The Rant - By Captain B
August's topic: Free thinking individualism

As anyone who knows me well enough can attest to, I'm not exactly your
standard-fare "conventional" type thinker. In fact, I pride myself on trying to
think more unconventional than others. Thinking conventionally is just another
form of conforming to mainstream society's idea of what's considered to be
"normal", or "politically correct", or simply "the right way", or whatever. And,
that's the last thing I want to do. Only by thinking more unconventionally can
one hope to free oneself from the mindless masses "sheep" type mentality. It
doesn't truly take a bit of courage, or dedication to a cause to be a follower,
but it does take those things to be a good leader. And remember, It's not an
absolute requirement to go along with every last thing you're told you should
back by faceless big government, big corporations, or anyone else in positions
of power. Now, the big problem with being a free-thinking non-conformist is that
you tend to get labeled unpleasant things. Insubordinate, unpatriotic, and
trouble maker are but a few of many things you can get labeled as. Both by the
"sheep", and by the powers that be. But, let's face it, nobody ever said
thinking unconventionally or being a free-thinking non-conforming individualist
would be easy. After all, such thinking seems to have a tendency to make those
in charge feel a bit uneasy. But, the truth of the matter is that such lables
are conjured up to try to justify their cruel, unfair persecutions of such
people. It's nothing particulalry new either, unfortunately. In fact, It's
eerily reminiscent of the treatment that the "hippies" got in the late 1960's
when they refused to back the Vietnam war. What this tells me is that our
government sees the masses as nothing more than a tool. Whether it be as a tool
to fund wars as lowly Joe Taxpayer, or as the one to enforce their will fighting
in a war directly, as G.I. Shmoe. And, also in peace time, the desires of the
wealthy and powerful still seem to take precedence over the needs of the poor.
And recently, Attorney General John Ashcroft defended the Patriot Act. To make a
long story short, he made it sound necessary and good. But, the question
remains, if It's such a good piece of legislation like they claim, then why has
it become necessary to defend it? (As if I didn't know). The truth of the matter
is that It's neither necessary, nor good, to invade the privacy of American
citizens supposedly for the sake of fighting terrorism. For those with roughly
half a brain, this false pretense shouldn't be exceptionally hard to figure out.
For others, they'll wrap themselves in the flag, and all the patriotic rhetoric
nonsense, and point the finger of blame at me, and those like me, who happen to
speak up a bit too much for their liking. And, they'll say stupid crap like,
"Move to Iraq". Well, since the right to free speech is an American right, and
since they don't seem to be interested in everyone having equal right to free
speech, perhaps they should consider packing up and moving to somewhere else.
You see, some of us would rather try to fix what's wrong rather than simply go
on believing that all is copasetic, like they want us to believe. By the way,
flying yellow ribbons and hanging signs in your window saying "We support our
troops" is all well and good, but a far more practical way to show you support
the troops is to protest for the government to send them back home here, where
they'll be safe with friends and family, rather than keep them over there in
harm's way where they risk getting hurt or killed. And, if you must send troops
to this, or any other war, how about at least sending some of those mega
gung-ho, macho man's man, "love it, or leave it" types? After all, they're the
ones that seem to be all for this war, and for keeping the troops in harm's way.
So, It's only right that these morons be made to participate in the war
mongering they seem to love so much. While we're at it, why not send some of the
arrogant, overbearing, 3 piece suit wearing, wealthy old farts we call
"politicians", seeing as how they're also for endless war mongering. (Which of
course, is particularly the case since they have no need to worry about being in
harm's way, since they're not over there). In closing, I just simply don't like
these dark times we live in, or the Jerry Springer show audience type mentality
we now have in America. And, I also don't like how politicians have been
contributing to all the problems and paranoia, while telling people to go on
with their lives, and to not live in fear. It's just more of the double-talking,
dual standards, and hypocrisy politicians are infamous for. If only we could
return to better days in America. I sure wish it were so.