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Death to Memes and A Meme (Quick and Dirty Politcal Survey)
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saeva pointed me to a meme over at fernwithy's journal. It's called the Where I Stand meme and focuses on what are commonly positioned as the Big Questions in current social and political debate (really American electoral issues) - pay attention to what questions aren't asked; meme-maker your bias is showing! It's presence in fandom is particularly interesting, considering the lengths most fen go to, to appear to be apolitical. One of things I dislike about memes is the way it encourages one to read random quiz answers, which would likely vary, depending on the day the meme is filled out, as intimate knowledge. It reduces lj communication to a series of interactive first dates, one inane paragraph of uncontextualized miscellany after another, and trivializes the experience of the journalist and the reader. It's like gumball machine journaling.
This meme in particular seems like an easy out. So you feel uncomfortable writing about political issues. No prob. This meme lets you speak out on a number of issues, all in one post! One stop shopping.
There's also safety in memes. On the whole, memes seem far less likely to cause flamewars because their very randomness makes it difficult to actually take them seriously, and in a sense, it's acceptable to be opinionated when asked, and the circulation of a meme is like a question we're all being invited to answer.
That said, here are my answers to the Where I Stand meme:
Abortion
I could really trivialize this issue. In fact, let's go with that. Abortion? Been there, done that, had the six-month vaginal infection as a side order. Women have a fundamental right to control their bodies and the existence of a placenta or fetus changes this not at all. If a woman deems the continued existence of an unborn child detrimental to her health or well-being, whether financial, emotional or social, she has the absolute right to terminate the pregnancy. While life certainly begins at conception, one does not have civil rights until one leaves the womb. Ultimately, placental/fetal rights are unenforcible and patently ridiculous. History suggests that a women determined to have an abortion, will have one, even if she has to kill herself in the process.
Death Penalty
From a purely financial standpoint, the death penalty is super. Love that cost effectiveness! However, the woefully fallible (woe!) justice system has convicted far too many innocent people for me to ever feel comfortable with the death penalty. I'm also uneasy with the notion that the state has the right to kill its recalcitrant citizens. Dangerous precedent, and all that. Remember, states have killed people for stealing, sodomy and heresy. What will they kill us for next?
Prostitution
Manage, don't criminalize. It's my motto. The criminalization of prostitution has not lead its end, rather it has ghettoized sex workers in an underground industry which rewards barbarity and unsafe working conditions. The profession carries a stigma which I feel is unwarranted: the exchange of sex for money is unnecessarily conflated with sex for comfort, or sex for pleasure. The prostitute owns her own business and isn't in it for the bjs. Prostitution in of itself is not exploitative.
One might argue that the patriarchy (blah blah) forces women into a position where they exist to fulfill men's desires, but that leads to such crazy arguments as: a) the exchange is necessarily unequal and exploitative; b) women have no sexual agency of any kind. Your average skilled labourer, using his hands to serve another, is not considered so universally to be exploited, as the prostitute.
It is by stigmatizing sex workers, that we rob ourselves of our sexual agency. Sex isn't something to be traded! It is sacred. Women who trade in sex are therefore profane. Women who use sex are therefore profane. Women who benefit from sex are therefore profane. Hell, women who like sex? Yeah.
Alcohol
My father is a borderline alcoholic and as much as it pains me to see him drink, I really have no right to stop him. He doesn't hit people when he's drunk and he's never pissed away our savings on rum. He doesn't drive drunk, or throw things, though from time to time, he can be a real ass. It should be noted, however, that he can be a real ass while sober. Until he hurts someone else, he has every right to continue hurting himself.
Now, being Canadian, his health care will be provided mostly by the state, so one could argue that the damage he does to his liver will cost his fellow citizens money. However, its more than slightly difficult to argue that we should level a penalty for a potential tax usage. Shall we tax extreme sports against the likelihood of injury? And really, causing your fellow citizens financial difficulty is one of life's great joys.
I would like to see more people, including my father, moderate their alcohol consumption.
Marijuana
See prostitution and alcohol. We could make money off the taxes!
Other drugs
See marijuana, with the caveat that most opiates, hallucinogenics, barbituates and the like should continue to be controlled for medical reasons. While one should have the right to get off one's face, the likelihood of death from misadventure is so high with some drugs, that misuse is a serious concern. It's like giving people a grenade with a loose pin. *wince*
Gay marriage
I'm anti-marriage for a number of reasons but pro-gay marriage for one. A lack of access to state services or rights is discrimination. Discrimination is bad. Bad! Heteronormative, sexist, racist, state-sponsored, soul-sucking traditions for all.
Illegal immigrants
I'm not sure exactly the kind of response the meme-maker is looking for here. Or no, I suspect s/he wants to know if I think illegal immigrants should be shot while trying to climb the wall (or not), or have their fingers chopped off for taking jobs from the REAL CITIZENS (or not). The problem is, I tend to see immigration as primarily an economic and security. Immigration policy is often found in the middle of a fight between these two interests.
This is one of those needs of state vs. needs of the individual things, where you have to decide if you'd rather limit the movement of people, or limit the ability of the state to secure its people and assets. My biggest concern here is identity theft, which, logically enough doesn't tend to be a concern with legitimate immigrants.
Penalties for breaking the law should generally be strict but flexible: deport the lazy mofos who can just apply for citizenship regardless and look into why others were denied refugee status, allowing them to remain in the interim.
I would prefer that Canada allow more immigration, reduce recruitment of educated people, increase funding for ESL classes and crack down on identity theft. And while they're at it, I'd like a cabbage and weed salad with raspberry vinaigrette. Ta.
Drunk driving
A very bad, very stupid thing that we will never get rid off. Like pop music. Drunk driving comes down to thoughtlessness, which isn't the most terrible crime one can commit, but thoughtlessness in combination with, or due to alcohol can be a dangerous thing. The punishment should be far more severe than it is.
Cloning
A very exciting development that we need sink more money into. The medical potential for such research is... extensive. Not nearly so scary as some believe it to be. There's no evidence that we can clone people in the sf/fantasy sense of the term: your double won't be hatching from a pod, to take over your life any time soon. There is evidence to suggest that we will someday be able to grow new limbs and organs which is not at all a bad thing.
Racism
This is a no-brainer if ever there was one. I'm going to take a stand and say that racism is bad. The problem of course, is that it's very easy to be a racist and much harder not be. We've all heard this story before, labeling gone wildly out of control and becoming stereotypes and then, shockgasphorror, becoming prejudice. So blah blah multiculturalism and all that jazz. I'll get back to you with about sixty thousand more words on the subject, which will barely scratch the surface of the problem.
Premarital sex
A non issue.
Religion
Generally a good thing in terms of its ability to organize groups and one's perceptions but far too easily abused. Religion is fundamental to human beings, as in a sense, we are what we believe. I tend not to make value judgments on religion, as your beliefs are your business and not mine.
The war in Iraq
Seems to have been motivated by the desire to prove that Americans were willing to stand up for democracy, weren't afraid of getting their hands dirty, and were still capable of exercising a fuck of a lot of hard power, when people don't play nice. From the get go, it's been a sloppily planned exercise is showmanship, power and money grabbing and cowardice. They needed clearer, more honest objectives, more troops in there from the beginning and a lot more ruthlessness.
The problem now, is that the administration needs something resembling a positive resolution (cause, you know they already have 'victory') and they aren't willing to do what's necessary to achieve that. They absolutely cannot pull out. Cannot. Somalia and Rwanda have painted the country a paper tiger - an easy mark - and pulling out of Iraq would only make that worse.
Also, the country is so unstable that such an upset to power balance would be disastrous. The administration needs to stay true to its words and stay in there for the long haul. The Iraqi people will likely never thank them for it, but it's their duty to help the country back onto its feet.
Hussein was dangerous in terms of regional stability, though I'm not sure that a war was the best way to deal with that issue. Iraq was never going to be a threat to American national security and I was always surprised at how seriously such a ludicrous suggestions was taken. It's certainly possible that they maintained stockpiles of WMD and tore them up before the troops rolled in, however that's a particularly terrible case for war between two such different countries.
Bush
Not an evil man, or a particularly bright one. He is however, passionate and full of conviction, if not as temperate as one might hope. I dislike his arrogance, his near-sightedness and his manner of speech. He looks a bit like a monkey.
Downloading music
Theft is theft and I am a thief. Downloading music is wrong. No matter how much you might wish you lived in the dark ages and were semi-annually entertaining by wandering, black-toothed bards who played common ballads, music is now a product and you have to right to access it without the owner's permission, which can include sale (sheet music, recorded music) or performance. While cds are often disgustingly overpriced, your inability to pay for them does not give you the right to have them for free. *downloads some Elvis Costello*
The legal drinking age
Er... should be same as voting age. One should come into one's rights all at once in a veritable smorgasbord of freedoms. If only because graduated adulthood aids in pathetically arrested development and we all need to grow up faster and more completely.
Porn
A good thing. Porn, much like prostitution, gives us a potentially healthy sexual outlet which is often abused, but nonetheless should not be eliminated (as if we could!). Porn, as long as it does not substitute for real human contact to the point that one dehumanizes sex partners, bodies and one's self, is great. Porn does not break up relationships. People break up relationships. Moderation and self-awareness is key. It can be dangerous to be complacent (personally) about the content of, and one's reactions to porn.
Suicide
Your choice, not mine. Just don't jump on me, kay?
no subject
Premarital sex
A non issue.
Exactement.
no subject
*chokes*
Where have you been hanging out?
My flist is a veritable hotbed of political ranting - mostly liberal but with one or two conservatives/libertarians thrown in for a soupcon of dissent.
I, of course, attempt to be stunningly apolitical in my LJ, but that's because so few people actually have a working sarcasm detector.
no subject