Political...

Recently I have been taking more notice of politicians and our American way of life. I say recently because honestly politics is boring to me. Yeah I vote. Yeah I care who is running the country etc, etc. But then again I care only so much as is normal for most, which isn't too much. Why should I care as long as it doesn't affect my life too greatly????

So the last two days I have been being bombarded over and over by political news on the radio travelling back and forth to work. Oh not Earth-shattering stuff, just regular everyday stuff, i.e. "the President this", and "Senator Blah Blah that", and scandal this and scandal that... It got me thinkin, why do we elect these idiots???

We (and this occurs world wide) elect morons who are more concerned about their own interests (i.e. how much money and power they can attain) that the interest of the people they "represent". I say "represent" but I should describe it as "taking care of" instead. What ever happened to leadership responsibilities??? I mean if you have a group of people that you are leader of, it is your JOB to take the best care of them that you can. Right now America (and to a lesser extent the world) is falling to shit because we have problems amongst the people. Shitty health care, crappy employment rates, fucked up inflation, and of course national debt. And our supposed leaders are sitting snug in the beds because they have been elected and have "job security" at least till their term ends. Then of course we re-elect them, no matter the shitty job they have done. Why???

You see the political process isn't something that our leaders do to help us, it is a great big game to them. We have programs coming through the system that can HELP us (the people) blocked because the opposite political party simply wants to hurt their rivals... WTF!?!?! How is that leadership???
They get paid (PAID mind you) to debate the ins and outs of how our country runs all the while NOT accomplishing anything. How do you work a job but are not productive and still keep your job??? I'll get to that in a minute. So we have these fat cats making LOADS more money than they should sitting around doing nothing but appearing busy to fool us. They are clever too you have to give them that. They even let us blame them for all of our problems just so they can sit and continue to do nothing. The President of the United States is basically a scapegoat. We blame him for the problems our local and federal representatives create. So we sit and bitch about "the government" or "the president" all the while they sit and do nothing and we PAY them for it.

So we blame them for all of our woes...

But in truth it isn't their fault at all. Hey if I had the ability to get paid for goofing off you better know I would do it. The truth is it is our fault, the people, and not for the reason you expect. Oh we elect these people because we believe their lies that they will take good care of us and shelter us from harm. We vote them in, but that isn't why it is our fault. It is our fault because these idiots are the only one's running for office. Greedy, and only concerned with money and power, but we elect them to some of the highest posts in the land. And it is all because we are too lazy to find good leaders and because we as a society place value on greed and self-interest. We assume that the rich are good leaders or else they wouldn't be rich. Or we assume someone who works hard at moving up the ladder of leadership is the best qualified because they work so hard. Sometimes the rich got that way from stabbing someone in the back to make their fortune. Just like sometimes fast climbing the ladder of leadership is only that person's way of grabbing power so that they can control the rest of us. Buyer beware.

So what do we do??? The system is too big for us to dismantle it. It is self-perpetuating. What do we do??? Well I for one think we should start encouraging (and funding) those people who will actually lead and take care of the people. To hell with the two party system, let us start voting for those who are best suited to DO THE JOB. Let us stop blaming our President for all the problems we have and start seeing where the real problems are. AND stop taking the word of "the government". It is a leader's job to lead and take care of his people, but it is OUR job to select a GOOD leader. If we elect the wrong guy, get him OUT of office and replace him with someone better. It is the only way I can see that we can have less problems and more solutions.

New Gods????

Recently I was asked who my patron God was. At first I was tempted to use my stand by answer of Cernunnos or any one of the Celtic Gods. But I decided to do some soul searching and take a look at things a bit more critically.

First I wanted to figure out which God I most identified with. Which God I would say that I most wanted to emulate in my life to make me a better person. Which God's story most appeals to me and touches me on a deeper level. I went down my list of Gods from around the world and I came up blank. Not one of them touched me, at least not in a way that I identified with. Not even the Celtic Gods with whom I do feel a close kinship. So I started feeling a bit lost. Just who was my patron God???

During all this I was having a discussion with a friend about one of our share interests in a scifi TV show. He said that he wasn't sure if he wanted to keep seeing the character written as "an unleashed god". At the time I wasn't sure what to make of it but the comment stayed with me for some reason. Later I had a moment of epiphany where a great many things clicked into place for me.

Now many of my friends who know me, know that I am a freak for all things Doctor WHO related. I love the show. Longest running Scifi TV show ever. Beats out Star Trek by about 3 years. I have been a fan of the show for over 28 years give or take a year. I am the biggest nerd in the room when it comes to this show, with trivia in my head that would make most fans cringe.

It was after my discussion with a fellow fan about the character of the Doctor that I realized just who my patron God was, it was the Doctor from the TV show Doctor WHO. I idolize this character. To a lesser extent I worship him. I do my best to emulate him and live up to his code of conduct. I see him as the Divine aspect I want to aspire to.

This really got my cogs turning. Here I am worshipping a made up character and aspiring to be like unto him. I wonder if there are others out there that have similar situations in their lives. After all surely this is probably how the Gods of ancient peoples came into being in a way. It got me thinking that maybe, just maybe, our culture isn't so much turning away from religion here in the modern world as some think, that maybe folks are just adopting new Gods to replace the old ones. When I mentioned my idea to a friend I was told that I really need to read Neil Gaiman's book "American Gods". After hearing a bit about the plot I plan to soon.

I personally don't think that it is so crazy of a notion that we create new Gods to worship. I think it is how we as humans cope with the craziness of life. Perhaps it does fly in the face of more traditional Pagan paths. But in the end one's relationship to Divinity is not something someone can share, it is a personal journey. Yes, The Doctor is my patron God. Maybe for someone else it might be Lt. Ripley from the Aliens franchise. Or even Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider franchise. Whatever you choose to find peace with let it be your journey.