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Jewish World Review Jan 6, 2012/ 11 Teves, 5772 New Thoughts for a New Year By Greg Crosby
Watching the New Year's Eve telecasts I came up with an idea for next year's New Year's broadcast. What if after the ball comes down and people begin kissing in the New Year, instead of playing "New York, New York," or "America the Beautiful'" the orchestra or band actually plays "Auld Lang Syne?" That certainly would be different than what's been done in the last few years. Don't get me wrong, I love those other songs very much, it's just that I don't associate an anthem to a city or a country with New Years. Playing "Auld Land Syne" would be infinitely more appropriate and definitely something new for today's generation of New Year's Eve revelers who don't realize that it's been a staple of New Years Eve for two or three hundred years. Okay, here's another new thought. In today's non-judgmental anything goes society people make up their own minds as far as what they would like their sexual orientation to be, right? In other words it doesn't matter whether you were born a male or a female, you can act and look anyway you "feel most comfortable" and you can assume any sexual identity you wish and society is expected to accept that. So here's my question: If it's fine and dandy to take on any sexual orientation that you like, why isn't it just as fine and dandy to take on any racial or ethnic orientation that you like? What if I wake up tomorrow and decide that I feel much more comfortable with a Samoan identity? Why shouldn't I be allowed to take on any identity that I feel most at home with and why shouldn't society at large have to accept my choice? After all, it's my choice if I want to call myself a Samoan or a Latvian or a Mayan or whatever I am so inclined to be, no matter what my "birth race" was. We can change our nationalities, we can change our religions, we can change our facial features, and we can change our gender and our sexual orientation. Why can't we change our race? What right does society have to tell me I must live my life as a white guy? If you think this sounds ridiculous, it is. But remember, most of us thought same sex marriage was ridiculous just ten or so years ago, now it is being legislated in state after state. Any abnormality can start to sound normal if it is constantly drummed into people for a long enough period of time. Here's something else to think about. Most of us eat at least three times a day; some of us even more…maybe a lot more. We know that what we put into our traps and swallow will affect how our bodies function. What we put into our bodies is extremely important for our health and wellbeing. So why do we trust the lowest paid, least educated workers on the planet to handle our food for us? Shouldn't we have well educated nutritionists, scientists, and medical professionals trained in proper cleanliness and food preparation handling our basic life fuel? Why is it the least educated among us who is in charge of growing, harvesting, cleaning (or not) and preparing what we consume into our bodies? This is nothing new, by the way, it has always been this way. The people standing on the lowest rung of society's ladder, the ones who undoubtedly know the least about nutrition and food safety are the ones who handle what it is we eat. Think about it. If you think about it too much you may never eat again. Or wind up just growing your own. And finally, since this is a presidential election year, how about this new thought: Let's get rid of that stupid old axiom that "it doesn't matter who you vote for or how you vote, as long as you get out there and vote." If there was ever a dumb idea, that one is it. Of course it matters who you vote for. Let's start a brand new axiom. Let's say if you don't know from nothing, then please, please do us all a favor, do NOT vote. Voters need to educate themselves on the issues and the candidates otherwise they have no business in the voting booth screwing things up for those of us who have done our homework. Got it? Have a nice year. :)
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© 2008, Greg Crosby |
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