The Empty

Here's a piece from MSNBC on Joe The Plumber:

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I'm ripping my Rush CDs today and listening to some stuff along the way that I haven't heard in a while. One of these old favorites is "The Trees" and is one of those messages that is still relevant.

It is about equality, oppression, and entitlement. Here are the lyrics:

There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas

The trouble with the maples
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade

There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream 'Oppression!'
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
'The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light'
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe and saw

This pretty much sums up my view that a lot of the efforts enacted by the US government end up limiting one group instead of enabling another group. Another angle to look at in this metaphor of the trees is how to come to a proper solution. The Oaks are by nature taller than the Maples. That cannot be helped unless drastic measures are taken by hatchet, axe, and saw :). Just talking about trees, one could suggest separate groves of Maples within the Oaks but that brings up the issue of segregation. Segregation is fine and dandy for trees, but people tend to frown upon it :). What's the answer? Let me know when you figure it out so we can stop all the fighting.

I read this column by Garrison Keillor in the trib.  Fortunately for Mr. Keillor, who wants people to read his stuff and have it strike a chord (like any writer), it did strike a chord with me.  Unfortunately, this means I am getting old.  Yes, yes, I'm not really that old, but I am surely an adult that is wondering wtf is wrong with kids these days.  Get off my lawn, you young punks!  Mr Keillor says:

A Harris Interactive poll of Generation Y's feelings about work shows 92 percent want a "flexible work schedule," 96 percent want a job that "requires creativity" and 97 percent want a job that "allows me to have an impact on the world." All I can say is, Wow. Good luck. And now you know why we need illegal immigrants to do the inflexible, uncreative stuff that simply needs doing right now.

Wow, indeed.  Being a Gen X'er, I am somewhat in between the Y's and the older generations in both age and outlook.  Luckily, I have a job that I like with a flexible work schedule and requires some creativity.  I think that any job can benefit from some creativity, though.  However, I would agree that kids these days just don't understand the ethic of "get shit done" and then it will be done and you don't have to worry about it anymore.  Yes, it may suck.  Yes, it may be as boring as Uncle Jake and Aunt Myrtle's slide show from their vacation to Amish Country.  But it needs to get done.  Yes, you need to vacuum the house.  Yes, you need to mow the lawn.  Yes, you need to paint or wallpaper or scrub something.

I think part of it is the difference between a 'job' and 'work'.  Gen Y is looking for a job that is not work and yet has maximum impact and excitement.   I call that a Rockstar job.  Yes, they exist.  They are also few and far between.  Rockstars also work hard, too, though.  Not all jobs are glamorous, though, and not all need to be.  If you can find a job doing what you like to do, you have it made.  However, doing work that allows you to do what you like is also a pretty darn nice job.

Governor Blagojevich signed into law the Smoke Free Illinois Act this week.  Now, I'm libertarian by nature, but I have absolutely no problem with this new law.  I have been in many bars/taverns/clubs as my place of work for the night and I have had to soak up as much smoke as anyone.  I stunk.  I got sick occasionally.  I had to shower at 3am before my wife would let me get into bed.

So I may sound a bit tyrannical in saying that smokers should be banned to the underground to smoke themselves out, but there is no upside to smoking.  Or is there?  Cigarette sales generate a lot of tax revenue.  When I lived in AZ I was torn between voting for a measure to ban smoking or voting for a measure to up the tax on a pack by 80 cents or so to pay for early childhood education.  Heck, why ban smoking if we can make more money off of it for our kids, eh?

Instead of a ban on smoking, designate a mandatory smoking cover charge.  You wanna smoke in a restaurant?  $5.  You wanna smoke in a bar or club?  Add $10 to the cover that is already being charged.  And all the nonsmokers get a cut of that action.  We already know that the price elasticity of demand for things like cigarettes is inelastic.  Pile on the taxes and penalties and let it ride.

Well, the Department of Homeland Security has done it again. They've tried to make us feel as insecure as possible.  I know I am few days behind on bitching about this, but I saved it to a draft, I got busy with other stuff - you know the drill.  Wil Wheaton has a great blog entry on this and it brought back the ring of truth I heard in Michael Moore's movie Bowling for Columbine.  I'm sure that 'die-heard conservatives' have tuned out already, but the point of the movie was the culture of fear that the US media (and government) breeds.  Of course, people eat it up with a spoon.  What is more exciting and believable than someone telling you about something to be afraid of?  Would you rather hear news about Bhutan's new constitution or about how someone's baby got eaten by coyotes?

I can't stand to watch TV news, myself.  I don't actually watch that much TV anymore at all.  That's one of the perks of having two small kids - I stay busy :).  I don't miss the 10 second news blurbs about what I have in my very own kitchen that might be killing me.  Tune in at 9 to find out!

The problem is that the more fear people get, the more they seem to crave it.  If one network news team changed focus to actually report things that mattered instead of the stories with the most 'fear factor,' who would watch?  People want to hear about the next thing they should be afraid of and to be kept apprised of the things they are already afraid of.  I think people have actually started to think that their neighborhoods are more dangerous than they actually are.  Not that there aren't some dangerous neighborhoods out there...

Any of you have the answer to breaking the Culture of fear?