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04:21:2002 Entry: "Ann-archy"
Ann-archy
It's one of those days that I'm finding myself equally angered by stuff I'm listening to and reading on the right as well as on the left. Basically, each viewpoint angers and alienates me. I don't think I'm a lesser person because I'm not politically active. I don't think I'm a lesser person because I enjoy going to greenhouses and buying plants and going to antique shops and buying retro items that remind me of things from my childhood that I never had. I don't think that buying cheaper, non-organic fruits and veggies makes me evil. I don't think those things make me a selfish, materialistic, right-wing American. I don't think I'm a lesser person because I'm not in search of the post-Reagan American dream and work my ass off at a job I hate just so I can have an exterior that impresses people impressed by exteriors. I don't think I'm a lesser person because I can't afford a cell phone and use a dial-up internet connection. I don't think I'm a lesser person because I am in pursuit of a completive life, and art and aesthetics as my vocation, and not the almighty dollar. I don't think I'm a lesser person because I think there is a serious problem with the income disparities in this country. I don't think these things make me a freakish lazy slacker left-wing American.
People see that I have my own house, a terminal degree, speak well without any regional American accents, and appreciate fine foods and they immediately think I'm a a yuppie snob.
People see the rusted car I emerge from, my Converse AllStars covered in paint and my tattered sleeves and think I'm a welfare recipient.
What an easier life it would be if I were either of those. I would only be alienated by half the views I encounter, not all of them.
13 Comments
There are many people "stuck in the middle" and not belonging at either ends of the spectrum, but like us, these people are often not the most verbal compared with those at the extremes. Hence it makes us feel like we're adrift solo, when we're actually among tens of thousands of other driftwood in the sea.
Posted by Jane @ 01/31/2002 03:09 PM CST
Oh, dear.
I sympathize, much.
Posted by Manon @ 01/31/2002 04:23 PM CST
I've never especially felt "middle of the road" either. I guess I'm just adrift at sea like you say, Jane. I rate "left liberal" on political quizzes, yet I know I'm just not PC enough to be that...my lifestyle is just not "austere" enough (I put value on material things...imagine...oh horrors). Grrr. I'm having a grumpy day. It's cold.
Posted by Ann @ 01/31/2002 04:26 PM CST
Hey Ann, you are left-winged, yes almost a socialist I'd say ;o)
Great entry.
Posted by Undercovered socialist @ 02/01/2002 06:17 AM CST
A cell phone? what's that? ... I'm in that category too. The only time I've ever wanted one is when my car had broken down on me and I was stuck on the side of .. and the middle of ... the road with a make-shift sign in my window, reading: CALL POLICE (*lol* - that keeps the serial killers from offering their services). And hey .. I just paid off my '84 Honda .. and it's going to be around for awhile. It's hard enough getting a recurring mortgage payment that I have to stress on each month. Michael and I are artists ... and people can see our Adams Family home when they visit .. with all the hand-made doodads throughout the house and the original paintings on the walls .. and the 11 pets that freak people out when they come over .. they get free entertainment! That's what WE contribute to the world. We give them REAL. Not "made in China". Nor "purchased in Paris". And for this I am happy. As well as glad for you too! :) ---- Marlee commented on her 56k dialup modem.
Posted by Marlee @ 02/01/2002 07:34 AM CST
that's a '94 Honda .. not an '84 Honda. I keep forgetting that we had a decade between the 80s. The 90s FLEW by for me ... went by so fast .. and gave pop culture a reason to forget about that ten years. ( There are exceptions to this of course ... but for the most part .. the 90s were a regergitation of decades past ... a decade with an identiy crisis ).
Posted by Marlee @ 02/01/2002 07:44 AM CST
Hey, Undercover Socialist (U.S. ...oh the irony of initials...[snort])...I'd take that as an insult if I didn't recognize your ISP #...I know it's a compliment. ;-D
Hey, Marlee, I swear, we're like soul doppelgangers or something...it's amazing how many similarities we share. Yes, our house is an Addams family house too.
I feel a separate post coming on...hold on...
Posted by Ann @ 02/01/2002 09:40 AM CST
((((( hugs )))))
you know, i always wondered what i would be when i grew up...the usual shit one child thinks of when going thru life. And i must say, i have managed to accomplish excactly what my mother thought i should strive for, even though i am quite an intellegent woman, who happened to drop out of high school and got the highest GED score the college had ever seen..reads voraciously, can carry on a conversation, is totally NON politically correct, thinks everyone in this country should have health care, knows way to many folks on welfare or who are on the poverty level, who work hard and pay their bills, and will welcome you with open arms, and i depsise reagan...
know what i became???
a decent human being.
who owns a '79 chevy nova, and doesn't drive, never has!
Gawd ain't it great!
Keep your chin up my dear, and like my mother always says, take no shit before it's time.
Posted by Lori @ 02/01/2002 11:57 AM CST
"I'd take that as an insult if I didn't recognize your ISP"
I take that as you think it's something very negative about being socialistic ;o) And what is this: "freakish lazy slacker left-wing"?? ;o) Well, I guess I would take it as an insult if someone called me right-winged, which actually happened today, would you believe it, I'm still in shock ;o)
Alrighty, I've babbled enough, will run back to my Karl Marx book and the Bible ;o)
Oh you know I'm just kidding, or? =o)
Posted by Nicolas @ 02/02/2002 06:33 AM CST
"I take that as you think it's something very negative about being socialistic"
No, not me, but many other people would use it as an insult, you know?
"I would take it as an insult if someone called me right-winged, which actually happened today"
Who did that?!? Maybe they came from upside-down land.
Lennon read a book on Marx. (but was it Karl or Groucho?)
Posted by Ann @ 02/02/2002 09:28 AM CST
Yes, I know.
A person who called himself/herself Dreamer. Not only am I supposed to be right-winged, but I'm also homophobic ;o)
Who us Groucho Marx? Is he someone a socialist should know of?? ;o)
Posted by Nicolas @ 02/02/2002 04:17 PM CST
And I think Dreamer came from the US so you are almost right ;o)
Posted by Nicolas @ 02/02/2002 04:21 PM CST
They were probably reading Jerry Falwell's blog at the same time they were looking at yours and got confused.
Posted by Ann @ 02/02/2002 04:35 PM CST