LEAVE IT TO PEEVER

 

14 Years of Peeves

 

It’s hard to believe that all this nonsense started in 1995. You’d think eventually a person would run out of peeves. I must be truly gifted, because the peeves just seem to keep on coming. I’m afraid that’s not real good luck for you. Over the years, I haven’t missed many categories of people, and have done my best to peeve each and every one of you. There is a method to my madness, but I’m not about to tell you what it is. After all, if I don’t have any secrets, how will I ever  get on the GREDA board?

 

Here are some definitions that will help you understand The Peeves a little better during year 15:

     * Peeves: Anything that gets under your skin. It may or may not be logical, reasonable, or even real, but it just drives you nuts. After a while, you may wonder if it’s just you. It ain’t.

     * Christian: A lot of people call themselves this. Frankly, that doesn’t impress me. The Bible is a complicated piece of literature. Our best theologians can argue over its content and meaning. I tend to trust their understanding more than I do ministers or lay people. Because the Bible is not an easy piece of literature to understand, I have boiled down my definition of a Christian to mean someone who models their life after the example of Christ.  For me, that’s the true test. The rest is of little consequence.

     * Right-wing Christians: These are people who use their misplaced understanding of the Bible and blend it with politics. They generally know little about either. You know, our anti-choice, prayer in public schools, no stem-cell research, teach creationism as science to our children, abstinence passed stupidity, those folks. These people think they got it and they want to spread it. They got it alright, and it’s nauseating.

     * Republicans: These are people, for the most part, just like the rest of us. They just have been mislead to believe that white males are meant to rule the world. I understand their confusion. They think Christ and Lincoln would have been Republicans. I believe they would be real disappointed.

     * Democrats: Democrats look very much like Republicans, but will usually not be wearing a suit or a long-sleeved, white shirt. Given the fact that Democrats tend to mate with Republicans, their natural tendencies to fight for the underdog are dissipating. Natural selection seems to be moving us toward a one party system, where everyone believes the rich are the truly ordained ones, and as for the rest of us, well, we make good workers.

     * Leaders: There are few of these. No one likes to stand alone and say that we need to go down the road less traveled. Taking on the status quo day after day takes its toll. There are few who can withstand the criticism and ridicule that comes with a message of change. Those holding on to the perceived power don’t want to let it go. A leader understands that it is not power that they possess, but self-interest and greed. A leader can easily exploit these weaknesses.

     * Revolution: When the status quo no longer meets our needs, it is time for a radical change. It is really a matter of measuring how well we are being served by any particular entity, most often the government. Are we getting what we need? Are the people involved doing what they are suppose to be doing? Are our lives being made better or worse because of this entity or these people? When the answer to these questions becomes no, the revolution is on. In an orderly manner, we just elected someone new to lead our nation. We are expecting him to take us down a new road. It would be naive of us to think the status quo will not fight back. Likewise, in Galesburg, we are demanding that a new course be set to get us economically on track. The old, traditional, status quo, good-old-boy approach has pretty much lead us to a disaster point. We have watched failure go on for too long. When the people are moved, a wise leader either listens or is replaced. It’s that simple.

     * Socialism: You hear a lot of right-winged wisdom concerning what a socialist, or socialism, is. They’re all full of bull up to their ears. Limbaugh and Hannity and Dobbs and O’Reilly don’t have a clue. A socialist professes that government has a role in society, that it is not an institution exclusively in existence to make sure the rich get richer and the poor get nothing. A democratic socialist theory is based on public participation in all facets of our existence, including economic. Public ownership helps to avoid the exploitation of capital we have seen over the last 25 years. Capitalism sees government as evil. Socialism sees government regulation and intervention as necessary. Marx is coming back into vogue. Capitalism is not a good mix with democracy. It can’t work. Humans are way too greedy.

 

So thank you for sticking with me over all these years. I appreciate it. Without you, I would be nothing. With you, I’m pretty much still in that same boat.  The Peever