Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Politics -- One Last Time

This one's going to be long, meandering, and a bit all over the place. If you want something shorter (and lighter), you can check out yesterday's Blood Bowl nonsense.

SO...let's start with my health. Was sick as a dog over the weekend...had to miss pretty much everything on my schedule and felt like crap to boot. Turns out I had (and still have...despite few remaining symptoms) COVID for the second time. Such a weird illness...it affects different people differently. For my daughter (who was also down) she mainly complained of a sore throat and sniffle. For me, it was non-stop cough...much like the chronic bronchitis I used to come down with every year for the first 12-13 years after I quit smoking. Oh, and constant sweating without fever. Just weird.

Now it's got my wife (she's coughing, too, though not as bad as I was), and my son just woke up achey with a sore throat (though he's still testing negative). Second time round for all of us, and mainly just a pain in the ass. Which, I'm sure, sounds pretty dismissive to people who saw friends and loved ones DIE to the damn thing during the first wave of the pandemic. But that's where we are now. I didn't contract COVID (the first time) till sometime in 2023 and...I'm guessing due to the multiple vaccines I've taken...I've never had it worse than a bad cold. Hell, I've had walking pneumonia (and the aforementioned bronchial infections) that taxed me more and lingered longer. Heck, I've had bog-standard sinus-infections that I found more irritating and inconvenient (since I find it impossible to carry on my normal life blowing my nose every five minutes). But still...yeah. COVID still sucks.

Yet the "forced break" in activity did give me a chance to reflect and reset a bit (hey! look! two blog posts in two days!). I've actually been reflecting on a good number of things the last couple-four weeks, but stopping to breathe (*ahem*) has allowed me to coalesce some of those reflections. 

With regard to politics (uh-oh!) I've found myself shifting in the way I think and approach the...mm..."messy" political landscape of the day. Perhaps this comes from not having much interest in the current Presidential race. I mean there's literally nothing I can imagine happening that would cause me to shift my vote (nor prevent me from voting) so the speeches and debates have about as much impact/interest for me as the advertising/propaganda...i.e. about the same level of curiosity as a car wreck on the freeway, something to cast a quick glance towards as I speed along to my actual destination. 

And, yet, I've found myself watching multiple interviews and discussions with actual Republican constituents discussing, candidly and thoughtfully, their reasons for supporting their party and their candidate...interviews and discussions that weren't full of crazy and/or conspiracy stuff.  And I find my stance towards these people...towards Republicans...has softened considerably. And not in a high-minded, "pitying the ignorant or misinformed" bullshitty way. I mean, I appreciate and...in many cases...agree with their beliefs and values which echo so many of my own. 

Goddamnit. They're still Americans. And Goddamnit. So am I.

People who preach fear and hate of the "other" (immigrants, muslims, queer folk, etc.) for political gain or who try to make a buck off peoples' religious devotion...those folks can still all eat a pile of shit. But people wearing MAGA hats and flying Trump flags in their yard? Nah. I get you. I dig where you're coming from. And I'm willing to love and embrace you as fellow Americans. Stay strong in your values. Vote as your conscience dictates. I want you in my nation. 

Two anecdotes (one new and one I believe I've mentioned before) that I want to relate:

Two Saturdays ago, the Washington State University Cougars beat the University of Washington Huskies in a shallow version of the Apple Cup played in Seattle at Lumen Field (the Seahawks stadium). For folks who don't follow college football, this was the first time in 124 years that it had been played as "non-conference" game, due to the wholesale dismantling of the historic PAC-12, aka The Conference of Champions. As usual, I was rooting for WSU because, having attended Seattle University (cross-town rivals in non-football sports), I long ago cast my lot with my many Coug alumni friends, all of whom live in the greater Seattle area, and many of whom grew up here just as I did. 

Despite the game being played in Seattle there was plenty of red & grey in attendance (not surprising given that at least a quarter of WSU alumni live on this side of the Cascades). After the Cougar victory, the WSU fans began chanting "USA! USA! USA!"...a little strange given this wasn't a game between different nations, like a World Cup match or Olympic event. When one WSU supporter was asked the reason for this chanting, the woman replied:

"Because we're from small towns! We're part of the REAL America, unlike this evil fucking city."

That's one anecdote.

The other, which I'm sure I've related before, is regarding my friend Jon. I haven't actually seen or hung out with Jon since pre-pandemic; he and his wife, Maggie, were good friends of ours but we've drifted apart in recent years mostly (I believe) due to the disparity in the ages of our kids (it took my wife and I five years trying before we got our first) and thus a branching of our social circles.

Probably the last time our families got together was a few months prior to the last presidential election, and I'd guess that Jon is thrilled about Kamala Harris being the Dem's candidate for president. Thrilled because he was a strong supporter of hers the LAST time there was a presidential election (before she ended up dropping out). I was not a big fan of Harris at the time, for lots of reasons (mainly inexperience), but she was the "clear choice" for Jon, just as Bernie Sanders had been his "clear choice" for the 2016 race (a race in which I was supporting Clinton). Jon, you see, is a progressive Democrat. He is all about the progressive agenda/platform. He's only a year younger than me and we share a lot in common: we're left-leaning liberals, college educated, pro-union, big sports fans. But he was raised in urban Chicago with a single mother, an estranged father, and no religious upbringing. With regard to Dungeons & Dragons, he has no interest, and never has; he remembers the game being around when he was growing up, but:

"I always got the impression it was only a white person's game."

Now, for the record, Jon is white: 100% caucasian. So is his wife. So are their two kids (both of whom are their non-adopted, biological offspring). But Jon is all about diversity...the more diversity the better. He is all about squelching anything that stands as a throwback to an older, whiter paradigm. Because "old" and "white" does not equal progress. And we must make progress, dammit! That's one reason he insists on his children going to public schools, rather than an elitist, private school like the Catholic one my children attend.

Of course, his kids tested into the Robert Eagle Staff school...a public school that boasts a higher academic curriculum than other (public) elementary schools. It has a 55.6% caucasian student population compared to the 45.4% average of Seattle public schools.  Meanwhile, my kids' "elitist" school is only 53.3% white, though the actual numbers vary from grade to grade: my son's class is only 50% white, for instance, while my daughter's class is only 40% white.

[FWIW my multi-racial son's best friend is a blonde haired white kid that goes to public school. Both kids love playing D&D]

I do not recount these anecdotes to make anyone feel good, bad, superior, inferior, etc. Neither do I recount them to sway you to my side of any "political" argument or spectrum. I am simply sharing stories I have...stories that linger in my thoughts; stories that color my reflections.

We are...all of us...unreasonable at times. I certainly am. There are many, MANY times when I get my teeth in some silly argument, some nonsensical side of some truly non-mattering pissing war and absolutely refuse to let go. You see it countless times through the history of this blog. Fighting for one edition of Dungeons & Dragons over another. Fighting for one style of play over another. Fighting for one particular value or perspective over another. And when we are "unreasonable" it doesn't mean that we are without reason (at least, that's not how I intend the term to be used), but that we are unwilling to reason, i.e. to entertain, or even listen to, the reasons of another (reasoning) human being.

And yet, on this blog, I actually do try to be reasonable, more often than not. Most of my "unreasonable moments" occur off-screen, mainly (sadly) with my wife and often (almost always) with later regret. It is a challenge I have, and one I have never really attempted to address...at least not with serious intent (as I've addressed other challenging aspects of my personality over the years). It is only now, with some reflection, that I am even thinking about it: how, in the heat of 'battle,' I cease to consider that other reasoning individuals have reasonable reasons of their own. 

[and how many times have I whined and complained about the unreasonableness of others without addressing my own unreasoning?]

As I predicted at the beginning: this post is long and meandering. But I'm going to try to wind it to a close, for those folks who've been hanging on this long.

Waaaay back in 2021 (just a bit more than three years ago), I wrote a blog post describing how I would no longer allow an individual's political agenda inform my opinion or support of the person as pertains to gaming and game design. There are political conservatives who are one the same page with me when it comes to this hobby, and there are plenty of political liberals who aren't.  Having taken that stance has served me well in the practice of my vocation.

However, with these recent reflections, I've decided I'm going to take a similar approach to people in general. I've never faulted anyone for not sharing my religion (a religion I was born into), any more than I've "faulted" anyone for not sharing my particular skin tone. Considering that my political party is at least as much due to my own parents (both Democrats) as it is to ideology, it's about time I stop faulting people for being part of the Right. I'm just not going to waste any more time/energy getting bent out of shape over how a person wants to vote. Like zero. I like that I live in a country where I get to vote; I've been voting since I was 18, and even voted (absentee) during the years I was in Paraguay. We are LUCKY we are a people who get a say in who gets elected to run this country. I want every eligible voter to vote...not enough people vote! It's friggin' AMERICAN to vote.

Vote how you want. It's fine.

Because, man, O man am I tired of hating people. And for the longest time I just hated Republicans: Hawks and Neo-Cons and Christian Rights and Tea Partyers and gun nuts and conspiracy theorists and...just...all of it. But, heck, I hated a lot of Democrats, too...O So Many Dems, from uber-progressives to spineless intellectuals to clueless braindead hippies to ineffectual Hope-fulls trying to Build Consensus Like A Grown-Up Society Should...and getting nothing accomplished. Oh: and the conspiracy theorists on the Left (that's its own rabbit hole you don't want to delve).

I'm done with it...with ALL of it.  I don't hate you, my fellow Americans. I love you. With all your weirdness. We are a weird group of people, we Americans. We are also a Great people. We are BLESSED to live in a country that not only tolerates but THRIVES on having so many different, screwed up peoples in it. It is what makes us SO POWERFUL. And man O man, we have FUCKED UP a LOT of things over the years...for both ourselves and the rest of the world. But we've also done a lot of good stuff, too.  I truly believe this "American experiment" has been a net positive force for good on this planet. 

Whatever your political persuasion is All Right By Me. I'm going to judge people solely by their actions from now on, rather than their bumper stickers. Strange thing: I've met very few people in my life that I'd qualify as true assholes...and of those I can recall, I don't recall any of them being particularly political. Being a true asshole means being a pretty un-caring individual, and people who don't care are (I've found) disinclined to vote at all. 

I'd rather people care. Even if they care in a different way from how I care. 

So there you go. I don't anticipate having much more to say about politics in the future (I might mention something about the results of the November election...maybe a "yay" or a "boo" depending on the result). Everyone who's read my blog for the last upteen number of years knows how I vote anyway, and I no longer care how YOU vote (I just hope you do vote...). And...as I get my strength/mojo back...you should expect to see more 'gaming related' posts in the future. 

Thank you for today's indulgence. 

10 comments:

  1. As a kid who grew up Colfax I have always been Team Coug, even though I went to Western (when it still had football) and my folks were both Vandals.

    My parents have very little interest in sports, besides a brief fascination with the Mariners in the early 2000s and they will watch Seahawks if they are deep in the playoffs. But they always watch the Apple Cup and they actively cheer for WSU because they believe UW is for big city snobs and that it's a David vs Goliath. Rich city school versus poor rural school.

    So yeah I get the whole USA chant, it's like Rocky training in the woods and a barn beating Drago and his fancy computers (even though Rocky was clearly loaded and had a robot).

    Obviously UW breaking up the Pac 12 for greed and leaving WSU and OS to die in the wilderness makes them the villan of this story. Who wants to see the villian win?

    On the rest of your post good for you.

    Or to double down on my Rocky 4 reference ""if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change"

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    1. Ha! I don't remember that particular quote from Rocky 4. "I will break you," comes to mind.
      ; )

      As a lifelong Seattle-ite, I've always seen myself as a city slicker (the inept guy when dropped in a rural setting...kind of the opposite of a "country bumpkin") rather than a "snob." For me, the UW just represents frat boys and all that Greek BS. Then again, Fred Hutch does a good job fighting cancer (even if it didn't help my mom), so it's hard to hate them TOO much.

      Sports hate is fun. ALSO: it's difficult to enjoy a sporting event without rooting for SOME side or other.
      ; )

      As for the other stuff: I'm just done hating people over who they vote for. I ran for class president of my high school one year and didn't win...I didn't hate people who didn't vote for me. Who they voted for had nothing to do with how they acted in life towards myself or others.

      In politics, we make a big stink about "your person is going to destroy EVERYTHING if elected"...and, hey, maybe they will. And maybe they won't. And maybe MY guy will, too (accidentally, purposefully, intention doesn't really matter if everything goes down the toilet)...HOPEFULLY, there are enough checks & balances in place to keep things on something of an even keel.

      And even if there AREN'T (effective) checks & balances...normal people (i.e. non-elected officials) are STILL...for the most part...the people responsible for making sure shit doesn't go up in flames. Let's all us "normal people" just worry about being kinder to our fellow citizens and planetary inhabitants, and see how THAT gets us along. I'd guess: probably better (and farther) than hating and fearing the other side.

      No one's going to give me a posthumous award for hating.

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    2. It's from Rockys speech at the end of the fight with Drago. It's kind of incoherent nonsense about acceptance and how we need that before we destroy each other. It's not Shakespeare, but any speech given by a aging professional boxer after 15 rounds of getting the snot beat out of them probably shouldn't be.

      I would imagine WSU frat culture is probably worse than UW, I mean at one point WSU was ranked as one of the top party schools in the nation.

      Hate doesn't help, forgive and accept. The new testament has some good lessons.

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    3. We were just reading from the Gospel of St. John this evening, actually. As a family…which, for the record, is far from a common occurrence in my household. We were just “in a mood.”

      My ten year old commented how surprisingly CALMING such activity is. She was the one doing the reading, while the rest of us listened.

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  2. In the end we all just want the best for everyone. We might have different views on what that means, but adhering to a political party is a sure way to inadvertently trash personal beliefs for third party dogmas. And we all do it in a way or other

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  3. Your WSU anecdote reminded me of something one of my wife's co-workers (who is based in Seattle, though we are not) said to her at one point - "in Seattle, we don't really consider ourselves to be Americans."

    Real conversation, I kid you not. Do all Seattle residents share that view? Almost certainly not - but at least one does, lol! Was such a strange statement to me.

    Anyway... I definitely share your position on ignoring the political opinions of creatives as pertains to how you view their work. I wish more folks thought that way. The OSR space online unfortunately seems to have largely settled on the opposite as a standard way of doing things (buying into the idea that everything is political and politics is totalizing), which I think is awfully bad for the hobby.

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    1. Hm. I do NOT think that’s the majority thinking of the online community (and perhaps they only portray themselves as such…and perhaps they are hypocrites). But it definitely is for some…and a vocal “some.”

      For sure, I’VE been fairly vocal over the years, so I thought it was best to state my new position in a vocal fashion. Well…that AND it gave me something to blog about (trying to get back into the swing of things) AND I like to have these little blurbs to remind myself of what I’m thinking/feeling in a particular time/year.

      YOUR anecdote is rather amazing. Having lived 50 years in Seattle, I’ve never heard anything remotely similar from any local. Even in private (amongst other lifelong locals), even bitching about other parts of the USA (which sometimes happens…though infrequently, IME).

      No. We’ve always considered ourselves “American,” perhaps a “better” form of American (which is both wrong-headed AND arrogant…but we drink a lot). If I ever heard someone say that, I’d probably think they’re a recent transplant to the region: someone who moved here to get away from somewhere else.

      But it’s definitely not the way I think, or the folks I grew up with think. Nah. That’s a weird one.

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    2. May be a tech worker or a Gen Z thing, I dunno. Or just that one particular guy. xD

      Re: online community censoriousness, one issue is that it's really hard to define an online community haha. I was thinking mainly of places like /r/osr and its various discord outgrowths, who've become increasingly dedicated to maintaining a particular view of politics as it relates to gaming that has resulted in (for example) everything by Alexander Macris (author of ACKS) being banned from discussion because he's a bit Trumpy. I'm sure there are corners of the online old school community that aren't that way, though - particularly the more grognardy ones tend to be a bit more live and let live with political opinions.

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