Same-sex marriage update

It's come to my attention that in California, homosexual couples already enjoy almost the same rights as traditionally married couples through civil unions. Proposition 8 denies them of marriage, but semantics aside, this only denies them of adoption rights. For the reasons I listed previously, I actually think this is reasonable.

My swing left

I started gaining interest in politics last year during the primaries. My parents, at least as far as I could tell, have traditionally been Republicans, and many of the people I am surrounded by are Republicans, so naturally I come from a Republican background.

However, I love to think for myself. I was determined to attack the subject of politics from an objective point of view. At first, I was completely ignorant, not knowing what a conservative, liberal, libertarian, or authoritarian was.

After doing some research into the matter, I considered myself a moderate or perhaps a libertarian. Conservatives are for small government, and liberals are for individuality, right? I didn't agree with conservative stances against gay marriage or abortion. On the other hand, I didn't like the idea of a liberal "nanny state". Probably one of my greatest fears in life is the realization of Big Brother and the thought police.

Eventually, though, I realized that the Republican party is no longer conservative. The Democratic party is no longer liberal. Instead, they are largely neo-conservative and progressive, respectively.

Neo-conservativism no longer values non-interventionism or small government. We didn't go into Iraq because of possible WMDs. A large part of why we went was to force them into a democratic government. The war also speaks loudly for how much the Bush administration values small government; if it were a priority, America wouldn't be this far in debt.

In fact, my first impression of the definition of small and big government was an incorrect one. The terms seem to refer the amount of government spending, the amount of government economic regulation, and the amount of government programs, not necessarily individual liberties. Of course, if you take it to an extreme, you could end up like China, censoring criticism on the Internet. Moderation always seems to be the key. The point is that giving NASA a larger budget doesn't necessarily mean that two-piece bikinis are going to be made illegal because they are deemed "too provocative".

As for Democrats, they are no longer liberal. The definition of liberalism is that individual liberties are the most important political goal. It simply isn't anymore. The big issues are not gay marriage, abortion, net neutrality, marijuana legalization, or freedom of speech. The focus has shifted to economy, healthcare, energy, etc. Thus, the Democratic party is now mostly progressive, not liberal.

In realizing these things, I began to realize other things. We seem to be living in a country where corporations operate on capitalism when they are gaining money and on socialism when they are losing it. A lasseiz-faire ideology is no excuse to sit there and watch the economy crumble, especially if the cause is policy gone bad like the Community Reinvestment Act. The policy already existed, and it should have been removed. Lasseiz-faire doesn't mean that you have to leave all the cruft lying around. Someone should have seen the credit crisis coming and done something about it. If it wasn't the CRA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac, and it was Bear Stearns and the Lehman Bros., we simply should not have bailed them out. It just seems to me that our government has been making all the wrong decisions.

Aside from all the economic blunders, one of my biggest problems with the Bush administration is that they are sacrificing our freedoms in the name of security through means such as illegal wiretapping.

Why are the mega-corporations allowed to treat the American consumers in such a predatory manner? Why are the rich getting so much richer and the poor getting so much poorer? Why is America falling in debt, while Iraq is gaining a surplus? Why are America's education and energy systems being allowed to fall so far behind? These are some of the issues that I want fixed, and these are some of the issues that I believe that the right wing are worsening, not improving.

Yes, I used to think I was a libertarian or a moderate because I thought I believed in both individual liberties and small government. Then I figured out that there are some things that I believe government should be involved in.

Corporations do not get less evil. Trickle down does not work. In fact, the opposite has been true this year. Bad fortune has trickled up. The people who have the money aren't letting go of it. So many companies I despise: Microsoft, most airlines, and most telcos. Other sectors I don't follow as closely have a lot of bad apples, too: banks and oil. Somehow, someone has got to put a limit to their abusive practices.

Energy policy is important, and the reason government is important is because government subsidies on oil are stifling the innovation in alternate power sources such as wind, solar, and nuclear. Republicans don't seem to concerned with changing that.

Government right now is messed up. I guess this is where a conservative would say that we just need to make government smaller, because government never does anything right. Well, there are no true conservatives, and voting Republican doesn't make the government smaller.

My only option now is to vote for the person that I believe will run a smarter government. This time, I believe Obama will deliver that. I heard a quote recently that went something like this: "My fear with Obama is that he might not fulfill all of his promises, and my fear with McCain is that he actually would have delivered on some of his promises."

In conclusion, I now consider myself a liberal. I don't completely agree with a lasseiz-faire economy, since it favors the very rich; and most importantly I believe strongly in individual liberties, as I am opposed to imposing the morals of one subculture onto everyone else.

Same-sex marriage

This seems to be quite a controversial subject currently. Abortion is probably a bit bigger of an issue, but I think that argument's also been going on longer, so I'm not as interested in it right now.

It's funny how strongly people can feel about the issue of same-sex marriage, even if they are not themselves homosexual. Especially conservatives. Personally, I think that most conservatives are against same-sex marriage for all the wrong reasons. Most of these conservatives are religious, and they want their belief and moral system to be forced on everyone else. Allow me to summarize the perspective of a typical conservative that is against same-sex marriage:

Marriage is defined in the Bible as the union between a man and a woman. Therefore, two men or two women can't get married. Marriage is a Christian ceremony, so why should non-believing gays be allowed to take part in it?

The huge problem with this perspective is that these conservatives are trying to suppress the rights of a minority just because of semantics. Just because they have a prefabricated guess at the real definition of marriage, they would deny homosexuals the governmental and financial benefits of the union. The fact is that marriage did not originate with Christianity. I agree that homosexuals should not be getting traditional Christian ceremonies in real churches, but that's not what defines marriage. Marriage existed in many secular cultures all over the world, even before Christianity was made prevalent. To the ancient Greeks, same-sex marriages were perfectly acceptable and valid. Who really is the authority on whether the definition includes only male-female relationships? How far back does the root word go? Latin maritare, meaning "to give a husband to", certainly doesn't exclude homosexual relationships. Therefore, I completely disagree with anyone who is against same-sex marriage just because marriage is supposed to be between a man and a woman.

Also, there is quite a bit of debate about whether homosexuality is genetic or a learned behavior. It really doesn't matter, though, what the cause is. Homosexuals have never been and never will be able to reproduce without adoption or artificial insemination; and there have always been and always be homosexuals, regardless of official recognition as a married couple. The human population is not declining, even in countries where same-sex marriage is legal and accepted.

If you don't know me, I guess you'd suppose I'm a strong proponent of same-sex marriage at this point. I'll be easy on you and let you know this time that I love to play the devil's advocate. In reality, I am simply uncertain whether gay marriage is right or wrong. To me, the real issue is whether or not children raised with a male father and female mother grow up happier, in better emotional and spiritual condition. It has nothing to do with religion. It has nothing to do with the couple themselves. I've heard people say that children without a mother and father are less happy, more likely to be abused, and/or less likely to find a job after school, but I've also seen studies that say that children raised by homosexual parents turn out just as healthy as children raised by traditional parents.

Allowing gay marriage increases the chance that a child will be adopted by gay parents or created through artificial insemination, depriving them of a chance to be adopted by a heterosexual couple. If statistically, the child would be better of with the heterosexual couple, I would be against gay marriage. However, I see no problem with a homosexual person having the right to visit his or her significant other in a hospital. The fact is that none of the studies are conclusive, so I'm neither for nor against it. There simply needs to be more study done on this subject. Without this, I cannot take an informed stance on same-sex marriage. I guess you can call me utilitarian on this issue.

One strange cookie

And now for something completely different!

Most processed food products are imitations of real, genuine recipes. They are never as good, but the dish usually has some history behind it. The foods are made up of imitations of other existing foods. Chips Ahoy! comes from chocolate chip cookies, which are very cookable. Chicken McNuggets are supposed to taste like chicken. Processed lunchmeat is still meat, I think. Campbell's soup, Sara Lee, all just mass-produced versions of real food.

Oreos, though, are a mystery to me. Where did the Oreo come from? They are tasty, but they are fake, fake, fake. Honestly, cream-flavored sugar holding together two chocolate crackers? Not a real food. Nothing resembles it! I mean, this cookie reeks of engineering. And who came up with the bright idea to dip it into milk? I'm not being sarcastic, here, either. It really was a bright idea.

I have come to the conclusion that Oreos represent a sizable portion of what is wrong with society today. So yummy and irresistable, yet so fake and BAD FOR YOU!

Enough randomness for now...

My life in (the majority of) 2008.

Well, I guess it's time for another life summarizing entry. Actually this year has probably seen the biggest change in my lifestyle and state of mind than any other thus far. Back before Christmas Break I had applied to a couple of courses at Virginia Tech I wanted to take just because I was really interested in the subject matter, but I didn't get into both of them. I decided that without both of them, it wasn't worth attending Virginia Tech anymore at all. Instead, I decided I would begin my journey into the "real world".

Now, I wasn't in such a hurry. I had planned on celebrating by spending the summer with Thien in Vietnam. However, my dad disapproved, and my plans fell through. Instead, I did immediately begin looking for a job. It was quite an experience, living off of my leftover money from last summer's internship; I had to be quite conservative. Thien was quite the lifesaver (as she always is), as she had plenty of leftover funds on her dining plan. Finding interviews in a failing economy was quite an experience, but I did find an interesting position in March. I was to begin as an application developer for ICF International in Fairfax starting on April 7.

Thien and I made a trip to Northern Virginia to look for apartments, found a very nice one. Rather hurriedly, I moved to Falls Church from Blacksburg, and I started working. Since then, time just sort of flies. Thien is still in Blacksburg, and I miss her every minute.

My car did break down a few weeks ago as I was traveling to West Point to see my close friend Steve. Him, another old coworker named Josh, and I worked on it for a week before I headed back home, still carless. At first we thought it would just be a water pump. Quickly the problem turned into a blown head gasket. Along with a radiator. And, oh yeah, the entire block. Kyle, my old friend and roommate from freshman year at VT, somehow made an engine appear out of nowhere and dedicated a weekend to help us all put it into my car. He brought the cherry picker and everything. Still looks like we have another weekend of work, but I'm optimistic for the most part. There are still a few things that could go wrong...

This year, I feel like I've learned so much. I have obviously learned a thing or two about how automobiles work. I have dived into politics and voted for the first black PotUS (I really do hope he brings change!). I have significantly improved my development skills, and I've even contributed a little bit to a couple of open source projects. I have learned how to live and think independently. I don't know if other people go through the same transition, but it was quite a leap for me when my life was no longer being planned for my by my parents. They always encouraged me to go to college, and I got to choose to go to Virginia Tech, but it was always expected. After graduating, it was up to me to find a job. It was up to me to find a place to live. It was up to me to find food. It was up to me to take care of my insurance and car and retirement plan. I don't know, it just felt like a really big step.

This weekend, my parents are visiting Thien and me. I am looking forward to it; I think we'll have fun. I miss them.