Facebook Find: Couldn't Resist

 

So this should be funny to only a very small collection of my readers who are familiar with Victoria, but I saw it, died laughing, and couldn't resist re-posting it.  I found it on Facebook, and Facebook seemed to have gotten it from an anonymous donor.  Anyway, it is hilariously accurate.  In case you're wondering I lived in the pink section labeled Old People who couldn't afford Oak Bay, and rented from old people who in fact live in Oak Bay.  My lovely landlords happen to be 91 and 80-something (respectively) and live on the divide between Old Money and The Old, Sick and Dying.  How appropriate.  I think my favourite part is the labeling of Esquimalt as Poverty Island, because when isn't economic inequality funny?  Also, for those of you who don't know, there is indeed an "Apocalypse Man".  His favourite topics include Satan's impending world-takeover and how HAARP is really a scheme to brainwash the world.  If provoked he will start quoting Scripture.  Consider yourself warned.

Facebook Find: Sometimes Democracy Sucks

The majority of you will be aware that Canada recently had yet another election after a vote of non-confidence toppled the Conservative party that headed a minority government.  While it seems excessive to have had so many elections in the last few years I was fairly excited to get rid of the Conservatives.  I find their politics morally reprehensible, which is ironic given they like to parade themselves as morally upright.  A short list of the Conservative Party's MAJOR shortcomings includes:

- They aim to make it more difficult for women to gain access to abortions
- They have a history of removing services intended to help the Indigenous community and have a pathetic attitude when it comes to issues such as the Highway of Tears
- They aim to reverse the legalization of gay marriage in Canada
- They want to give more tax breaks to major corporations and to wealthier families while systematically offering fewer social services, increasing privatization of healthcare and minimizing retirement aid.
- They want to align us more closely with the United States' economy (which seems ridiculous seeing as it just tanked HARD)
- They want to sustain an overseas war that no one wants
- They want to spend more money on the military and expanding the prison system (crime rates have been falling for years) instead of important things like our struggling educational system
- They have no plan and no interest in making plans to deal with environmental concerns.  In fact, they seem to take the stance that the environment is just fine and that all this concern is over nothing

And like I said, this was the short list.  At this point I didn't even much care which party replaced the Conservatives, I just wanted Stephen Harper out.  In the days leading up to the election I was so excited to see people my own age showing an interest for once, and really believed we might be capable of change.  So I went out, I voted, and then I waited for the results.

The Conservatives now have a majority government.  I can't believe it.  REALLY Canada?!  On the bright side, it was a historical election in that the New Democratic Party is for the first time the official Opposition, and we have elected our first Green Party Member of Parliament.  These can be fairly called great leaps forward, and in this sense I'm proud of my countrymen.  But I am not proud that I'm going to have to deal with Stephen Harper's bullshit for the next four years.  It makes me so happy I'm headed to Germany, and hell, maybe I'll just try and stay there.

While I would never deny it is a huge privilege to have been born in a country where I have the right to vote and am able to exercise that right, I find our political system hugely frustrating.  In a first-past-the-post system the majority of the country can have voted for the losers (like in this case, when 60% of the country voted for NDP, Liberal, Green, or Other) but regardless the party with the most votes wins (the Conservatives with 40% of the country).  In this sense I envy the United States.  Their political system may have some serious flaws but at least they can have a party that the majority of the country is actually behind.

You may be wondering why this was filed as a Facebook Find - it's because that picture was posted on my newsfeed and it seemed to perfectly encapsulate the situation.

Canada.... today you disappointed me.

Not-Quite-Facebook Find:

While reading College Fashion this evening I came across two particularly awesome links.  The first is to a video that is SO CUTE that it is the first time a video has made me cry out of sheer adorableness:



The second is to a post that addresses the social challenges faced by women who don't want children.  Keep in mind that the large pictures that break up the text don't actually signify the end of the article - just scroll past them.

http://galadarling.com/article/i-dont-want-children-am-i-a-freak-why-wont-everyone-leave-me-alone

This one struck a particular chord with me as I never intend to have children and have been faced with the "I know better" reaction on more than one occasion.  While I'm not sure I could be quite as understanding toward those who mock my choice, I think that she does an excellent job of explaining our position and the some of the reasons why women might choose not to have kids.  However, her focus seemed to be on personal incompatibility, and I thought that there was another significant factor that needed to be mentioned.

I will admit that the primary reason I don't plan on having children is because it entails a life I don't want for myself and am convinced would make me unhappy.  Having had plenty of time to think about it though, there are a few other significant reasons that deter me from procreating and are worth considering no matter who you are:

For starters, it is no secret that we are burning through resources at an unsustainable rate.  We are already facing a crisis over oil that - depending on your political stance - has been causing terribly destructive wars (is there any other kind?) for several decades now.  While this is bad enough, I cringe to think of what the world will be like later down the line when it is fresh water - another dwindling resource - that is being fought over.  My understanding of humanity's behavior is that we are going to continue doing what we have done since the dawn of our existence: fight pointless fights over territory, resources, religion, power, and race.  Why would I ever want someone I loved so much to be a part of that world?  I barely want to be a part of it myself!  You may call it cynical, I call it rational.

To continue, we currently live in an overpopulated world.  This is a particularly difficult issue to confront due to the huge bias against contraception that is a major part of many religions.  Add to that the inaccessibility of contraceptives and sex-education in many parts of the world (whether it's due to impoverishment or due to religious lobbyists in parts of the USA) and it becomes more and more important to use our own awareness wisely.  If I know that families like the Duggars are doing their best to contribute to both overpopulation and to use up as many resources as humanly possible then it is all the more important that I have no children at all.

Finally, I am repelled by the idea of being conned by biology into doing something so against my beliefs.  I won't lie that I'm a little terrified that as I get older all of a sudden something will change and I'll get what I like to call "baby fever".  As far as I'm concerned this is an outdated scam of Mother Nature's to ensure the survival of our species.  It horrifies me that some renegade hormones may take over my brain and leave me with a decision that I would regret for the next twenty years.  Furthermore (and most inflammatory of all), to me there is something fundamentally narcissistic about having children.  The whole notion of "what would our kids look like?" and of continuing bloodlines are ideas that call to mind the quest for immortality in Homer's Iliad.  As truly rational beings I think there is something to be said for overcoming these more primal instincts and making decisions based upon who we are, not what we are.  To be clear, if that means that after all that you still want children, then by all means go for it!  There is certainly much to say for having kids (as I have been told enthusiastically by my parents): they can teach you so much about yourself and about life and there is such joy to be found in one's family.

I admit (almost) unflinchingly that five years down the road I may be singing an entirely different tune.  In that case I will most likely be cursing my pigheadedness at posting such an article on the internet where it will live indefinitely... but I wont ever deny that each of these points is seriously worth considering before making such a life-altering choice.  Personally I'm a huge advocate of adoption: what could be better than taking a child doomed to a life of impoverishment, abuse and/or neglect and offering it a loving home?  While adoption is for many people inaccessible due to its expense, I hope to see the day where it can be more attainable and widely used.  Anyway, I hope this has at least given you something to think about.

Facebook Find

I haven't had a good Facebook Find in a while, but today my lovely friend (who has an equally cool blog) sent me a link to this hilarity, and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to share it.  I just laughed and laughed, and hopefully you will too, because this thing is genius.  Enjoy!

Facebook Find: "Friday"

So I'm going to start labeling this stuff "Facebook Find", because there's a mounting collection of posts dedicated to things I find on facebook.  The latest item?  This video, by Rebecca Black.  Not only is the song hilariously nasal, but it's filled with lyric gems like "Yesterday was Thursday, Today it is Friday... tomorrow is Saturday, and Sunday comes afterwards," "Gotta get down to the bus stop, I see my friends, kicking in the front seat, sittin' in the back seat, gotta make my mind up - which seat can I take?"  This thing is making its way 'round the internet like herpes makes its way around the local Dominoes, so have a watch!  I think my favourite part is when they feature that poor old rapper who most likely is only there because of his mounting debt and repossessed property.  You can almost see the tears.

Knock knock, it's Real Life

A link to this Dr. Seuss parody appeared today on my facebook news feed, and I laughed my way through it partially because it's hilarious and partially because the alternative was to sob over how accurate it is.  It was extra special for me because upon graduating a friend of mine gave me Oh The Places You'll Go, and just the other day while reorganizing my parents' library (insert joke here) I stumbled across another copy addressed to my sister, which she most likely received on graduating from high school/university.  I sent her the link, and it probably made her cry, too.  Spread the joy, kids.