February 20, 2005

Yin/Yang

We had a pair of interesting encounters the other night, happening back-to-back, as it were.

First we got into a discussion with someone who is aligned more towards our own progressive tendencies - but much farther advanced ethically, so to speak. We were trying to get a grip on our current personal dilemma: how do we handle things when our good nature is being deliberately exploited? The answer we received boiled down to assuming the best in people, not getting upset ourselves when we get exploited, and avoiding situations were exploitation is possible. In other words, basically work on not letting the way we see the world cause us to lose our way and our principles. Which does not to seem to address our difficulties when we have to deal every day with a society where exploitation seems not only to be expected, but also to be approved of. Definitely something we need to work a little more on as much as possible - but side-stepping the question somewhat from our viewpoint.

Shortly thereafter we experience the flip side of the coin, so to speak. We got embroiled in a political discussion with a conservabot. The following conservative torque was applied to our psyche during the brief conversation that followed:

To begin with, we were told that we had our chance to speak, and now it was our turn to listen after the points we were trying to make were constantly being interrupted with standard conservabot torque points;

We were then informed that unemployment was at its' lowest since the Giggling Murderer usurped office. We were conveniently (cough) not allowed to point out that the record number of discouraged workers, along with the record number of those who can no longer qualify for unenjoyment benefits might have something to do with those low numbers;

We were also informed that our governor, Jennifer Granholm, was responsible for the economic mess that the state of Michigan is in. At this point we were also conveniently not allowed to point out that both the Michigan Senate and the Michigan House of Representatives are controlled by the Republics, and they might have something to do with the government policies being put into place since Granholm became governor;

We were also told that the previous governor did wonders for our state. The fact that he almost bankrupted things with corporate welfare and tax breaks for the rich couldn't have anything to do with that in this conservabot's eyes, of course;

We were also told that Republics always have to clean up Democratic messes when they get into office, which is why the economy is typically worse during Republic presidencies as opposed to Democratic ones;

And finally, we were told in no uncertain terms that it has only been during the latest Republic junta's reign that we have been able to start cleaning up the corporate malfeasance that blossomed during the Clinton years. We tried to tell this individual that the only ones we saw getting sentenced were Tommy Chong and Martha Stewart, and that Ken Lay and the rest of Pinhead's pals seemed to be getting no attention at all. This point was studiously ignored during the rest of the discussion, which ended shortly thereafter with us saying I think it's best we agree to disagree, and leave it at that. Which of course couldn't be done by the other side of the debate (such as it was) - he had to get a couple of parting shots in just for good measure.

That's what we're up against, gang - we try to play by the rules, we are willing to admit that we might share in the responsibility for things going to hell in a handbasket, and we are willing to compromise for the good of all. And they are more than happy to exploit all of those positions, they are never willing to concede that anything might be their responsibility, rules are for suckers, and compromise is okay as long as we are the only ones doing it. We wish that there was some way for us to be able to live by our standards and still be able to come to an understanding which is of mutual benefit to all. But we just can't see it. And we're tired of (what we consider to be) running away and letting them do as they please - because all we see is that they are expecting that sort of behavior in anticipation of exploiting it to suit their needs. We don't want to have to stoop to their level - but we can't see any other way of contesting their exploitation of the situation. So we're open to suggestions, because we won't be letting them exploit us any more - and we don't want to resort to (for us) unethical tactics in order to get through our everyday life. We'd love to find a place where there is a level playing field, Republics are held to the same standards that they impose on everyone else, and those who don't play by the rules are held accountable for their actions regardless of their wealth, power, or connections. Any ideas?

Posted by (: Tom :) at February 20, 2005 12:12 PM