Baitball Blogger
Baitball Blogger's JournalWhat I find disrespectful to soldiers is that the military is using their
sacrifice to elevate the military's authority in this country. Our military is becoming a never-ending challenge to a country that believes in equality and free speech. We have to face off, not just against the military propaganda, but the officers who go through the program believing they're gods.
I know it was 2009 when this practice began in the football fields, but that autocratic belief has a strong racist pattern, in my opinion. If you think about it, the draft during the Vietnam War forced two demographics together. You had young black soldiers who were inducted as privates and you had a higher preponderance of white officers, many who would never have to reevaluate the racist beliefs of superiority that they learned from their red origins. How many of those white officers ever saw minorities as anything but subordinates? Their entire career was reinforced by the visual reminder that their officer's clubs had few minorities eating dinner on the next table over. And when minorities started to show up in force, they only had to deal with them on a one on one basis.
And these are the people who retire into our red Florida communities and people think they're going to make good community leaders? No wonder our red counties are still stuck in the 50s.
Racism and its enduring perceptions. (mini-rant)
It's bad enough when you have to deal with one person's irrational perceptions, especially when they're in a position to throw obstacles in your way. At least, in the work force, we have the opportunity to equalize or minimize the damage because we have a process we can use to counter the nuttery.
But, what do you do when you have leaders in the community who are so guilty from their own crooked deliberations that every day they have to struggle with their own guilty consciences? Unfortunately, every time they give into their irrational fears, this just creates another obstacle for many of us. What we need is an authority who can step in and show them the man in the mirror.
Gardeners are the most optimistic people in the world.
I have my storm supplies ready and I need to wait for hubby so we can both start to batten down the hatches, so I decided to use my time by visiting the hardware store to pick up garden supplies for the next garden project. There is reason behind my madness. I was in this house after Charlie in 2004 and we didn't have electricity for two days. It helped to keep my mind off my discomfort by gardening. Don't ask me why, but as long as I keep moving, the heat doesn't bother me. My son and his friend had cleaned up all the hurricane debris, so I proceeded to remove ferns from a small landscaped area on my property in order to plant daylilies. It would have been very therapeutic if not for the neighbor's grandkid who was propped on the wall across the street, obviously keeping an eye on my activities. It was pretty obvious that he was following orders to protect the next-door neighbor's vacant yard, who was a crony. Certainly someone they could depend on for quid pro quos over the years. (Really, such bullshit has to be experienced in order to appreciate what's really happening in these red suburban communities.)
Anyway, I went down to the hardware store today and couldn't stop beaming when I found like-minded souls filling their carts with mulch bags, soil and plants. I think it's important to remember that one should be prepared for the worst, but the waiting is hell and, sometimes, you just have to do something normal to help yourself stay centered.
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Gender: Do not displayCurrent location: Seminole County, Florida
Member since: Sun Mar 18, 2012, 10:16 PM
Number of posts: 46,703
