rainy purple sadness

[piranha]

civil rights should not be put to a popular vote. i'm supposed to become more conservative as i grow older, but it's not happening. i see less and less in today's conservative movements that is the least attractive to me; heck, i am not seeing much to recommend in liberals when they are in power either anymore. they're better than conservatives, sure, but still so far from what i'd consider actually good. i might well end up an anarchist, *sigh*. when i was in college, i thought anarchists were too cynical...

i'm looking at you, maine. WTF, you voted FOR pot and against gay marriage? what are you smoking there?

at least washington state seems on the right path, though they're not done counting yet.

and hurrah for kalamazoo, michigan, for passing ordinance 1856, prohibiting discrimination against glbt persons in housing, employment and public accommodations. 62 to 38%!

it just bothers me to no end that so many people in the US are perfectly willing to deny others the same rights they enjoy. i can't be calm about it anymore; it is so very wrong.

Comments

[saoba]

We had moment of swearing and growling here when a local newscaster read the results.

Oregon needs to step up. Time for me to see who is running the best lobbying and give them money.

[sophie]

i'm looking at you, maine. WTF, you voted FOR pot and against gay marriage? what are you smoking there?

Pot, obviously.

*ducks*

[piranha]

*snicker*. yeah, that's what i was going for. though really, pot makes ya mellow, and the YES voters seem to me more scared and angry.

[treesahquiche]

It is incredibly discouraging that granting civil rights is even an issue. It's even more discouraging that people would knowingly and willingly deprive others of their rights. People don't seem to realize that granting others voices and rights does not take away from their own, but rather makes the world a better place to live.

I'm very disappointed in Maine, just as I was disappointed in California. Well, at least Iowa and Massachusetts are still setting good examples. (And those states are only the ones that have gotten press attention; there are some other states that have marriage equality or are working on implementing it, and still more that are refusing to consider it. For example, Arkansas made it very hard for gay couples to adopt last November.)

[piranha]

unfortunately i am not really surprised by arkansas, *sigh*. i try not to be prejudiced, but the states in the deep south are making it difficult.

[juliet]

My partner yesterday was developing a theory that what actually happens, politically speaking, as one gets older is that one gets more cynical. In some people this manifests as increasing conservatism; in others (self included) it manifests as increasing radicalism/anarchism.

I am less & less convinced that the capitalist-representative-democracy state is capable of dealing with any of the issues currently facing us.

[holyschist]

In some people this manifests as increasing conservatism; in others (self included) it manifests as increasing radicalism/anarchism.

IAWTC.

(Well, I'm not likely to become an anarchist personally, but I'm a lot more tenacious about activism these days, and there are a lot more things I am passionate/cynical about.)

[piranha]

*nod*. i used to be an activist in my college days, but then mostly lapsed, other than in writing down my thoughts. but in the last couple of years i have started up again, and i am getting more and more agitated about injustice.

[holyschist]

I think there's a change in approach, too, away from protests and towards other forms of activism.

[piranha]

yeah, i've not been happy with our much-touted democracy in recent years. and capitalism doesn't improve it one bit.

interesting theory, and it rings true at first glance. i am definitely becoming more radical again, after decades of just patiently waiting for people to slowly become wiser, because i acknowledge that social change takes time. but i am now running out of patience, and very rapidly. i am also growing less and less tolerant of those who push their intolerance on others, while simultaneously becoming more tolerant of differences that do not actually affect me much or at all. i'm a much better roommate now, *snrk*, but no longer willing to read conservative/libertarian drivel.

[necturus]

The older I get, the less sure I become that anything should ever be put to a popular vote.