you, the fact remains that some animals are endangered. And guess what? These animals are usually endangered because of humans. Humans hunting them (for their fur, for their "front legs" - what the fuck do you do with wolf front legs? -, for their liver or for whatever else humans fancy in them) and humans destroying their natural habitat to get resources. You know, stuff like oil.
  2. Of the animals Palin has shown to be "good to kill" are some that humans don't eat. You take off their fur and sell it at ridiculously high prices, or use it as a carpet. I would never be able to walk around my apartment and see a bear on the floor, personally. Wolves? Nobody eats that. Humans have no reason to kill wolves beside selfish profit.
  3. The third one is what irks me the most. As governor of Alaska, Palin wanted to pay hunters for their kills. It is not the government's job to pay anyone for their hunting. When my uncles go hunting, they do it for their entertainment and because it tastes good. They are not doing a service to the state, therefore the state has no reason to pay them back. Even wolves do not pose a serious threat to human beings. We have no reason to kill them, least of all to encourage their killing by a government program.

Darfur

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

This morning, I was thinking of various things in relation to my plan to dominate save the world. I remembered my geography teacher telling us about Darfur. And then it occurred to me. Geography. That was over 3 years ago. It has been so fucking long. I'd say "pardon the expression" but, really, a few hundred of "fuckings" are nothing compared to the scale of this.

It started in February 2003 (well, officially. Wars don't start suddenly with a bang, there is much going on behind the scenes, but this is the date you'll find if you do a bit of research). And we are doing nothing. My southern neighbors, the United States, are making war a bit further in the east. During these five years (almost six by now), they have spent billions upon billions in this war. Other countries have sent troops, either to help in the war or for "humanitarian purposes".

Government officials are spouting words like "freedom", "democracy" and "our values" when they are justifying their actions in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries of Middle East. How about Sudan? Why would anyone give a shit about Sudan?

Sudan doesn't have enough oil for us. The USA even put an embargo on Sudan (before the conflict).

You know what? This makes me sick. It makes me sick that no one does anything, it makes me sick that some even cite international laws to say we can't intervene. This is a sick world. And, to make matters worse, I'm not even sure Obama will win the elections, and I highly doubt that McCain has any intention of doing anything about Darfur. If he did, anyway, it would surely involve bombs and result in an even bigger economical crisis in a couple of years from now.

As for Palin, she probably couldn't locate Sudan on a map.