American Idiot
I just got back from Toronto, as unlikely as that sounds (how often to I willingly go to Toronto?). I took a bus out at 3:30pm to meet with an old friend and see Green Day play their comeback tour. I haven't seen them since grade 7, when I unknowingly went with my then best friend Beth to see HER favorite band, and ended up being the only person in the Saddledome who didn't know the words to "Longview". I got them back tonight - Green Day came back around, and when Longview came down, I was singing the loudest. It was a moment of musical redemption for me, and I understood just how far I've come, from listening to whatever my friends listened to (and not really caring about music) to being able to stand up for the music that I believe in. It was a success on all accounts - not only did the show rock hard, but I had an important and short few hours with a friend that I haven't seen since he sold out to UofT's grad program. We talked about a lot of things over dinner, and as usual after our whirlwind discussions, I feel motivated, contemplative and inspiried to effect some sort of change (although it's not always easy to figure out what that change is going to be). So the change is the blogspot - I've been disenchanted with Diaryland, which became a communal gossip ground, and I don't write quickly enough by hand to maintain a paper diary properly (read: more than twice a week), so I've found a place where I can take my socks off, and hopefully work out what the hell I'm going to do with the rest of my life...a process, for sure.
The American election was tonight, and all logical reasoning points to a likely Bush victory. The sad thing is that for the past four years, we've been looking at a man who has made so many mistakes as a leader, who has slashed education, reversed the surplus to a record deficit, led the USA into the lowest economic state it has been in since the 1920's, pissed off every major peace-loving country in the world (including Canada) and managed to be illiturate at the same time... that was frustrating. We could point to Bush and know that it was him. But tonight, by both popular majority and electoral college votes, the American people have said "In 2000, we took a chance on you Bush. And now, after seeing the type of leader that you've been - we are supporting you and asking you to do it again". So now, we have no one to be angry at but the Americans.
They did a referendum vote in 11 states tonight to determine whether or not gay marriage should be illegal/legal in each respective state (being a governer's ultimate decision at this point). In 10 out of the 11 states, gay marriage was shot down by at least 65% of the popular vote. In some states it was as high as 90/10. This was the proverbial nail on the coffin for me tonight - how could people be so unaccepting? I argued with marcus that there should have never been a referendum - gay marriage is a topic that doesn't involve 90% of the population - why should they be allowed to vote on it? Why not only poll the gay community? Why should it MATTER to the straight population, who are afforded all of the rights and luxories of happening to be attracted to the opposite sex? I'm infuriorated, and also feel very small - what can anyone do to affect change in this chaotic world? I feel like everything is so backward. Steve and I joked that the only thing we could do was go back to our bedrooms and hide under our sheets for four years until it's all over. Seeing as it's 4am, I may just do that.
The American election was tonight, and all logical reasoning points to a likely Bush victory. The sad thing is that for the past four years, we've been looking at a man who has made so many mistakes as a leader, who has slashed education, reversed the surplus to a record deficit, led the USA into the lowest economic state it has been in since the 1920's, pissed off every major peace-loving country in the world (including Canada) and managed to be illiturate at the same time... that was frustrating. We could point to Bush and know that it was him. But tonight, by both popular majority and electoral college votes, the American people have said "In 2000, we took a chance on you Bush. And now, after seeing the type of leader that you've been - we are supporting you and asking you to do it again". So now, we have no one to be angry at but the Americans.
They did a referendum vote in 11 states tonight to determine whether or not gay marriage should be illegal/legal in each respective state (being a governer's ultimate decision at this point). In 10 out of the 11 states, gay marriage was shot down by at least 65% of the popular vote. In some states it was as high as 90/10. This was the proverbial nail on the coffin for me tonight - how could people be so unaccepting? I argued with marcus that there should have never been a referendum - gay marriage is a topic that doesn't involve 90% of the population - why should they be allowed to vote on it? Why not only poll the gay community? Why should it MATTER to the straight population, who are afforded all of the rights and luxories of happening to be attracted to the opposite sex? I'm infuriorated, and also feel very small - what can anyone do to affect change in this chaotic world? I feel like everything is so backward. Steve and I joked that the only thing we could do was go back to our bedrooms and hide under our sheets for four years until it's all over. Seeing as it's 4am, I may just do that.
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