From: spike66 (spike66@attbi.com)
Date: Wed Jun 12 2002 - 22:20:05 MDT
Olga Bourlin wrote:
> From: spike66 <mailto:spike66@attbi.com> > freedom is good, and
> proles are free, therefor
> it is good to be a prole.
>
> There's a guy named Dan Savage who writes a column (called "Savage
> Love") about sex. He is gay. He either encourages people to write
> "Hey, Faggot" - or that's just how his "Dear-Abby"-type sex advice
> column entry begins. He has the same philosophy - if he begins to
> "own" that phrase, then he expects a kind of anesthetizing effect will
> eventually "de-nerve" it of any negative connotations.
>
Interesting you should use that example. In school, anyone who
was in band was a band fag. There were a hundred ways one
could be a fag: being a diligent student, for instance, associating
with the ROTCs, joining the drama club, etc. Once one had the
label, one couldnt get to be more of a fag. So I figured, why
not just be a fag, and be free? So I joined band. Those of us
in the band used the terms band fags early and often.
> Perhaps. But in the meantime, schoolchildren are NOT
> using "faggot" as a term of endearment.
>
True. Schoolchildren display human nature in its rawest form.
Instinct determines most of what they do. They have not had time
to acquire polish. I dont see how we can effectively stop kids
from abusing each other. Its what kids do.
> Suicide is rampant among gay teens.
>
Why do you suppose that is? I have an idea that explains high
suicide rates in gay teens that is not directly connected with abuse
by peers.
Thought experiment: do you remember the very first time you
developed a desperate crush on another person? Of course you
do; you will remember that when you are a 90 year old Alzheimers
patient. You might have been about 15 or 16. The hormones were
slamming against you like waves against the seawall. You were
beside yourself, were you not? (Jaaaaaa.) You may have learned
the class schedule of the object of your desire, so you could
position yourself to watch her pass by. The sound of her voice
would send chills down your spine, her smile would make your
day. (Insert he or him, if appropriate to your sitch.)
Nowthen, at some time you may have gotten up the nerve to
tell her how you felt about her. (That relationship didn't work
out, did it? Those first ones never do.) If she was a decent
sort (good chance she was) she kindly and gently let you
down: "You are such a sweet person, I like you a lot, I really do.
But you are not *the one* for me, not the one and only. I am
so sorry, I dont want to hurt you..." etc.
How many of us had such an experience? Most, perhaps.
But what if, when you confessed your feelings, your heart's
desire reacted with alarm, outrage, disgust, revulsion, total
disdain, telling you she thought you were lower than dirt?
If life was this, then pass the sominex bottle and start eating.
I have to wonder if gay teens face this scenario.
> (What can I tell you? - I'm a dunce.)
>
So am I. Especially in the presence of the extropians.
Wear it proudly, do your best, study, get smarter.
> Aaaaaaah, romance just never dies, does it?
>
I hope not.
> We all know the gap between the haves and have nots has been widening
> in the last couple of decades.
>
You make that sound like a bad thing.
That gap makes things happen, Olga. If everyone has money,
then it doesn't *do* much. Example, Silicon Valley. Lot
of money, widely dispersed. What do we do with it? Bid up
the price of each other's houses to absurd levels.
When wealth is widely distributed it is just money.
But when it is concentrated, it becomes CAPITAL!
Things HAPPEN! People with vision get lots of it and
create jobs and wealth! Everyone wins, even the have-nots.
Of course, the haves win bigger, but the everyone wins.
Even the poor have hamburger and TV.
Calling it a gap makes it sound like there is no one
in it. You and I are in that wealth gap. We are neither
haves or have nots. Most everyone we know are
neither rich nor poor. The wealth gap is a very
smooth continuum.
> > Trailer trash often grows up to make some
> of the best capitalists.
>
>
>
> It's almost as if you're saying - the disadvantaged are often the
> advantaged.
>
The disadvantaged must *make* themselves the advantaged.
There are many opportunities in this world to pull oneself up
by ones bootstraps. My parents demonstrated to me how this
is done. You work your ass off, you end up ahead.
Then of course, their advantaged children may eventually revert
back to the disadvantaged, but thats their own fault.
Be what you are. And improve yourself every chance you
get. Perpetual progress, self transformation, practical
optimism: these are more than just words, they are a way
of life. We can all win. Lets do it. spike
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