I realized after the last post that up until now, I have only loosely described my position on a few things and then asked others to share their opinions and thoughts. I have yet to delve into the why's and how's of my own opinion. So, here I go on a subject I feel strongly about.
Story One: I just read a facebook post of an old high school classmate wherein she was raising money for abortion rights advocacy in her state. She mentioned something about how abortions should be available to those who want them. I struggle - I really like this friend, but the whole idea makes me sick, I had a hard time just reading it.
Story Two: I recently visited a teen who used to be my neighbor. She was in the hospital having pre-term labor. She is 16 years old, having gotten pregnant at 15. The day she told me about her pregnancy, she said something like, "We did everything to prevent it. I was on birth control pills, and had shots, and used a condom. I don't know how this could happen." It was all I could do to hold back the obvious, "Well, you had sex, right? That's how."
My Thoughts: I guess I really just don't understand pro-choice at all. I think abortion is a sick, disgusting, and immoral way to end a life. A life that would never have been created (with very rare exception) without two people having sex. If you didn't want to be pregnant, you shouldn't have had sex (please understand, I do NOT feel that way to those who become pregnant from rape. TOTALLY different story). If you DID have sex, and you DID get pregnant, then, in my opinion, you have a duty to carry that baby out to term. If you don't want the baby, there are thousands of people waiting and waiting to adopt. If you have sex, than you have already made the choice. So maybe I am pro-choice. The choice is whether or not to have sex, not whether or not to have an abortion.
BUT, I know I have dear friends who are amazingly wonderful, kind, and loving people whom I adore who are pro-choice. So, please rebuttal: why SHOULD women have such easy access to abortion? How is it that we should work so hard to save the planet and save animals, but we should allow people to kill unborn children?
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Dixon Diaz Abortion Cartoon
In case I haven't made it clear on this blog, I generally stand to the political right, with a healthy dose of displeasure in most of our politicians on both sides. I have a hard time stomaching many things that the Republican party does and for its close-mindedness and frequent hypocrisy. And when the Utah Republican party platform was read at our last caucus meeting, I had a hard time swallowing all of it. That said, I would rather participate in rectifying my party than disowning it, and so I stick it out, though many with similar views to my own have at this point gone independent.
I preface this post with that to lay the foundation for the discussion I would like to ensue here. I have recently found a cartoon circulating facebook. It features Linus and Lucy from Peanuts. (I'm sure if you google it, you will easily find it.). At the beginning, Lucy states that she is pro-choice. Linus then begins asking if he can choose things - from smoking to owning a gun to drinking large sodas. To each of these, Lucy tells him he cannot make those choices for various reasons. At the end, Linus asks what he CAN choose. Lucy responds that he can choose an abortion.
Now, I understand this cartoon is an obvious hit, and I do not condone slapping each other in the face. I truly appreciate the opinions of others and feel that opinions are like colors - the more colors you have, the more vibrant your painting can be. So I apologize to my liberal friends if you find this cartoon offensive. But I would like to open it up for discussion. Why is it arguably acceptable to restrict things we can put in our bodies, things we put in the environment, etc., but it is not okay to restrict harm to unborn children. Why is there this stark difference in things we should not be able to choose and the things we should?
So this one is open to all my liberal friends. Please share your thoughts and opinions - but please no rants or tirades. Opinions should be supported by reasonable, non-offensive arguments. Comments are moderated only to keep comment-threads from becoming nothing better than the facebook post I drew it from, which consists of more insults than information. So, please, explain, defend, and responsibly argue away!
I preface this post with that to lay the foundation for the discussion I would like to ensue here. I have recently found a cartoon circulating facebook. It features Linus and Lucy from Peanuts. (I'm sure if you google it, you will easily find it.). At the beginning, Lucy states that she is pro-choice. Linus then begins asking if he can choose things - from smoking to owning a gun to drinking large sodas. To each of these, Lucy tells him he cannot make those choices for various reasons. At the end, Linus asks what he CAN choose. Lucy responds that he can choose an abortion.
Now, I understand this cartoon is an obvious hit, and I do not condone slapping each other in the face. I truly appreciate the opinions of others and feel that opinions are like colors - the more colors you have, the more vibrant your painting can be. So I apologize to my liberal friends if you find this cartoon offensive. But I would like to open it up for discussion. Why is it arguably acceptable to restrict things we can put in our bodies, things we put in the environment, etc., but it is not okay to restrict harm to unborn children. Why is there this stark difference in things we should not be able to choose and the things we should?
So this one is open to all my liberal friends. Please share your thoughts and opinions - but please no rants or tirades. Opinions should be supported by reasonable, non-offensive arguments. Comments are moderated only to keep comment-threads from becoming nothing better than the facebook post I drew it from, which consists of more insults than information. So, please, explain, defend, and responsibly argue away!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Social - Security?
By profession, I am a Social Security disability claimant advocate - I help people get Social Security disability benefits. I fell into this profession by accident about 8 years ago and have come to love it. I help good, honest people who are unable to work get benefits they deserve (Shameless plug for firm website - click here).
As this is meant to be a place for people to share views from all sides, I let it be known I tend to lean to the right. To my shock and jolt to obvious reality, I recently attended a convention of Social Security claimant representatives and discovered I was an anomalous right amidst a mass of left-leaning lawyers! And suddenly, my simple mind put a handful of puzzle pieces together and realized I am a huge proponent of something fairly leftish (although studies show most people on both sides support Social Security to a point).
In any case, I do feel there is a place for Social Security. I also feel the government and all of its programs are poorly managed, inefficient, and cost taxpayers far more than private counterparts - but that's another topic entirely. On Social Security's website, there is a pretty-darn-good history on Social Security, which, though biased in origin, does outline how society through history was led to necessitate some type of system to protect old (and disabled) individuals from poverty. And like it or not, there is a reality facing us that there are many individuals who are unable to work, whether due to old-age or disability, and some of them live exclusively on the meager portions Social Security allots them. And, though the system is far from perfect, I am glad it is there. I would rather know people are living "off the government" than starving, sick, and homeless.
What are your thoughts about the basic principle of Social Security? If you could invent your own system to replace it, how would it be different?
As this is meant to be a place for people to share views from all sides, I let it be known I tend to lean to the right. To my shock and jolt to obvious reality, I recently attended a convention of Social Security claimant representatives and discovered I was an anomalous right amidst a mass of left-leaning lawyers! And suddenly, my simple mind put a handful of puzzle pieces together and realized I am a huge proponent of something fairly leftish (although studies show most people on both sides support Social Security to a point).
In any case, I do feel there is a place for Social Security. I also feel the government and all of its programs are poorly managed, inefficient, and cost taxpayers far more than private counterparts - but that's another topic entirely. On Social Security's website, there is a pretty-darn-good history on Social Security, which, though biased in origin, does outline how society through history was led to necessitate some type of system to protect old (and disabled) individuals from poverty. And like it or not, there is a reality facing us that there are many individuals who are unable to work, whether due to old-age or disability, and some of them live exclusively on the meager portions Social Security allots them. And, though the system is far from perfect, I am glad it is there. I would rather know people are living "off the government" than starving, sick, and homeless.
What are your thoughts about the basic principle of Social Security? If you could invent your own system to replace it, how would it be different?
Thursday, November 29, 2012
The Story of Stuff
I haven't blogged in nearly a year - not one personal, family, business, or philosophical note to the world. On a whim, I pulled up all my old blogs today to think about starting again. Funnily, this little blog, which I obviously have given very little attention to over the course of a couple of years, has sat lifelessly - and in its dormant state has been viewed over 6,000 times. So, since there is apparently an audience sitting at my doorstep awaiting some entertainment, I decided it's about time I provide it.
To kick things off, I contemplated jumping into some post-election (since I completely missed the whole thing here) conversations. Instead, though, I thought I'd avoid the repetitive redundancy of Obama vs Romney and focus on principles and general political insights. The first thing that came to mind was a video I watched last year that made me - well - think.
The video is called "The Story of Stuff" and it was an assignment to watch it for one of my husband's college classes. It was several minutes into the video before I realized this thing was riddled with political leanings - to the left no less. And yet, I, who generally stand somewhere in the middle of the right-wing, found my firmly planted right-feet wiggling around in the political soil!
Although, in the end, my fundamental opinions and views did not change due to this one 20-minute video, it did make me reconsider my position on big business and government regulations. It made me ask myself if perhaps there is a place for more government regulations on businesses. It made me question whether recycling should be mandated. It made me wonder if the rainforests really will disappear. It was also very educating. It was one of those moments where obvious facts of life are presented in such a way that suddenly, the light turns on and you actually see them.
So there you go. I recommend watching "The Story of Stuff." My goal is not to make anyone change their views, but rather to question them. Make sure your opinions are actually your opinions. Never be a lemming!
To kick things off, I contemplated jumping into some post-election (since I completely missed the whole thing here) conversations. Instead, though, I thought I'd avoid the repetitive redundancy of Obama vs Romney and focus on principles and general political insights. The first thing that came to mind was a video I watched last year that made me - well - think.
The video is called "The Story of Stuff" and it was an assignment to watch it for one of my husband's college classes. It was several minutes into the video before I realized this thing was riddled with political leanings - to the left no less. And yet, I, who generally stand somewhere in the middle of the right-wing, found my firmly planted right-feet wiggling around in the political soil!
Although, in the end, my fundamental opinions and views did not change due to this one 20-minute video, it did make me reconsider my position on big business and government regulations. It made me ask myself if perhaps there is a place for more government regulations on businesses. It made me question whether recycling should be mandated. It made me wonder if the rainforests really will disappear. It was also very educating. It was one of those moments where obvious facts of life are presented in such a way that suddenly, the light turns on and you actually see them.
So there you go. I recommend watching "The Story of Stuff." My goal is not to make anyone change their views, but rather to question them. Make sure your opinions are actually your opinions. Never be a lemming!
Monday, April 27, 2009
A video about democracy vs. republic
I friend sent me this link. It is definitely opinionated, but then what isn't. In any case, it is very informative. Hope you learn something; I did. http://www.wimp.com/thegovernment/
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Government Bail Outs
I listen to the radio news, so I get snippets of what is going on, but not enough to figure out if I agree or disagree with what is going on. Please share information about the recent government bailouts. Sharing opinions is okay, too, but please keep it nice and preferably back up your opinion with some hard evidence to support it.
Taxes
This one is wide open. Please share information on how the system currently works, proposed systems, and what the pros and cons to each system are.
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