I'm getting old.
And the subject of having children has been coming up more and more for the past couple of years.
At first, I hated the idea of having kids. I felt they were an expensive burden that sucked the life out of you only to turn around 15 or 16 years later and tell you what a bad parent you'd been and how much they hated you. I vowed to never have kids and dreamed of having a life with minimal obligation- a life where I could do whatever I wanted.
But then, in my mid twenties, something changed, and suddenly the idea wasn't so far fetched. The responsibility and hassle didn't seem so terrifying either. I guess this kind of mentality shift is a biological trick played on young women to get them to reproduce. It worked, I'm much more open to the idea.
But now, I find myself struggling with the idea of becoming a parent.
On one hand, I think I would really enjoy having a child or two. I mean, you never know, they could invent some incredible machine or discover the cure for a disease that plagues our world. Plus, having a child would be kind of like a mini experiment, a front row view of human development, a way of remembering my own childhood and recreating that same sense of happiness and security.
But then there's this other side of things. The state of the world scares me. It seems everything has taken a turn for the worse. We're stuck in a "war," we've lost our jobs and our money, crime seems to be getting increasingly heinous, people have lost their minds and have become slaves to gadgets, and the media, and the entertainment industry...It seems things are getting worse and I don't see an improvement happening any time soon. Yes, I know that previous generations have lived through all kinds of catastrophe and strife and they have still managed to have kids and be happy- I owe my life to these past generations- but I wonder if having a child at this point in time would be a responsible choice. The world is over crowded enough as it is and in the coming years, everyone will be struggling to have access to basic needs like food and water. Plus, everything is poisoned with chemicals, infectious diseases are many times worse now, and it seems kids are kidnapped and murdered at an alarming rate. It just seems like having a child now would be like having a child and placing him in a cesspool to live out his life. Do people think about this? Is it just me?
Animals, or I should say, other animals scope out several places before they lay their eggs or give birth. They do the footwork (finwork, wingwork, etc) to make sure their babies have the best possible chance of survival...so I wonder, why don't humans don't do the same thing? I mean, sure, most people go out and buy a crib and a stroller, and they stock up on baby supplies and clothing, but what about the bigger picture? I guess if people had to wait for society and the economy to improve, nobody would ever have children again. I don't know. I just don't know if I have found the right place (or time) to bury my little eggs...the world seems too dangerous.
Back to square one on this one.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Why so many haters?
So I just read a story about a celebrity who recently posed for a PETA billboard against circuses. The story is that Olivia Munn (host of 'Attack of the Show' on G4) may have worn leather boots to the billboard unveiling event. This of course would mean that the whole event was a sham....or that's the implication anyway. Nobody knows if the boots are real or faux leather, and Munn herself has said that they are not real, but of course everyone reading the article has determined that they are real and that PETA is a hypocritical organization....yet another negative portrayal of PETA and the animal rights movement as a whole.
[Begin Rant]
And of course the comments on stories like these are full of anti-PETA sentiment, anti-animal rights sentiment, anti-vegetarian sentiment, and they're full of half truths and false rationalizations; the inevitable "Do you know PETA kills animals?" statement always shows up. Grrrr.
This pisses me off.
Not so much because people hate PETA, but because people use PETA to rail against the animal rights movement as a whole. And those who can't see through the bullshit eat it all up. They believe everything they read even when the claims are simply a matter of opinion. People believe it because they want to believe it. They have an orgasm when the 'PETA kills animals' claim comes up because yes, this claim is true, just not in the way these people would have you believe. PETA does euthanize animals, as do many shelters around the country, but this is a direct consequence of a human created problem, and that's where the outrage should be directed.
No one, it seems, is ever outraged at the fact that as human beings we have created the cruel and terrible problem of animal abandonment and animal overpopulation by throwing our pets out into the street when they outgrow their cuteness, or when we just don't give a damn about them anymore. No one is outraged that as human beings we have let this problem go on and on to the point where there isn't enough room for all of these discarded animals. Yes, these poor creatures are put down, humanely. They are not put down for profit or entertainment, or for any other ridiculous reason, they are put down because there is no where else to put them. Despite the work of animal welfare organizations to save these animals, every year there are more than the last. Animal welfare organizations like PETA have been trying hard to educate the public about spaying and neutering, but people just don't get it. So when these animals have to be put down to make room for the next wave, all of a sudden people wake up and say, 'Hey! Why are you killing animals? Hypocrite!'
They are the real hypocrites.
And this is not the only distortion or straight out lie about PETA or any other animal welfare group for that matter- there are many- but those are the comments that turn the uninformed against animal welfare organizations and those are the comments that perpetuate hatred against the animal rights movement.
It's all smoke and mirrors. The real issue is that people see animal welfare groups as a threat to their way of life; they want to eat that steak, they want to wear that fur coat, they want to go to the circus, and they want to hunt and fish, and of course PETA (and many other organizations like it) is working hard to get rid of all these destructive behaviors. So they criticize the organizations and the celebrities that endorse them, and they mock animal rights, and they mock vegeterianism, and they rationalize the abuse of animals....
And it pisses me off every time.
[End Rant]
[Begin Rant]
And of course the comments on stories like these are full of anti-PETA sentiment, anti-animal rights sentiment, anti-vegetarian sentiment, and they're full of half truths and false rationalizations; the inevitable "Do you know PETA kills animals?" statement always shows up. Grrrr.
This pisses me off.
Not so much because people hate PETA, but because people use PETA to rail against the animal rights movement as a whole. And those who can't see through the bullshit eat it all up. They believe everything they read even when the claims are simply a matter of opinion. People believe it because they want to believe it. They have an orgasm when the 'PETA kills animals' claim comes up because yes, this claim is true, just not in the way these people would have you believe. PETA does euthanize animals, as do many shelters around the country, but this is a direct consequence of a human created problem, and that's where the outrage should be directed.
No one, it seems, is ever outraged at the fact that as human beings we have created the cruel and terrible problem of animal abandonment and animal overpopulation by throwing our pets out into the street when they outgrow their cuteness, or when we just don't give a damn about them anymore. No one is outraged that as human beings we have let this problem go on and on to the point where there isn't enough room for all of these discarded animals. Yes, these poor creatures are put down, humanely. They are not put down for profit or entertainment, or for any other ridiculous reason, they are put down because there is no where else to put them. Despite the work of animal welfare organizations to save these animals, every year there are more than the last. Animal welfare organizations like PETA have been trying hard to educate the public about spaying and neutering, but people just don't get it. So when these animals have to be put down to make room for the next wave, all of a sudden people wake up and say, 'Hey! Why are you killing animals? Hypocrite!'
They are the real hypocrites.
And this is not the only distortion or straight out lie about PETA or any other animal welfare group for that matter- there are many- but those are the comments that turn the uninformed against animal welfare organizations and those are the comments that perpetuate hatred against the animal rights movement.
It's all smoke and mirrors. The real issue is that people see animal welfare groups as a threat to their way of life; they want to eat that steak, they want to wear that fur coat, they want to go to the circus, and they want to hunt and fish, and of course PETA (and many other organizations like it) is working hard to get rid of all these destructive behaviors. So they criticize the organizations and the celebrities that endorse them, and they mock animal rights, and they mock vegeterianism, and they rationalize the abuse of animals....
And it pisses me off every time.
[End Rant]
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Choking on a pox...
I don't know why it's so hard for me to maintain this blog. It's not like I have a life. And I always seem to get the urge to wanna add content when I have a cold, which is weird.
I am, in fact, choking on some kind of pox, and here I am.
I wish I could be one of those people who think quick and snap photos of everything they see and do, someone who is apparently interesting- but I never think to do that....whine, whine, whine....I'm delirious.
By the way, I created a new design in honor of Eyjafjallajökull, the Iceland volcano that spewed a gigantic ash cloud that took on a life of it's own...last I heard, a baby ash cloud had broken off and was heading to the UK. It's crazy because this volcano hadn't erupted since 1823 or something and the ash cloud paralyzed the European airline industry for a week! The world is obviously going to hell in a hand basket.
I am, in fact, choking on some kind of pox, and here I am.
I wish I could be one of those people who think quick and snap photos of everything they see and do, someone who is apparently interesting- but I never think to do that....whine, whine, whine....I'm delirious.
By the way, I created a new design in honor of Eyjafjallajökull, the Iceland volcano that spewed a gigantic ash cloud that took on a life of it's own...last I heard, a baby ash cloud had broken off and was heading to the UK. It's crazy because this volcano hadn't erupted since 1823 or something and the ash cloud paralyzed the European airline industry for a week! The world is obviously going to hell in a hand basket.
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