What is family? Is it a matter of blood and genetics, or is it something more then that, perhaps something that not as definable as DNA ?
I think this would depend on how you define "family". The dictionary defines family as "A fundamental social group in society consisting of esp. of a man and woman and their offspring. A group of people sharing a common ancestry or all the members of a household under one roof."
I have some problems with that definition, first it's out of date. I believe that any couple, straight or gay can quite successfully be a family, whether or not the kids are biological or adopted. Just being a part of an ethnic group doesn't work either because I have had the pleasure of extreme prejudice based on my name and in the reverse because I didn't look quite right to bear that name. I have lived under a roof with people who I wouldn't claim as family if they were the only ones to have me! So the question "what is family" still remains.
I posted this question on Facebook to see what kind of thoughts that others might have and the answers were not surprising. Basically the belief is that a family consists of two people who are raising children that they love. There was one gentleman who suggested that this could only be achieved if one was a mom as in female and the other was a dad as in male. I disagree with this notion. First of all I personally know Gay couples that are raising children and are doing a wonderful job at it, far better then the raising that I had, and I know of single moms and dads who are doing the best that they can with what they have. Yes, they have problems as well, but show me a family that doesn't. I am not saying that straight people cant raise children properly, what I am saying though is that that is not the only viable option. Children need parents that are going to love them and nurture them, discipline them when needed and love on them continuously.
What did surprise me was the people that weren't mentioned. Grandparent's , Aunts , Uncles or even cousins. Then there are those who are not related at all yet they are loved as family.Those were actually some of the kinds of people that I was looking for in the answers, so I changed the question a bit and asked "who outside of your immediate spouse and children do you see as family?" The overall response to that was the idea that it was a group of people with shared experience, who love and nurture one another through good times and bad.
I remember, when I was real young, there was a man and wife who sort of adopted me and my brother and we called them Aunt Dawn and Uncle Frank. They were not actually related to us in any way but I didn't know or understand that when I was that young, but I do remember going to school with their real nieces and nephews and being teased about it and being informed that they were not my family. I was devastated by the news, but then aunt Dawn sat me down on her lap and explained to me that though I wasn't related to her she was my aunt because she loved me as her own. I have never forgot that. There was another woman who, particularly in my teenage years, took me under her wing and treated me as her own son and helped during some very tough times. None of these people were in anyway related to me , yet they were more then blood , they were family as it is meant to be.
I believe that family is something that goes way beyond blood and is more defined by common bonds due to any number of situations or simply based on our love for others. My brother and I are family by all the things that I have suggested and we share blood as well. My cousin who lives in Maine is also one who I consider to be family for the same reasons. That is about where my list of blood relatives, short of my children of course, comes to an end. Out side of blood relations though I have many whom I consider to be family. I have a friend in Oklahoma, whom I consider to be a brother because we went to war together and I can tell you that war will bond you in a way that few other experiences will. I have many friends in Vermont that we have known for so long, done so much with, that I consider them to be family and I love their kids like they were my own. I have friends here in New Hampshire that we picked up our friendship like we had never parted, just as natural as you could want, they are family to me.
So here is my own definition of what family is or can be; Family can be almost any combination of people in a home or in a community that have a common bond of friendship, beliefs and love. It is not necessary that you agree with each other all the time, nor does it need to fit into one particular mold, nor do you need to believe the same. What is needed is the common thread of love and nurturing one another. It is as simple as that. But then that just my Simple Minded thought.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Feeling like a W@#$%
Today I feel like a whore. Yes, I did say whore. I have often wondered what it was like to be used by others for their own gratification and satisfaction. Now I know.
I say this in light of what has gone on, and is currently going on, in the government. Under President Bush thousands of us were sent off to fight in two wars. Under Obama our benefits are being threatened. We were used by Bush to benefit some major corporations and government personnel, all under the lie that it was for national security ,and we were used to make sure that he was re-elected. Under Obama we are being used as pawns by both parties to try and secure the next election by threatening to cut or eliminate our pay and benefits all the while blaming it on the other party for not budging. Yup I'm nothing but a whore, to be used by the powers that be to get what they want, more power.
My wife is looking for a job to try and help ease things, but,as you know, the economy is bad and jobs are scarce. Round and round we go.
So while they give their staffs millions in bonuses and drink $350 bottles of wine, I get to wonder if in the next month I'll be able to put food on the table or keep a roof over my head. Not a very pleasant thought.
Worse yet is that I don't think that enough people really understand what is at stake here. If they default, it could cause an economic meltdown all across the board, at least for the middle and lower class, not to mention what it can do to the world economy. If they raise taxes and cut benefits it will be the middle and lower classes that pay for it ( any taxes that are taken from the rich will be passed on to us as price increases and with less help for the poor, disaster) yet if they increase the debt ceiling you are just putting off the inevitable.
So what do we do? I haven't a clue. I take that back, I do have some ideas, but none that any one would seriously consider,especially those that are in power, simply because it wouldn't benefit them, so there is little point in saying anything more.
So today I am feeling like a whore, used up, and anticipating the biggest STD of my life, courtesy of the very government that sent me to war and helped put me in this position. Maybe it won't happen. Maybe they will come to some reasonable conclusion, but I won't hold my breath.
I say this in light of what has gone on, and is currently going on, in the government. Under President Bush thousands of us were sent off to fight in two wars. Under Obama our benefits are being threatened. We were used by Bush to benefit some major corporations and government personnel, all under the lie that it was for national security ,and we were used to make sure that he was re-elected. Under Obama we are being used as pawns by both parties to try and secure the next election by threatening to cut or eliminate our pay and benefits all the while blaming it on the other party for not budging. Yup I'm nothing but a whore, to be used by the powers that be to get what they want, more power.
My wife is looking for a job to try and help ease things, but,as you know, the economy is bad and jobs are scarce. Round and round we go.
So while they give their staffs millions in bonuses and drink $350 bottles of wine, I get to wonder if in the next month I'll be able to put food on the table or keep a roof over my head. Not a very pleasant thought.
Worse yet is that I don't think that enough people really understand what is at stake here. If they default, it could cause an economic meltdown all across the board, at least for the middle and lower class, not to mention what it can do to the world economy. If they raise taxes and cut benefits it will be the middle and lower classes that pay for it ( any taxes that are taken from the rich will be passed on to us as price increases and with less help for the poor, disaster) yet if they increase the debt ceiling you are just putting off the inevitable.
So what do we do? I haven't a clue. I take that back, I do have some ideas, but none that any one would seriously consider,especially those that are in power, simply because it wouldn't benefit them, so there is little point in saying anything more.
So today I am feeling like a whore, used up, and anticipating the biggest STD of my life, courtesy of the very government that sent me to war and helped put me in this position. Maybe it won't happen. Maybe they will come to some reasonable conclusion, but I won't hold my breath.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The Constitution
Over the weekend I read a couple of articles suggesting that the Obama administration wanted to tighten gun controls via Executive order. Earlier this year I read where the supreme court had determined that you don't have a right to privacy and unreasonable search and seizure, that the police can enter your home without a warrant, go through all of your things and hold you indefinably, for no other reason then you might commit a crime. Combine all this with constitutional amendments violated by the Patriot act, which have been approved again, and you begin to see a picture of an imperial government that is only interested in endless war and squashing our liberties.
Now I know that some of you that are reading this believe that the government should regulate guns more or take them away all together.There are some who would say ,well if you have nothing to hide why should it matter that the police come into your house, or better yet, we haven't been attacked in the last 10 years or so, so the policies of the last two administrations are working.
If you are amongst those people let me ask you a question; do you read history? This song and dance has been done over and over again from the time of the Roman empire right up until now. You use fear of an outside entity that is going to do you great harm to get the people to give up their rights, with promises of protection, and then you slowly take their freedoms away. It's been done before and it is happening right now.
So I have a better idea. Why don't we just throw the whole constitution out. Why waste out time picking at all of the amendments, why don't we just get rid of them all and start over as some have suggested that we should?
I could give you a list of reasons why we should actually honor and follow the constitution, but why bother? Our government and president certainly don't follow it and it's been that way for the past decade or more, and most of the people in this country have never read it.So lets get rid of it. Worse yet are our students in high schools and colleges around this country are being taught that it is an obsolete document , written by a bunch of rich white guys, that it needs to change with the times.
Sad. These men that wrote it were not just students of history they lived it.These men were educated and they knew what they were doing when the wrote the constitution and signed the declaration of independence. All of them paid a heavy price for it, and now they are mocked or ridiculed.
So explain to me, if some of the more enlightened would,why you would want to give up your God given rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Governments historically have taken those things away from their people. Why would you want to give up your right to be secure in your person against illegal search and seizure? Why would you want to give up the right to free speech and expression,religion or the right to keep and bear arms,( one of Hitlers greatest moves was to disarm the populace) more importantly, just who are you going to trust to change it? Who would you want to be our moral compass in a time of mass government corruption? When their only real interest is their own pockets or the large corporations that control them.
What we have works quite well when we actually use it so why change it or allow it to be trampled on?
I'm not an educated man, but I have studied history and religion and I can tell you that what we are allowing to happen to our constitution and our nation will be our down fall if we don't put an end to the violations . Rather then abolish the constitution, we simply need to go back to actually using it.
Now I know that some of you that are reading this believe that the government should regulate guns more or take them away all together.There are some who would say ,well if you have nothing to hide why should it matter that the police come into your house, or better yet, we haven't been attacked in the last 10 years or so, so the policies of the last two administrations are working.
If you are amongst those people let me ask you a question; do you read history? This song and dance has been done over and over again from the time of the Roman empire right up until now. You use fear of an outside entity that is going to do you great harm to get the people to give up their rights, with promises of protection, and then you slowly take their freedoms away. It's been done before and it is happening right now.
So I have a better idea. Why don't we just throw the whole constitution out. Why waste out time picking at all of the amendments, why don't we just get rid of them all and start over as some have suggested that we should?
I could give you a list of reasons why we should actually honor and follow the constitution, but why bother? Our government and president certainly don't follow it and it's been that way for the past decade or more, and most of the people in this country have never read it.So lets get rid of it. Worse yet are our students in high schools and colleges around this country are being taught that it is an obsolete document , written by a bunch of rich white guys, that it needs to change with the times.
Sad. These men that wrote it were not just students of history they lived it.These men were educated and they knew what they were doing when the wrote the constitution and signed the declaration of independence. All of them paid a heavy price for it, and now they are mocked or ridiculed.
So explain to me, if some of the more enlightened would,why you would want to give up your God given rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Governments historically have taken those things away from their people. Why would you want to give up your right to be secure in your person against illegal search and seizure? Why would you want to give up the right to free speech and expression,religion or the right to keep and bear arms,( one of Hitlers greatest moves was to disarm the populace) more importantly, just who are you going to trust to change it? Who would you want to be our moral compass in a time of mass government corruption? When their only real interest is their own pockets or the large corporations that control them.
What we have works quite well when we actually use it so why change it or allow it to be trampled on?
I'm not an educated man, but I have studied history and religion and I can tell you that what we are allowing to happen to our constitution and our nation will be our down fall if we don't put an end to the violations . Rather then abolish the constitution, we simply need to go back to actually using it.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Welcome to Simple Minded
Welcome to Simple Minded. This is, quite literally ,going to be a blog featuring what I consider to be blunt, and to the point, simple minded solutions to complex issues.You may love it or hate it or think I am dumber then a rock, that choice is yours, but please feel free to comment or give your own simple thoughts on complex issues and maybe our simple minds can make a difference.
Today my simple solution is for the troubled economy. Once again we are told that while there is some sort of recovery going on ( not terribly sure as to where unless it's to banks ,politicians and wall street ) the unemployment rate has gone up to 9.2%. Meanwhile the powers that be are trying to figure out just how to fix this mess and make themselves look good at the same time, forgetting ,of course, that they are the ones to blame in the first place! So here goes my my "Simple Minded" idea's.
First end all our wars and close all our bases around the world and bring the troops home. Yes this would take some time and some effort but it would save us a huge amount of money and get us out of pointless wars.
Second cut congresses pay and benefits. I see no reason why they should be paid huge amounts of money in pay and benefits simply because they work in DC. Make them live on the same kind of income as the rest of us receive and the same kind of benefits. When their time is done their pay and benefits are done.
Third end all the redundancy and massive bureaucracy in both the Federal government and the state governments. There should be no reason for so many layers of bureaucrats all doing the same job and all getting paid to do that same job.
Fourth tighten up the rules as to just who qualifies for assistance. Just because someone is an addict shouldn't qualify them for benefits. I know disabled vets who served their country who have to do handstands practically to get any help and yet someone can go in as an "addict" and get assistance. Doesn't seem right to me. But what would be better would be that we as Americans go back to the idea of helping our neighbors then there wouldn't be such an issue.
Fifth, stop being dependent on other countries for resources that we have here in our country. We don't need foreign oil, we have it right here in our own country. Don't talk to me about endangering the environment, nature adapts despite the things that we do. More importantly if we loose our sovereignty to a nation such as China because we cant take care of ourselves, they will utterly destroy our environment. We have the technology to do this right, lets use it and put the OPEC thugs in their place. Did I mention natural gas and clean coal??
Sixth, get out of the way of the private sector and let them create the jobs that are needed. You want jobs? Stop all the regulations and in short order you will create a multitude of jobs. Just consider for a minute,what might happen if the government got out of the way and allowed us to drill for oil ( just as an example ) and build refineries right here in this country with out all the red tape. Yes make sure that said companies are using the right equipment and the best technology available, but quit regulating absolutely every aspect of it to the point of where it's no longer feasible to do it, and you would literally create thousands of jobs overnight and in less then 10 years we wouldn't be dependent on anyone else.
I know that these are just a small number of ideas and I also understand that most of them are politically incorrect on one side of the aisle or the other, but honestly I don't care. If we don't get this economy under control, and soon, we are all going to pay a very heavy price for it and that fact knows no political boundaries.
Today my simple solution is for the troubled economy. Once again we are told that while there is some sort of recovery going on ( not terribly sure as to where unless it's to banks ,politicians and wall street ) the unemployment rate has gone up to 9.2%. Meanwhile the powers that be are trying to figure out just how to fix this mess and make themselves look good at the same time, forgetting ,of course, that they are the ones to blame in the first place! So here goes my my "Simple Minded" idea's.
First end all our wars and close all our bases around the world and bring the troops home. Yes this would take some time and some effort but it would save us a huge amount of money and get us out of pointless wars.
Second cut congresses pay and benefits. I see no reason why they should be paid huge amounts of money in pay and benefits simply because they work in DC. Make them live on the same kind of income as the rest of us receive and the same kind of benefits. When their time is done their pay and benefits are done.
Third end all the redundancy and massive bureaucracy in both the Federal government and the state governments. There should be no reason for so many layers of bureaucrats all doing the same job and all getting paid to do that same job.
Fourth tighten up the rules as to just who qualifies for assistance. Just because someone is an addict shouldn't qualify them for benefits. I know disabled vets who served their country who have to do handstands practically to get any help and yet someone can go in as an "addict" and get assistance. Doesn't seem right to me. But what would be better would be that we as Americans go back to the idea of helping our neighbors then there wouldn't be such an issue.
Fifth, stop being dependent on other countries for resources that we have here in our country. We don't need foreign oil, we have it right here in our own country. Don't talk to me about endangering the environment, nature adapts despite the things that we do. More importantly if we loose our sovereignty to a nation such as China because we cant take care of ourselves, they will utterly destroy our environment. We have the technology to do this right, lets use it and put the OPEC thugs in their place. Did I mention natural gas and clean coal??
Sixth, get out of the way of the private sector and let them create the jobs that are needed. You want jobs? Stop all the regulations and in short order you will create a multitude of jobs. Just consider for a minute,what might happen if the government got out of the way and allowed us to drill for oil ( just as an example ) and build refineries right here in this country with out all the red tape. Yes make sure that said companies are using the right equipment and the best technology available, but quit regulating absolutely every aspect of it to the point of where it's no longer feasible to do it, and you would literally create thousands of jobs overnight and in less then 10 years we wouldn't be dependent on anyone else.
I know that these are just a small number of ideas and I also understand that most of them are politically incorrect on one side of the aisle or the other, but honestly I don't care. If we don't get this economy under control, and soon, we are all going to pay a very heavy price for it and that fact knows no political boundaries.
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